College Recruitment Guide
Parents, Players, and Coaches;
Below you will find several documents that should help players and parents understand the college recruiting process better. I know that I have learned quite a bit by reading this information.
My Part in the Process:
I believe that it is important to be totally honest with any assessment of a player's abilities that I share with a college recruiter. Recruiters have usually seen or at least heard reports of a player's abilities on the field. Their questions to me usually pertain to a player's attitude, leadership qualities, dedication, etc.. To exaggerate or embellish one's skills or qualities could negatively affect our relationship with the recruiter/coaching staff for future players.
The recruiter will usually ask for game film of the player. Our game film has been graciously done by Mr. Jones. Though these tapes are very beneficial to the coaching staff from an analysis standpoint, we have found that it is very difficult to glean individual performances from the DVD's. I believe that it would be best for our program and kids to begin having our games filmed by a professional service. Not only would we get high-quality DVD's for game analysis and film for individuals involved in the recruiting process, but we would also have an annual highlight DVD available to each family. I am currently seeking information on companies that handle this type of service.
Coach David Smith
Recruiting Guide: Part 1
A
step-by-step guide to landing the college lacrosse gig of your
dreams
Today we are going to begin to explore the "recruiting process" as
it pertains to high school boys and girls who want to go on and play
lacrosse in college.
While the process itself can be confusing, particularly for parents and students going through it for the first time, you can be assured that with proper planning and some marketing of the student, there is a place in college for whomever wants to play. Parents and the student athlete should be looking for the right "fit" both academically and athletically for their athlete. Through this series of articles, we hope to help you find your way to the right college and the right college program.
There are approximately 215 varsity women's lacrosse programs and approximately 200 men's varsity programs in the country today. About 50% of them offer scholarships above and beyond financial aid. Girls in particular should be aggressive in looking for scholarships.
The recruiting process today can be broken down into 4 different steps. The first of these is Early Identification and Recognition of the student athlete as a legitimate college prospect. This is by far the most important part of the recruiting process. Colleges want to identify all potential prospects as soon as possible, usually by their sophomore or certainly by their junior year. If you haven't been identified, then you can forget about the other 3 steps. It is important that a prospect be identified by as many colleges as possible, even those they may think they are not interested in. This is called "total exposure". Without it, your chances of getting a college scholarship are slim. Besides, it may open opportunities to you that you had not considered, so it's important to see what's out there.
The second step in the recruiting process is Prospect Evaluation. You should be aware that college coaches all run their recruiting programs differently but they all share some similar characteristics. Basically, they are going to start looking at a large pool of "identified" prospects and then start a weeding out process.
If you haven't been identified or only identified to a small number of schools, you could be weeded out of them and your chances of being recruited could be over and you may not even know it. This weeding out process may be based on grades, athleticism or lack thereof, not a good fit for the school, or they don't need your position this year.
If a college is interested in you, they will generally send you a questionnaire beginning your junior year. This does not mean you are being recruited. It means that the college knows you are alive and wants to know more details about you. It is very important to answer every questionnaire promptly; otherwise the coach may assume that you just aren't interested in their school. If you are a good prospect, you may receive a large number of questionnaires. Colleges will also evaluate you by keeping up with your athletic and academic progress, watching a personal video tape, and sometimes visiting one of your games either your senior year or at a sports camp.
After the initial weeding out phase colleges will begin the third step which is actual "Recruiting". You are not considered a recruited student-athlete unless a college calls you at least 2 times, or you are invited for an "official" visit (the Division I school is paying your expenses) or you have been contacted by a college recruiter in person. None of these contacts may take place until after July 1st after the completion of your junior year. (The service academies may contact you sooner because of their lengthy admissions process.)
To give you some idea of the numbers involved you may assume that the original pool of athletes may number 100 or more, 40 to 50 of which may be invited for an "official visit" for the 9 or 10 spots that the coach is looking for. It begins to look very difficult, particularly for the top schools.
That's why it's important to look at a lot of schools and be realistic about your playing capabilities!
The final step in the recruiting process consists of "the Offer" either with a National Letter of Intent or pressure for an early decision. Recruiting has changed a lot in the last few years and there is tremendous pressure for student athletes to commit early. The coaches want to know early who really wants to play for their school and expects a student-athlete to make up their mind. I counsel student athletes to make this decision a "family" decision and not commit while sitting in a coach's office by themselves. I also counsel them that if they have made up their mind and have been accepted by their Number 1 choice, let the other coaches know as soon as possible so they may spend their time and money on other qualified candidates.
We will be exploring these and other related aspects of the recruiting process in future articles.
I am available through my web page at www.recruitingguide.com should you have any questions.
