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Athletic Recruiting: Parents are Coaches

Where Are They Now

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Sep 6, 2011
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by Joe Scheidler - CEO and Co-Founder | Pathlete


https://www.pathlete.com/blog/athletic-recruiting-parents-are-the-coaches

The athletic recruiting process, more often than not, is a daunting process for parents and their children who desire the opportunity of competing in collegiate athletics. Early preparation and maintenance are key components to ensuring a successful experience rather than enduring a hasty and frenzied endeavor.

Academics should be at the top of any prospect’s set forth agenda. Identifying areas of academic weakness is a crucial step that must be taken before athletes enter into high school. As just recently announced by the NCAA, starting in 2016 prospective DI athletes are required to graduate high school upholding a minimum 2.3 GPA as opposed to the previous 2.0 GPA requirement. This of course, is in addition to the required completion 16 core curriculum courses that are to be completed by graduation, 10 of which must be completed before the senior year has even begun. Such criteria may seem over-bearing, but is in fact more than manageable if parents and children can foster a definitive action plan to divide and delegate these requirements early on.

Achieving this will allow parents and their athletes to allocate more of their time into improving academic performance without having to halt their progression later due to cluttered logistical balancing. The key point for parents to take away from this message is take the time to break down the final goal into stepping stone goals as early as possible – well before your child enters high school.
 
by Joe Scheidler - CEO and Co-Founder | Pathlete


https://www.pathlete.com/blog/athletic-recruiting-parents-are-the-coaches

The athletic recruiting process, more often than not, is a daunting process for parents and their children who desire the opportunity of competing in collegiate athletics. Early preparation and maintenance are key components to ensuring a successful experience rather than enduring a hasty and frenzied endeavor.

Academics should be at the top of any prospect’s set forth agenda. Identifying areas of academic weakness is a crucial step that must be taken before athletes enter into high school. As just recently announced by the NCAA, starting in 2016 prospective DI athletes are required to graduate high school upholding a minimum 2.3 GPA as opposed to the previous 2.0 GPA requirement. This of course, is in addition to the required completion 16 core curriculum courses that are to be completed by graduation, 10 of which must be completed before the senior year has even begun. Such criteria may seem over-bearing, but is in fact more than manageable if parents and children can foster a definitive action plan to divide and delegate these requirements early on.

Achieving this will allow parents and their athletes to allocate more of their time into improving academic performance without having to halt their progression later due to cluttered logistical balancing. The key point for parents to take away from this message is take the time to break down the final goal into stepping stone goals as early as possible – well before your child enters high school.

In addition to academics the parents must somehow gain some form of objectivity. An example is does my kid project to the next level physically? Many a great high school offensive lineman that's 5'11" 225 or pro style qb that's 5' 9" or running back that runs a 4.9 forty might be an excellent high school player but won't garner attention from the college ranks. Those same parents will often be baffled when they see an average 6'4" QB or 6'5" lineman recieve multiple offers. It's all about how you project to the next level, not how good you play in high school.
 
For many parents, getting their kid to "sign" is like driving a really nice car around town - they just wanna show it off....most of the time they think they drive a Mercedes when they really own a Yugo!

Getting a college athletic scholarship at any level is truly a big accomplishment
 
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In addition to academics the parents must somehow gain some form of objectivity. An example is does my kid project to the next level physically? Many a great high school offensive lineman that's 5'11" 225 or pro style qb that's 5' 9" or running back that runs a 4.9 forty might be an excellent high school player but won't garner attention from the college ranks. Those same parents will often be baffled when they see an average 6'4" QB or 6'5" lineman recieve multiple offers. It's all about how you project to the next level, not how good you play in high school.

While very true, that is a very big ask. It's sort of like saying 'there should be peace in the middle east'. The vast majority of parents are not objective when it concerns their children. Their passion blinds them to reality. Just look at the growth of the ancillary industries that are being well supported because parents think they can buy scholarships/access: recruiting services, agility training, sport specific training, travel teams, specialized gear, camps, dietary aids, hydration, supplements, etc.
 
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One of my favorite stories is when Jack Elway took a friend to see one of John's Stanford games to find out if his kid was as good as he thought he was.
 
Getting a college athletic scholarship at any level is truly a big accomplishment....and parents will go to any lengths to ensure little johnny or sally gets one regardless of their athletic talent -- unfortunately by the time reality strikes, the parents have alienated everyone around them including their kids and have spent near tuition for two years......there is a reason most kids are in the 99% >>they are born into it!!
 
Getting a college athletic scholarship at any level is truly a big accomplishment....and parents will go to any lengths to ensure little johnny or sally gets one regardless of their athletic talent -- unfortunately by the time reality strikes, the parents have alienated everyone around them including their kids and have spent near tuition for two years......there is a reason most kids are in the 99% >>they are born into it!!


I've gotta disagree with you Ron that parents have successfully gotten their kids scholarships, when the kid couldn't deliver the goods. However, I have seen parents spend up to hundreds of thousands on lawyers, camps, professional coaching, unofficial visits, etc......in an effort to get their kid a scholarship. Sometimes this big spending works, sometimes it doesn't.

Over involved parents sometimes get away with that behavior at the high school level, never at the college level. The average college athletic scholarship is valued at $100k-$300K over the course of five years and colleges think long and hard before they offer that kind of money to any athlete. Parents can go to any lengths they want, at the end of the day their kid is either seen as one that projects to the next level or doesn't.
 
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Yeah Bubba, I think we are on the same page here......know a lot of kids who were missed altogether, too....not an exact science, very dependent upon the staff's ability to project talent.
 
Yeah Bubba, I think we are on the same page here......know a lot of kids who were missed altogether, too....not an exact science, very dependent upon the staff's ability to project talent.

For sure there are kids that can play at the next level that get overlooked by college scouts
 
For sure there are kids that can play at the next level that get overlooked by college scouts

I watched some of the SRJC games this season. They had a wide receiver who didn't really even play the first half of the season. Out of nowhere they gave the guy some run and the kid was looking like Larry Fitzgerald punking people. It's hard to judge talent when there on your own team so imagine how hard college and pro scouts have it.
 
Two daughters went through it for soccer -- little attention was paid to the first one (and we didn't do much), but the second one was recruited and offered by multiple schools. Funny thing was the older daughter is by far the better athlete! Both decided academics would be the focus and neither played, and they had all kinds of time to themselves for once.
 
Parents are nuts sometimes. LOL They think that sometimes they have it all figured out when there is really no exact science. What I do know it keeping your grades up and your highlights updated is a good start. We usually have kids fill out as many recruiting questionnaires as possible. Then we follow up with emails and calls to coaching staffs. Especially the ones we have relationships with. Our guys usually all get an opportunity if they really want one.

The problem is that many times our guys don't get the big school offers they are looking for. Many do. But the ones that sometimes get the smaller school offers balk at them. I just heard of a kid that turned down a couple of NAIA offers and chose to go the JC route. And in his first season blew out his knee. Now that could have happened at the NAIA schools. But at least if you have a scholarship and you get hurt at that school, you have some protection and get the rest of your schooling paid for. I just shake my head at the HORRIBLE advise some of these guys get from folks that either don't know the process or don't have the kid's best interest at heart.
 
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