<p>I'm really curious to know which parent does the most "work" in order to help their child get an athletic scholarship? </p>
<p>Also, regardless if the work is equal are there certain parts of the process dads are more focused on and vice versa?</p>
<p>My own experience as a former student-athlete peaked my interest in this question along with a few trends I've noticed.</p>
<p>In our family it was mom… dad worked full time plus so mom had more time to help with the recruiting process.</p>
<p>Mom did everything in our house, but you probably need to ask folks to specify whether the student is a boy or girl, what sport it is, and whether either parent played the sport, because that could make a difference. (In our case, daughter, xc and track, mom never played.) Also, mom may do all the behind-the-scenes legwork, but I wonder if in the tough-guy sports like football, maybe dads are the public face of the parent unit when it comes to the actual events, like junior days etc.?</p>
<p>My friend also does everything for her son’s football recruiting, though. She thinks it might be better if she goes on the unofficial visits alone too, because then they’ll think she’s a single mom and plan to offer more money.</p>
<p>Mom in this family also, dad was busy working! I agree with GFG that the answer may be affected by athlete gender and sport, mine is a female rower.</p>
<p>In our house it was 50/50 overall. There were specifics tasks or specializatons that my wife or I focused on. We showed our son how things were to be done, and he did the heavy lifting as far as communication with coaches, and others. He knew we were always there to help if a question came up…and they came up often. Recruiting taught him the value of becoming organized, and how to deal with the adult world.</p>
<p>For most baseball players, I would venture a guess that it is mostly Dads involved in recruiting. However, I would put my wife up against any Dad for knowledge of baseball and recruiting. ;-)</p>
<p>Mom (me) did everything here. I do have more time, however, DH chose not to be involved in the college selection process. Our D did most of the “work” to get to the point where she could be a recruited athlete though :D. I would say that in our circle of friends, it’s mostly the mom’s that took charge of the process. I can think of one Dad that did, the rest were moms. This would hold true for male and female recruits. I think the main reason, however, is that there are a lot of stay at home moms in our area and they have more time and in general, tend to be more organized when it comes to a process like this.</p>
<p>Other than Dad taking S1 on an initial round of campus visits and meetings with coaches, it was me (Mom) who oversaw the recruiting process in this household… for football. S1 plays in DIII/NESCAC… so there was no scholarship involved.</p>
<p>I (Mom) did it all for my son, with his input and cooperation, of course. I did all the research on the process, what to look for, when to send in those emails and recruiting forms, what to ask the coaches on unofficial visits, what to expect over the summer between junior and senior year, then the OV/likely letter stuff. Not that I minded in the least! I felt like I was on a mission, and once he was successfully recruited and accepted it was mission accomplished!</p>
<p>For us it was a family affair. DD did the important part of being a strong athlete and working hard towards her goal. DH was an important factor in financing and supporting her sport ( Equestrian ). But I do have to say that most of the recruiting process fell on mom ( me ). I put together the videos and did the resume. I did have DH helping me in the research of the schools that our DD would like to attend or that would be suitable for her and he took her on some unofficial visits too. We all went on the official visits. I think when your son or daughter is a top athlete, much of their time is spent on that sport outside of school work. I have to agree with gracie03….it was a mission…a type of journey that in our case kept all of us involved working together. The end result of getting recruited at her #1 choice school was a mission accomplished! :D</p>
<p>Mom handled it in this family…
though the Dad put a spread sheet together to look at COA<br>
because he was shocked at the COA #s…a little research helped him understand what it costs across the board.</p>
<p>fwiw it is funny to hear DH “counsel”/give advice to other parents…when he had no clue/didn’t help in our house. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>It was a group effort to find the right school for my S. Mom (me) did all of the research, tracked communications, applications, scores and transcripts, due dates, etc. Dad was the parent who went on official visits and talked dollars and options with coaches. He is a better negotiator so I was fine with that. It was also easier for Dad to get time off of work when the visits were happening. I am the most detailed oriented in the family, so the way we managed things made sense but I ended up spending the most time. </p>
<p>We made my S contact and talk to all the coaches himself, although we helped him prepare a list of questions for the first few calls. His role was to focus on maintaining his grades, prepping for the SAT & ACT, writing all of those application essays and his athletic performance, which we obviously couldn’t do for him.</p>
<p>Daddy is the philosopher, talking to S about the meaning of being a student athlete and pursuing excellence. Mommy is the organizer, identifying tasks to accomplish, info sources, and schedules. S is the executer, communicating with coaches and planning/doing the tasks on the list.</p>
<p>It’s all mom (me). This is my third go round. My oldest D is a music major and is a junior now, my S is a football player, and my youngest D is xc/tf runner. Next year will start looking at grad schools for oldest D. I set up all recruitment sites and went to all auditions/OV’s, gathered all the coach info and schools that matched their abilities and kept the sites updated and have gotten lots of ideas from CC as far as schools, summer camps, scholarships, etc. I started earlier with my youngest D and feel that she will probably get the best deal of all. She has excellent grades and great stats and many EC’s. My husband pretty much put in his two cents at the end when it came to the money. I enjoy it, and I do have a full-time job.</p>
<p>It’s all mom. Funny, as dad was the ivy league collegiate athlete in the same sport! It’s probably because I have more time for research and I am the organizer/coordinator of the family. In the end, he is the money person who will help make the final decision. Worried that I will be doing the same thing all over again with our next one in line who is doing a completely different sport.</p>
<p>Wow, Mom again here too. My husband took our son to one (1) of his unofficial visits, just so I was not the only one taking all the time off of work. He did help me out with two key nudges with our son, one about his not being in the ballpark talent-wise for his dream school, and then getting him to call the coach when it came time to pick his #1 choice and talk money. That was pretty much it.</p>
<p>In our case I don’t have any more free time than Dad, but I have the talent for research and H didn’t actually go to college so he didn’t know anything about the basic steps. @FogFog, LOL, my husband also does the thing talking sagely with other parents about the merits of D1 v D3, etc… but if I were to go to him and ask right now I don’t even think he could tell you the names of the five schools where our son did his overnight visits.</p>
<p>That is funny about the dads giving advice fogfog and byebyesavings! My husband tells other parents how much work it was and how time consuming it was, but refers any real discussion to me, lol!</p>
<p>In this house, Dad did more of the work. He helped D seek out schools and initiate contact with coaches. He also updated her stats and videos that she sent out. He was a college athlete and had more interest in D getting a scholarship. I was more interested in academics and made sure she maintained her grades with a challenging schedule. In the end, she found a school and a team that were a good fit for her and is now attending on a full honors scholarship. Best of both worlds.</p>
<p>me the father,</p>
<p>We are early in the process…and so far it has been 80/10/10-- 80% of the work done by our supermotivated DS '14. Wife and I working out schedules and putting lots of miles on the car. I am sure it will get more taxing as we get closer to OV’s, etc.</p>
<p>Dad, (Me 
) did in our case. Mom very busy and no athletic background. I had the interest and made the time. Mom supported both D and me so that we could get it done.</p>