Wondering what support/guidance, if any, students receive from their HS AD or coach. My S has his first OV coming up and I would have thought that he would receive some advice, but there has been nothing. S is not a football/soccer/baseball recruit; wondering if the sport matters? School is also not an athletic powerhouse but maybe 2-3 kids/year move on to college sports. Maybe I’m expecting too much?
I’m a HS coach, and before my athletes go on a visit either I, or my much younger (and cooler) assistant, will sit down with them and tell them what to expect, how to behave, questions to ask etc. Sometimes I may not get to that exact sit down because I’ve already had discussions with families before they’ve gone to meet the coach and we’ve gone over a lot of the process already. My AD, while awesome, wouldn’t have a clue as far as who’s going where to visit, etc. However, I know I personally wouldn’t be taken aback at all if one of my kids came to me and said, “Hey, coach - do you have a minute for me to talk to you about my visit to X this coming weekend? Are there any questions I should ask, or what should I be looking out for? etc”. I know you want the coach to take the lead, but some need to be led…
Our HS coaches were not much help since we live in flyover state and both D and S were pursuing left and right coast academic schools. Both coaches though seem to have some pull with schools within the state, especially juco’s, for kids’ teammates. Travel ball coaches more helpful.
HS coach was of no help with recruiting or OV. AAU coach was not much more useful, although he had many athletes recruited, he tended to only be aware of local and D1 schools. My D is looking at D3 schools.
Our AD was a football guy and I don’t know if he helped those players, but he didn’t even know who my daughter was. Her club coach, who was a coach at another high school, helped a little and would have answered any questions. She always answered the calls from the college coaches. (5 girls from the club ended up at my D’s school, so the club coach and college coach developed a good relationship). All the hs and club coaches passed on info they received from college coaches looking for players.
One thing I do think our school (and probably others) can do a better job of is the post-college planning for athletes - and how to prepare them to be recruited and/or play in college. I work in the school, too, so I see it from three sides: employee, coach, mom. Helping the families and kids understand when a coach is truly interested vs. a form letter…etc…what is a pre-read, how do I navigate the NLI, etc, how do I contact the coach, etc. I reached out to my AD over the summer and asked if some of us coaches (who are also parents of athletes) can do a panel discussion for parents. We’ll see…I’m all for it seeing I think it will bridge the gap between coaches/school/parents.
For what it’s worth, my d3 athlete went to a large, urban public school which sends football players to D1 and D2 programs, and his school program had nothing to do with his recruiting process. We did a lot of research here on CC, and talked with club director of coaching and others who had gone through the process.
My son’s high school coach has no knowledge about athletic recruiting or college admissions in general and was not involved in the recruiting process at all. CC was our main source of information.
Really interesting. I would think that, as these athletes are representing their high schools as well, the hs would be more involved. If a kid from a high school behaved poorly, wouldn’t that reflect poorly on the school and make a college coach think twice before recruiting another athlete from that high school?
@eastcoast101 - I wouldn’t doubt that at all. That’s part of the reason why I want to have those conversations because poor behavior may not only jeopardize the kid, but athletes who may want to attend that school in the future. You never know…
My son’s HS was of no help in the process but gladly posts pictures of him in his Ivy swag in their pamphlets etc. Very frustrating as it would have been nice to have some guidance during the process. 
Our football kids at our school get lots of help, however in our sport, which is typically a non-revenue sport in college, we received no guidance or support from the high school AD nor our varsity coach. Our private coach is a great guy, but he doesn’t know much either. Most of our support came from the subscription site where my kid is listed as a potential recruit and an on-line sports forum devoted to college and junior players.
Most of my info comes from here, which can be evidenced by looking at all the questions I have asked the last year. HS coach is very knowledgeable about D2 and NAIA but not D1 or D3, which is where S primary interest is. He is still very helpful and has a general knowledge of the process. He accompanied S on an UV to a D1 school. AD not involved, but that’s not really his role.
