<p>I have a son who is very much above average in intellect who does not care where he goes to school as long as he gets to play tennis. He has been accepted at various Division II Schools that are decent and received generous merit scholarship offers, but he says his choice will be based on whether he gets to play tennis or not. We would also need an athletic grant or athletic scholarship to afford these schools.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the procedure we would use to find out - before he decides on a college - whether he could be on the tennis team?? He is an above average player - number 1 on his high school team, but we don't know for sure he is good enough to play at the college level. I am going crazy writing to busy coaches whom I know don't have time to respond and do not respond. What do we do???</p>
<p>Well I guess I mean two things; late to choose a school that fits both athletically AND academically and late for getting a scholarship/recruited spot for most sports .I don’t know about tennis, but athletic stuff is a junior year thing for a lot of competitive sports. It’s not too late to walk on, or for club sports.BTW, where is your son in this process? Most kids involved in sports at a high enough level to get scholarships know how it works.</p>
<p>These coaches should be responding to your inquiries is they are interested in him playing on their college team - being a “walk on”.</p>
<p>I agree about considering the club tennis level at these schools. He would get a lot more playing time on a club team than on the varsity team if he was not specifically recruited for that team. Just my opinion, for what it is worth!</p>
<p>If he has already been accepted, he can certainly call the coach (He should be doing this not you) and … as has been stated elsewhere … coaches are busy busy people and he will absolutely need to follow up, perhaps several times. Again, this is what he wants, not you. Therefore, HE should be doing all of it. Reaching out to an assistant coach might also be helpful as well if the head coach is unavailing. He will have to determine how the walking on process works, but if the school recruits, they have surely already done so. </p>
<p>Not to say he couldn’t walk on, but it’s a heck of a lot harder to do so. I have a kid who could have gone to schools and was recruited to play his sport, but academically, they weren’t as good of fits for him. So now this all american player has been cut from walking on and it’s not that he isn’t good enough, it’s that there was a lot more recruited talent in his position and not a whole lot of graduating seniors last year. At the end of the day, there are only so many spots on the roster. Yes, it was very disappointing but at the same time, the school is such a great fit and he loves so much about it that he will be able to move on and find other passions and interests (and certainly already had) that it will all work out in the end. Just saying… I think it was very wise of him to say, I know I love this school and will love it whether or not I can play. Your son would be wise to talk to the coach, check out the roster for graduating talent, ask about recruits already in the gate and if they have a JV or club team that would work as an outlet, that’d be good too. College is not about playing your sport, but getting an education. But, if there’s an upside to your situation, there’s always someone to play tennis with, not so easily done with other sports.</p>
<p>"He has been accepted at various Division II Schools that are decent and received generous merit scholarship offers,… We would also need an athletic grant or athletic scholarship to afford these schools.</p>
<p>BTW,at least in soccer, being number one in your school tells you NOTHING about where you stand in the college applicant pool.</p>
<p>Also, my understanding is that college coaches put more weight on state, sectional and national rankings based on tournament play than they do on high school tennis because it is easier to compare players using rankings. </p>
<p>Information about which schools offer varsity or club tennis is available on the College Board search site.</p>
<p>H was a state champion tennis player. Was decent enough, but in bigger tournaments just never got to the top spots. A friend of D’s is a 3-time state championship, had a good amt of success on the circuit of tennis tourney’s but knew come junior year that she would have to take it even further if she wanted recruited to DI schools. She just didn’t love it like that.</p>
<p>Is your son a USTA player? If so, go to tennisrecruiting.net and find your son’s profile. Then, go to the college team pages at that site and compare him to the kid’s who have been recruited on the team he would like to play for. If he is in a comparable position as other recruits then go ahead and contact the coach, sending a video of your son playing would help. Be aware, there is not a lot of $$ for tennis scholarships at most schools and unless your son is a top recruit…don’t count on it too much $$.</p>
<p>Just want to thank you so much to all who replied with the great advice and info!!! I appreciate your taking the time. I will definitely follow the advice and check out the other things. I will especially take the advice of the one who said HE (my son) should be doing it.</p>
<p>club tennis is my guess at where your son should look to play since it doesn’t sound like he’s being competing in USTA tournaments. High school tennis is not recognized by college coaches, d1 or d3. In the off chance you guys somehow missed usta tennis these past years, then go here [United</a> States Tennis Association - Home](<a href=“http://www.usta.com/]United”>http://www.usta.com/) and have your son enter some tournaments, then you’ll know how good the lad is!</p>
<p>Actually my son has been playing in USTA tournaments since he was about 9. He got up to #28 in the state (TN) when he was in the 16s. But when he got into all the high school tennis and being number 1 and his team going to the State Quarterfinals, I thought tournaments were no longer necessary to continue. Guess I was very wrong! Now that he is in the 18s we’ve only played one tourney, so he’s way down on the USTA rankings for 18s. Live and learn I guess. No one gave us ANY advice! I wish I had found this forum a year ago!</p>
<p>Chipjabo, please update this and let us know how it turns out. I know about some of the steps only because my freshman son has already expressed interest in playing tennis in college, so I’ve done a little research. I am particularly interested in hearing how your son’s conversations with coaches go. Thanks!</p>
<p>If you mean a national level tournament, it is not all that easy to get into, you basically need a nationally ranking to get into a national tournament. Some have do have qualifiers but these are very limited. Winning local tourneys does not mean much in the whole college picture. In high level D1 schools that are heavily recruiting foreign players, if you look at a lot of rosters up to 1/3 can be from out of the county. This has severely limited recruiting for American kids who play at a lower level.</p>
<p>I would again suggest you look the team pages at tennisrecruiting.net, D2, NAIA and lower level D3…I am sure he can find a less competitive school who would love to have a great student and player!!</p>
<p>Chipjabo, I’m sorry about the misconceptions you had previously with regard to tennis recruiting. All the advice you’ve gotten about tennisrecruiting and USTA tennis is very good. If your son hasn’t already, have him talk to all the coaches at the schools he’s applied/been accepted at about having a spot on the team. Scholarship money is unlikely, as the don’t have a good benchmark for his level, but if he has some merit money that’s a good start. If your student has applied to any big schools, I second the suggestion about club tennis. Granted it’s not the same thing, but it’s a great social activity, there can be some very good players, it’s less of a commitment, and some even have traveling competitive teams. A friend of mine played #1 at his high school team last year and went to our flagship, which is highly-ranked ITA, and didn’t even make the traveling team last semester. He did this time, but he says he’s one of the weaker players.</p>
<p>sockhermom’s statements have been spot on. you need a solid USTA national ranking, or at least sectional, to get into national tournaments. local tournaments mean next to nil. and actually, there are teams that are mostly international players. depends on the coach and his policies/priorities.</p>
<p>Schokolade - I’m a senior who went through the tennis recruiting process this year. Feel free to ask questions here or PM. There’s a lot that would’ve been helpful to know before summer of junior year…</p>