Presented by:Tim Wassell

Assistant Coach, Penn State

College Recruiting 101

ü SelfAssessmentü AcademicAssessmentü ChoosingtheRightSchoolü RecruitmentTimelineü Scholarshipsü Financesü PlayerResponsibility/GettingNoticedüBestPracticesü SocialMedia&Conduct

AGENDA

Growth of the Game

College Soccer is a privilege, not a right!

Academics/

Support

Soccer Level

Support Staff

Location

Size

Culture

Positional

Needs

Financial

Thereisno‘right’ waytonavigatethisprocess.Itwillbedifferentforeveryfamily.Educateyourselfontherulesandbeintheknow–gotoNCAA.orgtolearnmore.

ü Berealistic,whatabilitylevelareyou?- NCAAD1,D2,D3?

ü Identifyyourmajor?ü Doyouwantaschoolcloseorfarfromhome?ü Whattypeofenvironmentsuitsyoubest?

- smallschool/largeschool/urban/suburbanü Takeownership

- therecruitmentprocessbegins&endswithyou

Self-Assesment

Academic Assesment

ü GPA

ü Whatareyouracademiccapabilities?

ü ClassRanking

ü SAT/ACTTestScores

Choosing the Right School

ACADEMICS

ü Doyouhavepriorityscheduling?ü Whattypeofacademicsupportisavailable?

ü Howinvolvedistheacademicadvisor?ü Howflexiblearetheprofessors?ü HowoftenwillImissclass?ü Whatisyourstudyhallpolicy?ü Whatisyourteam’saverageGPAoverpastfewyears?

CULTURE & LEVEL OF SUCCESS

ü Howimportantisculture?ü Howdoyoufindoutaboutateam’sculture?ü Howtodeterminetheoveralllevelofsuccessofaprogram?

Coach?ü Takehistoricaldataintoconsideration

POSITIONAL NEEDS

ü Askthe‘tough’ questions!ü Wheredoyouseemefittingin?ü AtwhatpointdoyoubelieveIwillimpactyour

program?ü Whoaretheotherplayerscompetingformyposition?

The Recruitment Process

ü Player– ClubCoach/DOCcommunicationü Player– CollegeCoachcommunicationüBecomingfamiliarwithbasicNCAArecruitingregulations

üVisiting– OfficialandunofficialvisitsüNCAAClassifications:DivisionI,II&III

Marketing “ME”

ü Initialletter/Emailü PlayerProfileLink(positions/achievements)ü GraduationYearü AcademicInfo(G9-12)ü Awards/CommunityService/Clubsü GPA/SAT/ACTü References

ü CSACoachesü HSCoaches

ü TeamScheduleofEventsü AttendingCamps/Combinesü Videos:uponrequestonlyü Communication:beprofessional

Recruiting Rules

QuestionnairesCamp info, etc

RecruitingMaterials

Electronic Correspondence

Telephone Calls

Off-CampusContact

Official VisitsEvals &Contact

Anytime

Beginning September 1

of junior year

Beginning September 1

of junior year

Beginning September 1

of junior year(unlimited)

Beginning July 1

following junior year

Opening day of classes of PSA's senior

year

7 combined –not more than 3 of 7 may be

contacts

Scholarships & Finances

Scholarships:üAthleticüAcademicüWhatdothevariouslevelsoffer?

NCAAI,II,III,NAIA,JC

Finances:ü LoansüGrantsü FederalüOtherexpenses

Scholarships & Finances

Division# of

Schools# of teams

Varsity Athletes

Ave. Team Size

Athletic Scholarship

limit per team

Average Athletic

Scholarship

NCAA I 331 328 8,998 27 14 $15,411

NCAA II

257 255 6,766 27 9.9 $7,258

NCAA III

446 437 10,559 24 - -

NAIA 204 197 4,712 24 12 $6,982

NJCAA 236 184 3,602 20 18 $2,028

Other 193 156 3,123 20 - $391

Total 1,667 1,557 37,760 24 $5,366

Best Practices

Startwithafairlywidescopebasedonyourpriorities.Knowwhereyoustandwitheachprogram– askthe‘tough’ questions- assoonasyoucrossoffaprogramyoushould

notifythecoachingstaff

Everyschoolhasadifferenttimelineanddifferentstrategy– justlikeabusiness.Ex.first

moveradvantage,differentiation.Thingschangequicklysobepreparedtoact.

Reduceyourrisk.Takemultiplevisitstoaschoolwhenpossible.Talktotheplayers.Getonthephonewiththecoach.Gettoknowtheschoolbeyondthe

soccerprogram.

BEST PRACTICES

Your‘dreamschool’ maynotinfactbetherightplaceforyou.Listentothefeedbackfromthecoachandmakesureitfitsyourcriteria.

Therearehundredsofschoolsoffering

differentcombinationsofquality

academics/athletics–donotcompromise

Social Media & Character

Enjoy the Process!

QUESTIONS?