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One of the biggest college recruiting mistakes student-athletes and families make is basing their final choice of school solely upon scholarship offer(s). I often times see student-athletes simple choose the school that offering them some kind of athletic scholarship.  I’ve even seen some companies, that supposedly help with college recruiting, say that “money” is a “good” reason to choose a school.  In other words they list a scholarship offer as a good reason to chose the school you will be attending.

I happen to disagree with that completely!

Too often I see student-athletes make this mistake.  They choose the school that offered them the most athletic scholarship assistance based upon that factor alone.  Often times they disregard the fact that the school is in a location they don’t really want to be.  The disregard the fact that the school doesn’t exactly have the area of study the student-athlete is interested in.  To throw out all other factors and make a decision solely based upon or heavily weighed by the almighty scholarship dollar can be a huge mistake!

In almost every case that I’ve personally seen, the student-athlete gives up playing or stops going to that school completely by the end of their freshman year.  Why?   Because every other major factor that influences their quality of experience at the school is NOT what they were looking for or not what they are comfortable with.  Remember, if this college you choose is more or less going to be your home for the next 4-5 years!  It better be a place you want to live in.

Honestly, think about it.  If a student-athlete ends up not playing ball or giving up on the school completely after that first year, was it really worth it to chose the money? After all, they may have gotten that one year paid for (or helped with), but now where does that leave them?  Often times it leaves them out of the sport they love AND a college bill to pay for the next 3-4 years.

Wouldn’t it be better to choose a school that offered less money (or even no money) if it was a better fit for you?  If it was a place you loved?  And environment you enjoyed living in?  Had the exact academic program you want? AND gives you the opportunity to continue playing your sport?

Often times, even though your first year isn’t paid for athletically, you can 1) possibly get help from other sources (academic funds, grants, or other scholarship sources) and 2) possibly earn some “athletic help” in the future.  So yes, maybe you have to pay for that first year, but paying for one and getting help with or having the next 3-4 years paid for is so much better than having just that first year taken care of but paying for the rest.  Isn’t it?

The bottom line is that it’s almost always better to choose the school you WANT to be at, rather than simply choose the school that offers you the most money.  Be smart about this decision, it’s not only going to affect the next 4 years of your life, it will affect at least the next 40 years of your life!

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If you need personal assistance with your college recruiting journey, talk with the experts at NSCA.  They know their stuff and they are as passionate about getting student-athletes to the next level (and keeping them there) as anyone else I know.

Fill at the form HERE and a real live person will give you a call regarding your plan for the future.

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Technorati Tags: College Recruiting, college recruiting tips

I recently talked with a coach I work with and found out that two senior softball player we know of will be going on to continue their education at DI schools with the opportunity to play for the schools’ softball programs.  That’s so cool right?

I was actually worried about these two because they were in the situation many seniors find themselves in: it’s senior year and still the future is uncertain. They didn’t know what college they’d be going to or even IF their softball careers were going to continue.  It’s not a fun position to be in.  In fact, it can be a downright stressful situation to be in.

Neither one of these players are what I would consider “blue chippers” however, they do have better than average softball skills and great attitudes.  They are the type of player that coaches find so easy to work with and always a pleasure to have on the team.  But they also had one other factor working for them which ended up being a major contribution to the opportunity they now have.  But before I tell you all about that, you have to understand that being that it was already their senior year and neither on had secured an offer from any colleges, their opportunities were definitely vanishing.  Most softball programs had already finished even looking at this year’s graduating class and are focused on undergrads.

Why were these two student-athletes in this position in in the first place? Well, there are a number of factors that contributed to it, but a few of the main reasons were simply not starting early enough and not getting the word out to enough coaches.  These two mistakes are so, so common!  Too often student-athletes do nothing to get their name out there and in front of college coaches until end of sophomore year or junior year and even then, they only contact a handful, or *maybe* 10-15.  That in an of itself, severely limits the opportunities you’re going to have.

So anyway, these two seniors were more or less in limbo during those first months of their senior year.  Both wanted to go to college and both hoped to continue their softball careers, but neither knew what their future held.  It’s not a situation I like to see senior student-athletes in; especially not ones that are such great people (not just great players).

Well, in the conversation I had with this coach, I found out that they BOTH are going on to the collegiate level.  Why?  How?

Because of doors that their strong ACADEMICS opened up for them. With this first student-athlete we’re talking Advanced Placement courses and a 3.9+ GPA.  She had specific colleges in a specific state she wanted to go to and had no problem qualifying academically.  The softball programs however, had used up all their funding and had no scholarship money to offer by the time she had contacted them.  Her first choice college also had a softball program that does not open up tryouts to unknown walk-ons.  If you’re going to get a spot on this team, you have to be asked by the coaching staff to be there.  Well after establishing that she qualified for NCAA for and had been accepted by the school for admission and was able to secure some academic funding, she got back in touch with the coach and let him know what her situation was.  She let him know that this was the college she wanted to be at, she’s already been accepted academically, and just wanted to know if she could also be a part of the softball program while she was there.  Guess what happened?  She was offered a preferred walk-on opportunity.

