NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

I speak with 30-40 families weekly about college recruiting and I’m amazed at the lack of knowledge of the APR – Academic Progress Rate. Here is a very long article that is a must read for any parent of a 9th grader, or older, who has aspirations to play in college. It details the 4 stages of penalties for athletic programs that the NCAA imposes should their athletes not make progress toward graduation. If you have questions, go here.

We have been writing for months about imploding athletic budgets, the struggles complying with Title IX, funding non-revenue sports and general doom and gloom regarding any aspect of college athletics tied to finance.  Many of the sports that have been hit the hardest are NCAA designated “Emerging Sports.”  However, amid the financial wreckage hope has emerged for a few sports.  ESPN reports on the economic environment:

Rowing was the first emerging sport to earn NCAA championship status, in 1997, and has been the fastest-growing sport among the four successes. From the 1997-98 season to the 2007-08 season, 46 teams were added and more than 2,000 women joined teams. According to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, which details athletic participation numbers through the 2007-08 season, rowing was sponsored by 144 schools and had 7,024 participants. That’s about 5,000 more participants than women’s ice hockey, which is second among the four in growth. Women’s ice hockey and women’s water polo both earned NCAA championship status in the 2000-01 season. Women’s bowling became a championship sport in 2003-04. All four have experienced growth.

DeBoer said sand volleyball has the same kind of growth potential simply because court volleyball is the second-most-played NCAA women’s sport in the country. According to the latest NCAA participation report, 1,014 of 1,070 NCAA schools sponsor volleyball, which is only 43 fewer schools than the number that sponsor women’s basketball. Several court teams already spend their springs working out on the sand. The University of Nebraska, for example, has an indoor sand volleyball court.

“A lot of kids that I’m recruiting are currently playing in [sand volleyball] tournaments … but just to get more competition, and they just want to be able to play their sport outside,” said Kevin Maureen Campbell, volleyball coach for North Florida, who has been instrumental in pushing for sand volleyball as an emerging sport.

While some contend that sand volleyball will become a regional sport played in Florida and California, the push for its NCAA inclusion has come from places including Nebraska, Tennessee and the University of Denver. Professional volleyball’s AVP Tour has been widely popular in southern states and in centrally located states such as Colorado. And with the success of the AVP Tour, players have professional opportunities after college.

But most importantly, the cost of fielding a sand volleyball team is minimal. Games could be played at local parks or beaches where courts already exist, or a court could easily be added to a campus at a low cost.

All of these sports will continue to face challenges in the upcoming years as budgets recover, but if they make it through the storm more scholarship opportunities will be created.  Athletes participating in emerging sports will have to keep a close eye on each program to make sure they are aware of any possible change in recruiting opportunities.

NCSA recently interviewed a  rising volleyball star, Michele Boskovich, a 6′2” middle from Oaks Christian High School in California.  Michele was a 2nd Team All-CIF Division III pick.  She plays for Santa Monica Beach Club for the 16-1’s team.  She will graduate in 2011.

NCSA: Why and when did you get involved in volleyball?

Boskovich: My older brother and sister both played high-school and Club volleyball, I loved watching them play and decided to start playing volleyball in 7th grade.

NCSA: How did your team do this season?

Boskovich: My team is currently ranked 17th.

NCSA: Do you have any big competitions coming up?

Boskovich: My club team is competing at the volleyball festival in Arizona this year.  I was selected to be on the SCVA high performance team this summer, competing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

NCSA: What is the forecast for your fall high school season?

Boskovich: This season my high school team moved up a division and we are excited to be competing against more challenging teams. We have lost multiple starting seniors, including my sister, but have some amazing players.

NCSA: Tell us about your interactions with college coaches so far.

Boskovich: I have received letters as well as e-mails from University of California Irvine, Texas Christian University, University of Washington, University of Denver, University of the Pacific, Southern Oregon University, University of Montana and University of Idaho. 

NCSA: What camps do you plan to attend over the summer?

Boskovich: I really enjoyed the USC camp last year but unfortunately I will not be able to attend any camps due to family commitments. 

NCSA: What are you looking forward to if and when you get the opportunity to play at the collegiate level?

