NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

It’s always great to hear from a student-athlete and gain some insight on their perspective during the recruiting process. The NCSA caught up with a softball player from Massachusetts who has recently committed to a top academic NCAA Division III school.This young lady began her recruiting process in January of 2008 and just signed this past May. We asked her what kind of work she had to put into the process in order to be successful. She answered, “The work I put in mostly to respond to inquiries from coaches and providing details on my summer schedule.”

When asked what the most challenging part of the recruiting process was, she mentioned two of her biggest challenges. First, “Time Management in your senior year was much more challenging than I anticipated. I was a starting player in three varsity sports (Soccer, Basketball and Softball). We made the State Tournament in all three and were rated 7th in Eastern Massachusetts in Basketball (highest ever for our school) and 5th in Softball. We were eliminated by the EMASS finalist in hoop by 3 points and The State Champions in Softball (2-1 in extra innings). Going deep into the State playoffs and dealing with local media both newspapers and television required unexpected preparation on top of schoolwork, the powder-puff bowl, the prom, senior night, awards and recognition nights, community service and finally graduation in addition to the recruiting process.” And secondly, “Prioritizing which school among the choices had the best balance of “level of play”, playing time and the best educational opportunity.”
The best part of the recruiting process, according to this softball player was, “The availability and persistence of the NCSA coach helped me stay focused on the goal. The website was an easy reference tool for coaches.”

When asked how the NCSA impacted her recruiting process, she answered, “I think the best part of the NCSA coaching was the reminders both by phone and through email. It forced me to think about what I wanted not just what the school’s assistant coaches wanted.”

Lastly, we asked her to offer some advice to student-athletes who are still in the midst of the recruiting process. She had a lot of great thoughts to share. “Start early. Do as much “prep” work as possible in your “off-season” or in the summer. Do NOT get hung up on DI, DII or DII – that is secondary to your education. Do not procrastinate like I did and then get swamped with multiple schools and coaches all calling at the same time. If the “log” is too cumbersome make a simpler “excel” spreadsheet and then update the “log” after you edit and prioritize your school choices. Visit schools you are interested in while you are in the area playing in “Exposure” Tournaments. Pick the best fit academically and do not be afraid of a “stretch” school. You’ll be surprised the doors that are opened for athletes – especially female athletes strong in math and science.”

I came an article about a 2010 football recruit from Pennsylvania named Dakota Royer and it sparked so many thoughts about how complex the recruiting process can be. This young man has emerged as a top prospect for the class of 2010. But it didn’t just happen for Royer. He has put in an extraordinary amount of hard work and made good decisions that have allowed him to become someone college coaches are looking at and talking about.

An all-state defensive end during his junior season, Royer decided to use his speed and strength to help the offense this season. Royer’s high school football coach Mike Williams says, “He became a complete player.” Not many things are more appealing to a collegiate coach, than knowing an athlete can serve more than one purpose on their team. If you want to increase your value as a student-athlete, make sure you are the complete package. Get stronger and more familiar with different positions on the field. If you are a swimmer, look at mastering other events and strokes. If you are a pitcher, become more dominant by adding more pitches to your arsenal. If you are a golfer, be certain your putting game is just as strong as your drive off the tee. There is always more you can be doing and ways you can be getting better to increase your value to a coach and their program.

After his freshman year, Royer transferred to a different high school because of their agriculture programs. His interest in that field is something he plans on pursuing in college. Royer said he had nothing against his previous high school. “It was great there,” he said. “There was not a problem. It’s not like I had to get out of there. I just wanted to do the best thing for my future.” Whatever college Royer decides on, he will be starting off with a great academic foundation and a plan for what he wants to pursue off of the football field. It’s so important to remember you are a student-athlete. Your college search cannot just include the athletic side of things. You don’t have to know exactly what you want to study or major in, but you should have an idea of what kind of academic school you are interested in. Look at everything from class sizes, to what academic programs are offered, to coursework requirements. Part of being the “complete package” for a coach is how you perform in the classroom. So make sure you stay educated on everything regarding your education.

Because Royer has been so proactive in his recruiting process (making his own highlight DVD and attending football combines since his freshman year), he now has the option of choosing from over 20 Top Division I football programs. A decision he will make within the next month – before taking even one “official visit.”

As he has narrowed his choices to a “Top 5,” Royer gave a brief explanation for his interest in each school. This is what grabbed my attention the most from this article. His answers covered such a large spectrum of things that could possibly make or break a student-athlete’s decision on a school. A great example of how multi-dimensional the recruiting process is. From that list of 5, here are some things that Royer considered: familiarity, being close to home, an NFL team’s proximity to the campus, condition of the campus, social aspect of the campus, football stadium, team contract with NIKE, locker room perks.

