My son this year started do the jumps in track and has made great progress; he really loves the sport. He’s a junior though so senior year track season will be too late to count for admissions.
Since he wants to continue competing in non high school meets this summer and into the fall what is the latest date that d3 coaches (NESCAC) will consider for recruitment?
He has been working this season with a former Olympic caliber athlete as his technique coach who thinks he has considerable upside potential so now it’s a race against a deadline for him. (And would a credible coach’s view on further potential be useful at all?)
No need for scholarships just to compete on the team and get support for admission. Would consider a D1 ivy if he could get admitted too. (He’s in the 1500’s on his first SAT test)
So which date for last results for consideration?
I think they will consider new info right up until they fill the team. D3 schools are often a little later in recruiting than D1 schools, but of course if a D3 coach finds just the right recruit they will jump on him.
^Agreed. Many coaches arrange pre-reads over the summer and do overnight visits in the fall for recruits (because they will need to apply ED for D3) so he will need to fit into that timetable to be recruited. If that won’t work, I would suggest that he talk to coaches about being a walk on. Many will be delighted to get a great team member without using a recruiting spot for one.
Part of this is figuring out if he wants this as a hook for admissions or if he simply wants to continue to jump in college.
Being a Jr. is not too late to be recruited for track. Sports such as track are a little easier to recruit for as it not as subjective as most other sports. One of my kids was a strong D1 T&F Recruit including at all the Ivies and did not run track until Soph. year. It was not until the summer between Jr & Sr. year that the track recruitment really kicked into high gear.
As a side note, as we all know, sports can help get you into an Ivy & NESCAC type of school but no $ for sports. Also, even at D1 track is limited in the amount of scholarships offered…so pick the school(s) that are a good fit for the student/family 1st, contact the sport/coach if they have not reached out to you already but do not pick the school solely on the ability to run track at that school. I have personally seen students/families use the sport as the main decision factor and the student ends up not liking the school, transferring, etc. Also, injuries very common with college track and college sports in general so make sure they are excited about the school too, not just the fact they will be running track there. There are Many schools in which a semi-decent track athlete can walk onto the track team.
Yours is a tough question to answer, as obviously there’s no ‘deadline’. But I think it’s safe to say that most programs are still focused on identifying and prioritizing recruits up until the season winds down in mid-summer with NB nationals in June and USATF in July. Then a lot of the communication and shuffling kicks in, with athletes and programs narrowing options and official visits being planned. A first wave of decisions are being made in Sept/Oct. With the added complexity of pre-reads and admission support at the schools you have in mind, I think your son would be in great shape if he can get a reasonable mark in the next month or so, start communicating with coaches in June, and look to improve on marks in June and July. Practically speaking I think you’re going to know where he’s at athletically by then, and competitive opportunities will start to dwindle anyway. If coaches seem interested, you might consider a few unofficial visits in the summer.
I do think later into the fall starts to be a logistical challenge with admissions support; coaches don’t always have flexibility with those deadlines. Of course, many coaches won’t get the athletes they want early and might have some admissions pull later on, but those might not be the programs your son likes. All of this will vary by school of course, and there are plenty of D1-3 schools that can help with admissions up until spring of senior year (though likely not the selective schools you seem to have in mind). My approach would be to see where he’s at in a month, determine reasonable athletic fit (allowing for some improvement in early summer) and start emailing coaches. If you’re thinking he might pop a good jump at a local all-comers meet in late August, and that’ll have a big influence on coaches, I think that’s pretty unlikely. College coaches tend to be skeptical of out of season marks from small meets.
Having said all that, for a large portion of athletes and schools T&F recruiting continues all the way through the end of senior season, with quite a few decisions being made based on senior season indoor and outdoor marks. So if you take the admissions support at selective schools piece out of this, it’s a totally different picture.
Excellent answer above ^^^^
When his season ends in two or so weeks he can demonstrate his commitment to the sport and join USATF unattached as a Youth athlete and continue to compete throughout the summer. Also AAU if he joins a local club chapter. That is pretty much the last time period for him to lay down numbes that will meet performance standards. The summer is very competitive in youth track nationally, and he should be able to move from District to Regional to Nationals by July in addition to New Balance Nationals for HS. It is very competitive D1/ivy and either you hit performance standards or you don’t. Ivy is academic qualifications based. Most recruits do nescac overnights in late summer and commit to the admission process (ED). Some go into early fall for nescac elite D3 .
Recruiting for track can go well into senior year. Options can get limited for very competitive academic schools, if rosters are full, but if he is a high jumper, vaulter, or triple jumper, situations change all the time. Long jumpers are more common, so if that is his event you will have less leverage.
My son’s recruiting activity did not really tick up until after Jan. of his senior year, because he had a very strong indoor season, and shot up in the rankings. Just know where your son is in the rankings and how competitive he will be in the conference and be realistic about his level of performance. Track is pretty straight forward when it comes to evaluating where you fit.
If his marks are good enough, D1 (Non-Ivy) schools can get you admitted all the way up until fall classes start, but the problem is by that time, what little money that was available is already allocated and the only thing that is offered is guaranteed admission.
Follow up: Good news is he did improve dramatically and has even more upside so the college coach is interested and son loves the school! His coach thinks he has D1 talent potential but son wants to compete D3.
If the coach is interested the next step is to ask for a pre read for admission and go from there. Great news.
Congrats! Always fun to see progress. I’d at least look at Ivy programs and conference results on tfrrs, see if he might fit there athletically. Now-next few weeks-would be the time to start reaching out.