Boskovich: I look forward to traveling around the country to compete against other colleges, being part of a team for 4 years and growing together.

NCSA: What are your goals for next year?

Boskovich: I hope to be on a top level team, keep my grades up and serving my local community. 

NCSA: What is the best part of being involved with NCSA so far?

Boskovich: NCSA is very informative, each e-mail is filled with tips on how to approach the recruiting process.

NCSA Caught up with Claire Tolbert, a rising star from Oregon City, Oregon. Claire plays for OJVA 16 Gold and is a two-time varsity letterwinner at Oregon City High School.

NCSA: Why and when did you get involved with volleyball?
Tolbert: I first started playing volleyball when I was 12 years old. I decided that I wanted to play volleyball because I love being part of a team and I love being able to work with others to achieve team goals.

NCSA: How did your team do this season?
Tolbert: This season my team did very well, we finished 3rd in Regionals and stayed in the top ten throughout the season.

NCSA: Do you have any big competitions coming up?
Tolbert: Our last tournament is the California Finals which we are competing in next week June 20-23.

NCSA: What is your forecast for your fall high school season?
Tolbert: My forecast for my next high school season is to make first team all league. I would also like to hold the best stats for outside hitter and for passing on the team. I want to lead my team to a successful season of winning and making it to the playoffs.

NCSA: Tell is about your interactions with college coaches so far.
Tolbert: So far I have only been in contact with coaches through e-mails. I am hoping that soon I can meet some college coaches and have a more personal interaction.

NCSA: What camps do you plan to attend over the summer?
Tolbert: I am not sure quite yet which camps I am going to attend. I have a few different camps to choose from so I need to decide where I would like to go.

NCSA: What are you looking forward to if and when you get the opportunity to play at the collegiate level?
Tolbert: I am looking forward to being able to make friendships with my teammates and being very competitive and having successful seasons.

NCSA: What are your goals- athletically, academically and in your community for next year? Tolbert: My goals for next year are to maintain at least a 3.5 GPA, to make first team all league and to go far in playoffs and I would also like to help out with my school for different events like dances, assemblies, ect.

NCSA: What is the best part of being involved with NCSA so far?
Tolbert: I think that the best part of being involved with NCSA is being able to actually see your progress and being able to have help and assistance whenever you need it.

If you’re a student-athlete who wants to play your sport in college you will have to work very hard to become the best student and the best athlete you can be.  It’s too competitive for you not to give 100% effort in both of those areas you have total control over.  If you give any less, there are plenty of others who are out-working you today.  Now that is a very challenging proposition in which you expect to be rewarded for that hard work.  Unfortunately, after all of that hard work, you DO NOT get to choose your school.  The school chooses you. 

Now there are exceptions to this reality.  One percent of student-athletes are “blue-chippers” who are recruited by the top-tier, name-brand schools.  However, the vast majority will not be able to choose their number one choice school.  This harsh reality is more harsh for those of you living west of the Mississippi River.  The vast majority of athletic programs at 4-year colleges and universities are located east of the Mississippi River.  As an example, there are only 28 four-year colleges who play football in California.  Whereas, in Pennsylvania, a state with less than half of California’s population, there are 82 four-year colleges who play football.  There are a lot of talented football players in Arizona.  However, that state only has 3 four-year colleges who play football.  

A student-athlete can find a GREAT school that is the perfect fit.  But they have to be willing to play anywhere that has their required academics.  If you are not willing to play at any school that matches your academic needs, you’re really not serious about playing in college.  You should quit spending your parents money on travel ball, camps, lessons, equipment, etc.  The flip side, if you’re serious, you need to be involved with hundreds of schools – just so you’ll have a chance.  Are you serious about playing in college?  Are you sure?

I’m always amazed at what people’s definition of recruiting is.  Some think they are getting lots of interest when in fact they are among thousands on a college coach’s mailing list.   Below is a list of check points to see where you are.  If you’re a 2010 student-athlete and you’re not at a 4, 3, 2, or 1, you’re behind your peers.  If you’re a 2011 graduate and you’re not at a 7, you’re behind your peers.  If you’re a 2012 grad and you are not at a 10, you’re behind your peers.  If you wish to catch up, click here.

