<p>Ok here goes with my first post. Hope it's in the right place and right forum. No 1 son is a high school sophomore equivalent in the UK (Year 11 for us, he's 15 now, 16 in June, GCSE year) and is absolutely set on applying to a US college as a student athlete.
I've started the research but am a little unsure of whether to use a scouting service or not. I think if he wanted to contact a heap of D1 colleges and fill in the recruiting questionnaires etc we can handle that, plus we can easily set up a website for him with video.
My problem is about how to navigate through the D1, D2, D3, NAIA. How to tell if he has an 'offer' or not. At what point does an offer become 'serious' and can it be withdrawn. Also, as we are in the UK, we'd want to limit visits (obviously) so how do coaches and admissions handle that?
Sorry for all the questions, I have lots so I've tried to limit them and I really appreciate any advice you might have.
My thoughts were to use the free service at ncsa, also use berecruited, use the college questionnaires, use my linkedin contacts (I'm an athletics coach so I have a few dozen US contacts) and do some direct email. If we didn't feel we were making progress then fall back on someone like ncsa next year. Does this sound like a viable plan?</p>
<p>It would probably help if you put your son’s sport on here. A lot of us know our kids sports well and how things go with recruiting but may not be familiar with other sports. I do know recruiting services have not really been recommended by much of anyone, and as you said you can do a lot yourself. Smart to be starting early as you are. Regarding offers, if a coach gives you an athletic scholarship offer, you can expect it to stick at least in my sons sport. It would be a recruiting killer for any school to rescind on an offer because it would get out in that particular sports community. Vise versa too.</p>