<p>Can somebody give me some info on the NCAA Clearinghouse? S1 just completed his sophmore year of HS. He has been a starter on his varsity lacrosse team since 8th grade. His coach has mentioned that he should be able to get a lacrosse scholarship, but hasn't been very helpful about what S1 needs to do. I was doing a bit of research today and found the NCAA Clearinghouse. My D1 was not heavily involved in sports so I have never heard of this before. Should S1 register?</p>
<p>He is an average (lazy) student taking all honors classes. </p>
<p>Any other suggestions for what he (or we) should do?</p>
<p>You must register with the NCAA Clearinghouse if you intend to play a sport for a division I or II college. You should not register until after junior year in high school. The Clearinghouse has nothing to do with actually getting on a sports team or getting a scholarship. It is basically an eligibility center -- NCAA has rules for minimum course requirements, grades and test scores to be eligible to be on a college sports team. The requirements are quite low -- an "average" high school student can easily meet them -- but you have to submit relevant info to the Clearinghouse and have it confirm your eligibility before you can actually start play at the college level.</p>
<p>As to actually getting a scholarship, that is a different process. If he is in fact good enough, then the key is getting noticed by colleges and you should not assume that colleges have people out there watching your games. The coach may be of some help if he has contacts at colleges but often it takes self-promotion, including the student contacting the college sports programs and providing info on himself. NCAA also has rules about recruiting and the college coaches have significant limitations to contacts they can intiate and when but the student can intiate contacts at any time.</p>
<p>I would find out how much time he will need to spend on a weekly basis doing Varsity sport at Div I. Clearinghouse is required.
My D. was thinking about her sport (swimming) but quickly decided not to go this path, since that would reguire 6 hours of daily practice, including Saturday and a lot of travel. We had few schools interested in her. Swimming is never 100% scholarship anyway. And you have to limit your list to Div.I schools. Most of her swimming friends who swam all of their childhood and consistently placed at state, do not swim at college, just too much.</p>
<p>Lacrosse could be all different story, you might start talking to people in your sport to find out.</p>
<p>I would suggest doing this early in the Junior year. While not difficult, it is just one more thing that has to be done and this gets it out of the way. It is also one of the first questions that a D1 coach will ask your son if and when he contacts him - so better that the answer be "already registered".</p>
<p>First, take the cue above and learn the clearinghouse rules backwards and forwards. The schools might (or might not) be penalized for compliance errors , but you can virtually always bet that the student athlete will suffer, so it really makes sense for the student athlete and their parents to know the rules. If in doubt, call the NCAA. They collect a lot of fees and media money to sustain their operation in Kansas City - make them earn them if necessary. </p>
<p>Second, lacrosse is no different than any other Division 1 sport - sign a scholarship - your kid essentially has become a professional athlete. I have posted about my own Division 1 scholarship experience numerous times - not necessarily a negative, but know what you are getting into. </p>
<p>Third, it is tough to tell with boys. So many of them have real academic talent but don't show it in high school. The OP's son may be one of those. Some blossom in college, especially because they now perceive the stakes are "real" and to a certain extent they also simply grow up. So if he decides to be a serious student (and I mean serious, with heavy duty graduate school aspirations) in college, Div. 1 athletics are to some degree going to stand in the way. On athletic scholarship, irrespective of the guidance given by the athletic departments to do well in school, the pressures to win are enormous, as are the physical demands (e.g. one can't play high level college lacrosse, without being in incredible condition - so the fitness work alone, not to mention the playing and scrimmage activities, consumes hours and hours), and athletics always sneakily comes first. It is possible to be that serious student - i.e. the 3.7/3.8 grade point in a tough major with serious academic development while on scholarship - in my sport my brother and I and a handful of others at the All American level in our years did it - but frankly, it is not realistic to have any sort of social life outside the team - a development issue that frankly is very negative and one that I have regretted over the years. </p>
<p>Fourth, while an oversimplification - and NOT meant to offend anyone - because teaching and coaching are wonderful careers that can help out many - my mother was a PE teacher and coach - Div. 1 athletic scholarships work best for those with teaching and coaching aspirations, where they can choose a major that more likely will keep them involved in the sport (or related sports) that they are spending so much time and energy on while in college. As much fun as teaching or coaching would have been for me, it just wasn't for me and balancing the needs of very serious academics (I was in an honors program at one of the 2 top 10 rated USNWR schools that gives athletic scholarships) and athletics led to a fairly joyless college existence with a number of regrets, including lost time and energy on academics - a loss I made up for a bit in graduate school but still the regret never goes away. And the limits on my social development dragged on for years...athletics can be a very very narcissistic existence - another regret. </p>