YOU means the student-athlete, not the HS coach or club coach.

1. Have YOU received a full or partial scholarship or grant & aid offer in writing from your dream school?
2.  Have YOU received a full or partial scholarship or grant & aid offer in writing from any school?
3. Have YOU received a full or partial scholarship or grant & aid offer made verbally from any school?
4. Have YOU been offered or taken an official visit?
5. Have YOU received a video and/or transcript request from a college coach?
6. Have YOU received phone calls from college coaches?
7. Have YOU been offered or taken un-official visits? 
8. Do YOU receive personal, handwritten letters from college head coaches on a regular basis?
9. Do YOU receive emails from college coaches on a regular basis?
10. Have YOU received questionnaires or camp information from college coaches?

You may remember the name Elena DelleDonne.  She was once dubbed the LeBron James of women’s basketball and was set to be the next great UConn star.  Then she abrubtly quit the sport citing burnout and a lack of love for the game.  She promptly left UConn and enrolled at Deleware to play volleyball.

Predictably to some, she has done another about face and announced that she will resume playing basketball this year.

“When I first arrived at UConn there was a feeling I just couldn’t describe. For a while, I didn’t quite understand what was going on and I ended up blaming basketball, when in fact most of my feelings were based on homesickness. I missed Lizzie [her older sister, who suffers from a number of afflictions] and my family. I just didn’t realize what was happening.

“College is a very big step in anyone’s life and going far from home was tough for me. But I guess if I were to sum the whole thing up, if I were to say what it is that I learned during the year, it’s that I mistakenly put the blame for my feelings on basketball, when in reality it was homesickness. Once I was able to get home and play another sport [volleyball at the University of Delaware] for awhile, once I was able to enjoy things again, I was able to realize that Delaware was where I wanted to be. I love my home and I love the university. I’m thrilled to be here.”

Elena’s story is an extreme example of an athlete not totally being comfortable with the school she chose.  Her initial decision came down to Tennessee and UConn, when perhaps she should have been considering schools closer to home. Maybe she should have been looking at schools that would have allowed her to play basketball and volleyball.  No one can be sure, but perhaps she would have come to a better initial decision by looking at more options.

Every athlete has to go through a difficult decision process to find the perfect school (and sport).  At NCSA we help guide our athletes to expand theri options as mush as possible.  You can never 100% eliminate choosing the wrong school, but having multiple scholarship offers to choose from, sure helps.

As a review, you know the need to market your child in order for her/him to be recruited.  You know that you could do this yourself or you could use an expert.  In either case, you’ll have to invest time and money into the process.  The need for this service is even greater than it was in the 1980’s for several reasons.  Among these are:

1. the cost of college today
2. the even greater restrictions the NCAA has placed on college coaches. 
3. The internet.
4. The accelerating recruiting calendar.
5. The misinformation about recruiting from so called experts like HS coaches, Athletic Directors, and parents who went through it 15-30 years ago.

But whether a family chooses to navigate the recruiting waters by themselves or chooses to hire professional help, they are going to have to spend time and money on this process.  They are also going to have to coach their kids on how to speak to college coaches.  No college coach will offer any student-athlete a college scholarship without knowing that child.   So where do you allocate your marketing dollars?

You could choose to go to a lot of college camps.  As you’ve learned from the 5 things you need to do, your child must be involved with at least 100-200 realistic possibilities.  How many camps will you be able to attend?  Are they the right ones?  How much will they cost including transportation?  What makes you think your child will stand out from others at that camp in a college coach’s eyes?  My child received recruiting interest from 145 college coaches.  She never attended a college camp after the 8^th grade.  We went to one and that was all it took to realize that the camps are money makers for the coaching staff at the school.  Can a kid improve their skills?  Maybe.  But don’t expect to get your child recruited by attending camps.

You could market your child on our own.  You’ll have to research 100-200 realistic college opportunities.  You’ll have to determine if they have roster openings.  You’ll have to get your child’s information in front of that coach.  You’ll have to hope that information is believed and isn’t trashed.  You’ll have to put video together and do it the right way.  I’ve seen college coaches turn video off after 5-10 seconds of viewing.  Would you want that to happen to your child’s video?  You need to update coaches as your child makes progress.  And, Mom and Dad, the most important thing you need to do is to teach your child to be the “front” person with the college coach.  If you are the one calling and writing college coaches on behalf of your child, that raises a huge red flag in the coach’s mind of how serious this is for the child.  A coach will recruit a lesser athlete that is articulate, serious, and a team player over a child who relies on mom and dad to do the talking. 

As you navigate the process, how are you going to advise your child on maximizing his financial aid package?  How are you going to advise him on what happens if a college coach ceases communications?  How are you going to advise her/him on how to make the best choice for them?  All parents want their children to make the best choice.  Empowering a child to make that choice is the best gift a parent can give their child.  Do you want amateurs who have never been through recruiting in the internet age advising your child?  Or do you want a professional, whose expertise is navigating this process and have seen over 25,000 recruiting situations, advising your child?  If you choose to navigate this yourself, you must read this book.

Finally, you could choose professional help.  If you choose a recruiting company, find out the following:

• 1) Are they organized as a franchise? Are you speaking with the franchise owner? How long has the owner owned his franchise/territory? If they are not a franchise organization, what year was the first recruiting class they worked with? (Hint, if 2005 or later, they haven’t been in business long enough to develop an impact with the college coaching community.)
• 2) How are their student-athletes marketed to college coaches? Is it a targeted approach to the right schools? Or, is it a shotgun approach to all colleges? Is 21^st century technology used, or is it still snail mail and faxes? Can you track which college coaches reviewed your child’s resume and video?
• 3) What is that organization’s true relationship with college coaches? If that organization doesn’t attend college coaches’ conventions, do they really have relationships with those college coaches? College coaches are not allowed by the NCAA to endorse recruiting companies. But those coaches do request student-athletes from those companies. Ask to see a list of those college coach requests with dates.
• 4) Who are the partnerships of that recruiting company? Companies who partner with recruiting companies do a lot of due diligence before putting their good name with someone. See who those partners are.
• 5) Find out about the client service after signing up. Find out the contact information and expected response times to your questions.
• 6) Find out about the financial aid advice the recruiting company offers.
• 7) Find out about the standardized test preparation a recruiting company offers.
• 8) Find out how your student-athlete can determine what college coaches are truly interested in your child.
• 9) Find out about what happens if a child suffers a career ending injury and can’t play in college. Do you get your money back?
• 10) Some recruiting companies like to do the “up-sale”. They’ll entice you with a low price and then constantly ask for more money as you move forward. Make sure your recruiting company spells out exactly the service you’re receiving and the time frame that service is available.
• 11) As with all businesses, make sure the company has been in business long enough to ensure that it’ll remain in business. If the company has been in business less than 5 years, be careful.

Doing your due diligence with any decision involving your child is important.  The most important due diligence a parent can help their child with is their college choice.  Getting professional help is a great way to help your child with their college decision.  To choose the right professional help ask those due diligence questions listed above.

Good luck to all of you who have the good fortune to be the parent of a talented student-athlete!

(Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here)

There is recruiting help found all over the web.  There are companies who assure everyone that they’ll get your child recruited.  Some are free.  Some are not.  You know the need for help and, as with any service, there are good providers of help and those who aren’t as much help.  To understand the market, it’s best to understand the industry.  The recruiting industry started in the 1980’s when the NCAA started putting restrictions on the number of scholarships available for sports.  These restrictions were caused by 2 main factors:  1) the implementation of Title IX (passed in 1972) that mandated equal opportunities in sports for women.  2)  the NCAA’s desire to create a more level playing field for its member institutions.  To demonstrate the impact consider that in 1972 Coach Johnny Majors at Pitt, in his first year as head football coach, gave full scholarships to over 100 players in that recruiting class.  One of those recruits, Tony Dorsett, led Pitt to the national championship 4 years later.  In order for institutions to be in compliance with Title IX, they had to reduce scholarships in football.  The recruiting impact was that the relationship between HS coaches and college coaches became more distant.  As time went on, the rules restricting contact between college coaches and high school football players became stricter.  (As an aside, trends in football recruiting are duplicated in all other college sports.)  The high school coach had less influence because he couldn’t help as many kids get scholarships – there weren’t that many to be had.  College coaches wanted to feed their families.  In other words, they had to recruit players that would help their program win.  Since they didn’t have as many scholarships, they couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.  Therefore a need developed for college coaches to recruit nationally.  There was an equal need for high school athletes to be introduced to college coaches.  Thus the recruiting service industry was born. 

