“We are excited to add Rick to our team,” said STUDENTathleteWorld owner Tim Ryerson.  ”His  experience and inside knowledge of the college athletic recruiting process will be an invaluable asset to our Minnesota and Wisconsin STUDENTathletes.”

For more information on STUDENTathleteWorld, please visit http://studentathleteworld.com.

Families are often willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on camps, recruiting clinics, showcases, and showcase teams.  In some sports, participation on showcase teams can cost as much as $10,000 annually.  When families just throw money at camps, clinics, and showcases in order to ‘get noticed’, they are skipping important steps.  What value is being at all the recruiting events if no one knows who you are?  Let’s take a deeper look at these recruiting opportunities…

Recruiting Showcases and Clinics

If you choose to go to a showcase or clinic specifically for the purpose of getting noticed or choose to play for a travel team with recruiting being the main objective, make sure you fully understand this….College coaches don’t go to recruiting events to discover new talent- they go to evaluate athletes they are already recruiting.

I know you don’t believe me.  The movies tell you different.  Your club coach tells you different.  Ask college coaches.

Let’s look at this from the perspective of a college coach…

When I told people I was a college coach the follow up question was always, “Do you also teach?” or “What else do you do?”  Here is an example of what else I would do and how complex recruiting can be.

I commonly would attend a showcase where there would be 300 kids playing basketball on a four hour Saturday afternoon in a big gym with multiple courts.  I would get the list of kids that were going to attend ahead of time whenever possible and cross reference that list with my recruiting database (remember 4,438 kids).  Let’s say there were 30 kids on my list that were going to be there.  Who do you think I went to go watch and evaluate?  That’s right, those 30 kids.

Coaches always go in with a plan.  They don’t just show up and watch everyone.  You can’t physically evaluate 300 kids in four hours.  You have to be efficient.  Sure there are lots of good players all over but you can’t recruit all of them.  They stick to the ones they know.  Now, I’m not naïve enough to say that it never happens.  Sure I would occasionally find a hidden gem and add him to my list.  However, that happens far less often than you think.

For example, if I went to a showcase of 300 kids, 30 of them were on my list and got evaluated that day, 5 got noticed, and 265 kids paid $150 for a free t-shirt and to play pickup basketball for four hours [note that 300 kids x $150 is $45,000 of profit for a four hour event].  It’s just simply more important to spend your time and effort contacting schools and getting on lists than trying to get noticed at random.

I am not telling you to not participate in these events.  Some are great events to attend.  I just want you to remember a few important things.

• Showcases and clinics usually exist as a way for a person or organization to make money, lots of money.
• Do some research and find the best events to attend.
• You attitude and character will be on display as much as your athletic ability will be.
• Communicate with college coaches ahead of time about where you will be and follow up with coaches after the event to see if they had a chance to evaluate you.
• Don’t expect to just be noticed at random.  Even if you are one of the lucky few who get noticed at the event, you still need to follow all the steps to get recruited.
• Don’t just pick a showcase team for the main purpose of exposure.  Factor in playing opportunities, potential to improve, coaching, etc.

Summer Camps

When I was offered a NCAA DII coaching job in the Midwest I was told my salary could be near $50,000, a good salary increase for me.  When I got my contract it was a shade over $32,000.  What’s the catch?  Camp revenue.  My salary was going to be somewhere between $32,000 to $50,000 depending on how many kids came to camp.  The draft of the camp letter looked something like this….

Dear [Student-Athlete],
We would love to take a look at you as a potential prospect for our program.  Please consider coming to our camp so that we can get a better look at you as a player and you can get to know the staff and get a feel for campus.  Attached is the brochure.  It’s $575 for Sun-Wed camp.  Etc….

Look familiar?  If not, it probably will soon.  Sure the coaches might look at a few kids from camp, but the main agenda is revenue.

Often times schools have only limited money available to pay the salaries of assistant coaches, and they are supplemented by camp income.  Browse through athletic programs websites and you often see ‘volunteer’ assistants listed.  Do they all have rich spouses?  If not who’s paying their living expenses?  You are.

