Amazingly, it looks like there is a good chance that after 2 years DD will not have played a single game. The signs are all there that this coming season will also be cancelled for her. With all these cancelled seasons, NCAA rule changes, decimation of tournaments and showcases for potential recruits, the landscape has greatly changed for athletes.
I know recruitment is way down for some schools as they wait to see how things shake out and what athletes decide to stay an extra year to play. This can have an impact 4 years out. I have heard of some schools terminating certain sports for good. I know of tournament teams struggling to find spots for their athletes.
What’s next? What else is going on out there? How long can colleges carry coaches, facilities, athletes when there are no games, meets, matches. What changes have you seen for college athletes? Will the NCAA make more concessions? Will scholarships take a hit?
@HamSBDad - these questions are what keep me up at night
D21 in the process now - but all so SLOW…with no officials except Zoom. Also, keep hearing of current athletes taking Gaps - some requested by the coaches - so that may play into sports with specific positions if now the coach has that athlete for another year and they can put off recruiting. This happened with my daughter at one school and thankful not in her top 3 - appreciated that the coach reached out and said no longer recruiting for her position/sport for the Class of 2021, as person in her position will be extended. So much better to hear and move on - verses a lot of silence!
@coffeeat3 I can’t imagine how difficult it is going through the recruitment process right now. It can be brutal enough during a normal year. I am thankful my D is through it but sad to see her not be able to compete after all the hard work of getting recruited.
I am happy to hear that at least some coaches are being upfront about what these changes are causing for their recruiting. Thanks for providing some insight into that. Are you doing any traveling to schools? Good luck to your D!
@HamSBDad - Yes, hard for all the current college athletes that can’t compete and losing their spring season and now this year.
My D21 met with coaches in the Fall and Winter of Jr year and has been on almost all the campuses for her current recruit list. Biggest miss is no interaction with the team - knows the coach, facilities and attended general admission tours, but time with teammates matter too.
She is missing one school after their jr day was cancelled late winter due to Covid, but it is still a NCAA dead period, so she couldn’t see/meet with a coach if we to travel now anyway. All officials are over Zoom and it seems to be taking 2+ weeks for pre-reads to go through admissions - as I said before so Slow and nervous it may not happen. We don’t know anyone in her sport that has a D1/Ivy offer yet. Plan B will be tough after investing so much time in trying to be a D1 athlete - but 2020 is all about reliance and flexibility…or that is the story we are sticking to around our house if she has to pivot and start over without her sport.
Seeing more of this. So sad for the affected student athletes…
"In what it termed a “wrenching decision” that will impact 118 student-athletes and 13 coaches, William & Mary on Thursday announced the discontinuation of seven varsity sports after the 2020-21 academic year comes to an end.
Men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball will be allowed to compete one more season provided the university deems it safe within parameters of the COVID-19 pandemic."
@GKUnion - I hope your source is right and that would explain the feet dragging in D1 - as least for my daughter’s sport!
My D was told by a D1/Ivy coach he didn’t expect it to get lifted until January earliest - which does no good for recruiting class of 2021. I am guessing it is due to all the restrictions for travel to so many states. It wouldn’t be fair across the board with some states still having quarantine rules. Who know - I don’t :neutral:
A lot of fall sports have been cancelled (or postponed), including in the NESCAC, but here is an article from the Williams College newspaper about how the virus has changed recruiting.
More recently, Williams Admissions told coaches to suspend recruiting in July (they resumed again in August) because so many incoming freshmen – mostly athletes – had deferred and Admissions wasn’t sure how many spots would be available to coaches. I have heard that at some schools because of athletes deferring there are fewer roster spots for 2021s. Vassar is a school that comes to mind (at least for men’s soccer). Other schools say that few of their athletes are deferring, so it really varies by school.
DS21 is a D3 football recruit who had gotten invited to several of the East Coast high academic football camps this summer that obviously did not happen. Instead, the coaches viewed his Junior Year film, his transcript and SAT score, and they held phone calls and Zooms with him. And then they made offers of support in the admissions process. For the schools that offer pre-reads he has completed those too. So from my perspective the process has actually been great because I didn’t have to spend all that money to fly us back East for the camps!
We did ask the coaches about whether kids staying on for an extra year was of concern and none of them expressed any concerns about that impacting their recruiting efforts. Not sure whether they were responding specifically with respect to DS21’s position (D-line) or the team in general, of course. I would expect that if their QBs all stayed on for another year, they might not be pursuing a 2021 QB recruit, for example.
@sherimba03 I would think that is more likely going to effect D1 schools than D3 for kids staying on the extra year. However, I do know of one athlete in the NESCAC for daughter’s sport that plans on staying an extra year to play.
One other (small) effect – I think, though I have no real proof – is that coaches and athletes are jumping quicker now. Several recruits have mentioned deciding to go with the offer they had instead of waiting (in New England Soccer Journal articles). I don’t know if it would have played out this way in a normal year for my son, but the school he just committed to saw him for the first time and made an offer 10 days after that, which strikes me as jumping quickly, possibly quicker than normal.
Anecdotally - Recruits considering the financial stability of the colleges and athletic programs to which they might be recruited and athletes from wealthy families finding more opportunities than less wealthy peers.
More concern about whether public D-II and financially lesser D-I programs will survive.
Less concern with programs at some expensive (particularly D-III) colleges where athletes paying tuition are a net financial positive for the Colleges.
@cinnamon1212 It probably depends on the situation and type of school. I’m sure there are some jumping quicker due to the insecurity of the current environment, just as we are also seeing athletes defer and coaches holding off because they don’t know what their numbers are going to be for current team members, admits allowed and recruits.
Yes, I am seeing both types of situations. Things are unlikely to be clear for many (coaches and athletes) until early 2021, maybe even into the spring.
It is because of that lack of clarity that both players and coaches are jumping when they see an opportunity. They are grabbing that opportunity because they don’t know if they will have another one, or a better one. However, there are probably fewer opportunities, both ways, out there.
I have noticed many differences this year in regard to my student’s sport. (I am professionally involved in the sport and have assisted athletes in previous years with recruitment, but this is my student’s recruiting year)
1-The unknown around official visits. Some schools making verbal offers with no official visits because they are prohibited on the campus.
2-earlier verbal offers, and verbal acceptances much earlier than normal (I think this is due to lack of official visits and no need to "wait" until an official visit at XYZ campus is concluded before deciding)
3-much more film being requested since coaches can't visit and watch.
4-Unfortunately, although there is some anticipation, the wind is out of sails so to speak because of the "coolness" official visits bring and the energy they create.
5-Reluctance of recruits wanting to go across the country to do their sport with the unknown of COVID looming.
6-The intestinal fortitude it will take to make a leap of faith to play where you have never visited and with teammates you have never met.
NCAA has waived test requirement for class of 2021
I am also seeing many teams full because current players in many sports can take a fifth year, so some coaches are taking very few, or even no, athletes this year.
if she has to pivot and start over without her sport.