Those companies evolved as franchise organizations who had a back office that could put recruiting resumes together and mail them to college athletic departments.  They relied on the college athletic department secretary to put the resumes of lots of players from many sports into the correct sport coach’s mail box.  Prior to email and the internet, this was a great way to get a kid’s name in front of a large number of college coaches.  The company found these kids by selling territories or franchises.  A franchise owner qualified because they liked sports and had some money to give to the franchisor or territory salesman.  Some of these owners were really interested in a student-athlete’s success.  Others just wanted to make their investment back and would sign up any kid.  The problem begins when that package put together by the back office is sent to the college athletic department.  To save money in postage, the back office sent hundreds of resumes to every college in the country at one time.  As time wore on, college coaches realized that not all of the resumes they were looking at were of student-athletes qualified for their program.  As such, college coaches began to ignore the resumes.  In time, qualified student-athletes were ignored by colleges because they were packaged with many non-qualified student-athletes.  Still, in spite of this inefficiency, student-athletes received mail in their mailbox from college coaches.  When a student-athlete received a letter from a college coach, parents felt their investment in the recruiting company service was paying off.  But is receiving a letter from a college coach being recruited?

As they still do, in the 1980’s and 90’s, college coaches, depending on the sport, sent out thousands of letters annually.  They are marketing to large numbers in hopes of finding the best few student-athletes for their program.  So even though these student-athletes who used a recruiting service were getting letters, they weren’t getting recruited.  Because of the franchise organization structure, there was no one to advise a student-athlete on what to do with those recruiting letters.  Today, getting letters, emails, contacts from college coaches is an important first step.  A child can’t get recruited without these.  But it’s only 20% of the game.  The other 80% of the game is a child converting those contacts into personal relationships with college coaches, and converting those relationships into scholarship dollars.  And that’s all the responsibility of the student-athlete.  Mom and Dad can’t do that for the child.  The child has to interact with the college coach(es) and convince that coach they are a good fit for that program.  All recruiting services you see on the web will put some letters in your mail box.  But are they from the right schools?  I’ve talked to a kid who used a recruiting company who got letters from Ivy League schools even though he had a 2.4 GPA and an ACT score of 17.  No way that Ivy League school had any interest in that kid.  But the kid thought he was being recruited.  Clearly something had to be done to address what was not being done to help the families.  Among these issues are:  How are parents going to target the right colleges for their child?   How do parents guide their children through this process?  How can parents maximize the scholarship package their child receives?  If parents decide they want help to give their child a competitive advantage, where do they find the best help?

Stay tuned for Part 4 for the answers…..it’s not what you think.

This is the second of a 4 part series. Part 1 is here.

There are 3 areas that every parent will have to invest in to make sure you put your child in the best position to be recruited. On the athletic side, you are going to have to spend anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 per year from about 6th grade forward on travel, hotels, team fees, training, and equipment. If you’re not doing this, those other 4 student-athletes looking for the same scholarship your child is looking for is. On the academic side, you’ll want to make sure your child is earning all A’s and B’s in school. The more A’s the better! If they need help to develop the study habits to make that happen, then there could be an investment in tutors, learning centers, etc. Have you priced those lately? Then, to ensure that their test scores reflect their grades, an investment in test preparation will help. Finally there is the recruiting itself. In the vast majority of sports, the college coaches’ recruiting budget is pitifully small. They WILL NOT discover your child. College coaches don’t have a scouting budget like the NY Yankees, which is in the millions of dollars per year. You have to devote time and funds to marketing your child. If you spend $6,000 to $30,000 in athletic development and $5,000 in academic development so that your child can be athletically skilled and academically qualified enough to be recruited and your child doesn’t get recruited, what is the payoff for that investment? Also, if your child doesn’t get a chance to play, will she/he come back to you in 10 years and wonder if they could have played if only they knew how to maximize their recruiting opportunities? So where do you allocate your funds for marketing and how is the most cost effective way of doing this?

