College Athletics Recruiting: “Getting Out Of The Gates”

College Athletics Recruiting: “Getting Out Of The Gates”


Parents, prospects and coaches often ask me to identify the ideal time a prospect should launch his or her college quest. Although each prospect initiates their recruiting plans at different times, I would say a good date to “get out of the gates” is January 1 of the junior year. But before you hit the pavement running, let’s run through a simple checklist of pre-launch tasks that will assist you in organizing for an important life decision.

Organization

Creating a user friendly organizing system for the college recruiting process will serve as a helpful tool, especially when information begins to pile in from different college coaches. Not only will this system assist you in keeping track of the steady stream of paper and e-traffic, it will act as a great resource for future contacts and important coach-prospect communications. Trust me, coaches will be requesting information (transcripts, high school profile, standardize test results, tax information for financial pre-reads etc.) at about the same time, and the family who develops an efficient access system to this information will navigate the process with more success and with greater confidence.

Create a filing system that provides you with easy access to pertinent information. I suggest storing the following information in your individual college program folders:

· Updated contact information for coach, assistant coach, financial aid representative etc. Include name, address, e-mail, phone number etc.).
· Materials the coach has sent (brochures, articles, etc.).
· Team competition schedule. You should add important events to your calendar and stay updated on the team’s accomplishments, especially before any correspondence with the coach.
· College catalogs, applications and/or other marketing materials.
· Updated notes from your phone conversations and meetings with representatives from the school.
· A list of pertinent questions or follow-up items you need to address for the program. Set aside regular time to review outstanding tasks you have for each college program and list these items on your calendar.
· Copies of all the information you have provided to the school – your application, the data sheet you may have to fill out for the coach, the last resume you provided etc. By keeping these copies handy, you can easily reproduce them if they are misplaced.

The aim in this stage of college recruiting is to develop a well organized and efficient system that you understand and can work effectively. “Lift off” is the most demanding part of any worthy project and requires the most energy. Prepare well here by developing solid plans and executing them with vigor and you will be well positioned and confident moving forward. Beware of the flip side of the coin!

Executing the Plan

OK. Your plans are complete, well constructed and clearly spelled out in a language everyone understands. Your calendar is updated and you are proud that you have listed everything from the next round of SAT’s to the fall homecoming dance! Now it’s time to take the plunge.

You can have the best organized and most highly detailed approach to the college quest, but it won’t amount to a hill of beans if you lack confidence and the desire and the ability to “execute the plan.” If your strategy is to wait by the phone for the coach to call, in most cases, it’s going to be a long wait. Top prospects will get their fair share of attention, but the majority of athletes will increase their chances in getting on the radar screen of the college coaches by taking a proactive stance and initiating communication with college coaches.

College coaches are strictly bound by a myriad of NCAA contact and evaluation rules that limit them in initiating contact with prospective student-athletes and their families. What few families realize is that although college coaches may have their “hands tied” to some degree, prospects may initiate contact with the college coaches, early on and with very few exceptions.

Effective communication between the family and the college coach can be critical to the level of support the prospect will receive in the recruiting process. It can make or break a coach’s decision to offer an athletic scholarship or provide that extra “push” in the admission process. If your mission is clear, communication becomes the vehicle to move with definite purpose in your chosen direction. On the other hand, ill-prepared communication can cause confusion and misdirection. Your ship moves, but with a weak rudder.

The college recruiting process is both exciting and potentially overwhelming. It requires a disciplined and yet flexible approach, especially when timelines get tight and situations become challenging. Developing and executing recruiting plans are crucial to success and no different from preparing for a championship game! Communication with coaches is vital and a proactive effort will only get you on the radar screen faster and more effectively. That being said, the family that approaches the college recruiting process with an organized and proactive effort, will have the best chances in building mutually strong and respectful relationships with college coaches and position themselves best as they navigate the college search.

Tom Kovic is a former Division I college coach and the current director of Victory Collegiate Consulting, where he provides individual advisement for families on college recruiting. Tom is the author of “Reaching for Excellence” An educational guide for college athletics recruiting. For further information visit: www.victoryrecruiting.com.

