<p>So, I sent at e-mail to the coach of a top Pac-10 school (for track and field), and was pleased with the VERY positive response. However, I was just reading an article on the school’s athletic website which was about the high school athletes who had signed NLI’s for the school a few years ago. </p>
<p>WHAT?!</p>
<p>First of all, there were only SEVEN names listed… and this was both boys and girls!!! On top of that, I was absolutely floored by the bios of each of these athletes. I mean, every single one of them was SPECTACULAR in their event… or in multiple events! There are even national champions in multiple events. I mean, come on.
I mean, sure, I am #1 in my state… in my small, new england state. My times definitely would be competitive at most D1 schools, but my accolades are nowhere NEAR the people who are mentioned in this article.</p>
<p>Which brings me to my question-- why is this coach even bothering to e-mail me back, much less give me such a positive response? Is there some other way that s/he can support my application than having me sign an NLI (which seems nearly impossible compared to these folks)? Or is s/he just being nice so that I will want to be a walk on if I happen to get in without athletic support?
Thanks guys.</p>
<p>A coach would be foolish to leave any qualified prospect without fully investigating his or her full potential. Coaches pad their stables many players-deep at each position, to assure depth in the final analysis. If this is a school where you feel you could thrive - with or without playing your sport - go ahead and enter the dance. Just cast a wide, net and have realistic expectations. Good luck~</p>
<p>Depending on how intense your HS training was the coach may see a lot room for improvement for you in college … if you training was not too intense and your high school was not in an intense t&f area then you are likely to improve a lot in college.</p>
<p>The coach may be checking out your potential as a recruit still … they may have your event stats but not have any context for those stats and talking to you will fill in that info. In addition, t&f teams in college are big and teams do not have a lot of scholarships … most D1 teams have a few athletes on full rides and lots of folks splitting scholarships and a lot of folks who are walk-ons. As things progress it should become clearer where you fit in with this coach/school.</p>
<p>thank you maryoc, that clears some of this up!</p>
<p>3togo, </p>
<p>you are absolutely right, my I don’t come from a big t+f area, and my practices are so unstructured now in hs that I do feel like I will improve a lot in college. however, what you say about athletes splitting scholarships: does that mean that on the website I saw, it only listed those who earned full rides? As in, there are other people who were helped in admissions? because what I am really interested in with athletic recruiting is just getting in to the college!!</p>
<p>Just wondering are you talking about USC?
Your description sent that school to my mind because I remember watching a powerpoint or something about their recruits a couple of years ago.</p>
<p>Anyways I understand if you don’t want to reveal…</p>
<p>When we first looked at the bios of the student athletes at some of D’s prospective schools, we were also humbled and intimidated. However, we looked at them when D was a still junior. So keep in mind that a lot of kids have break-out performances in senior year, and certainly a lot of honors come to them then as well. You can’t compare yourself now to kids with an extra year of experience and chances to PR under their belt. In fact, D did PR in senior year in one event.</p>
<p>And I agree that coaches look for potential, not just accomplishments.</p>
<p>Some sports have limited scholarships and have to depend on a large group of recruited walk-ons…the non scholarship players. If it is an expensive private school, this is very difficult to do since the same athlete might well have an opportunity at his home state flagship that would be cheaper. Maybe you look like someone who could pay his own way and be competitive on the field. This is a valuable person to many coaches, especially at those schools without instate tuition.</p>
