My son is a junior and just entered the recruiting stage. He has been invited to a couple of football games and a couple of junior days. What is the difference? One school that initially invited him to a football game has now invited him to junior day. We worked the football game into our schedule, should we reschedule for the junior day?
From what I have seen here on CC, junior days are generally seen as a waste of time and money. You should run a search on the term, I recommend.
I would email the coach and ask which he would prefer and ask him/her what the schedule is for each
My son liked his junior days
Was another opportunity to meet the team and see how they interact with each other and coach
Thank you for the responses. He did email the coach, who didn’t respond so I think we’ll just stick with the football game since we already paid for the room for that weekend. I will search for junior days. Thanks!
Two questions:
- Heading to first junior day this weekend. Any advice for my swimmer?
- Coaches have asked if he is talking to other schools - how should he answer?
Always answer honestly. The coaches ALL know each other and talk. If he’s talking to other schools and asked about it, he should answer. No need to give other info, like how much he liked the locker rooms or the chem lab or the food, just “yes, I’ve been talking to State U too.”
Totally agree with @twoinanddone . They all know you’re looking at/talking to different schools - it’s part of the game.
Advice: Be prepared in case the hosts offer alcohol. My swimmer never had that happen (her host teams went out of their way to be wholesome, it seemed), but we know some who did. So be prepared either to say no or to drink responsibly, depending upon your/your son’s convictions on the subject.
My daughter also had multiple coaches ask who their competition was, and she was always forthcoming. We saw no harm in their asking (who wouldn’t want to know?) or in her answering truthfully.
The kids we know who did junior days found them useful. My daughter did not attend any junior days but did visit 5 schools over spring break junior year. We met with coaches, and they gave us a tour of their facilities. It was quite helpful when it was time to narrow her list for OVs this fall; I am also convinced (because the coach all but told us this) that her early visit persuaded a coach to make her an early (June), very generous offer to try to lock her up before her OVs. It worked–she did a couple of OVs but ultimately accepted her first offer.
@planit could you provide more information on junior days? Is this something the school announces?
@MAandMEmom , my daughter did not do any junior days (she visited on her own junior year), but she was invited to a couple, and friends of hers did a couple. They were invited specifically, not via a general announcement. Not all schools do junior days. My understanding is that they’re like a mini-OV.
Our son was invited to one this past spring, but we didn’t attend. However, if I recall, it was a day to meet the team and coaches & trainers, they had a tour, met w/ admissions, q &a, chance to meet other recruits and they had a luncheon for everyone. While we chose not to attend, it sounded like a great way for the coach to meet the recruits.
Very good to know thank you! Could you share the types of schools that offered this option? This is a future thing as my DD is a sophomore but it’s never to early to start to think about this stuff.
My son, recruited NESCAC swimmer, didn’t attend any junior days. With swimming, it is really about your time and if they can get anyone better than you. OVs next fall are really the key. It’s nice to visit the schools and talk to the coaches(and see if you like the school), but the real stuff isn’t til after junior season.
He did visit and talk to coaches at a few schools prior, and had been to about 10 schools for tours etc by summer of senior year, so he knew who he wanted to focus on. He did 6 OVs in the fall, and cancelled his 7th because he knew what his top schools were.
He was offered alcohol on some of the OVs. We discussed it beforehand, and decided it would be better to politely refuse. it is illegal AND you have to sign a paper beforehand saying you won’t drink, so we decided it was safer not to.
He was always honest what schools he was considering, but always said “You are one of my top choices” til the end. Then he applied ED to his top choice and sent his second and third choices emails telling them they were his back up if things didn’t work out, and he told the others, sorry, no.
I know some schools/coaches charge a fee for Junior Day events, so motivation maybe two-fold. At least in timed sports (our DD is XC/Track), one on one early summer meetings with coaches before pre-reads and then OV’s in Fall were key - as @OldbatesieDoc said, it’s all about who’s fastest, so in timed sports a great Junior season will change a coach’s mind as to who they want most. Agree, that honest communication with coaches will keep door open if ED1 blows up.
So we did the first visit this weekend. At the end, the coach said that the recruiting timeline is moving up and that they plan to have their spots filled by June 1 and will only use the OV to celebrate commitments which totally took us by surprise. We have noticed more and more juniors committing to certain schools (NC State, ASU, VT), but thought it was just a few schools. Anyone have any info on this…
Question, is there a limit to the number of swimmers on a team. IE could you walk on and still be able to do team travel
The more the top teams move to an earlier recruiting calendar, the more the other schools have to move to that too to stay competitive. Most won’t be as strict as ‘June 1st’ but you do risk not getting a spot or scholarship if you want to wait until senior year. There will always be spots for the superstars but not always for someone who is good.
Finances probably run the size of a team as much as anything. The coaches can take walk ons, but every extra swimmer is an expense to the travel team. There is a point where you need two buses, another block of hotel rooms, the tab at the restaurants goes up a few dollars. Swim a couple events the team really needs and you are on the bus but have the 4th best time in a sprint and you are probably staying home.
If you have 4th best time, don’t they need you for relays?
^^^I’m thinking only for the free relays, not the other strokes for medley.
@twoinanddone The thought of June 1 of Junior year to commit is stressing me out. With the short course season ending some time in March, that doesn’t allow much time to figure out 1) which schools a swimmer is a match time-wise and 2) which of those schools the swimmer would want to attend and 3) in which order of preference, especially since D1/D2 coaches can’t call until July 1 (right?). And don’t pre-reads happen over the summer?
And scores? What about the required testing?