Finally, in a move fitting of what we now know about Royer, he decided to increase his marketing appeal to college coaches – and perhaps even future NFL scouts. After hearing that a newly-drafted NFL player drew attention on ESPN for making a clean jump OUT of 3-foot deep swimming pool, Royer knew there was only one thing he needed to do. Make that same jump out of 4 feet of water. So, that’s exactly what he did. Now his video is getting hits all over Youtube.

Dakota Royer is the consummate recruit. He has looked at and contemplated everything that will give him the greatest college experience possible. Now it’s just a matter of prioritizing. Out of all of the information he has collected he will choose which school and football program meet his priorities the best. He knows that the decision on where he will go to school and play football is HIS. And the reason he is sitting so comfortably in the driver’s seat: Royer has made himself the kind of student-athlete that college coaches are looking for – “the complete package.”

Summer is officially upon us!  And for college softball coaches, that means the busiest and most important recruiting time.  They are in the midst of their most active evaluation time and a majority of them will spend this time at college exposure tournaments throughout the country.  Coaches can see a huge number of athletes in one quick weekend, at one major tournament.  For NCAA Division I coaches, rules and regulations limit them to a certain number of dates they can go out and recruit.  

So, what does this all mean for you?  The greatest advantage you can give yourself at this time of year is letting these coaches know who you are BEFORE they leave for tournaments.  Their time is limited and they can only see so many games and so many players in one tournament.  If you desire to be one of those players, then give the coaches a reason to find you and watch you play!  

Have a complete resume of who you are as a student-athlete and get that into the hands of the coaches you would like to play for.  This resume should include your summer tournament schedule, statistics and contact information for you and for your current coaches.  You should also have a sample of skills available in a video format (DVD).  Your academic information should also be included.  Once you have all of that ready to distribute, you need to identify what schools you are most interested in and familiarize yourself with their softball programs.  Look at their roster and see if you would be a good fit.  Check out the background info on current players.  This will help you get a good idea as to whether or not you have the skills and resume to compete in their program.  It’s great to aim high, but being realistic is important so you will have options of schools where you can be a contributing player.

It is vital for you as a student-athlete, to be realistic about your skill level and to seek out schools and coaches you can truly play for.  Keep in mind that by this time, approximately half of NCAA Division I softball coaches/colleges have identified their top recruits of to-be seniors.  If you are a top softball player, the summer going into your junior and even sophomore years of high school are when coaches will be evaluating you.  During those summers, it would be most beneficial to you to be playing on up level teams such as U16 and U18.  If you are a higher level player and can compete at the Division I level, be sure and include all of your awards and accolades in your resume (being one of the top players in your area and state, playing at the varsity level, etc.).   

Have a game plan this summer!  Get your resume set up and be sure to include all of the info listed above.  Identify colleges you can play for.  Let those coaches know of your interest in their programs and be prepared to have a skills DVD for them to view.  Lastly, let them know where and when you are playing so they can get out to see you.  Be proactive.  Out of all of the athletes that coaches will see and hear about, be the one they are going to recognize and remember!

The rise of the club or travel team has been astonishing. Club teams bring together the top high school talent to compete with other similar teams across the country. Parents pay hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, along with hours of their time in order for their children to play on these teams. Their hope is that the team will lead to bigger and better things for their rising athlete; whether it be high school stardom, collegiate athletics, or even breaking into the professional rankings. The question comes to mind as to what the actual impacts of these travel teams are. One idea is that the higher rate of competitions helps to develop a player’s skill set. Another is that college recruiters are more drawn to these teams because the top high school players are in a higher concentration than the average high school games.

While the latter argument is valid, there are flaws in the former. The higher competition in travel games is beneficial to players. They have to learn to adjust their skill set and limit mistakes in order to succeed against gifted players. This makes them far more prepared for any kind of competition because they have proven they can play at a higher level. However, the presence of more talented players does not vicariously make athletes more appealing to college coaches. The presence of coaches at club games mirrors that of their presence at camps and showcases. Coaches go to watch games with the intent of scouting players they are already interested in, not to find new talent. While there are exceptions to this idea, sometimes a player may perform so well they can spark interest in a coach; these situations are limited to exceptions. Club coach Kyle Vierck puts it best in saying that, “A player is a player no matter where he or she is at. As much as players want to think that every time I go out to play a club match somebody is watching, that is just not the case. What it boils down to is young people and their families pursuing the school and really making an effort to do it. Ultimately, taking the initiative is so important.”