So she’ll be going to the college she wants to be at, in the state she wants to live for the next 4-5 years, studying the major she wants to study, has a chance to continue her softball career, and has opportunities for aide through academic paths.  Seriously – it doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.

The other student-athlete had also been told by a handful of college coaches that while the coaches liked what they saw on her video and in her packet, no athletic funding was available.  She was disappointed because no one had “softball money” left.  Somehow, she failed to overlook the fact that she would be able to receive 85% academic funding for one of the schools she wanted to go to. She had been so focused on athletic scholarship money that she forgot to look at the situation from every angle. Thankfully, this coach I was talking with pointed this out to her.  The very next business day she got back in touch with the coach of that school (newer DI program).  She let him know that she was accepted to the college academically and had been able to work out aid through her academics.  She told him that this is where she wanted to be and asked if she still had a chance to be a part of the softball program.  The coach said he’d love to have her and that, as usual, there was always a possibility of athletic funding in the future.

So both these student-athletes now know what their college plans are.  They will both attend DI schools and will both have an opportunity to be part of the softball programs as well.  Though it was “too late” to get there from the softball angle, their strong academics opened up windows that would not otherwise have been opened. On top of that, they are both attending schools they WANT to go to is huge.  Neither fell into the “trap” many high school student-athletes fall into of simply picking-the-school-that-offered-a-scholarship.  They were both able to avoid that less than ideal situation because they had other avenues by which they could accomplish the goal they wanted.

I know that both these young ladies will go on to have awesome college experiences because they are in the place they want to be and they both have such positive attitudes that I know they will be able to, not only handle all the challenges college life brings, but handle them well.

I wish the best to them and to all the high school seniors who will be continuing their education in college next school year!

Technorati Tags: academics, College Recruiting, college recruiting tips

I was scanning through some comments here on the blog and came across these college recruiting questions (which happen to be very good ones by the way)…

Are Showcase Tournament an effective way to be seen by college coaches? Are camps more effective if know what college you want to attend?

Are you more likely to be seen during the Summer or Fall by coaches?

I do feel that Showcase Tournaments and camp can BOTH be good ways of getting seen, HOWEVER, simply showing up isn’t enough.  Yes, you *may* get “discovered” just by going, but chances of that a much lower than if you do some preliminary work FIRST!

All players should be contacting colleges they are interested in within their first two years of high school (the earlier the better).  Getting in and staying in touch with college coaches at least possibly puts your name in front of a coach on that staff.

Many coaches go to showcase tournaments with a “list” already in hand of players they want to look at.  Not all will go just “hoping” to find “someone.”  Remember, making the trip to showcases or recruiting camps usually costs them money too, so they will no go in unprepared.  Chances are they already have a core list of players they will be looking at and how will you be one of those players if all you do is show up to the tournament, clinic, or camp?

As far as when you are more likely to be seen, I think it’s more a matter of when you’re more likely to be seen by the right coaches.  Look at who will be in attendance.  Which events have more of the coaches you are already in touch with?  The level of play you are going for and the program you are looking at also plays a part in “when” is an optimal time to be seen.  College programs are NOT all on the same timeline.  Some have a big recruiting budget.  Coaches from those schools can send out more pamphlets and probably attend more events than others.  They usually try to identify potential recruits as early as possible.  Other coaches prefer to wait until the “big fish” go after their favorites and wait to see who’s left.  Then there are the coaches who NEVER attend events because their budget doesn’t allow it.  Where are the coaches of the programs you are interested going to be?  If you limit yourself ONLY to coaches a a showcase or two, you are severely limiting your opportunities!

So while I do believe attending events can be a great way of being seen, I think that action ALONE is not even close to being enough when it comes to giving yourself the best chance of furthering both your education and your softball career.  Too many families think that they are doing “enough” just by going to these recruiting events.  Often times, they are mistaken and it’s tough to see because they spend a LOT of hard earned money to be there!

Go through to recruiting process smarter, don’t work harder and spend more.  Get educated and get informed so that you can take the necessary steps to maximize your opportunities!

Here are some great places to learn more about college recruiting…

1.  NCAA – they put out a guide each year for families.  It says $11, but that’s only if you want a hard copy sent to you.  There is also a link to download the file for free.

2.  College Recruiting Articles - I have posted a number of college recruiting articles here on the blog that are free for you to read

3.  College Recruiting Reports and Webinar – I also have some resources up on our Fastpitch Resources page that you might be interested in (5 Common College Recruiting Mistakes, 25 College Recruiting Facts, $1 College Recruiting Webinar).

In addition, if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and want to make sure you make the best possible decisions throughout the college recruiting process, you can also talk to the experts at NCSA.  They work with families just like yours every day.  BUT, you have to be serious about this journey (that means working hard on and off the field).  If that’s you, you can have a live person from NCSA give you a call to discuss and help you with your college recruiting plan.

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcadams/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0