@sunnyschool you must have overheard me and one of my CC BFF’s; we’ve joked a few times about the coaches/AO’s cutting deals.
And here’s a different twist regarding athletic applicants that I recently heard: It seems commonly accepted that an athlete is only attractive to a coach/school if they fill a specific need on the team. But someone recently suggested (i.e. this is just a rumor) that coaches may support the admission of athletes that aren’t necessarily needed on their teams in order to keep the athletes from going to competing schools.
Hmmm…
On a different note, if an applicant is admitted, you/your kid may be contacted by current students in the kid’s sport, parents of current athletes and/or alums of the sport to encourage the kid to attend the particular school. As always YMMV depending on the school/sport. Parents of admitted students may find it particularly helpful to speak with a current parent if they have questions.
Some things you may want to ask of coaches and/or others described above, include:
Who else was admitted in the sport? How many are likely to accept? Any specialties under- or over-represented?
If you are going to revisit a school you may want to ask if any other new admits will be there that day.
Are there tryouts/cuts for the sport? If there are, how likely is it that the student will make the cut?
If playing time and/or playing a particular position is important, ask about it.
What about off-season training?
If the kid wants to try a second or third sport, find out about tryouts/cuts/playing time. If the student would likely be on JV or a 3rds team or lower, find out how the experience differs from varsity in terms of practice and competition.
I’m sure I’m missing some other things you should be asking about; perhaps @GoatMama or @MAandMEmom or others will chime in ;
Wow, very helpful @AppleNotFar ! Thanks! Now I just hope I get a reason to ask some of these questions…it’s the final countdown- breath held and fingers crossed!
^ I agree with @Apple. If your kid is an impact athlete, it is very likely that his/her student guide during revisits will be another varsity player and you will meet with the coach, the captain, or even the entire team.
I would recommend to be as direct as possible in your questions. For example, As a freshman, will I be the starting [name of position] on the varsity team? Can I join the varsity team for summer training although technically I haven’t even been to school yet and haven’t gone through tryouts? Can I participate in pre-season training? Are any current team members planning on continuing to play said sport in college?
My kid also asked about opportunities to play for a local club in the off-season: How good is the club? Are other team members playing there in the off-season? How easy or difficult is it to travel to practices and tournaments? Does the school encourage or discourage that, and is it hard to get a permission to travel with the club to an out-of-state tournament on a weekend?
@MAandMEmom could pitch in from a different sport’s perspective.
I agree that the important questions should be asked before your student shows up on campus in the fall, especially if its a sport where the school brings in a bunch of PGs who MAY see more “game time.” For my DD’s sport its a tad easier as its a time-based situation and your time is your time. Also the student and family needs to understand that participating in a sport year round will be completely different than be a multi-sport athlete. You need to embrace that going in and accept that the goals are different than if s/he were at home. My DD, a winter sport athlete, did not at all enjoy her chosen fall sport and did not excel but just got through it. The beauty of a school where there are so many options is that she looks forward to next fall when she can try something different that will help her fitness preparation for next winter. She’s also super excited about her spring sport, something that would never be an option at home.
This sports discussion has been very interesting and instructive. We’ve had a range of experiences, from one coach coming to watch DS plan, to him meeting with coaches in his main and second sports, on-going email correspondence, and in one case interviewing with one of the varsity coaches, who’s in the admissions office. He’s a very good but not recruited athlete, so I’m curious to see how it plays out. @AppleNotFar @GoatMama @MAandMEmom - The questions you’ve provided and insights are very helpful and I think relevant for DS; thank you. He’s talked about some of these things, but they will be good to revisit when he knows what his options are, if any. I have also wondered the same thing about whether AOs and ADs talk with their counterparts at other schools 
Thanks to all for sharing the experiences!
I mostly agree with the previous statement. I know it is just a theory/rumor about keeping a player from another team. I am not sure if I am can see that. If they are that impactful to another team almost likely they would be for your team or at minimum an awesome back-up, especially given that it is not about scholarship $ is on the line.
To be honest, I haven’t even of that happening in college. Sometimes in the pros you wont trade someone to someone in your division for fear of facing them but even then it is on the rarer side.
I know it was just a theory and a point of discussion. I just wanted to waste 5 min. responding.
On the college level, there is a lot more negotiating especially if the player has a super high GPA/SAT. There is an average that a school must have so a high SAT/GPA # allows some flexibility to take a superstar that is academically challenge. It is like the salary cap but for SAT’s.
Good comments here. Yes - for the Ivy League & Recruiting, it’s the Academic Index. Here’s a good article from the NYT to explain. Talking to coaches there they’ll want to know your stats to calculate your AI.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/sports/before-athletic-recruiting-in-the-ivy-league-some-math.html
Oh they talk. Coach from one school made call today …
^^ @Center - what does your second sentence mean?
Hi all. OP here, reporting back. The two coaches who were in close contact prior to M10 were both admits for DD. Yea! But strangely, the third coach who showed enthusiasm at the interview, but otherwise showed little or no interest, was also an admit. I am, however, left with the strong impression that the coaches who were in contact right before M10 knew DD was an admit, and they wanted to stay on her radar screen. Thanks to everyone for all your help. What a completely crazy process!
congrats @Hulahoop45 !! <:-P
@Hulahoop45 Congrats! What sport does she play?
@AppleNotFar it’s very confusing and honestly dependent on the sport. Some coaches are very involved, like at Deerfield our admissions director is also the lacrosse coach - there is a little bias there. That’s sarcasm.
Others, like wrestling, never see a kid until they are on the team. So… they never know for sure.
I can’t comment on other schools but it is really dependent on the sport. Once a kid is admitted however, the coach will know about it regardless of sport, as will the captains for the next year.
I would like to weigh on in on this since we were in a similar situation. We had a couple of coaches who were constantly in contact with DC. Also captains of the team. Communications came on a weekly to biweekly basis. DC was waitlisted at those schools. However DC was admitted to schools where he only talked to the coaches 1 to 2 times throughout this process. It was actually a very interesting turn of events. However we are a financial aid family and I believe The financial aid budgets at the schools he was waitlisted at had everything to do with it. So the answer is you just never know.
@Hulahoop45 how did A10 turn out for your family?