At the conclusion of my son’s freshman football season I was approached by the head football coach about pulling Nelson up to play on the varsity team starting sophomore year. At that time, I was unaware that a number of college coaches had already requested information about him. This was the beginning of our recruiting cycle.
For most parents, the college recruiting process doesn’t even register in their consciousness until senior year. Even after the coach had told me that Nelson may have an opportunity to get recruited, I figured we wouldn’t have to think about it until after his junior season. Boy was I wrong!
As it turns out, Nelson had NOT been on a college bound track since he started high school; in laymen’s terms, he wasn’t university material. As a consequence, he wasn’t scheduled for any of the required academic courses needed to be admitted to a university. When it came to scheduling high school classes, I assumed that his high school counselors or his mother (who is also a teacher at the high school) would take care of that. Working as a team throughout the recruiting process will be an important topic covered in the near future.
I learned the hard way that there is a lot more to getting a college athletic scholarship than just being a good player. In fact, according to Joseph Rigney, Director of the American Coaches Federation, “college coaches are often finding that the hardest part of recruiting is getting past the eligibility phase. It’s complicated and getting more so every year”. If college coaches, who make their living doing this are having a difficult time keeping up with these things, you can see why families would too. Which core courses meet the NCAA requirements, how many credits are required in each; GPA, ACT and SAT scores as they relate to the NCAA Sliding Scale; Clearinghouse registration and when to register; Amateur Status registration and when to register; NCAA Recruiting rules. Those are just a small sampling of the things that every student-athlete and his or her parents must face.
Learn from my experience with Nelson; it is extremely important that parents, coaches, school counselors learn as much as they can about the eligibility and recruiting process before the student-athlete approaches their senior year. College Sports Link conducts free Recruiting and Eligibility Seminars for high school booster clubs and organized club team organizations. These seminars may also be held in conjunction with tournaments and showcases. Whole Body Fitness in Chico also sponsors a free seminar every month for families interested in learning more about the recruiting process. If your high school or organization would like to schedule a seminar, please send us an e-mail at: collegesportslink@gmail.com, contact Greg Fishback at 530-518-3709, or click on this link for more information: