Question for HS coaches about helping athletes get recruited

Do coaches actually have to recruit? The competition is so incredibly stiff I'd imagine that even bad teams would be able to just pick who they want from kids emailing them.

depends on the quality of the kids emailing you. If you are a big time D1 then yes you can pick and choose but if you are a lower D1,D2,D3, or NAIA school you have to really work the better kids to get them to come to your school. It all depends on how successful you want to be. Even the big schools have to work hard for the real studs though.

I find Totally Evil Private Coach's comments to be ignorant. Unless you are a collegiate coach (which you obviously are not) you should not assume you know the answers. As a college coach I try very hard to keep up wit all the recruiting issues. But sometimes reality gets in the way of recruiting. So I go to practice, then come home for dinner with my wife and two children. Then I want to spend time with the little ones before they go to bed. Then I fall into bed since I'm exhausted from doing all the NCAA/university junk all day, and getting up early to be at practice, then attend to all of my teams needs. I'm not superman but just a regular guy who wants to do a good job. And sometimes my job of coach, fundraiser, administrator, meet manager, husband, parent, son gets in the way of me contacting every single high school recruit or parent that contacts me. I will get to everyone eventually, but it may take some time. Some must think they cc/track programs have unlimited coaching staffs. If you are in a single gender program you have three coaches to handle everything. If we were like football and basketball and had a recruiting coordinator it would be different.

Just saying that life does get in the way of recruiting. Not an excuse, but a reality.

College coaches who have responded, thanks for doing so.

The first said that first impressions are vital, yet he/she doesn't always get around to responding to potential recruits.

The second says that life gets in the way of recruiting, and listed numerous excuses, most of which are part of the job. You have done all this "in a post on a website". You have obviously prioritized "life".

It takes no more than 30-60 seconds to respond to an e-mail inquiry or follow up on a completed questionnaire. Do your job and do not leave a 16-17 year old kid hanging. If you can't handle that, move aside and let someone who can take over.

As a high school coach concerning this topic; I let the parents and athletes know that it is possible that many can continue running competitively after hs but really need to understand what program they would fit into best only after they've researched their academic needs first.

Secondly, I make sure they know I am available to help with the process but I am not their personal agent that will go out of my way to find them an athletic scholarship.

Thirdly, we give them a reality check on what the term "admissible" means and the number of scholarships available for running programs vs what they hear about in football and smaller squads like bb, wrestling, tennis etc... Reality is that most kids can plan to walk on and earn something for the next year like most of the guys on the squad in front of them. Yes, academic and civil scholarships are a more realistic avenue for financial assistance to stave off as much loan as possible. Plan on holding down a part time job as well.

I talk to coaches in our region about an occassional, exceptional talent their junior year to start getting their attention when we cross paths at indoor meets or Drake Relays. I'll remind them when I see them but I don't usually hear back from them until after our state meet since they are pretty busy people. I always find it curious how many staff have a person dedicated to recruiting but they can't seem to make their rounds even after given information. I attest this to just not planning ahead enough to stay competitive at the top of their conference or other limitations as all colleges are not treated equally by their AD in terms of financial input.

Obviously, and as mentioned earlier, kids and their parents have to take the lead on getting good grades, releasing transcripts, filling out forms/clearinghouse data, online recruiting forms, sending back snail-mail forms etc... I won't put all of the "lazy" blame on the college coaches as I know that parents and kids are lazy too. They don't always realize how much work it is to get yourself in a good position on time until it's too late.

My main job is to help those that feel like they are moving toward collegiate athletics to make sure they are committed to wanting to know how fast they can run someday. So much that they would do it for free if they had to. Eat/Sleep right, Academics, Athletics, Social priorities in that order. If not, nothing works well and something will have to go away. Don't waste their time or other people's time if they aren't willing to be an athlete that wants to know how good they can be.

I walked on, earned a scholarship and eventually found out how good I could be because I found a coach that was willing to take a chance on me and didn't require that I was a superstar to begin with. I felt like I did things right but looking back could have done things better like we all do. Now I try to pass it along to others no matter how good they are or aren't. It's just their perspective that needs to be adjusted. Some of my better athletes couldn't make that adjustment while average kids turned out pretty darned good. It's fun to see the good ones become great and take some pride in knowing I had something to do with getting them started down that road. Even better is when they decide to take on the profession of coaching/teaching and I can see that they are practicing good attitudes about helping others the right way.

opinionated guy wrote:

College coaches who have responded, thanks for doing so.

