Recruiting Education for Student Athletes

In the past 12 years, I have spoken to over 5,000 high school student athletes, parents, coaches and guidance counselors about the NCAA recruiting process as it is practiced by coaches at all levels. One thing that constantly impresses me is how hungry everyone is to get the information that is right for them. Many of the other "recruiting services" that are out there do two things: either try to get you to put a profile on a website so coaches can "find you", or try to fit you into a "combine" model mostly tailored for football players. These services are more than happy to have you pay for this evaluation and exposure.But is the right way to choose a college?

A multi million dollar industry has developed in the past 10 years designed to capitalize on your desire to market yourself and gain maximum exposure as an athlete. Modeled after the pros, these entrepreneurs have taken their passion for athletics (and in some cases, former college athletes) and turned it into a business whose sole focus is to create anxiety in you. This industry includes:

• Summer Camps offered by college coaches;
• Filming/video services;
• Combines;
• Web profile services;
• Club teams;
• Club Tournaments;
• Clinics offered by college coaches.

How do they create this anxiety? By marketing the idea to you that if you don't PAY to attend/use their camp/service, you will somehow not be chosen by a college coach. This works particularly well for those high school student athletes who have the desire to earn an athletics scholarship.

Don't believe me? Here's an example:

A coach at a preeminent academic university has started the practice of telling sophomore recruits that if they do not attend both the summer camp on that campus AND the junior year "open" clinic led by that school's coaching staff, they can forget about being recruited. Just absorb that for one second. Now, keep in mind that summer camps are additional income for college coaches, and in season clinics are often used as fundraisers for the team. This particular coach is telling you that unless you pay to demonstrate your talents on campus, you can forget about being looked at. Do the top athletes have to do this? No way--there are different rules for them. This does apply to all the other "dreamers" that are willing to do almost anything, including indirectly paying the coach, in the hopes they will be offered a scholarship.

(Here's what makes that situation worse: imagine you really wanted to be looked at by that coach, but the school is a five hour drive from home and you have a family event that weekend which should take priority. Can you guess what the coach said to the student athlete? The entire weekend, this student athlete was inconsolable--she felt she had lost her only chance to audition for the coach. Is this what college recruiting should be?)

More to come....