Recruiting Advice for Spring-Sport Athletes
The recruiting process is more demanding for spring-sport athletes, because they need to impress college coaches before their junior season. Besides being solid on the turf, track or diamond this spring, you need to dish out your athletic skills to college coaches with extra force starting sophomore year. Here, Recruiting Realities president Jack Renkens shares advice for getting noticed. So get ready to take action this month.
Your high school coach can only do so much to get your name to college coaches, which means that you are responsible for being what Renkens calls “extremely proactive.” Number one on his list: begin contacting college programs early in your high school career.
“Sophomore year is really critical,” Renkens says. “If [college coaches] don’t know about you when you’re a sophomore, how are they going to recruit you aggressively when you’re a junior?”
The NCAA restricts when coaches can officially contact you, but rules that apply to you are different. “A student-athlete can get in touch with a coach at any time,” Renkens says. He advises notifying coaches of the game schedules for your high school and club teams, so that once permitted, they can scope out your athletic abilities. As he explains, “college coaches attend these events to evaluate student-athletes they’re actively recruiting.”
Don’t limit your contacts, because “recruiting is a numbers game,” Renkens says. The more people who are informed about you, the better your odds of playing in college. “[Student-athletes] never contact enough schools,” he says. “You need to get in touch with 70, 80, 90, 100 programs from all different divisions if you really want an opportunity.”
Creating an athletic profile online is one easy way to reach out. Renkens suggests including the information requested on standard recruiting questionnaires, which can be found on almost every collegiate athletic website: GPA, graduation year, academic achievements and awards, areas of academic interest, and athletic accomplishments, awards and stats.
Renkens highly recommends attaching to your profile an online video with two to three minutes of actual game footage and a skills section. Sport-specific footage should include:
Baseball
Infielders
– Ground ball throws to first and second
– Slow ground ball throws to first
– Ground ball to second base throws to first
Outfielders
– Pop fly throws to third base and home plate
– Line drive throws to third base and home plate
Pitchers
– Wind-up fastball, change-up, curveball
– Stretch curve, fastball, change-up
Catchers
– Throws to all three bases from a bunt
– Blocking a pitch in the dirt
Softball
– Fielding and throwing from your left, right, center and fly balls
– At least five swings at bat
– Bunting demonstration
– Base-running
– Sliding
Catchers
– Throws to second base from a crouch
– Catching a pitcher
– Blocking a pitch in the dirt
Lacrosse
– Stationary and driven high, middle and low shots on goal
– Lateral and forward passing skills
– Off hand shooting and passing skills
Goalies
– Shots covered on the ground, in the corners and at the crossbar
Tennis
– Forehand and backhand strokes and volleys
– Serves from each side of the court
– Overhead returns
Track & Field
While college coaches are interested in running, throwing and jumping form, they are primarily focused on times, distances and cleared heights. Renkens recommends keeping your video simple by featuring footage of your event two to three times.
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Recruiting Advice for Spring-Sport Athletes
The recruiting process is more demanding for spring-sport athletes, because they need to impress college coaches before their junior season. Besides being solid on the turf, track or diamond this spring, you need to dish out your athletic skills to college coaches with extra force starting sophomore year. Here, Recruiting Realities president Jack Renkens shares advice for getting noticed. So get ready to take action this month.
Your high school coach can only do so much to get your name to college coaches, which means that you are responsible for being what Renkens calls “extremely proactive.” Number one on his list: begin contacting college programs early in your high school career.
“Sophomore year is really critical,” Renkens says. “If [college coaches] don’t know about you when you’re a sophomore, how are they going to recruit you aggressively when you’re a junior?”
The NCAA restricts when coaches can officially contact you, but rules that apply to you are different. “A student-athlete can get in touch with a coach at any time,” Renkens says. He advises notifying coaches of the game schedules for your high school and club teams, so that once permitted, they can scope out your athletic abilities. As he explains, “college coaches attend these events to evaluate student-athletes they’re actively recruiting.”
Don’t limit your contacts, because “recruiting is a numbers game,” Renkens says. The more people who are informed about you, the better your odds of playing in college. “[Student-athletes] never contact enough schools,” he says. “You need to get in touch with 70, 80, 90, 100 programs from all different divisions if you really want an opportunity.”
Creating an athletic profile online is one easy way to reach out. Renkens suggests including the information requested on standard recruiting questionnaires, which can be found on almost every collegiate athletic website: GPA, graduation year, academic achievements and awards, areas of academic interest, and athletic accomplishments, awards and stats.
Renkens highly recommends attaching to your profile an online video with two to three minutes of actual game footage and a skills section. Sport-specific footage should include:
Baseball
Infielders
– Ground ball throws to first and second
– Slow ground ball throws to first
– Ground ball to second base throws to first
Outfielders
– Pop fly throws to third base and home plate
– Line drive throws to third base and home plate
Pitchers
– Wind-up fastball, change-up, curveball
– Stretch curve, fastball, change-up
Catchers
– Throws to all three bases from a bunt
– Blocking a pitch in the dirt
Softball
– Fielding and throwing from your left, right, center and fly balls
– At least five swings at bat
– Bunting demonstration
– Base-running
– Sliding
Catchers
– Throws to second base from a crouch
– Catching a pitcher
– Blocking a pitch in the dirt
Lacrosse
– Stationary and driven high, middle and low shots on goal
– Lateral and forward passing skills
– Off hand shooting and passing skills
Goalies
– Shots covered on the ground, in the corners and at the crossbar
Tennis
– Forehand and backhand strokes and volleys
– Serves from each side of the court
– Overhead returns
Track & Field
While college coaches are interested in running, throwing and jumping form, they are primarily focused on times, distances and cleared heights. Renkens recommends keeping your video simple by featuring footage of your event two to three times.
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