Our high school AD was totally out of the picture when it came to our kid’s recruitment into a Div 1 school. In fact, when we asked if our child can be part of the varsity team, but be excused from some of the practices when he had to intensely train at his club after school to prepare for his national and international tournaments, the AD flatly refused, stating it was against the rule to miss school practices and wouldn’t allow exceptions. Therefore, even though he is highly ranked nationally as well as internationally, he was never able to participate in his school’s varsity team. Another athlete in the same sport in his school with equally strong athletic stats also couldn’t be part of the varsity because of the same rule. Nonetheless, they were the only two athletes in his school who were recruited to elite Div 1 schools, no thanks to the AD or the school coach.
So @kjs1992 sounds like the gem of a coach that we all wish our kids could have, but most are not that lucky, I suspect. Different schools offer differing levels of recruit support, but some of the large public schools with big reputations are not very good for athletic recruiting. Even in the best of schools, I would never rely on the high school for recruiting advice. There are sport specific quirks and differing kids and families have different college objectives (best financial aid package, D1, D2, D3, closest to home, urban, suburban, etc.). So even where the school provides guidance, the recruit and family should be the captain of the ship, which means researching the recruiting process for the sport and college desired, setting up the plan, and carrying it out. It would be a good idea for your kid to tell his or her high school coach early on that playing in college is a goal. There are two reasons for this. First, coaches tend to like kids who have big goals and it could open up opportunities. Second, the coach should be aware that a college coaches may be calling for a reference. If you get more advice from a coach like @kjs1992, it’s a home run.
@gointhruaphase - thank you. I just look at it as doing my job, really, and I’m far from perfect. I’ve learned a lot over the years and made (and still make) my share of mistakes just like anyone else. My intent is good, that much I can say - I just want what’s best for my kids. I absolutely agree that the parents are the captains of the ship. And, I also absolutely agree that the kid should tell the coach early their goals - it helps me out to know what I will need to do for the kid as he/she moves forward, and to understand it’s a fluid process where kids will think they want one thing one minute, and a totally different thing the next. I feel if I’m doing my job correctly, I should know all on my own by sophomore year who will likely participate in college and who won’t. I’ve had kids who could compete D1 with zero interest of moving on, kids who thought they were going to to the top school in the country as a sophomore when they were really a lower level D3 and then kids who know exactly where they will fit all on their own. I feel it’s my job to help guide them in some way…give them realistic programs and schools to consider if they want it. There’s a home for everyone. But really, as I know first hand now as a parent of a recruit, the family steers the ship :).
noanswers, it may be an actual rule that the student had to be at the school in order to participate with the hs team. My daughter had to be at school for a certain number of hours per day (5 of the 7 periods) in order to attend practice or participate in a game. No school on Friday, no weekend games. That is a state requirement, not a school or even a school district. We didn’t even schedule dentist appointments on practice/game days for fear they would run long and my daughter would be banned. And the AD did get an attendance report and go around to different games and practices and pull kids out of practice.
I think it is fine if you’d prefer a club team or private training, but I agree with the coach/AD that to be on a high school team, you have to go to the team practice.
@twoinanddone I agree with you, that was the reasoning we were told. We really can’t blame the AD or the coach, since they would have to abide by the rules. Unfortunately in our kid’s sport, the varsity team is mostly composed of kids who just started and certainly no more than just a couple years. It’s too bad that for kids with aspiration for playing at a Div 1 college, who actually need to train with other seasoned athletes at his club, some who are even Olympians, will be shut out from participating in the high school varsity team and unable to experience the camaraderie of being in a high school team.
I think for some athletes, depending on the sport and region of the country, the high school season IS the off season.
Our high school coach and the AD were of no help, but I’m not surprised. Since soccer is almost always recruited from club teams rather than from soccer, I never really expected much help there. My son’s club and club coaches were amazing with recruitment advice and contacts. Unfortunately, I have heard from other parents that HS coaches and the AD were not very helpful with other sports that are recruited from high school. It sounds like you might be the exception @kjs1992 !