<p>I just finished my junior year of high school, and I ended up having a very successful season with track (I'm a thrower--javelin is my best event). I am wondering how to gauge which sorts of schools I should potentially target for athletic recruitment. In large part, I am wondering whether I could potentially leverage javelin to boost my chances for college admissions and/or pick up a scholarship.</p>
<p>I had never really thought about doing track in college, in part because it was not until this year that I started doing so well in county and state-level meets. While I like javelin, I'm also ok with not throwing in college if I'm not good enough.</p>
<p>My current SAT score 1800 (although unfortunately, the highest part was in Writing, which some schools seem to discount). My grades are not good, however. After junior year grades trickle in, probably looking around a 3.0. </p>
<p>I'd like to apply to places like Delaware, Maryland, Syracuse, UConn, UMass-Amherst, URI, some of the SUNYs (some are D3). I don't think I have a great shot at any of these places because of my grades. (My SAT score puts me in the 25-75 range at most of these places). </p>
<p>The better you are competitively in your event, the less your grades will matter and the more likely you will be able to get a coach to help with admissions. You can usually get a good feel for what the team needs are by looking at the current roster rather than the scholarship guidelines that are posted. There can be a big difference in expected performance in certain events between D3 & D1. </p>
<p>However, if a coach helps you get in, you will be expected to be on the team. In D1 men’s track, where there is very little money to go around, many schools offer admissions, and minimal athletic dollars i.e. only books and fees. D3 schools do not offer athletic money, only academic. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a good fit where a particular program is in need of someone in your event and has allocated dollars to fill the void. D1 sports are a big commitment, so if they get you in, be prepared for 20hrs./week practice (plus hours in the weight room or meetings). Also think about what you are looking for from your experience. There may not be any javelin throwers on a given team, or only ones with PRs well below yours, because there is no javelin coach. The coach that is there may be able to get you in, but if he/she does not have the skills to help you improve, all the money in the world won’t make it a good fit for you. So look for a school that has the major you want and a coach for your specialty.</p>
<p>You should contact both the head coach and throws coach at the schools you are interested in and share your academic and athletic performance. My S had better success initially with e-mail. Don’t expect to hear back right away, be persistent. With the exception of the Ivy’s, most D1 schools seem to recruit for track well into senior year so keep in touch with the schools that interest you, even if it is only an occasion email. </p>
<p>@OnTrack2013 Thank you for all of your feedback! Your reasoning of why some teams may not excel in javelin was something I had not considered–that they simply do not excel in it. </p>
<p>I suppose I’m less interested in a large financial scholarship than I am in the academic boost. I’m just afraid my grades are not high enough to get into places of interest on their own and that my SAT scores are good but not high enough to compensate. The laid-back nature of D3 throwing is probably more my style (if I have to be honest), but I’m not too interested in liberal arts school–I suppose that’s a common conundrum. I’d say I’m mostly interested in D1 schools academically and the D3 schools that interest me tend to be the non-liberal arts ones like some of the SUNYs (state schools in New York). </p>
<p>Is your advice that I should look at the javelin throwers and assess if I’m on par with the current throwers? And if so, that is a good way to gauge that they could potentially be interested in me? I was looking at several D3 teams today, and my PRs this year were better than every thrower but 1 on about the 20 teams I looked up today. I wasn’t sure how to assess D1 after I saw those recruiting standards, but it sounds like you are saying not to pay too much credence to those and instead to focus on the active roster?</p>
<p>Is there an appropriate time of the year to be contacting coaches? Namely, I’d be focusing on outdoor/spring track since this year I only excelled in the javelin, which is not an indoor sport. I was not sure if certain times of the year might be too early or too late into the recruitment process. Or like summer might be bad because they may tend to be less active with email?</p>
<p>javislife - OnTrack gave you some excellent advice. I would just add that assessing your chances by looking at the current roster can be misleading. Example, a million years ago I was comparing pole vault heights with team rosters. There were some top tier schools with pretty weak vaulters. Came to realize this was because some coaches just don’t recruit vaulters. PV is a little like jav in that it’s a ‘one trick pony’, meaning that athlete is probably only going to score points in that one event. A strong 400m runner, on the other hand can do relays, distance guys were good for track and xc, etc. </p>
<p>So bottom line was, the teams that are weak in an event may not be actively trying to bring on guys that are better. If they are going to spend money or admissions support on a recruit, they want someone that can help them win team points in the conference.“Better than what I have, but not scoring team points” does the coach no good. </p>
<p>So look at conference meet results. In the SUNY Athletic Conference, for example, it looks like 45m was able to score points in the conference meet, and Brockport St. looks like the dominant jav team in the conference with 3 guys scoring points. When you see that, it’s pretty clear that Brockport actively seeks jav throwers.</p>
<p>Of the D1 schools you mentioned, UConn seems to have an active javelin culture with 4 guys over 55m at conference. </p>
<p>My PR this year was about 54 meters, which would already put me ahead of most or all the guys who scored points in that SUNY meet. And it sounds like it could make me marginally competitive with the UConn guys (considering I was just a high school junior and they were already in college . . .)</p>
<p>Let me see if I’m understanding your advice. In the end, you are saying I should look at places with a few guys who throw jav and where my current throw is competitive? I shouldn’t expect too much support if I can’t contribute to an array of events, but it could potentially work out?</p>
<p>Jav - the key is scoring points at conference meets. If your marks can score points at the conference championships you have a chance at some athletic money from D1s or admissions help at some D3s. Don’t compare yourself to current rosters unless you know that program excels in that event. As pointed out by Varska and On Track the program may not focus on Javelin or even have a coach for it, so comparing to rosters doesn’t mean much.</p>
<p>It is a great goal to use track to get you into a school you might struggle to without. It worked for my daughter who is a sprinter and hurdler. She got into a mid tier D1 with outstanding academics and a near full ride. But she has a chance to come in and be top 3-4 in 2-3 events at their conference championships. Some of the smaller D1 offers she got to bigger schools had more competitive conferences where she would not have scored as high. Once we understood this, the recruiting process became much clearer and it became easier to find a good fit instead of a shotgun approach. </p>
<p>@OnTrack2013 @varska@lubbub When I contact coaches, should I explicitly mention that I researched how their javelin throwers did in conference meets and how my marks this past year compare? Is that just too presumptuous and cocky? Or I should use that information to keep in mind where I might be wanted and excel?</p>
<p>At the D3 places I’ve looked up, my throws would have placed be in 1st or 2nd place at their conference meets.</p>
<p>I haven’t looked up D1 yet, but I’m guessing definitely not the same. But is that a problem considering I’m not even in college yet and that I’m just a high school junior comparing myself to college juniors? </p>
<p>Too bad you’re a little late for New Balance Outdoor Nats. The qualifying standard was 54.9/ 180ft. If you want to see coaches that are actively pursuing javelin throwers, the big national meets are great. Not to mention, placing at Nationals is a nice thing on your track resume.</p>
<p>As for explicitly mentioning how your throws stack up to the guys on the team, it’s probably sufficient to just give your PR, I’m sure the coach knows how that compares to his guys. But mentioning some specific reason why you’re interested in his program is a good idea.</p>