Learn me on college athletics recruiters?

[motion]

My son is a junior in HS with passable grades - not 4.0, but not terrible. English is his 2nd language, so advanced classes are not easy for him to comprehend. He is in the medical track with classes and has a strong medical interest. He is on the cross country team and is running well... his PR for the 3 mile is 15:45. We hope to see him improving next year into the mid-low 15s.

We are starting to receive calls and emails from college recruiters. How to handle these guys? What is the etiquette? Our goal is to find a partial ride to a good college with a strong xcountry program. Full ride would be wonderful, but probably doubtful with the grades. How to ask what kind of $$$ are involved? Better to put them off till next year? Any advice?

[A930Rocket]

Subscribed.

Don't wait. They can't contact you right now, but you can contact them.

We are in the same boat. Our son is a junior and year round swimmer, who's been getting letters from various school in the SE and NE. We've told him he needs to respond to all of them, whether he's interested in that school or not. Also, he's contacting schools he's interested in. His current coach is a former head coach at Princeton I want to say. We are currently talking to him as to what to do. He's got a 3.5 GPA with honors and AP classes (we push him hard with the schooling). He wants to become a pharmacist, so the schools he looks at must have a pharmacy program. Going instate to USC would be great for in-state tuition assistance and a scholarship we hope, but he want the bigger and better swim schools...

[Seahawk]

I have lived this dream, twice.

Make sure they really want to pursuit college athletics. Different world. My son did not want to run in college even though he had offers. His deal was that academics are more important than being a mid-pack college runner. They all know the numbers, who is who.

Make sure your son wants to go to the school that offers the scholarship.

Try and pick the best school. The chances of him running after college is nil. Pick the best education.

Treat this like a real estate deal: Ask questions, talk money up front, assume they are out to get the best deal, just like you are.

Figure out what your son wants.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Make sure they really want to pursuit college athletics. Different world.

My kids are too young for me to offer any help, but don't ignore the above advice. I know nothing about the training involved in competitive running, but there's a reason why the NCAA limits an athletic team to 40 hrs of practice per week. At some point, sports get a little less fun at each successive level, IMO. Doesn't mean they're not still fun, but it's a little bit different.

Most importantly, best of luck to your son.

[on2wheels52]

Not much help from me, my son swam four years for a Division III school (no athletic scholarships) but received about a 50% academic ride. A lot less pressure to perform, classes came first.
Jim

[motion]

Thanks for the info. We have a lot to learn.

[Les Paul]

His track times will also be important. They generally don't give much for xc alone. There are several avenues you can pursue. What field of study is he going in to? These days colleges recruit runners based on national times posted every week. So he is getting computer generated form letters right now. Flattering but does not mean squat. If you go to xx college in any town USA, they have a form letter on the athletic web page under their xc/track link for recruits to fill out. In other words you can fill these out for any school. They in turn can officially talk to him the summer after his jr year. If you start documenting his race results, taking vids, sending results you get noticed. Make a DVD. Better yet, there are kids that have their own running web page with pics, articles, vids, anything that makes him look good where you send them the link and they know what he did that very day.

Depending on how good he really is, his grades, and the gamble that he will improve in college all factor in. Does he want to run at Stanford, Oklahoma State, yep they are the top right now, or some D2 team? If you are interested pm me and I'll send you a web page that shows you exactly what I'm referring too.

[futuresoptions]

He has to really love it or he will end up hating it... if that happens it is not good for anyone... If he is passionate about it, then he needs someone that can mentally push him physically so that he can realize what his body is actually capable of.