What is your recruiting plan   
         by Ray Lauenstein, www.athletesadvisor.com

Someone famous once said, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  After speaking to yet another parent behind the proverbial eight ball today, I thought it might pay to offer a little bit of planning advice in this process.

It goes without saying that if you find yourself late to the table for most things in life, the college admissions and recruiting process will be no different.  Hopefully you can make a plan and take action one step at a time.

July is prime recruiting season in most sports - football camps, the Nike combines, AAU tournaments, State Olympics, showcases, and the like are all in full swing, many already concluding.  Where did you fall in the mix?  If you really have no idea what happened to the summer and all your opportunities sit down, take a deep breadth and start making a list.

1.  You need a list of colleges you are interested in.  This means finding schools where your athletic talent is a match and your academic level is up to snuff.  I recently found a great tool to help you search for schools by region, size, athletic affiliation, sports offered, and general academic level.  

The College Coaches Database (save $5 with code AA123) allows you to search the entire country for a baseball and softball program that fits the criteria related to your skill level, academics, cost, size of the school, location, and several other variables.

I find that many people end up looking at schools exclusively because a coach spoke with them about their program or they sent a letter.  One baseball player received a hand written note after a showcase and that became his new favorite. He did not have any idea about the school (which was basically a cooking and hospitality focused school).  This is fine if you don't have expectations, but not the best way to find a school that matches your needs and interests. 

Answer the following questions before you start looking for schools:

 -  How far away from home will I be willing to travel for college?
-   What specific or general area of study do I want? Is it offered?
-   How much tuition can I afford and how much in loans am I willing to take out for college?  What percentage of financial need is met by the school on average?
-   What style of play am I looking for and is it compatible with my schools of interest.
-    Are there other colleges in this school's conference that might be similar and worth looking at? (the answer is almost always yes.)
-  Where have players from my high school attended college? Did they play sports in college? Were they successful? How do I stack up talent wise to them at the same stage?

2.  You need to contact coaches at these schools to let them know you are interested!
    - If a coach does not know you exist, let alone are interested in their school, why would he/she recruit you?  Unless they saw you play somewhere, there is no chance of it ever happening.  

Things to do to start the process:
A) Fill out the on-line recruiting form found on most college team web sites. 
B) Call coaches - ask for more information, ask about the program, the needs of the program and tell the coach about yourself. Perhaps most importantly, ask where they will scout for players and if they have fall or winter prospects camps. 
C) Write coaches and send a player profile, schedule of upcoming events and follow-up with a phone call.

Depending on the school and when you contact them, it might be too late to be seen in the summer. However you have showcases, showcase tournaments and the most popular form of athlete evaluation (at least initially) film/video to possibly use.

If I was late to the game of exposure - I would do the following:

- Showcases - call the directors and ask if you can still register. Next ask them what colleges will be in attendance? Or at least who attended last year.  Next call those coaches and schools to find out if they will be there this year and while you have them on the phone tell them you will be there. Follow-up with an email to the coach with your profile attached.  Let coaches you have already spoken to know what your new plans are.

Next find out if the showcase sponsors any kind of tournament team. Are there spots available? If not, ask to be called when someone backs out (provided the tourney has schools attending that you are interested in.)

 - AAU, Select, Traveling Teams etc - call them all and find out if they need any players for upcoming events and tournaments.  Many times they do, especially when the tourney is in the Fall and a lot of players have other obligations.  

-  Put together a highlight video - when all else fails late in the game, video is the next best thing.  

3. You need a video!  If you missed the chance to be seen in person by schools of interest or potential interest, the next best thing is a video.  Video can be used at anytime in the process. Early on, it gives a coach a reason to put you on his or her watch list - or not. Late in the game it might serve as your only way to be seen.   While you could send a game tape of your best game, this is not the most efficient use of a coaches time and could land your tape in the scrap heap. 

REMEMBER - late in the recruiting game coaches have a lot vested in trying to land other players, so for a coach to pick-up someone very late, and to potentially bump another recruit who has been followed for a longer time, you'd better impress the heck out of them- AND the coach had better seen it pretty quickly!  The likely scenario is that the coach has never seen or heard of you. It is not like you are the #1 rated player in the country and a coach will drop another recruit for you.  

Video can be done professionally or on your own - it all depends on how much time you have and the money you are willing to invest. I say invest if you can because this is a very critical step in the process and the stakes are:
   A) an athletic scholarship or
   B) admission into your top choice
Not a lot of things happen in your life that are bigger than the college decision!

   Keep the following in mind with video -
1) Label the outside of the video with your name, phone number, school, year, sport, uniform # and coaches number
2) Keep it short - include 3-5 minutes worth of clips that showcase your skills
3) Wear a uniform and always film a who, what, where intro for the coach.

How much will this cost?  That all depends - if you do it yourself, just time and tapes. If you have a professional edit several game tapes it might cost you $150-$600 depending on where you live and how much tape they have to edit. (TIP: always pre screen the tapes and provide exact footage location for the editor.)

4.  Visit Schools.  I do not recommend accepting admission to a college site un-seen.  Living in a place you are not happy with for four years is not a motivating prospect!  A few tips on visiting schools:
  -  If possible, visit during the school year.
  -  Tour all facilities, not just athletics - dorms, dining areas, library and computer facilities, the buildings that house your academic area of interest.
-   Meet with the coach! Call in advance to make sure he or she is around.
-    Schedule a meeting with an admissions office and a financial aid officer. Ask about the process, what things you need to know and if you can take an application (a lot might be done over the internet, but ask anyway.)
-   Try to attend a game. Don't think you are a bother to the coaching staff by coming to campus on game day - this is how they recruit! They want you there. Plus it shows are are interested.

As always, there is more to recruiting and college selection than can be included in this space. Your goal after reading this article is to make a plan and start taking small steps.