3 College Recruiting Tips for Parents
The college recruiting process can be both exciting and stressful at the same time. So many student-athletes and their families make critical mistakes in this process without even knowing it until it’s too late. With that in mind, here are 3 very basic, yet essential, tips for going through the college recruiting journey.
Tip #3: Start Early
If your child is in high school. It’s time to start. Begin visiting colleges in your area. Start discussing different schools and the different features of each (campus size, class size, area, weather, classes offered, majors offered softball program, etc, etc, etc). Begin keeping track of your child’s stats and create a softball resume with a list of experience, achievements, and current participation. You can even begin sending letters of interest to coaches as well.
Tip #2: Get Your child Evaluated
Big Hint: you are probably not the best person to evaluate your child’s talent. Take her to camps and clinics and get feedback from objective sources. Ask your daughter’s coach what he or she thinks of your child’s abilities and ask for feedback on areas that she can improve on. This is important because it can save you potential heartache in the recruiting process. There have been instances when players (and their families) were SET on a DI school. They turned down all other offers and when it came down to the wire, there were no DI offers and no where to go. Make sure you’re marketing your child to the right level. There’s nothing wrong with shooting high, but also make sure you have other options. Don’t shut doors prematurely.
Tip #1: Stay on Top of Academics
This is a point that I will emphasize again and again and again and again and again. For some reason, no matter how many times parents see student-athletes struggle with moving on to college due to academic reasons, they somehow still allow it to happen to their own child. Many times the BEST athletes have had their options severly limited due to the fact that their academics aren’t on par. Why? Because it’s very rare that the best athletes is also the best students. So if your daughter is one of those who is the all-star on the field, really encourage her and support her to strive for more in the classroom. Even if your daughter is NOT the best athlete, there is a very good chance that her academics could open doors for her that her softball skill alone couldn’t. Student-athletes struggle in the area of GPA and/or in the area of test scores. Make sure you’re child is best prepared in BOTH areas. Better academics = more options, period and you want your child to have the most choices available when their high school years wind down.
To learn ever more about the college recruiting process so that you can make well informed decisions as you and your child go through it, listen to this free audio by Stacie Mahoe, 5 Common College Recruiting Mistakes.
Wishing you the best during your college recruiting journey!
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