The first said that first impressions are vital, yet he/she doesn't always get around to responding to potential recruits.

The second says that life gets in the way of recruiting, and listed numerous excuses, most of which are part of the job. You have done all this "in a post on a website". You have obviously prioritized "life".

It takes no more than 30-60 seconds to respond to an e-mail inquiry or follow up on a completed questionnaire. Do your job and do not leave a 16-17 year old kid hanging. If you can't handle that, move aside and let someone who can take over.

I cannot AMEN this comment enough! As the dad/coach of a rising SR HS girl, I've just been blown away by the sheer laziness of the coaches we've contacted - even the ones who initially express an interest in recruiting my kid. This thread makes me feel a lot better, as I had begun to worry about being blown off by so many coaches.

Here's the really weird thing. I'll email a coach & basically ask how fast my kid should run to be considered for a scholarship. I'll also include her academic achievements.

What normally happens is I'll get a very encouraging initial reply - even coaches specifically giving me a $$ range of what they'd offer, telling me they're very interested, etc.

So then I'll thank the coach for the encouraging reply & I'll eventually email them about taking a summer/unofficial visit to meet the coach, tour the campus, etc.

That's when I either get totally blown off or I get these 1 sentence replies. It's like these guys are tired from the effort of sending me a 2 paragraph initial response & just have nothing left. It's bizarre to have a coach tell you how he'd love to sign your kid & he's certain his program is a great match, but then totally drop the ball when you try to take the next step.

Another thing I see is even D2/NAIA just never offering a reply. Not even a form response that basically says 'Thanks for your interest. We'll get back with you'.

Oh, & the best is the coaches who tell me my kid needs to run 18:30 to be considered for a scholarship at their D2 school, but then when I look up last season's results I see that maybe 1 women on their team cracked 18:30 & only a couple ran sub 19..

I've had D2 coaches with no women running sub 19 last season tell me my kid's 19:XX MIGHT be good enough to walk-on..

WTH?

"It takes no more than 30-60 seconds to respond to an e-mail inquiry or follow up on a completed questionnaire. Do your job and do not leave a 16-17 year old kid hanging. If you can't handle that, move aside and let someone who can take over."

I have to agree. An email takes no time and nobody is expecting you to fully explain ever aspect of your coaching style, the history of the school and detail every major possible at the university.

I've had D2 coaches with no women running sub 19 last season tell me my kid's 19:XX MIGHT be good enough to walk-on..

WTH? quote

Thats because that coach probably does not have a lot of scholarship and if they can get you kid to walk on so they can bring in someone better, then they will do that. It is called maximizing your scholarship. The better the team the less each kid will probably receive on average, but the more successful the team will be. remember that your kid is not the only one and not necessarily the best kid they are recruiting. They may not be spending the bulk of their recruiting time recruiting your kid. Sometimes they get it wrong and go after the wrong ones and miss out on kids but that is how it works. You just regroup and try to get the next one.

Bottom line they are in no way required to contact the thousands of emails they get every year from every recruit. If they want you on their team, they will make it happen. If you are frustrated with the lack of interest by a coach then maybe you should pick a different school. No one is forcing you to go there. This is not youth soccer where everyone gets a trophy. There is not a coach for any college sport in America who has not been guilty of the practices that you are complaining about. If they say otherwise then they are a liar.

why would any kid walk-on a D2 school when plenty of other schools are offering plenty of $$?? Especially a mediocre program??

"remember that your kid is not the only one and not necessarily the best kid they are recruiting"

No, you're not listening. Are you a Coach...? I'm not talking about being recruited. I'm talking about simply screening programs to help a kid narrow their list down a bit. When multiple good schools tell a parent or kid they'll offer $XX000 + work with admissions on academic scholarship for a girl that runs 19:XX, but then your school - which may not even be as good a program as the ones offering $$ - says 'maybe you could walk-on', what do you think the kid's reaction is? You're simply crossed off the list. There's no scholarship to maximize because you just lost that parent and kid..

