Definition of Recruited Athlete/misleading info

Athletic Recruits
1

<p>Please indulge me while I vent! The other day I ran into a parent of one of my daughter's younger club teammates. She was talking about the seniors on the team and specifically the child of a mutual friend. She told me that the coach told a group of parents that he was being recruited by a laundry list of schools but was waiting until spring to make a decision. Well, I know the mother of this boy and she has talked to me extensively about their recruiting experience and this is absolutely untrue. Her son has been in contact with several coaches, but no coach initiated phone calls, official visits, etc. In my opinion, they reached too high, courting schools where the son's athletic ability was in the bottom of their range, expecting him to improve dramatically. More to the point, based on the following NCAA definition of a Recruited Athlete, I believe the coach is intentionally misleading parents regarding this particular athlete and most likely other athletes as well.</p>

<p>NCAA definition of a Recruited Prospective Student-Athlete</p>

<p>Actions by staff members or athletic representatives that cause a prospect to become a recruited prospect at that institution are:</p>

<p>A. Providing the prospect with an official visit.</p>

<p>B. Having an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospect or the prospect's parents or legal guardians for the purpose of recruitment;and</p>

<p>C. Initiating or arranging a telephone contact with the prospect, the prospects relatives or legal guardians on more than one occassion for the purpose of recruitment and </p>

<p>D. Issuing a National Letter of Intent or the institution written offer of athletic related financial aid to the prospect (excluding summer term awards prior to inital full-time enrollment).</p>

<p>This coach has been disseminating false recruiting information for years, sucking in both parents and athletes with delusions of full scholarships for just slightly above average athletes, in an equity sport no less. He claims athletes have been recruited who are straight up walk-on and tells everyone an athlete at an Ivy is on a full athletic scholarship, which we all know is totally false, but his parents and athletes for the most part are clueless. But the biggest myth he perpetuates is that if an athlete makes States, they are all but guaranteed a full ride. Ughhhh!</p>

<p>I have counseled several parents on this team regarding recruiting and was asked by the parents organization to write a recruiting guide for them. There is no way that I can do this without stepping on this coach's toes, so I have made excuses for not doing this thus far. But it infuriates me when I hear about this coach's rhetoric!</p>

2

<p>Write the guide. Facts are facts and you will be doing parents a great service by giving them real, relevant information on the recruiting process. It sounds to me like that coach likes to pump himself up by making it sound like he has so many recruited athletes coming out of his team.</p>

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<p>That’s a shame, fishymom. It seems there are quite a few club coaches that like to sell that “full ride” payoff to build their reputations (and bank accounts)</p>

<p>If only parents knew how rare full-rides are in equivalency sports. And club alums aren’t much help either - if Sally gets a 20% scholarship, the word among club parents will probably go from “she got a scholarship!” to “Sally got a 4 year full-ride!” and Sally’s parents probably won’t go out of their way to correct people.</p>

<p>There are a lot of sharks in the water for prospective college athletes.</p>

4

<p>fishymom,</p>

<p>I hope you feel better after your vent. I’ve wrestled with this topic too, and I’ve seen bad recruiting practices across the board with travel coaches and college coaches promoting their status and programs…sometimes they’ve worked together to deceive a recruited athlete.</p>

<p>I feel I’ve done my absolute best to warn many local parents multiple times only to have them do exactly what I warned them against. It is now on them, and their bad choices. Why should you write a brochure or document if they are not going to lsiten to your suggestions? Currently, I know of multiple cases where things haven’t worked out (despite my suggestions) with the student and the program for one reason or another…I file it in the “I told you so file” which I always keep up to date. My conscience is clear, and I sleep well at night.</p>

5

<p>Why are you staying affiliated with a club that you clearly see is promoting false promises? The biggest statement you could make is taking your daughters talent elsewhere to a club that is honest and promotes proper recruiting guidelines. I know it is probably not black and white and there is a lot more involved but if you do not agree with the clubs practices why stay?</p>

6

<p>In our case, there is no deceptive practices at our club. But the coaches put too much emphasis on how the sport will help the kids get into colleges and get an athletic scholarship. When we first started, we told him that we are thinking of a D3, his reply was don’t you need FA, an athletic scholarship? We replied to him that we do need help, but I’m looking at academic scholarship instead. Fast forward several months, yes, she signed with a lower D1. But her academic scholarship is way more than her athletic scholarship and I bet if she did not have those stats, she would not have attracted as many coaches as she did. As parents of upcoming athletes at our club are now talking to me, I told them out right: Make sure your kids have the grades. I am thankful for this board for helping me through the process. There was certainly a lot of misinformation when we started, but this board has been a tremendous help in helping us finding our direction and ultimately a school she likes at a price we can afford.</p>

