July 1st expectations - swimming

<p>There is a lot of great information and advice in this thread. The only thing that I would like to mention is that home visits by coaches are not that common in swimming. Unlike top football and basketball recruits who might feel slighted if a coach doesn’t come by the house, most swimmers should not expect a coach to travel across the country to meet their families. If a swim coach shows up at your house, they really want you to come to their school. On the other hand, the lack of a home visit doesn’t imply a lack of interest. </p>

<p>Best of luck to those of you waiting for July 1. </p>

<p>I think that is a great point @hangNthere. Some schools even will tell you that they do not do home visits (I know Texas told my friend that they do not). We happened to be in an area (a 100 mile radius) that probably has 10-15 top 100 recruits so I think my friend’s experience was probably because coaches were visiting other swimmers too. She was in the top 75 of her class and was visited in her home by 4 coaches!</p>

<p>@hangNthere: “The only thing that I would like to mention is that home visits by coaches are not that common in swimming. Unlike top football and basketball recruits who might feel slighted if a coach doesn’t come by the house, most swimmers should not expect a coach to travel across the country to meet their families.”</p>

<p>Dang it! So no compliments on the window treatments then? (Sorry, Blindside reference which was mentioned earlier, it’s Friday, and I’m still not fully committed to work today).</p>

<p>Before this thread, I’ve never really heard of a swim coach visiting the home either, but I do know that coaches have shown up at my son’s club practices to look at swimmers (which is interesting because the last time it happened the coach couldn’t talk to the particular recruit being watched, but that swimmer did eventually get a full ride - And, fwiw, our son says practice was really hard that day). And of course I’ve seen college coaches at swim meets too. It’s kind of funny to watch sometimes because of who they can and can’t talk to, depending on the date and whether the swimmer is a senior in HS or not.</p>

<p>1happydad: We’ve had coaches at practice as well. The scene at the end of large meets is entertaining with coaches and athletes moving quickly between meetings. </p>

<p>It’s not that there aren’t home visits for swimmers, it’s just that many of the visits are to the same top recruits that every team wants. My children were more in the middle of the recruited list at their top choices. Lots of offers for official visits and/or full support, but no coaches waiting outside of our home at 9 AM on July 1 with breakfast in hand.</p>

<p>Unlike top ten football and basketball programs where there is a lot of money allocated for recruiting, most other sports have very modest budgets for the entire program. With big revenue programs, the challenge for the NCAA is preventing teams and boosters from spending money in prohibited ways. In contrast, the families of athletes in other sports frequently pay for many of the things that would be allowed under NCAA rules if there was enough money available.</p>

<p>I agree about the coaches visits. A coach came to my sons practice a couple weeks ago. He emailed my son telling him he was coming but my son didn’t speak to him. He did have messages to give my son through his club coach. It was nice that he told my son before hand. Nice to be prepared I guess. </p>

<p>@hangNthere: “…but no coaches waiting outside of our home at 9 AM on July 1 with breakfast in hand.”</p>

<p>So just coffee then? ; )</p>

<p>Some thoughts for July 1 through November 1st for the parents here…take it as my pondering the July 1 opening calls for new potential collegiate swimmers:</p>