So, now we’ve cleared up the reason why camps exist.  They are not all evil.

Many families inquire with me as to the effectiveness of attending college camps for the purposes of getting recruited.  Some people will have you believe that college camps are a waste of money if you are trying to get recruited and others believe they are the best thing since sliced bread.  The truth lies somewhere in between.

A summer camp for a college coach is an easy way to see several hundred players in one place over the course of a week.  Not just to see them play but to meet them and learn about them as a person.  The summer for a college coach is the time of the year when they are free to really recruit at camps, tournaments, summer games, and showcases and they take full advantage of the summer in any way they can.  During their season, they are often not able to attend your high school games because they are playing their games.

With that being said, it’s extremely important to be realistic about certain camps.  Many kids sign up for camps at schools they have no realistic shot of playing at and they then wonder why they weren’t recruited after the camp.  This has a residual affect as they tell future families not to waste their money attending camps for recruiting purposes because “you won’t get recruited.”

There are several important steps you as a potential recruit need to perform before you start signing up for camps throughout the country.  The first step is to identify schools you might like to attend. If you honestly don’t have any interest in a school, then going to that camp for the purposes of trying to get recruited doesn’t make much sense.  If you want to go for skill-building purposes then that is up to you.

The second step you need to take is to identify whether your skills would allow you to play for this particular program in the near future.  If you are a 150-pound linebacker, attending camps at Notre Dame, Michigan, and Ohio State won’t get you recruited by those programs to play linebacker.  This is a fact of life that some people don’t want to accept and they keep attending camps at colleges they won’t be able to play for.  Finding a program where your skills match up will be in the end the most important recruiting task you can perform.  You have to do some research on the school and program first and you have to be realistic about your athletic skill.  It doesn’t matter if you attend one camp or one hundred camps, if you cannot realistically play for that school, the camp circuit won’t work for you.

The third important step is communicating with the college coach.  Many people simply sign up for camp, run past the coach and then expect a phone call a few weeks later from the coach.  Some college camps may have 500 players or multiple sessions so if the coach doesn’t know who you are or that you are interested in their program, they simply may not notice you the way you want to be noticed.  If you call the coach before the camp and begin to build a relationship with them and communicate that their school is a place of interest for you, you will have a far better chance of being noticed by that coach and making the camp circuit work.

At the end of the day you have to realize that the coach may only be recruiting five or ten players a year and may already have recruits in their pipeline or committed, so the odds of you simply being discovered at a camp are not always in your favor.  Some college coaches place a great deal of emphasis on their college camp each year and view it as a valuable tool in allowing them to see athletes and allowing athletes to see them and many players benefit from attending college camps.  Other college coaches use camp simply for revenue, community service, or public relations.

There is also a hidden benefit to some camps. Many college camps have other college coaches working at the camp.  This allows you the opportunity to be seen by other coaches from other schools where you might be a better fit.

A college camp is one step in the recruiting process and requires some research and communication with coaches on your part prior to the attending a camp.  You may find you are getting many camp flyers in the mail or personal requests from college coaches you are speaking to.  It doesn’t mean they are recruiting you, but it’s an opportunity to possibly get recruited.

View it as an opportunity to expand your skills, meet some new players, get a sense of your ability, and as a way to be seen by college coaches.

As a general rule of thumb- the smaller the school, the cheaper the price, and the less well known the camp director, the better the instruction and recruiting opportunities will be.  This is especially true in the revenue sports (football and men’s basketball).  You should choose a camp or camps based on the experience and instruction you will get, not just the recruiting opportunities.  If you do choose a camp to help get exposure, communication with the staff before, during, and after the camp is essential.  Also, don’t overlook the assistant coaches- they will be the ones making the recruiting decisions early on in the process.

Selecting Camps, Clinics, and Showcases

Listed below are issues to consider when deciding whether or not to invest the time and money to attend these types of functions.  Call me with any questions concerning them.  Some will be more worthwhile than others.  The closer you get to your Senior season the more of these contacts you will receive.  Below are thoughts designed to help you determine which will be the best fit for your situation.