Getting your name out there is the hardest part of the recruiting process. Coaches obviously cannot assess their need for you if they do not know who you are. Players and parents need to take the first step in order to achieve their dreams of college athletics. The keys are to get started early and make yourself known. One ways to do this is to understand that college coaches evaluate talent online through reliable sources such as the NCSA.

8 teams, 263 players, 48 transfers. Transfer players are showing up in bunches at the Men’s College World Series in 2009. Almost one fifth of the student-athletes playing in Omaha this year were at a different school previously. In baseball this is pretty common, but not as common at certain schools. The University of Southern Mississippi roster includes 15 transfer students, some from junior colleges and some from four year schools. In contrast, three schools have only one transfer – Louisiana State University, University of Virginia, and the University of North Carolina. This is an area that high school and junior college student-athletes need to research when looking for the right college fit.

Many times a high school student-athlete can decide on a four year school, work hard for the first couple years, not receive much playing time, think they are ready to start that third year, and then a stud transfer comes along to take that opportunity away. This is going to be much more common if you see the coach is bringing in transfer students on a regular basis. On the other hand, junior college is a great direction to go for many student-athletes because of the big jump from high school to college. Overall, roster research is an area every student-athlete needs to take in to account.

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?

It is critical to have a video of yourself playing points out or drilling with your coach or pro. When playing out points coaches are looking to see the level of play that you are currently at and the potential that they see in you. What this means is that if coaches were able to get you on their campus they would know how to coach you to maximize your potential. If you are shooting a match video with points it is important to have the player that you are playing with be equal of talent if not better than you. Beating up on a weaker opponent will not help you but only hurt you.

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!

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.

So Mom and Dad, you have visions of your youngster playing sports in college. You got them involved in youth sports when they were 5, 6, or 7 years of age. You noticed that they were a little bit or a lot better than their peers. You noticed that they always wanted to go to practice, had fun in games, in some cases, they hated to lose. At some point in time you started wondering if playing college sports could be a way to help pay for college. If you came to this conclusion your child’s junior year in high school, you already know how late you are in preparing them adequately. However, if you come to this conclusion when they are 6th or 7th graders, then you are wondering what you need to do to prepare your child for playing college sports. Depending on the sport, how does a parent find the best competition for their child so they can develop their athletic skills? How much money is all of this preparation going to cost? How competitive is it and how can I get a return on that investment?

In the following series of articles, I’ll address the following questions: In part one, how competitive is it to play a sport in college? And, what do parents need to do to give their child the biggest competitive advantage over their peers? In part 2: how much of an investment needs to be made in time and scarce resources? What activities should you invest in? In Part 3: a history of the recruiting help industry.  In Part 4: if you decide you need help, what are the best resources for that help?

The numbers are daunting! If you’re a boys high school basketball player in the US, you have a 4% chance of playing in college. Now statistics lie, so let’s dig into this one a little. Last year, there were 552,935 HS basketball players. There are 1733 college basketball programs at all levels – Junior College, NAIA, NCAA D1, D2, & D3. With an average of 12 kids on a roster, you can do the math. (Find out your sport’s numbers here.)  Now obviously not all 552,935 basketball players are going to be good enough to play in college, have the competitive desire to play in college, or have the grades and test scores to be accepted into a college. So the reality is for the one college roster spot that boy’s basketball player is seeking, he’ll be competing with 5 other kids from somewhere else in the world. He’ll have about a 17% chance to play. Depending on the sport, that percentage could be as high as 25% chance. So what will give your child the competitive advantage to be one of those roughly 20% of kids who want to play in college AND actually get to play AND get college funded?

A child must be competing at the highest level possible and sometimes that’s not at the high school. Every sport has outside of the high school programs where the student-athlete can compete. Football has camps, combines, 7 on 7, etc, where elite athletes compete with each other. Girls and boys basketball have “AAU”, basketball camps, like NCSA partner 5-star, etc. Soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse, volleyball, field hockey, ice hockey, water polo have elite club or travel teams. Golf, tennis, swimming, track and field, cross country, and wrestling have elite tournaments or competitions that student-athletes earn their way to compete in. Some student-athletes don’t play their sport at their high school because of a variety of reasons. Some parents are shocked to learn that these kids who don’t play at their high school are getting recruited and, in some cases, getting drafted by professional sports teams. All of these club, travel, and camp activities that are outside of the high school cost money. So let’s get rid of the myth that you, the parent, don’t have to spend any money to get your child recruited. Even the most elite athletes have personal trainers to give them an edge over the other elite athletes they are competing with. So what should your budget be to get your child recruited? What is the best way to invest your money?  

Part 2, part 3, and part 4 has those answers – stay tuned!