Dave Prossner
Recruiting Guide: Part 2
In my last article I said the most important part of the recruiting process was “early identification and recognition” by college coaches. If your son or daughter is not identified early (sophomore or junior year) as a legitimate college prospect, then they may never even have an opportunity to be recruited. Part of this recognition problem may be addressed by “marketing “ your son or daughter. Marketing is defined as “the act or process of selling” and those functions involved in selling. Your goal is really to get your son or daughter looked at and recruited by college coaches, then admitted to a school in which they will be able to succeed academically and athletically.
Parents, someone has to take responsibility for this part of the process. Your son or daughter is a 16 or 17 year old high school student absorbed in all those things important to that age group. The high school coach is in charge or 20 to 30 plus similar students and trying to do the best they can with their individual program. That only leaves you to oversee the management of the recruiting effort for your student athlete. Finding scholarships and financial aid takes organization and work.
Let me assure you I don’t mean there isn’t any money out there to help good student athletes. There aren’t many pure athletic scholarships out there, but colleges, where the coaches have recruited your student athlete, do a better job of “finding financial aid” for good student athletes. Girls in particular should be aggressive in looking for scholarships, particularly in view of the Title IX emphasis on women’s sports. We will get into the various types of financial aid later. What you need to be aware of early on in this whole process is, that it is important to be realistic about your student athlete’s level of play. Not everyone is a Division I player, but there are programs and good colleges available for every player. We hope to help you find that “fit” for your student athlete.
One of the best ways to market your student begins with a “sports resume” or similar profile sheet. I have three examples of “sports resumes” in the appendix of my book. (www.recruitingguide.com). Also available to you are services which put your student athlete’s resume on line for a fee. Check those out for # of hits and how long they have been in business. There are also more thorough services such as The National Scouting Report (www.nsr-inc.com) which offer thorough marketing expertise. Check out how they do resumes. They all differ a little and you can fashion your particular resume using the best features. Remember, a sports resume is a one page information snapshot of your student athlete. You should start putting one together immediately and use it whenever corresponding with college coaches. A small, informal picture should be attached to it, as well. Keep the resume to a single page and don’t try to overwhelm the coach with a ton of material on your athlete. People, coaches included, want information in small, quickly read packages.
Be sure to include this resume in your first request for information from the coach. Also, be sure to update it periodically as your SAT scores or seasons and experience change. Do not disclose any personal financial information on this resume. The coaches will ask if you’re going to need financial aid, as will the admissions office when you visit. At some later point you will have to come up with last year’s tax return so they can give you an indication of what financial aid may be available….but do not disclose any financial information on your resume.
The other important part of marketing involves the video high light tape. A five-minute video highlight tape can be a very effective marketing tool for a college coach. Coaches want to evaluate the student athlete’ s abilities, but do not have enough time to do a lot of scouting. If there is some interest, they will take five minutes to look at a tape. You do not want to just send them out randomly. You can offer to send a coach a tape if there has been some interest expressed already.
Probably the best money I invested in marketing my sons was buying a good video camera with an image stabilizer and a tripod. I filmed every game their junior year, shared the tapes with the high school coach, and then edited highlight tapes for each of my sons. I start each tape with a videotaped label showing name, address, phone, position played and number worn, for about 15 seconds. I then followed it with about 45 seconds of introduction in which my son would take a shot, or make a save, and then jog up to the camera and introduce himself, talk about his sport experience, stress his grades and class rank and then introduce the highlights. (This gives the coach a chance to see how the student athlete handles themselves away from the sport and may give some indication of their “fit” with that coach’s program.) I then followed with 4 to 5 minutes of game highlights. Make sure you show plays developing and not just repetitious shots or saves. End the film with the same label as in the beginning.
I also had the capability to do a “voice over” during which my son and I would discuss the action the coach was watching. This helps maintain continuity. Five minutes is plenty…you’re not making “Gone With The Wind” here! Some services today actually include your video high light tape right on their web site making it very easy for college coaches to do their evaluations. Today the professional organizations such as the National Scouting Report do an amazing job with their videos. Look at some of them on their web site.
I am available through my web page at www.recruitingguide.com should you have any questions.
Dave Prossner
Some tips and pointers while going through the process
Its a beautiful Memorial Day weekend, and the moment you have been waiting for has arrived: you are surrounded by thirty thousand lacrosse fans waiting for the opening face-off of the Final Four.
You sit among thousands of young players from across the country, and you’re all wondering the same thing: What will it take for me to make it onto that field?
Lacrosse offers wonderful opportunity to high school athletes. On top of the exhilaration that NCAA competition provides, lacrosse can help with college admissions and, in some cases, it can help with tuition. Finding the right school is one of the most important projects facing any high school player, and proper preparation is essential to a successful search.
The athletic recruiting process is one of many ways to get a feel for what’s out there, and while it can be overwhelming at times, recruiting is worth handling right.
Following are some tips on recruiting, and also a look at the process as experienced by Jude Collins, who excelled on the college lacrosse field and currently holds recruiting seminars for Advantage Lacrosse, in Virginia.