Interesting website. I have to say that parents (even those that played in college) have no clue about the recruiting process or very limited and go by what people say. To your points:
1) Realistic Assessment: Can you really get a good assessment of a player in a few hours? I think you can see what kind of player he/she is, but it's gonna take multiple evaluations to see where that player is at. And it all depends on the competition: if the kid is playing against scrubs how can you effectively evaluate the potential?
2) Don't hesitate to rule out schools other than D1. This is a great point. A lot of players (and more so parents) think that if you don't get that D1 scholarship, it's the end of the yellow brick road. There are thousands of scholarships that aren't even claimed in girls basketball because families think that taking something other than a D1 scholarship is beneath them. It's true that DIII does NOT give athletic scholarships, BUT sometimes they can do better than many non-d1 schools because of their "Merritt" scholarships.
3) Getting notice is important and having a player profile website is a plus: This is the biggest Bullcrap that agencies tell you. College coaches don't have time to be looking through player profiles and even if a player has a profile, most college coaches know that kids and parents embellish. Perform in games and that will speak more volumes than some stupid website with your name and picture on it.
4) Research all events to ensure college coaches will be in attendance. Don't leave recruiting in the hands of some agency or even your coach/club coach. If you're going to an exposure tourney (AAU or Nike, West Coast Jamboree) a lot of times they have coaches that have registered. If there is a school your daughter is interested in playing for will be in attendance, have your kid shoot them an email. The email should talk about your daughters grade, GPA, legit accomplishment (not 8th grade middle school MVP), HS or Club coach contact information and if you have one, a highlight video. This probably will have to be done a multitude of times, but communication with the coach is paramount in allowing your kid to be fully exposed.
5) College Coaches like to see game film, not just highlight videos. I heard from both college coaches (high level) and AAU/Club Soccer coaches that this is FAR from the truth. College coaches get hundreds of emails a day asking for their time in watching film/video. They say that a coach will watch anywhere from 15-30 seconds of a video before clicking delete OR watching more. Make a highlight video clip 2-3 minutes long. In this video, highlight position play. Handles, shooting, playmaking, passing, defense. They just don't want to watch a reel of kids scoring buckets. But to my point, don't expect a coach to sit and watch an hour video of a high school or even worse, an AAU game. It jus won't happen.
6) Contact college and let them know of student interest: Anytime you see a college your kid wants to go to, attending an event she'll be at, LET THEM KNOW. Coaches can't contact you until October 1 of your junior year so all communication has to be initiated by YOU or your coach. That being said, sending random emails is always a good thing, especially if the program is interested in you. My daughter had a friend the was on the bubble for SDSU and that kid sent weekly texts, emails, and even homemade cards to the entire coaching staff. It really left a mark about how badly this kid wanted to go there.
In short, 1000 bucks to get your name out there is a crazy idea. If you have money to blow, then by all means do. But recruiting is a lot of work, but you get what you put into it. All of the things these recruiting websites offer is easy to do yourself and save yourself the money for shoes, personal trainer, etc. just my two cents!
