<p>We had probably 6-8 calls from football coaches, mostly D2/D3 schools though. My son is a good athelete, but feels not good enough for college level. Unfortunately, they're not talking $$(scholarships). </p>
<p>I was just wondering if anyone else is receiving calls from coaches trying
to recruit?</p>
<p>D has received a couple of letters, but she's not interested in continuing her sport in college. (We have an unlisted number.)</p>
<p>Although my time here on CC is coming to a close (Right!), reading your post renews my desire for an athletic recruiting forum. The fact that you have to come on here to ask illustrates how lonely the recruiting process can be for a family. you can't really discuss it with other kids who are probably not being recruited at your high school, nor can you go out and openly solicit this info from other possible recruits. Regardless of whether your son feels he is good enough, the coaches calling you obviously think he is. If he thinks he may want to play in college, my best advice to you is to attend a couple of games at the schools (or similar level of play) who are calling him. He will get a a good idea from watching the game if he is competitive at that level. If you are attending a game at a school that is not yet recruiting your son, you can call the coach there, explain your son is being recruited by other schools and would like to come watch a game at this school because he might like to attend the school and wants to check things out. At the very least, this will get you free admission (usually three tickets per HS athlete: NCAA rules) and maybe a trip to the locker room after the game so your son can meet the players and talk to them a bit. Best to go the school that IS recruiting him, but this will work in a pinch. Also, you may run into other recruits at the game as they usually like to seat them together. Hope you can find a good sounding board to guide you through the recruiting process. Playing a revenue sport in college can be challenging, but is a great way to boost admission chances AND a great way to go through college. Not many kids have the opportunity to play at any college level. Also, employers love hiring ex-athletes because they know their work ethic is top notch. Good luck.</p>
<p>My D has only received unsolicited letters, they are sent to the school or her high school coach and forwarded to her. She has received e-mails and phone calls from the coaches she has contacted at schools where she is applying or thinking of applying, particularly now that her senior season has started. I think she really appreciates their interest in her and how she is doing, and likes the updates she is getting about the college teams and their seasons. It may make the inevitable final decision difficult, but she is grounded enough to know that the athletic factor is not the only one in her final decision. </p>
<p>I second the need for a recruitment forum, there are tons of issues that can be addressed there, in particular the NCAA Clearinghouse issue for those considering D1 sports</p>
<p>jasper,
I have an '09 D who has already verballed to a DI program. The emails and letters are still coming from other coaches but her profile has been circulated with her commitment so the only calls she gets are from her chosen school coach. Don't be so sure there is no $$$ in the DIII and DII school packages. DIII can offer academic dollars to highly recruited athletes and DII can combine academic and athletic. Money was never brought up with either D1 or D2 until they stepped foot on campus and showed their interest to that particular school/coach. Show them the "love" first and then start your negotiations.</p>
<p>I have also been asking for an athletic recruitment forum. We are pretty much set but we learned a lot the hard way, and the fact that you really can't talk openly to very many people makes it even harder. The NCAA rules are confusing and we need the forum.</p>
<p>Amen to the athletic recruitment forum. I just posted an athlete related question on this forum, knowing I'm probably just not reaching the right crowd. Unless you have or are an athlete, you're just not that interested, but if you have one, the information is crucial and time-sensitive. Pleeeeease give us our own forum!</p>
<p>Well, if word got out that CC had a forum that addressed athletic recruiting, then perhaps their user base would expand and we would all have the advantage of one another's experience and wisdom. I know I would have been on the site everyday looking for info about recruiting with son #1, much like I combed the admitted stats threads the year before son #2 applied to college in order to see who was getting in with what.</p>
<p>It's a little disheartening sometimes to post recruited athlete questions in the general sections. The posts are specialized so they fall off the page quickly, and if a thread gains traction sooner or later it will be hijacked by someone complaining that the thick-necked dumb jocks are getting in with lower standards.</p>
<p>The truth is that recruited athletes are applying in an alternate reality with the advantages and disadvantages that that brings, and they and their parents need a place to discuss their issues.</p>
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The truth is that recruited athletes are applying in an alternate reality with the advantages and disadvantages that that brings, and they and their parents need a place to discuss their issues.
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<p>Sherpa's exactly right. It IS a parallel universe with an alternate reality and the folks doing traditional college search and admissions don't get it. No one at all understood what we were doing with ONE application (and one hip pocket safety that was waiting for the likely letter/ED admit).</p>
<p>I also raise my hand asking for an athletic recruiting forum.</p>
<p>How about subforums of kids being recruited with athletic scholarships and kids being recruited by coaches at schools that don't award athletic scholarships?</p>
<p>I'd vote yes on an athletic forum as well - it is a very different process (and very confusing with constantly changing rules)...</p>
<p>Only problem is that the people who control the CC board don't seem to respond to input like this... is there another place on the board to provide input?</p>
<p>Community and Forum Issues forum is I think for requests of new forums</p>
<p>Count me in on the request for the forum. I have a son who is heading off on official visits - all of them across the country! - starting next weekend so we are heading into a very nervous-making time. I would love to have a specific spot on CC for all the discussions of the various machinations involved...</p>
<p>
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Athletic recruiting is in the next batch...
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<p>^^^^Great!</p>
<p>An athletic recruiting forum would be great. I come on CC frequently, scouring for tidbits on this issue. The experiences shared here by so many parents (and also athletes) are incredibly helpful! D has been receiving emails and phone calls - in response to emails and letters she sent to coaches last spring and earlier in the summer. She has several official visits coming up, and we are still trying to figure out what she has gotten herself into, how she can prepare herself to get the most out of these experiences, and what the next steps might be after these visits. It feels a bit like she is about to take her first backdive off a diving board - without any instruction!</p>
<p>In our very limited experience, it feels taboo for an athlete to speak to teammates in any detail about their recruiting experiences - the athletic and academic circumstances of each student are different, and it would be unthinkable to risk stirring up competition (even resentment) among teammates. Ditto for speaking at any length to the parents of teammates. And, apart from teammates, who else does one know in the sport? School/club coaches may provide some advice to students and their families - but coaches' knowledge of the recruiting process seems to vary widely (from a lot to virtually none). The college coaches in general seem quite nice, but their focus is on the interests of their team and academic institution - potential recruits are a small part of a much larger picture.</p>
<p>Talk to the parents of your child's teammates that graduated a year or more earlier. My H has a lot of coffee with parents of current student-athletes -- our S graduated in '05. We have a lot of athletic recruitment experience -- 2 seasons worth actually -- and he likes to share it.</p>
<p>My son is a baseball player that graduated in June and is playing @ the D1 college level. On his high school team there were 4 other D1 recruits and the boys and parents were all pretty open with their recruiting stories. We also know several college players that were also helpful with their recruiting stories. We also found several books about athletic recruiting that really laid out a timeline for getting recruited. It also covered many topics concerning recruiting and was general enough to be useful for all sports.</p>
<p>It can be such a difficult, confusing process that the more parents and athletes can discuss the process the easier it will be for new recruits and their parents.</p>
<p>Fielding phone call from coaches can be quite time consuming for students, especially now that school has started up again. Yes, the coaches' interest is quite wonderful, in a way, but for busy HS seniors, the calls can come at the end of and/or in the midst of a busy day of academic and extracurricular commitments. One more piece of a fairly complicated college search/recruiting puzzle.</p>