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Recruiting Guides
The Making of a
Student- Athlete: Your key to successful athletic recruiting.
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Football Recruiting at IVY, NESCAC, Patriot
and other selective schools.
Related Articles -
MassFootball College Listings
Selective School Recruiting Discussion
Recruiting
Talk -
audio blogs with John Papas
A lot of student athletes from all
over the country express an interest in playing Ivy League football.
Regionally there is a very strong desire to attend a
New England Small College Athletic
Conference school (New England, NY NJ) or Patriot League school (New
England, NY, NJ, PA, VA). In addition Pennsylvania has the
Centennial Conference and the Presidents Conference and Ohio has the North
Coast AC. These are all basically located in the Northeast.
Do you understand selective school recruiting? First of all you have
to understand one major point:
Academics Count. There is almost an arms race to keep admitting
better and better students each year. Since these are mostly small schools,
athletes make up a large group of admitted students each year. Because
of this, coaches are being told to find players that closely resemble the
average student academically. There are less and less academic
exceptions from admissions.
Forget get being an NCAA qualifier, you need to be an academic high flier!
Do your best to take the most challenging classes offered in high school.
When push comes to shove, admissions would rather see a student who
challenges themselves than one with a perfect score in easy classes.
Scholarships: Remember, there are not athletic scholarships in the
schools mentioned. They offer grants, merit scholarships, federal financial
aid, student loans, work study, etc. but they can' t offer athletic
scholarships. That said, don't be afraid to pursue these schools and
apply. Coaches work very hard to find their players sources of financial
aid. A lot of times these schools are competing for you against scholarship
schools. I have seen and been told about many packages that are equal to or
better than a scholarship offer at the I-AA level or Division II level.
What are they selling? All of these
schools sell the academic reputation of the school first. They will tell you
it will open doors to jobs, graduate degrees and a powerful and wealthily
network of alumni. All of it is true. You have to decide how much that is
worth to you versus the level of these perks you will find at another
college.
Early Admissions. Without a scholarship to dangle in front of
you, many coaches use their main selling tool, an admissions slot, to
persuade a player to apply and commit to them. Much like an athletic
scholarship offer letter is subject to "availability" a selective
school coach might know you can get into this school with his endorsement
only. Often that endorsement becomes conditional on you applying Early
Decision and dropping your other schools. You might face this
situation so know what you plan of action is going into it. Start
researching schools, coaches and programs early. Go as early as possibly on
your visits.
Keep in mind that each teams has positions of need each year. For one
school it might be a big year for offensive linemen, while another needs
linebackers. This changes from year to year. Depending on what schools you
are looking at and what position you play, this might or might not be good
for your chances. Keep tabs on the roster and ask the coach how many
people at your position they plan on taking this year.
Resources:
Guide to College
Recruiting
Database of Football
Programs
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