Timing of athletic aid discussion

twoinanddone
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 17:43:55 +0000

It’s tough, but I think you have to ask if it is a factor for you. We went to a few visits where the coach was avoiding the topic and I wish I would have been more direct. Because we were looking at all divisions, merit and athletic aid were often talked about in the same sentence by the coach. I was very put off by the D3 coach who wouldn’t discuss it at all, and didn’t even direct me to a person in the FA office who could help, but really just walked away. Coaches have to understand that money is important to families, and it can be the greatest school and the greatest team in the world, but if you can’t afford it, your child can’t attend.

Because finances were really important to us, I just started asking. One coach said she didn’t give aid to freshmen. Okay, then, off the list. One coach was new to the school and didn’t understand how the school aid and the state aid worked, but I could figure it out from her athletic offer.

One thing I would have done differently is getting the FA info from the schools (merit, talent, need based) before the visits. I’d run the NPC, but some were pretty far off so I couldn’t get a good idea of what we needed to fill the gap. I also didn’t have any idea of what other recruits were being offered or what to expect. Two players on daughter’s team got more. The coach screwed up by offering them too much and then couldn’t even things out in future years. (Daughter had more in merit aid and outside scholarships, but that didn’t make her feel more valued by the coach).

I think some of the bigger programs have a formula, and they don’t stray too far from it. Certain players get 1/4 scholarships for freshman year and it may go up to 1/2 by junior year. Very few get full athletic scholarships, but may get a combo of athletic and merit.