<p>Hey, i am a sophomore and was wondering how important it is to join a website like NCSA or CaptainU.</p>
<p>What do you think a recruiting website can do that you can’t do?</p>
<p>NCSA is very expensive and worthless for the money.</p>
<p>CaptainU is cheaper.</p>
<p>The only reason we used a recruiting website is to keep my son’s data in one place, including video of his play. Find the cheapest option out there, or buy your own web address and put up your info. You can’t go emailing videos to people, they need to have a home on the web.</p>
<p>IMHO, it depends on your sport, where you are in the process, and how much work you and your family want to do. In a sport with heavy early recuiting, having a service can help with coach communications that can’t go directly to the applicant due to NCAA rules. </p>
<p>If you are willing to put in the time to update profiles, keep videos fresh, call coaches, get evaluations, etc., then it is probably cheaper to do it yourself and there’s no proprietary “special sauce” that these services have by and large. But if you’re not willing or able to do the work, they can be a valuable outsourcing option for the grunt work needed early in the recruitment funnel. Once you narrow down to a few schools with mutual interest, then they are of little if any value. </p>
<p>When it came down to having DD focus on school or focus on recruiting, it was a choice we made to outsource the recuiting legwork and double down on the academics. </p>
<p>If you do decide to go the outsourcing route, there are a whole range of options outside of the ones you named that will fit any budget and need. Some are 100% hand-holding personal services and some are bare-bones sites where you maintain the content but they market their database to coaches. Figure out what works for you and then find the offering that fits.</p>
<p>If you’re a D1 football or basketball recruit, the NCAA prohibits a recruiting service from posting any video other than regularly scheduled HS or Prep School games. If you do it yourself, you can post any video you’d like to youtube or vimeo - bowl games, all-star games, combines, etc.</p>
<p>I am a soccer recruit @varska @BobcatPhoenix and thank you</p>
<p>I don’t think it is really necessary for soccer. I would have some video up on YouTube - some short highlight reels and others longer continuous video of your play. Put together a one page soccer resume of your academic and soccer achievements. You can e-mail coaches the resume and links to the video. If your club goes to major tournaments they should put together a handout for the attending coaches that includes this type of information for all of the players. </p>
<p>The important thing is to be persistent. Just because a coach doesn’t respond immediately doesn’t mean you should stop contacting them. Send periodic updates on your schedule and where you will be playing that they may see you at. At some point you may have to call the coaches, which can be tough to do. Make sure you have a realistic assessment of where you would fit in academically and soccerwise. </p>
<p>You don’t really need to join a website, but you definitely need a go-to resume that includes soccer stats, academic stats, club info and contacts and a close-up picture of you. You also need a highlight video that is up to 5 minutes long and shows your skills. It does not have to be professionally done, but should include markers to show where you are in the play (circle or arrow), highlighted plays that show how they started and how they ended, and an introduction page that tells a little about you. You can upload it to youtube and then include a link in your correspondence to coaches. The big tournaments sometimes include a temporary recruitment site membership that you can use for coaches at that tournament to view. The trouble with those is that they are usually only good for a set period of time after the tournament (10 days- 1month) unless you join the site and pay monthly fees. If you choose not to pay, then you will not have access to the page after that initial time. If a coach were to view the page after the initial period, you would not be able to see that it was viewed or even that they tried to contact you via the page. If you do use such a page, be sure to list your private email address and not the one they assign you. </p>
<p>It is always a good idea to directly contact any coach that you want to have watch you at a tournament and give them the specifics of the tournament- when your team plays, what field, your number, what colors you will be wearing, etc…anything that makes it easier for them. Include the stat sheet (resume) that you have put together and the link to your video. I am sending a link to a sample video to you. We did it ourselves-nothing fancy- and my son had great luck with it and is playing soccer in D2 now. Definitely adapt the ideas for yourself, but it can give you an idea of something that worked for him. </p>
<p>There are many options. Definitely can do this yourself. Key things:</p>
<p>First, establish a web presence of some kind. You can go to any number of sites like Wordpress and do this yourself.
On the website, video of the athlete in action in a game situation is the most powerful. Keep the clips short and get right to the play and have multiple plays within the video - one right after the other. Don’t make the coach wait long between plays - he/she is busy and needs to evaluate quickly if they want to continue the conversation. You can post these videos to youtube and link them to your website.</p>
<p>It’s a good idea to have some write up about the athlete so that the coach can get a little more information about the “rest” of the athlete - where have they played, grades, community service, etc.</p>
<p>Once you have the website up, do a google search for college athlete directories or similar. Several databases out there that offer colleges, by division, conference, etc. Many include direct contact emails and phone numbers.</p>
<p>Next is to send an email directly to the coach and link them to your site. </p>
<p>Final thing that comes to mind is to be realistic. Top tier athletes will already be on the radar. It’s the next tier of great athletes that need to market themselves. On that, be realistic about where the athlete actually has a shot. Many people don’t realize that there are competitive sports programs at D2 and D3 colleges. And, many of these schools offer a great education. College athletes with a great education will have lots of options at the end of their careers. Employers seek out athletes because they know about hard work and commitment.</p>