<p>1) Go with your gut. Throughout this next four months there is a happy/stressful/happy atmosphere surrounding your swimmer and consequently you. There will be some tough decisions to make–when to accept OVs, which schools to accept OVs, how to ask about scholarship money, how to ask about support into school for Ivys, ultimately which college suits my swimmer best academically, socially and athletically. There will be a lot of second guessing of your decisions–so I would say–go with your gut instinct. If it seems right, it has a larger probability of being right than wrong.<br>
2) Coaches are human. During our D’s recruiting process we found the majority of coaches to be interesting, warm, and highly motivated people. Their job is to put together their single best recruiting class ever, while your family’s job is to get to the “best school” possible for your athlete. (Note that the term “best” doesn’t mean only athletics…) The goals of each group can be in alignment, or in direct conflict to one another.<br>
3) Coaches move–a lot–so make sure your swimmer loves the school, not the coach. Coaches get fired, assistant coaches are in this constant chess game of moving to a better coaching opportunity every July, and coaches retire. Of the 14 swimmers in my D’s recruiting class at her club, after the first year of college, there are 4 large coaching changes that impacted swimmers significantly. Some changes were to the swimmer’s benefit, others to their detriment. Coaching changes can also mean changes in interest level in your athlete during recruiting. Once a hot prospect to the previous coach, might be a luke warm prospect to a new coach with his/her own athlete prospect roster.<br>
4) There are few full ride scholarships out there in Division 1. If your child has been on the podium at Jr. Nationals multiple times, and is in the Top 50-75 in their recruiting class, then there may be a full ride at a University program–maybe. Most swimmers have partial scholarships in Division 1. Make sure you, as the parent–fully understand if you can stack athletic and financial aid, and if you can stack athletic and academic aid. If you have a strong student, there is a possibility of receiving academic scholarships (merit) that will enhance and/or replace your student’s athletic aid. The coaches are motivated to help you recognize those scholarships so they can use athletic aid for another swimmer.
5) If you have a highly achieving student as well as a talented swimmer, you need to philosophically decide if you can afford to look at the non-scholarship schools–such as Ivy’s. If you run a net price calculator on the selected school’s website, and you cannot afford the amount that is in the NPC to pay for that school, perhaps you should think twice about going down that pathway. Financial Aid and the NPC are tied together pretty well for most schools, so it is indicative of what you pay. We have friends who thought there would be some “miracle” fund found for their student athlete because of high swimming/academic achievements, so they attended an OV, and fell in love with the school. In the end of the day, however, they could not afford the school, and the athlete “settled” for a Division 1 state school. Remember, this is a non-revenue generating sport–very few “miracle” funds are out there for it.
6) Take academic fit into consideration. HIghly respected Top 20 academic schools got to be that way because they are tough academic institutions. Those tough academic schools require a lot of studying. If your student is a moderate student (3.5 GPA and 28-30 ACT), but an excellent athlete and is recruited by these schools, make sure you fullly understand what type of academic support is offered to them–are there tutors? Note takers for classes? Academic support advisors within the athletic department? There is zero benefit in going to a school to study and swim if the athlete is out of their realm academically. This is especially true once you think about missing 5-10 academic days in the fall for travel to meets and a week in the spring semester for conference championships (not mention NCAAs).
7) Is there a school where your swimmer is very interested has had minimal or no contact or interest from the coach? Be persistent, close to relentless–email weekly and update them on things. Call a couple of times. Ask your club coach to contact them to help them understand the type of swimmer you are. If you think its a realistic match–swimmer can score in their conference, college needs swimmers in their stroke that year, high academic match, etc–then be persistent. As things unfold throughout the fall, and swimmers make decisions, coaches will move down their lists to other recruits. If you really want a school, make sure that coach knows it. Ultimately, the coach wants to build the best team possible. If it comes down between a lukewarm recruit and one that has made their love of the school known to the coaching staff, they’ll call the one that has been persistent in showing interest. </p>

<p>Someone once told me “there are two happy days in the recruiting process–July 1 and the day your student signs.” I actually disagree with this–there are some really happy days in between, but there are some really hard days in between as well. Support your athlete–they are receiving a lot of attention, but being asked to make tough decisions about their future at 17 years old. Best of luck to all of you and I sincerely hope your athlete finds their “best fit” school in the next few months.</p>

<p>@swim4school‌ Thank you very much for your experienced insight! I have read this twice and will probably come back and read it again sometime later this week and maybe into fall!!!</p>

<p>@swim4school: Ditto what @ahsmuoh wrote. I’ve also read it a couple of times already and will refer back to it as well. One piece of advice is really perfect for my son right now, and it resonates with something ahsmuoh wrote earlier, so I plan to read it to him.</p>

<p>Sigh about the miracle fund…oh well, retirement is overrated!</p>

<p>@swim4school‌, yes tritto (?) above :). Thank you. </p>

<p>Been off the board for a few days at a British Championships, and came back to s4s’s great post. Admittedly that sounds odd because I had internet access there, but mentally all I could do was follow the swimming…</p>

<p>[ off topic - The championship was a bit different for S this time around because he was swimming completely unrested. Because of one of the programmes he is on here, he had to attend, and so we did. Fortunately for my nerves it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it might be. He was 1s off his 100, and .5s off his 50. We were all pleasantly surprised, and even his coach said he didn’t think he would go as fast as he did. </p>

<p>We were in a city that has a really good university, and also a great swim coach (either with the university or a nearby club - if he went to that City, that would be his coach). I asked S if he thought we should do an informal tour etc. of the university. His response was immediate; he said “no. I want to go to America.”. <em>Sigh</em></p>

<p>You guys clearly have a world wide admired programme (program) ^:)^ ]</p>

<p>Good luck to everyone today!!!</p>

<p>Agreed … good luck! (and please let us all know what happened)</p>

<p>@Researchmum‌ I totally understand the swimming big meets “unrested”. My sons coach only believes in one taper and no rest for other meets. There are a couple of big meets that most teams at least rest a couple days for that our team “swims right through” . It is actually kind of a running joke in our area that our team almost always wins our tapered meets but gets demolished at others. Oh well. The taper is usually very good but waiting 6 months is a long time ( especially when your kid gets mono at the big meet!). </p>

<p>My s and dh and I sat down last night and wrote out some good questions for him to ask if he gets calls in the next couple days. He is pretty good with conversation but I do think he is nervous. He did get an email yesterday saying they look forwarding to talking with him “tomorrow” so at least he knows the phone will ring once. I reminded him to turn on his ringer because he never actually talks on the phone only texts!</p>

<p>Honestly, I can not believe that “July 1st before senior year” is here already. Something he has been talking about for 3 years now! Goodluck to everyone else too. </p>