<p>Again, just a perspective....my spouse, who saw all of the perspective of an outsider (a non-athlete and great student) - feels even more strongly than I do about all of this. She likely would have more to add, and state it more eloquently.</p>
<p>Bluesmom - I did not want to come off as unduly negative, so I did want to relate I can appreciate the kind of talent your son likely is - very, very few boys are skilled enough to play varsity in 8th grade because it is so difficult to overcome the strength and leverage advantage that 11th and 12th grade boys have over 8th graders - even big and strong 8th graders. In other words, it is likely that your son, hard work continuing, is likely even better than you let on and will deservedly receive a lot of attention and kudos (and college interest) for his play. It will be very important to him. </p>
<p>This having been said, a close friend has a son who is a Div. III all conference lacrosse player (long stick) at a very good school in Virginia, and he is an honorable mention All American as well. Div. III has just that much better life balance, and he is doing well academically (interning on Wall Street this summer and doing well athletically too boot. He could play on a Div. 1 team, but the Div. III experience makes far more sense for him, including frankly as regards to playing time. And the end game in lacrosse - 500 bucks a game in a pro league - doesn't make much sense either, and he knows it. Competitive athletes rightly have large egos - they very much need them - but if you can look to limit that ego factors when choosing schools (i.e. athletic powerhouses are great, but may lack in many other areas), all the better.</p>
<p>I'm not that familiar with lacrosse so I don't know if there are club teams - which is where I am familiar with many kids getting noticed by coaches. If he does not have a club team, another way for a prospective student athlete to get noticed is to go to a university's camp.</p>
<p>I have a DIII athlete and a soon to be DI athlete. Both are girls. You don't need to do the Cleainghouse until after jr. year. It is not difficult. Encourage your son to work hard in the class room...coaches like good students with great athletic ability! If your S is interested in playing college sports he can put together a player profile that can be emailed/mailed to coaches that lists his academic/sports achievements and stats. Also include ECs. There are many templates available online as well as websites like jumpforward.com and berecruited.com. Many of the large school districts/athletic directors in our state are supporting the jumpforward site. We did it the old fashioned way and had the girls seen at college showcase tournaments their sophomore and junior summers. They contacted coaches at schools they were interested in and invited them to come and watch. The coaches watched and then contacted them in return. It was fairly simple and we have encountered very little problems. D1 wanted a small school so she went DIII at an LAC with a powerhouse sports program. We thought D2 would follow the same path but she fell in love with a small state university that had a DI program. Let them find their niche. The biggest problem the girls had was saying no to coaches they liked. That was stressful. Enjoy the ride!</p>
<p>Since this is a USC discussion site, I think you need to know that at USC lacrosse is not one of the men's varsity sport. USC may offer it as a club or recreational sport, but this usually means that it will not receive the kind of funding that one of the recognize varsity sports receives (including no scholarships or the other great USC atheletic benefits). NCAA may recognize a sport (such as lacrosse) as a NCAA sport, but USC may not have decided to add it to their roster of funded varsity sports. There are some USC men's club sports that I wondered why are not varsity sports, and have learned that it is tough battle to convert a club sport to a USC varsity sport because of title XI rules and the ability of the sport in relation to potential revenue generation through ticket sales (think USC football & basketball). So though 'hope springs eternal', don't count on it in your S's college timeframe, if USC is his planned college destination.</p>
<p>Since USC didn't offer my particular pre-college sport (nor was my prior sport NCAA recognized), I was lucky enough to join a USC varsity sport as a "walk on" and have been amazed by all the NCAA regulations. I had no idea - all my academic classes are being closely scrutized and my professors have to send in weekly reports to my coaches to ensure my grades stay NCAA acceptable. Since my major doesn't get too many atheletes, this is good and bad, because all my professors know exactly who I am. </p>
<p>For me, balancing hard academics with all the physical demands that the varsity training for my sport gives me, I couldn't function without it. BUT I've seen many in my sport fail because they couldn't handle the demands of both. If your son REALLY wants to be on an NCAA Lacrosse team during college, you should look at colleges that currently offer it as one of their varsity sports.</p>