And your average D2 women's XC coach isn't getting bombarded with emails. Especially in June.. And we're not looking for in depth replies. Lastly, how can you explain the initial very enthused, lengthy response from a coach, but then almost zero effort?

"No one is forcing you to go there. This is not youth soccer where everyone gets a trophy"

WTH? Where does this come from? Who's asking for a trophy? How about just a common courtesy reply? Not a novel, but just a couple of sentences. Not immediate, but maybe a reply within week or so? Non-coaches seem to get this..

I have corresponded with top coaches at top schools with lots of great recruits who were unfailingly polite, profressional, helpful & always eventually replied to an email.

Why then can't the goofball at the mediocre school with a below average team take 20 seconds to reply??

One time I emailed a coach who was initially very interested in a kid. When I tried to set up a summer visit, the coach seemingly lost interest. The guy actually told me that he scheduled his work day around his workout & he schedeuled his workout around the weather. So the guy is actually telling me what day/time would work best for him to meet with the kid, based on what days were projected to be hot/rainy, etc.

Can you imagine this happening in the real world??

I do not disagree with you about being courteous. I think it is good to try and make an effort to contact every kid but when you make a judgment about a coach who offers your kid a walk-on spot who has run faster times than the previous years kids then that sounds like you think your kid is owed something when you have no idea what the situation at that school is. You have to remember that as coaches we deal with a lot of recruits and parents of recruits who feel like they are entitled to whatever they want. I am not saying that you are like this but it does happen. These kind of people are not pleasant to deal with and sometimes it is easier to ignore them because if you say anything even remotely negative about their kid then the backlash is not worth the call. Also please be aware that coaches are human and they lose stuff, forget stuff, and sometimes just mis-evaluate talent. If they do not call you back it is not always on purpose. the best thing to do is make sure your kid is someone that the coach would want on their team regardless of talent.

Flagpole,

I would also have a kid go to the websites of the schools they like and fill out the athletic profile. This gives the coach info that is important as to how much they can give or how much they want to give to the incoming athlete.

I would also be careful in having a kid hold out until after Feb signing day as this may hurt a kids chances on if any money remains for them. It is a big game with scholarships so ask a lot of questions to the coach.

Monty

It's not about entitlement at all. But if you're a coach at an average school with an average D2 program without any women running sub 19 & the best you can offer a girl who has run 19:XX as a HS JR with very good grades is 'maybe you could walk on', then that's the end of the 'recruitment'. I get the coach may not have $$ or whatever, but it'd be best to offer some sort of explanation.. Otherwise, the parent & kid will assume they're just not a good fit. Why should Dad be asked to pay $20k for his kid to run at your school when other coaches at equally good schools are offering $15k??

I've talked to coaches with programs that were just too good/fast for the kid I was trying to help and the kid knew it as well as the parents. We didn't expect anything & were tickled the coach took the time to say anything at all.

That's not what I'm talking about though. If my kid runs faster than every woman on your team but 1 or 2 and the best you can do is 'tell her to walk-on', you're just wasting your time. Who are you recruiting?? It sounds like you can't/won't develop talent & you just wanna sit back & leave it all to recruiting...

its not that that kid doesn't have worth but maybe you have three other recruits slightly better that you have already offered and there is no money left. developing talent has nothing to do with it. As a recruiter a coach should always be trying to get the best kids for their program. once they get their then you put in the time to make them better. you will occasionally have a kid that is mediocre who turns into a stud but that is not a common occurance. if school A brings in 4 19;40-20:00 flat girls and school B brings in 4 18:20-18:40 girls which school is probably going to be more successful. Developing the athletes should happen regardless of their talent but higher talent base usually means more potential. in recruiting and being recruited timing is everything.

I am a head college track/xc coach. I had a female recruit in yesterday that was an all-state sprinter (100/12.21, 200/25.27). I offered her a partial scholarship of about 45%. Her Dad was stunned because she had full-ride offers from other schools. I had to explain that:

1. Our school does not have the full scholarship funding that some of our competitors have. One of the programs that offered her a full ride is a NAIA school that seems to have endless amounts of money and offers just about every sprinter in the state a full ride.