<p>Good morning! I just found this thread and have read it top to bottom! Thanks for all the great information and honest discussions…it’s so good to hear that others are going through the same things and have had some of the same thoughts that I have had in the past few weeks. I am nervous for today (hardly slept at all last night wondering if his phone is going to ring today). My S doesn’t think he will get any D1 calls today…I think he will get a couple, though we both know they won’t be from big schools (just not quite fast enough). He has had some great discussions with some really good academic DIII schools, and he’s had several official visit offers so far. </p>

<p>I feel that he has a similar story to others here…he is a good swimmer, has very good grades, and excellent ACT scores…and he had mono during his HS season - though we didn’t find out until after his season is over. I kept telling him that he had it, but he refused to be checked because he thought they would make him stop swimming. As a result, he didn’t have any best times (but he did have some great swims). I also don’t want him to make excuses, but I do feel that that is valuable information for coaches to have. I don’t want anyone thinking that he has peaked already. </p>

<p>I am frustrated with my S as I have been trying so hard to help him gather information and help him be prepared to talk to coaches today (being prepared to ask and answer questions, etc.). He’s already spoken with 5 or 6, so he has a little experience with it, but I feel like he thinks he knows it all (as most 17 year olds do!). Is anyone else experiencing this as well? I just want him to not sound like an idiot on the phone - lol.</p>

<p>So I have another question…he has to practice twice today and coach in between, leaving him only a couple of hours to take phone calls (again, if there are any; there may not be!). Is it ok if he isn’t able to answer his phone and has to call them back? I know it’s best to answer if he can, but will it put anyone off if he can’t? I’m probably just being overly anxious…</p>

<p>We are in MST, so it’s still early here…I feel like it’s going to be a long day, whether calls come in or not! Best of luck to all of you and your swimmers today and the rest of the week. I am anxious to hear how it all turns out!</p>

<p>@Lovemyswimmer‌ Welcome to the thread! Wow it sounds like your son had a very similar experience to mine. My sons coach has told us that his swims at summer nationals will be important for scholarship amounts. I guess to prove he didn’t “peak”. So I totally get it. My son is a good student - not great and his ACT is more than enough to get into the schools he is looking at and may be enough for a little merit money too. He is hoping to go medium to pretty big D1 - not Stanford or Cal big but more SEC or ACC medium to big. We will see - if he had not gotten sick and hit his goals I would be more confident. </p>

<p>I totally understand also the 17 year old know it all attitude. It depends on how tired our son is! We find that if we can talk with him on Sundays when he is more rested we have a much better conversation. That is also why I asked for a father of a recruited swimmer that he really likes to come over last Sunday to talk to him. I knew he would take his advice (even though most of it we already had said!). My son is very independent and I appreciate the fact that he wants to handle this on his own but he needs to understand that we need to be part of it - especially when the finances come into play!</p>

<p>As far as taking calls today. I think he should just try to return them as quickly as possible. A couple coaches have asked my son via email when a good time would be. They understand that kids have doubles - my son also lifeguards between his practices. Today, he is lucky is not a doubles day and he asked off work. So he will be available, although he said he hopes no one calls in the middle of the World Cup game! Oh the priorities of a 17 yr old boy! He also had a dinner date with his girlfriend tonight. He said she understands that if his phone rings he may need to excuse himself. </p>

<p>Goodluck - keep us posted. </p>

<p>Welcome to the conversation Lovemyswimmer. Our son is also in the same boat, swimming doubles and coaching in between. I have a feeling this isn’t an unusual situation. Good old SwimSwam is running an article today: What to Do if You Don’t Get Phone Calls on July 1.</p>

<p><a href=“http://swimswam.com/college-recruiting-dont-get-phone-calls-july-1/”>http://swimswam.com/college-recruiting-dont-get-phone-calls-july-1/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Some good info in there. They begin the article with a tongue-in-cheek list of things you might consider if you don’t get a call. I had to laugh because bullet point number four was “change sports.” The writer obviously hasn’t met our LivesinHobbiton!</p>

<p>Ha. That is an interesting article. I am work today so I do not know if my son has received any calls but I bet he would have let me know. Just keep saying “it will all work out”</p>

<p>So…anyone get any calls yet?</p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry too much if your swimmer doesn’t get a call today or the next couple of days for that matter - wouldn’t read too much into that. Coaches are trying to reel in their big recruits right now in hopes they land a couple or get some strong nibbles. If your swimmer is good enough they will hear from some coaches. Guy swimmers do have it a bit tougher and I wish them extra luck in this process. Best wishes!</p>

<p>Oh and I’d add that USA’s swimming Splash magazine had a really funny article last March/April about the discussions college coaches have with their potential recruits and the monosyllabic responses they got from these teenagers. I think the coaches are used to leading the discussions - figure it’s when these guys are earning their pay! :-)</p>

<p>My son is with friends watching the World Cup so I don’t know but I think he would text me if he got a call. My friend who’s daughter is going to Princeton said the same thing as @swimdogmom‌ She only got one call on the 1st and not from the schools she had been emailing. Princeton didn’t call her until the 3rd</p>