7

<p>My daughter is a sophomore in college and has not been affiliated with that club for about 5 years. However, I am still friendly with many of the parents, having taught and coached many of the high school kids as youngsters. My daughter was a 3 sport athlete and chose to pursue one of her other sports in college and signed with a DI program 2 years ago. Because of her successful recruiting outcome, I am often contacted by parents seeking recruiting advice. I am not affiliated with the club in any way other than through my connection with some of the parents.</p>

8

<p>Oh got ya, I understand. I get the same thing with my sons sport and parents contacting me about recruiting for his sport. Its nice to be able to help others along the process. One local kid was deciding between my sons college and 1 other, he opted for the other which is probably best for his situation although the program is not nearly as good for the sport. Will be fun to see how he does in college. I am sure it is the same for you seeing your friends kids go thru it.</p>

9

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<p>How about writing it and asking the coach for his advice and “input?” This way he will have partial “ownership” and you won’t be stepping on any toes.</p>

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<p>Every single thing I’ve read says … unless one is a blue-chip football or basketball player … that academic scholarships offer much more money than athletic scholarships.</p>

10

<p>fishymom–I will say that it really depends on the sport. Many schools/sports don’t do official visits at all, especially non-revenue sports, just won’t spend the budget money on those so that eliminates many schools so under your assumption those athletes are not “recruited”? I think it is much more complex than that. </p>

<p>Our DD didn’t go on any official visits, she contacted some coaches, other coaches contacted her via letters, emails and phone calls on both sides. She had off-campus contacts with a couple coaches but the rest she met with on campus. She signed her NLI this week. According to this definition she wasn’t a ‘recruited athlete’ though?? I don’t think so. The 50+ coaches that were in constant contact with her over the past year certainly made it fell like she was being recruited. This is easier in a sport where your talent isn’t subjective though, like in track, either you run a 4 minute mile or you don’t.</p>

<p>Promising potential players that they can get a full ride gets tricky but how many kids from the club team are on full rides or even partial scholarships somewhere over the past years? I’m familiar with a very successful volleyball program that does tell kids that they do have a very high likelihood of getting DI scholarship money. Each year that team pumps out between 3-5 DI scholarshiped athletes. Pretty impressive when they only carry 8 or 10 kids. The other kids end up playing college ball at other levels.</p>

<p>DD was given a lot more in merit aid then athletic aid but that is the norm for her sport. The combination of the two is what we were looking for. She was offered athletic awards ranging from $500-10,000 but the net price after athletic and merit all rounded out to be within about $3000 of each other with the exception of 2 schools. The combination of the merit and athletic awards for her have brought her costs down to where her tuition and room and board is covered. We will just have to pay fees, books and travel costs unless she gets a couple outside scholarships, which she has a good chance of getting too.</p>

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<p>the coach is blowing smoke up those parents who are gullible enough to listen to him, in the revenue sports if that player is USA Today/Kodak all everything than she/he is just another workaday wanna be that is looking for a break and the coach may have a little value otherwise it is a crap shoot. High School & club coaches blow a lot smoke, in hopes that they can get to the next level themselves, they also mislead a lot of athletes and parents in trying to get to their goal also.</p>

12

<p>I have been involved with a lot of recruiting. </p>

<p>My observation is that most club coaches and academy, camps, or training facilities will make these claims because they know it helps parents justify spending the money. All too often I hear parents make claims that I know, having worked in NCAA Division-I programs, is just flat out false.</p>

<p>However, you can’t correct the parents. They don’t want to be told they were swindled. The best thing you can do is provide them with the information and let them learn for themselves. I always find that providing news articles that have been written on athletic recruiting and how rare scholarship offers are helps the parents realize. When in doubt, provide them with the actual rule in the NCAA handbook. The one I most commonly hear, just like fishymom’s ivy league scholarship story, is about D3 athletes on scholarship. We all know there are no scholarships in D3. In some extreme cases, I will provided EDAD data which helps show that particular school’s investment into the sport.</p>

<p>But the reality is that many parents you can’t reach. I don’t know how many people think because they were on a ‘showcase’ team or played in ‘national’ events that they are one of the few that will be awarded a scholarship. I have always told parents that if your kid is not on a national ranking list for recruits, you should assume they are not getting a scholarship. (Note: if you have been involved in any way with the group doing the ranking that ranking doesn’t count for you) Even if you are on a national recruiting list it still isn’t guaranteed.</p>

<p>I don’t know how many kids give up on playing because they reached too high and realized how competitive it is out there. If you won’t be seeing much playing time as a freshmen it may not be a good fit athletically for you. It is much more fun to be a four year starter at a low division school and even then you probably won’t be all that impressive. Remember that Division-III students go pro and make the olympics all the time too.</p>