2. That we focus on results at the national level. In our division a 12.21 100m runner is far from scoring at the national level. Some other events at our level are much easier to score in. We concentrate our money in those events. EVEN THOUGH SHE WOULD BE OUR TOP SPRINTER we have had several national champions in other events. The lions share of my money goes to events that we can be most successful in. Some other programs might focus on conference results and go after athletes in events that will help them be successful at conference.

The offer to her was not a slight, and it compared well to offers I have made to other sprinters of similar abilities that have signed with me in the past.

One more comment directed towards the crowd that says it ONLY takes 30-60 seconds to respond to an email. That is bull if you really want a response that explains the coaches reasoning at all. This is my process to responding to emails:

1. Read the email/contact form

2. Google the athlete to verify the facts of the emails/contacts (many prospective athletes do not represent themselves accurately)

3. Write a thoughtful email response as to why the athlete may not be a good fit for our program. If they are a good fit I usually make the next contact by phone to athlete or their high school coach.

Conservatively, this process takes around 10 minutes. Multiply that by the 700 plus unwanted contacts I get per year and you get 116 hours of this per year. That is just for the athletes I'm not really interested in! The athletes that I'm actively recruiting will obviously take up a lot more time.

Sometimes I get busy/weary and it might take me until a second email/contact before I reply, but I do not feel lazy. It happens to every coach that I know.

This is a great insight to how things work. Thanks for the post.

Broke Dad I think you are the problem. I am getting bad vibes just reading your posts. You seem overbearing. If these coaches sense the same thing I did they will not be interested at all. Why should a school give any money? What do they get out of it?

Lazy, ok wrote:

One more comment directed towards the crowd that says it ONLY takes 30-60 seconds to respond to an email. That is bull if you really want a response that explains the coaches reasoning at all.

No, in the cases mentioned in this thread, athletes and parents were NOT looking an explanation of the coach's reason for anything. They were looking for a reply of any kind. It is very common for coaches simply not respond AT ALL to numerous e-mails and calls. Parents and athletes are looking for a friendly, "We received your on-line recruiting questionnaire. Thanks for your interest in State University. Our coaching staff will verify your performances and assess the type of fit you will be for our program. This may take several days. Please expect a thoughtful and thorough reply within the next two weeks. Again, thanks for your interest and look for a response in the near future."

The response in quotations took me 36 seconds to type and a coach could even copy/paste it in less. After this initial response, the amount of time put in could depend upon the athlete, the fit, etc. However, they all deserve a reply. If not, do not make the on-line questionnaire open to all.

I work in business and if I repeatedly failed to respond to e-mails and calls without any explanation, I would be fired within a month or two.

great point. Why should the school even have an XC program? Why pay the coach any $$?? I coach for free, so why should a lazy college coach who can't even reply at an email be paid?

As far as the Dad who was 'stunned' at a 45% scholarship, I agree that's all on the Dad. In that example though, the coach had obviously communicated with the parents & kid, even going so far as to meet with them.

We're talking about coaches who are so lazy they can't even be bothered to take 20 seconds to reply to an email..

There are lots of reasons kids don't get recruited "enough".

1) Parents want their kids to feel good and get attention and you can never satisfy this

2) While the athlete might be good they might not fit the needs of the particular college program.

3) After having met with hundreds of recruits I've found most don't have a clue how hard college running (successfully) is.

4)Coaches might be lazy

5) The athlete isn't as good as they think (or their parents think) they are.

6) more, more, more....

Yes it is easy to understand a 15:30 runner is likely better than a 16:00 high school runner. However, some high school programs are more advanced and perhaps the 16:00 runner has more potential/upside due to little/no coaching.

Yes coaches miss good runners all the time but they are constantly evaluating who is the best fit for their team/program.

I would say that picking a college is the responsibility of the runner and their family. After 12 years of high school and all of the opportunities available to help families figure out college they should have the capability to do this on their own in search of the best college fit.

The goal of the high school coach should be to provide a great athletic experience for that runner during their high school career and hopefully provide an experience that will allow a future in the sport if the runner wants one.

If you are good enough someone will find you.