College recruiting?

[acmom]

My DD is an 8th grader and plays a sport competitively. She is really hoping to continue to play in college, which seems like an achievable goal based on multiple coaches input. We don't want to go crazy with college recruiting or for her to select a college completely based on this in the future, but at the same time we would like to support her with this goal. There is SO much info out there on college recruiting (much of it for-profit like video services etc). but I am trying to find reputable, straightforward information and advice on the general process. (We do have some sport specific info from friends who have been down this path and her coaches).

Anyone been through this and found good sources of info to start with?

ETA: I know it seems crazy to be thinking/talking about this before she starts HS, but this seems to be where/when the process starts in her sport. We are trying to find the happy medium between supporting her goal and staying grounded about the whole thing!

[essnce629]

No personal experience, but this Facebook group is often recommended to parents of athletes by members of the Paying for College 101 FB group. I recommended it to my friend who has a sophomore athlete.

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[KpbS]

I think it’s a fine plan to pursue, but be sure to go into it knowing that burnout and overuse injuries are very real and may derail the best of plans. Some athletes find a better fit and school/life balance in college with intramural sports.

[AnnieW625]

I have no personal experience but I had a friend once whose daughter was a skilled soccer player and my friend told me when her daughter was about that age that she was going to play soccer at Stanford. Low and behold about three years later (so in 11th grade) the girl committed to Stanford and then graduated from Stanford in 2020. I don’t know how she made it happen but was amazed that she did (this friend and I lost touch around that time). I am sure it took a lot of dedication. I know my friend was able to move her daughter to an area private high school with well known athletic programs so I am sure that helped.


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[NCGrandma]

My family has been dealing with this and it seems to add even more stress to the already stressful college search process. DGD1 (now in 11th grade) has been playing her sport since middle school, and this year was part of a state championship team, the first one from her school in many years. She has been wrestling with whether she wants to try to play at the college level (which she’s already being recruited for) or just play club sports since she does love her sport. The demands of the college major she is strongly committed to will make it particularly hard to combine with high pressure sports.

No advice at all — my family and I have never been sports types and don’t even know the basic questions to ask — but there is definitely no one size fits all answer.


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[khm]

My DD is an 8th grader and plays a sport competitively. She is really hoping to continue to play in college, which seems like an achievable goal based on multiple coaches input. We don't want to go crazy with college recruiting or for her to select a college completely based on this in the future, but at the same time we would like to support her with this goal. There is SO much info out there on college recruiting (much of it for-profit like video services etc). but I am trying to find reputable, straightforward information and advice on the general process. (We do have some sport specific info from friends who have been down this path and her coaches).

Anyone been through this and found good sources of info to start with?

ETA: I know it seems crazy to be thinking/talking about this before she starts HS, but this seems to be where/when the process starts in her sport. We are trying to find the happy medium between supporting her goal and staying grounded about the whole thing!

Word of mouth from coaches seems like a big deal here. One girl in my daughter's grade went for softball. A former HS soccer coach knew the soccer coach there and told him to seek her out. Now she's a dual athlete in college.

The kids also have Twitter accounts with hashtags and their stats after games. I'm not sure if this really helps them or not, but it's a thing.

I know a couple kids wanted to go to larger colleges than they'd be recruited for, so they picked the college first then walked-on or did practice team. This has worked out for rowing, track and football kids that I know.

Several picked smaller colleges in order to be sure and play, a good friend of my daughter's met with three basketball coaches and one stood out and she went there (much to mom's chagrin b/c she played for one of the other schools). This girl is very spunky and a good player, but she doesn't have the height to even dream about D1, but playing was very important to her so she focused on the smaller schools.

Definitely get with her coaches and parents of kids who did play in college. See what the path was for them. She what connections with college coaches they might have or know how to foster.

[AnnieW625]

…..The kids also have Twitter accounts with hashtags and their stats after games. I'm not sure if this really helps them or not, but it's a thing.

……..

Yes I have seen this too, and I think it is common. Kids post that they go to specialty clinics/camps as well, player of the week, academic honors, etc., on their pages. DD1’s high school is running weekly insta posts about the seniors from the football team right now and all of the posts have hashtags, references to social media accounts, and sports related accounts like Max Preps. With MaxPreps if your school makes the roster available then your kid can be found on Max Preps. National Letter of Intent day is historically the first week of February. Social media is important.


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[billysmommy]

No personal experience, but this Facebook group is often recommended to parents of athletes by members of the Paying for College 101 FB group. I recommended it to my friend who has a sophomore athlete.

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Definitely join this site and buy her book

https://rlopezcoaching.com/product/l...ruiting-guide/

It was invaluable for DS. She really advocates for the student-athlete to take the lead and walks them through how/when to contact coaches, what to say, what social media is important (different sports use different platforms), etc.
DS really wanted to run in college but was very reluctant to reach out to coaches. We got him the book at the recommendation of his guidance counselor and he got a lot from it. He reached out to a couple of coaches the next week and had many good conversations. He is now running xc, indoor and outdoor track at a private D3 and absolutely loves it.


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[acmom]

Thanks all! Both DH and I played a college sport (albeit a different sport than DD and at the D3 level) so we have some sense of balancing academics and athletics at the college level. But the recruiting process is a totally different ballgame with social media and everything else these days!

We have been stressing to DD that we will be supportive of her chosen path, whether that be just playing in HS, continuing competitive travel leagues and/or exploring college opportunities or stopping completely! We have also stressed that she needs to strive for a balance with her academics, athletics and her mental health by having down time or doing other things along the way. So far so good on that front...she is a strong student and actively seeks a break when she needs it.

I will look into that site and the book - both look like good resources!

We just helped her establish a Twitter account and she has just started to do a couple college clinics/camps and had good experiences thus far at those. Both her coach and we have emphasized looking at them as a good learning experience at this point - a chance to get a new coaching voice and perspective, which has held true thus far. We have specifically tried to pick camps/clinics that have a developmental aim vs just evaluation.

[heatherlynn]

Yes the site above is great. Don't pay for recruiting services. I've used it for my son who will play lax next year (started late to the recruiting process) and for my sophomore daughter who will likely play a sport in college.