College Sponsored Events

Do not consider your invitation to be an indication of their interest in making you an offer.  Remember, these are businesses making a profit from each player who attends.  In most cases any player willing to pay to attend and pay their own expenses will be invited.

Don’t attend unless you are certain you can compete at the level of the college program putting on the event.  Exceptions might include camps being conducted at a level higher than you can play at but where Colleges Coaches from schools you could play for are working the camp.

Ask the contact inviting you to the camp for a verifiable list of Colleges Coaches working the camp.  Don’t take their word for it.  Legitimate camps typically have a list of these Coaches on their website.  If unsure, call the Coach and ask if they are working the camp.  How many years they’ve worked it?  Do they have any players on their roster now that they discovered at the camp?  Any at your position?  If so, who?  What local players have been recruited as a result of attending this camp?   Jot down their answers then check to see if they are true.

Camps at colleges where you are certain you can compete are your VERY BEST opportunity to receive the earliest possible offer.  Attend them first, then possible fits and finally those you probably don’t have a shot at but are willing to spend the money for the learning experience only.

Non-College Invitation Only Events

Typically any athlete receiving post season honors at the District, Regional or State levels receive invitations to these events.  The same is true for off-season club team members whose team rosters are public information.  Do not consider yourself a college prospect at any level because you have received an invitation to attend these events.

Is your main purpose for attending this session to be seen by college recruiters?  If so, the same advice as above applies about verifying which Coaches will actually be there.  It is a common practice for Coaches to be paid by sponsors for the use of their name.  Often times they will attend to look at the only players they are interested in and leave.

How long is the session?

Is food furnished?

Are they insured?

Is it “one size fits all” or position specific?  If the latter how much time is spent on that position and what does that consist of?

How many participants are assigned to each Coach at your position?

Remember, the higher the level of players at the event the less likely it is you will stand out among them.  Would you be better off as a “big fish in a small pond” or a “small fish in a big pond”?

Do you know anyone personally who attended the event you are considering?    Did they benefit?

Have you attended this event, or one like it, previously?  What were the results?   Why continue spending money in the same way and expect a different result?

Summary

This information is not provided to discourage your interest in attending these events.  As with all services their value varies.  It is furnished to help you sort out your options.  Please call me as soon as you are CONSIDERING any of these events.  I may be able to save you the time and expense in doing so.

Declining or Negotiating Invitations

Colleges will be contacting you with invitations for visits to their school and for camps, try outs etc.  There is a limited amount of time and money that can be used for this purpose.  I suggest in the beginning of the recruiting process you first visit those most likely to generate an offer to you based on your visit with them.  This is true whether you attend there or not.  These will be programs you are positive you can qualify for academically and compete for a roster spot in your sport.  Follow those up with programs you’d like to play for but aren’t sure you can compete at that level.

It will be necessary for you to decline some of these invitations because they are too far away, cost too much; you have no interest in them etc.  However, you need to keep them interested in having you visit, try out etc. for as long as possible.  Call me with any questions about the reasoning for this.  You can accomplish this by using the method below:

• Thank them for their invitation.
• Find out when the next opportunity is for you to take part again.
• Explain why you can’t attend this time IE: Playing a sport that is in season, other commitments, too expensive, need more time due to travel distance etc.
• Ask them if you can attend for a reduced rate.

Be sure whoever is inviting you has a copy of your profile and most current competition schedule.  Invite them to scout you in person.

ACTION PLAN

“We are very pleased to add Kirk to our team,” said STUDENTathleteWorld owner Tim Ryerson.  ”His  experience as an athlete and inside knowledge of the college athletic recruiting process will be an invaluable asset to our Illinois STUDENTathletes.”

For more information on STUDENTathleteWorld, please visit http://studentathleteworld.com.

“We got you for free, with no investment on our part, and whether or not you pan out we are not that concerned with your athletic career…unless you can improve enough on your own to help us.”

Probably the best example I tell kids is of the movie Rudy.  Rudy is household name, especially in college football circles.  But how many plays did Rudy participate in during his Notre Dame career?  Two.  Not many kids I talk with tell me their dreams of participating in just two college plays.  And, Rudy is an example of a successful walk-on.  Most walk-ons never complete a four year career, and few even come back for a sophomore season.