<p>OOPS :/ I didn't realize I was on an general discussion......so please disregard my specifics.</p>
<p>Regardless, I think you want to look at colleges that offer the sport you are playing as part of their current funding varsity sports. The process of adding a sport to a college's varsity level (though it may be NCAA recognized) is difficult for many reasons. If you look around, you'll find that many long recognized varsity sports are being cut at university's because of funding or other reasons.</p>
<p>To NorthMinnesota's point, my son and I joined JumpForward.com to learn more about the recruiting rules and the NCAA Clearinghouse, or now called the "NCAA Eligibility Center". JumpForward has some thing called the "Knowledge Center" that has information on the NCAA Eligibility Center. The one thing that my son and I have been using a lot is the NCAA Core Course Worksheet. I just wanted to follow-up to NorthMinnesota's comments as a fellow Minnesota parent who is using jumpforward.com to help get throughout this crazy process.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that you must be registered with the NCAA before 'official visits' can be arranged. These visits are normally done during the off-season, so some advanced planning is required. NCAA needs to know the athlete is on track to be eligible for college sports.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, my DS's girlfriend, an aspiring softball player and a rising Senior, was approached by her first college coach (D1) last night after her game. I am helping her through the recruiting process and was there for the conversation. First question was - what is your GPA? Second was what are your SAT scores? Third - are you registered with NCAA Clearinghouse? </p>
<p>It is not hard to do - so get it done early...</p>
<p>I would like to know how to get the connection, like above, getting a coach to come to a game, etc. I hear about it all the time but unsure what the process is.</p>
<p>In soccer/basketball you are highly encouraged to send out player profiles to schools you are interested in. Along with this you should include what games/tournaments you will be playing in. Our girls mainly sent profiles and schedules through emails. You can also contact coaches on school websites. There is usually a link on the sport page for interested recruits. We always sent a followup email thanking the coach for attending and asking if D's were a good fit for the program. Playing in a showcase tournament is a great way to be seen by lots of coaches but if you don't contact them beforehand they won't know you are interested in their school.</p>
<p>At least for my son and baseball, it is more a matter of going where the coaches are. For the most part, the coaches that expressed interest in him saw him first when he went to an event where they already were. Three basic types in baseball (in increasing order of coach attendance):</p>
<p>1) College camps- these are normally hosted by one college, often staffed with 3-4 other college coaches. Some camps (e.g. the Stanford camp) are much larger and have many more coaches in attendance.</p>
<p>2) Showcases - put on by organizations like Perfect Game, these vary widely in effectiveness. National showcases, which are normally invitation only, can have literally hundreds of coaches in attendance. Look for age/grade specific ones as college coaches normally only attend events for 17U or rising Seniors. Note that you have to work your way up with showcases - going to smaller ones at a younger age will earn you invites to the larger ones (assuming you have the talent).</p>
<p>3) Travel team Tournaments - Travel team tourneys can be the most effective means of getting in front of lots of coaches. The 17U WWBA features 2-300 coaches along with representatives of every major league team. Again, playing on the major name brand travel teams will be a major asset here.</p>
<p>Once you get the initial interest, then the coach is likely to come see you play in your local event. Prior to seeing you play in one of the events mentioned above, it is unlikely that they will come out to see you. After all, most local games will have just a handful of potential college players - so they are not going to waste their time "just wandering around" to lots of local games.</p>
<p>Great point - you need to express that interest. My son sent out letters of interest to colleges in the fall of his Junior year. Simple little packet with cover letter, player profile, and planned schedule for the following year. He sent hard copy rather than email but included his email address. He had about a 75% response rate to these letters - and started email correspondence with a number of coaches. He addressed the packet to the head coach unless the recruiting coordinator was clearly indicated on the website.</p>
<p>He would follow up with email to coaches two weeks prior to major events with his exact schedule and a hope to see you there.</p>
<p>We have D2's last out of state showcase tournament next week. Over 100 coaches have responded that they will be there. She has already verballed so no pressure for her but many of her team mates have been busy sending out profiles. It's a relatively easy process if you stay informed and on top of things. Good luck to all just starting the process!</p>