Marketing your student athlete is an important skill that 99% of parents I speak with don’t know how to do. If you never attended college or haven’t searched for a job in the age of the internet, you probably don’t know all of the ins and outs of the athletic scholarship acquisition process. Even if you are college educated or an expert at finding a job using the internet, you still are unaware of how college coaches determine who they recruit and how you can make your child part of that coach’s recruiting list. Your child has to take an active role in this process. It’s their life! They must be empowered with the skill set to market themselves to college coaches. Since your child’s college decision will impact her/him for the rest of their lives, don’t you think that it’s important that they have those skills?

If you’re reading this, you know that NCSA has devoted a lot of time and effort to educate student-athletes and their parents on this marketing. We call this the recruiting process and our goal is for each qualified student-athlete to achieve their maximum recruiting potential. Everyone reading this thinks they can do this on their own. Especially after they read the five things you need to know and the five things you must do. And some parents have been successful doing things themselves. However, understand the effort those parents made. They’ve devoted literally 40 to 50 hours a month to researching colleges, putting together marketing packages, contacting lots of college coaches, following-up, and fighting encouraging their children to do things they need to do, such as calling college coaches on the phone. They’ve had to put up with teen-age kids who aren’t skilled in talking to college coaches and have no desire to do so because they don’t know what to do. Does your teen-ager do everything you ask without question? Do you have 500 hours over the next calendar year to devote to this process? How much of that time will you spend spinning your wheels and targeting the wrong college coaches? How much of that time is spent driving to camps where a child has no chance of being recruited? How frustrating is all of this and does a child give up their dream if no college coaches respond to your marketing efforts?

From a financial standpoint, you will be spending money for marketing. If you aren’t spending money – you’ll be spending time. How much is your time worth? As you know from the five things you need to do, you’ll need to do the following: 1) Get a objective evaluation so that you target the right college programs; 2) Post an online resume that college coaches will look at; 3) Create a winning highlight or skills video; 4) Get in contact with at least 100 college coaches at the right places; and 5) consider all options in a thorough way so your child makes the right decision. The first can be done by comparing your child’s metrics with those of collegiate student-athletes at the various levels.  (See the recruiting guidelines for your sport.)   The next 2 can be done in a variety of ways and you can do it for as little as free – which will net zero results, to hiring professional website and video vendors which can run up to $1000. Contacting college coaches is more problematic. Since college coaches are inundated with emails and letters from a variety of sources, they only rely on trusted sources. How many emails does the typical college football coach get from a mom, dad, or kid that says, “hey, I’m 200 pounds and run a 4.4 forty yard dash…”? What do you think the college coach does with that email? (Hint: if you answered anything else but, “he hit the delete button,” you got the wrong answer.) College coaches rely on trusted sources and verified information. That’s the biggest roadblock to parents doing it themselves. They don’t have the relationships with the college coaching community to generate the kind of response from college coaches needed to maximize opportunities.

Finally, how do you empower your child with the skill set to make a life-changing decision? Most parents do a great job of raising their kids. All parents love their kids and want their kids to be the best and have the best. However, most parents can’t empower their children with the skill set to speak with college coaches. When speaking with college coaches, student-athletes need to ask the right questions in the right way so they don’t get their name crossed off of that college coach’s recruiting list. What parent knows those questions? Do you know the questions college coaches ask student-athletes to see if they should cross your child’s name off of the list? And, if you the parent think you can talk to college coaches for your child, you can’t! I’ve seen more talented student-athletes NOT get recruited because of the parent than I care to list right here. All parents have a deep emotional attachment to this outcome. However, some parents don’t know how to channel their emotions into a positive influence on their children. Would guidance from an expert be of value? Would the peace of mind of knowing you’re doing the right things and your child is getting coached the right way in this process help tone down the emotions when discussing this in your household? So where do you get that help? 

Stay tuned for Part 3 and Part 4.