The parent’s role in the college recruiting process
When your athlete starts excelling in high school athletics, it’s easy to begin thinking about what their future can look like. The appeal of competing in college athletics has only increased with the opportunity to make life-changing money during their college years. As a parent, it’s not just about your kid competing, it’s about the life after athletics. Most athletes don’t ever compete at the professional, so it can be overwhelming to ensure your athlete is focused on academics and the cultural aspect of the college experience.
Be a Guide. Not a Manager
It’s easy to want to take control of the process. Your life and work experience likely means you’ll feel more comfortable communicating with college coaches and what factors your child need to thinks about when evaluating schools. But, college coaches literally tell the world - please don’t do this. The college recruiting process should be led by your son or daughter. The emails, the phone calls, and the decisions need to be a learning experience for the child. Contrary to what you believe, it may also help them earn more opportunities. When a college coach is constantly working trhough the parent, they begin to question how enthusiastic the child is about the school. College coaches are looking to here directly from the athlete, and a small grammar error here or there isn’t going to deter your favorite wide receivers coach. Plus, tools like RecruitReach’s email generator can help your athlete create personalized emails without you needing to proofread.
Help Them Organize Their Thoughts
Going into sophomore or junior year is likely when the recruiting process will really pick up. There’s a thousand questions that might come to mind.
What division is my athlete good enough for?
What schools are they good enough for?
Will they have a chance to earn a scholarship?
If not, what schools can they afford?
Do they even know what they want to major in?
Do they want to stay close to home or go across the country?
Do they want playing time or exposure to championship environments?
A good place to start is what schools should we even consider. If you’re reading this, it’s likely a priority for your athlete to compete at the college level. Use a tool like RecruitReach to assess what division your athlete is a fit for. After creating your profile, you can ask RecruitChat for an honest opinion about whether your athlete is SEC bound or a better fit for Division 3. Then dive even deeper into what schools it might be smart to consider. Depending on your graduation year, keep in mind the athlete’s growth potential. Once you know the level of schools, look into things like test scores, and tuition - data available in RecruitReach’s school search.
Be A Mock Coach. Help Them Prepare.
Before the athlete has live experiences with college coaches, help them prepare ahead of time. Whether it’s talking to coaches on the phone, responding to emails, or meeting them on an official visit, you can roleplay the coach and help guide your athlete through what to say and what not to say. If you’ve never gone through a recruiting process, ask RecruitChat how to handle different situations and use it as your guide during the role play.
In Summary: Keep Them on Track
At the end of the day, your job is to help your athlete reach their dream schools. It’s a bit cliche, but your job is build the tracks, while they’re the ones driving. Keep them focused, organized, and making smart decisions and you’ll be doing more than you know for your athlete. Take a deep breath. There’s well over 100,000 openings in the NCAA every year.