College athletics is just different than high school athletics when scholarship money is involved.  Scholarship money is limited.  When coaches give out that money it is invested into who they feel has the most potential.  If you are asked to walk-on it means that they felt someone else has more potential than you.  Why would you expect to get opportunities over them?  Could you outplay them every day in practice and prove the coaching staff wrong and get scholarship money awarded to you for your sophomore year?  Sure, it’s possible, but highly unlikely.  Some walk-ons never get the repetitions in practice to even be able to show what they can do or the coaching to improve as quickly.

Remember how many kids the coaching staff funnels through their system each recruiting class.  The cream of the crop that make it through all stages are highly courted by the staff and the scholarship money they have is limited.  Why would they give part of their very limited funds to you as a rising sophomore from their practice squad when they are trying to get the elite blue chip athlete from the incoming freshman class that all their competitors are after as well?  Coaches know that you’ve already invested a year athletically, academically, and socially into their program.  They also know other teams don’t want transfers that didn’t play.  It’s a simple case of supply and demand.  You are no longer in demand as a walk-on.

NCAA DIII offers a more level playing field in this regard as technically everyone is a walk-on.  Problems still exist though, especially at schools that have JV programs or unlimited roster spots.  Picking a school in which the staff feels you have the potential to be successful will be a big part of your future success.

Not all walk-on situations are a bad idea.  Sometimes it might be the best option after you weigh all the factors that are a part of your decision.  But don’t be fooled with terms like ‘invited walk-on’ or ‘recruited walk-on’ and think it is anything else other than an uphill battle with the odds stacked against you.

‘Red shirting’ is when a coach would ask you to sit out your first year as an ineligible player and just practice with the team.  In theory, you would go to school for a total of 5 years, using your four years or eligibility in years 2-5.

Typically, there are two types of kids are asked to red shirt…..

1) Very good ones on full scholarships at schools that are fully funded, or

2) Athletes that the coaching staff thinks are not ready to help their program. 

If you’re ok with not competing for a year, it’s not a big deal to red shirt if you are on a full-scholarship….as you have no expenses anyway and the year usually makes you a better player to begin your college career in year two.  However, if you are paying your own way, or most of it, you are more accurately a ‘walk-on’ not a ‘red-shirt’.  If a coach asks you to red-shirt, you should ask some questions,

Do you want to pay for 5 years of school? 

Does the coaching staff really think you will be able play after a year of training? 

They are possibly putting you on the back burner; knowing there is a decent chance you will quit, transfer, or end up a manager or student-assistant coach.  In most cases, when coaches talk about red-shirting it means they think you are not at the level of their current team or competition. Red-shirting is used differently at different schools, different levels, and different sports.  It’s not always a terrible option, but it is a red flag worth looking out for and asking questions about.

ACTION PLAN…

“We are very pleased to add Ashleigh to our team,” said STUDENTathleteWorld owner Tim Ryerson.  ”Her  experience as a high level collegiate athlete and inside knowledge of the recruiting process that will be an invaluable asset to our South Carolina STUDENTathletes.  This continues to show our commitment to having qualified former college athletes and coaches represent us across the United States.”

For more information on STUDENTathleteWorld, please visit http://studentathleteworld.com.

“It would be hard to find a more qualified instructional group of coaches anywhere in the country, these guys professional playing experience says it all-they have “BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT” and we are grateful enough here at STUDENTathleteWorld that they are now giving back to the game and these STUDENTathletes.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten to where I did without the day in and day out workouts and lessons I received from Javi Dejesus back when I was a Fort Wayne high school player,” says Indiana Area Coordinator and Fort Wayne native Dustin Glant.

Tim Ryerson/Owner STUDENTathleteWorld.com added, “Manny and the rest of the staff at THE DIAMOND understand the importance and know how of developing these STUDENTathletes careers  both athletically, and from the STUDENTathleteWorld.com side of taking that talent they have helped develop and getting our STUDENTathletes the best and most exposure we can all over the country.”