MIGS Program/CGA Activity and Call to Action

MIGS Program/CGA Activity and Call to Action



The Men's Intercollegiate Gymnastics Support Program (MIGS Program) in conjunction with the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) has been working hard to preserve, protect and expand collegiate gymnastics opportunities for our young gymnasts. It is our goal to have at least one men's varsity college gymnastics team in every State. With all of our junior gymnasts in mind, we work toward that end.

The overriding questions regarding this effort are: "What can you realistically do?" and "What have you done?"

In answer to the first question, here's what we can do and what needs to be done:

1. Call the question Nationally
2. Educate the Gymnastics Community about the situation
3. Build positive relationships with College/University AD’s and Administrators
4. Marketing
5. Fundraising
6. Investing the Endowment to ensure an annual growth rate of 5%
7. Negotiate with colleges/universities to bring programs on line
8. Revenue Distribution (athlete scholarships, training of coaches, and creating self-sufficient team programs)
9. Build coalitions with other organizations and entities
10. And more and more and more...

With regard to the second Question;

The MIGS Program has engaged in an effort to inform the gymnastics community of the need to expand opportunities for young male gymnasts through the retention and expansion of collegiate programs. Bob Wuornos & Mike Burns have set out on a mission to present information at Regional Congresses throughout the country. Bob has attended Region 1 (Santa Clara, CA), Region 2 (Portland, OR), Region 4 (Iowa City, IA), Region 6 (Boston, MA) and GAT (Gymnastics Association of Texas in Austin, TX). Mike attended Region 5 (Indianapolis, IN) as well as making a presentation at the ECAC Convention in late September in Albany, NY. The purpose of these efforts was to inform and generate support for this effort.

Bob's effort have included a significant amount of travel to large meets around the country to make presentations and encourage the gymnastics community to get involved in this effort. He has also engaged in a dialog with the College Sports Council (www.collegesportscouncil.org) and has been appointed to the Board of Directors of this organization. Furthermore, his efforts have created an Endowment Fund that had accumulated $50,000+ by the end of 2007.

Distributions to date include:

· $2500 to the University of Minnesota "Save Gopher Sports" fund with was instrumental in keeping the University of Minnesota as a viable varsity college gymnastics program

· $15,000 to the College Sports Council to help this organization continue the battle for equity in sports

· $500 donation to the College Gymnastics Foundation for the Nissen-Emery Award Endowment

Near term goals include channeling resources to some viable college club teams that are coached but not recognized as varsity programs. The intent is to help these coaches elevate their respective programs to varsity status.

The MIGS Program/CGA is also actively pursuing the re-establishment of programs at some major universities with real potential (sorry, names of institution cannot be revealed at this time).

These are all major efforts requiring money. It is the intent of the MIGS Program and the CGA to ensure that at least 80% of funds donated go into and stay in the endowment fund. For operations costs, however, the MIGS Program sells t-shirts and host a National Invitational and National Open Optional (L-10 rules) in March at the University of Minnesota. All meet information is posted on the opening page of the MIGS Program website (www.migsp.org).

FUND RAISER

The MIGS Program is currently engaged in a fund raising effort through t-shirt sales. For this purpose, "J O Dynamo" was created. J O Dynamo is a Junior gymnast aged 16-18. He has been training for ten years in hopes of competing in college. J O asks that you help him reach his goal. He asks that you and every gymnast, judge, coach, and parent buy a "College Gymnastics...tuned in" t-shirt for this purpose (www.migsp.org/shop/). His goal is to sell 12,000 t-shirts by Thanksgiving. he asks that every coach of every team have his/her gymnasts buy a t-shirt and each parent buy a t-shirt. So, please consider this request and act on it promptly.

Please order these t-shirt by November 25. Orders received by November 25 will be processed in time for the Holidays. Wear the t-shirts to practice, meets (for warm-ups) and especially, find a college meet to attend and wear it there in support of the men's collegiate gymnastics program.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. The fact of the matter is, we need your active support of this effort. Please "tune in". The future of men's college gymnastics depends on YOU. You can make a difference.


Bob Wuornos
MIGS Program
612-270-9507
www.migsp.org


Mike Burns
CGA
President
612-419-7922