Getting an athletic scholarship is a big deal for young athletes. In recruiting athletes nowadays, coaches are looking for kids in some sports clinics and college showcases. Parents are sending their children in these events to be recognized too.
Discover how going to sports clinics or showcase will help in getting an athletic scholarship by watching the video below.
Please share your thoughts at the comments box below, we’d love to hear what you have to say!
Yes and no, there are some.
Obviously, going to a showcase or a clinic or a recruiting event is better than staying at home and playing in town — right? You got a chance on a Saturday to sit in your room and play video games or go to an event.
You are probably better off going to the event. You really can spend lots of money going to all these events around the country.
A lot of people do that and it is a strategy for recruiting. “I am just going to be out in as many places as possible and hopefully somebody finds me.”
Here’s the reality of recruiting showcases and clinic events. As a college coach, which I was, when I get ready to go to these events, I am not going to randomly look at kids to see who I can discover. I am going to these events to evaluate the kids that I already know about and that I already know are going to be there.
So here’s how that process works. I have my summer schedule and off season schedule of where I am going to go.
I contact the people running the event. I say send me the list of all the athletes that are registered for this camp or clinic or showcase.
I take that list and cross reference it with my database of kids that we are actively recruiting and that I have in my system. I do a cross reference check and let’s say it pulls out a 100 kids. I do a second cross reference check and I make sure that I have the academic restrictions that I need for my program.
I might even do a third check to make sure they have the athletic accolades or awards or hype or whatever it is I am looking for. Then I give myself a list of say 20 kids that I am actively going to evaluate at the event.
When I show up at this event on Saturday, I have a schedule in front of me. I have an 8:00 and I am going to Field 1 and I am going to watch this kid. At 8:30 I am going to switch over to Field 2 and watch these two kids. At 9:00 and so on. I have a plan in place. I don’t just sit down and say alright, put my hat on, my radar gun, my umbrella, and say I am just going to watch hoops and see. I am just going to watch the lacrosse game and see who I like.
It doesn’t work like that because there are so many kids. I couldn’t physically evaluate everybody equally, so I have to be efficient with a plan and purpose.
I would tell a high school athlete, if you want to get recruited, if you want to be on one of those lists, the most important thing is communicating with the coach ahead of time.
Get them your video, get them your evaluations, and get them all your honors and accolades, and your academic information. Tell them where you are going to be playing. Hopefully, they will come there to specifically watch you. Not just hope that they see you randomly. That takes work and that takes preparation, but if you want to get recruited, those actual showcase events can be very helpful to you.
Tim Ryerson is the President and Founder of STUDENTathleteWorld.com, a college athletic recruiting company that has helped hundreds of high school athletes with the college athletic recruiting process since 2009. Tim spent eight years as a College Coach in Men’s Basketball and Men’s and Women’s Cross Country.
During his college coaching career, Tim worked at five NCAA Universities in four States, including Texas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and North Carolina. He also spent time as a high school coach in Softball, Baseball, Basketball, and Football. Tim has a M.Ed in Sports Management and lives in Raleigh, NC.