The Athlete's Advisor-March 2005 Newsletter

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March 2005 – Athlete’s Advisor Newsletter
Resources for College Bound Student Athletes and those that support them!

in this edition...

New Articles - audio interviews about strength and conditioning and visual mechanics for baseball.
In the News- Signs of Steroids
Books to consider - Moneyball and Athletic Strength for Women
Life after college athletics - basketball family entertains.
Lacrosse - Oregon recruiting success story makes you think about recruiting process.
Lacrosse 2- Hamilton College athletes survives Tsunami and sets path to raise money.
NCAA Rules - new academic progress system outline in this letter from a college AD.
College Choices - should facilities play a factor in your college selection?
Mail Bag - summer classes bolster chances? Losing your scholarship - what can you do if it happens?
Football - when injury ends a career - interesting football story
Managing Adversity - coaches like to see how you handle failure, this is a case in point.
Basketball - importance of playing at the right level.
Hockey, Soccer, Lacrosse - this Sport Psychology article is hockey specific but it applies to goalies.
New Feature of Athletes Advisor
Links
Recommended Services

Don't forget to forward this to a friend! Did you miss last months newsletter?

Upcoming Appearances by Athlete's Advisor - Come Join Us
-Acton-Boxborough High School, Acton MA - Recruiting Seminar
   Monday March 21st, 2005 7 -9 PM
   Directions to School

Weston High School, Weston MA
   Tuesday April 12th, 2005 7pm
    Directions to School

- 2005 MASCA Conference, Hyannis MA
    Monday May 1 at 8:10 AM
    Tuesday May 2 at 1:10 PM

New Articles..
Audio Interviews:
     Strength and Conditioning; Train Boston's Brendan O'Neill talks about training a young, elite level athlete and the considerations for such training.
   Baseball with Manny Ramirez - Bob Boutin, a veteran hitting instructor talks about his day in the cage with the Red Sox star and the concept of Visual Mechanics.

Text Articles:
ISL Schools: The Advisor toured and ISL (prep school league in MA) school and gave a report
SAT Critical Reading - What do they mean by Critical Reading. Next Step Magazine

In The News...
Yale University (CT) has joined Harvard in offering free tuition for any student whose family earns under $45,000. There will also be a discount for families earning between $45,000 and $75,000...with the MLB steroid scandal in full bloom on every media channel, I am not sure if I am surprised or not when a group of CT high school athletes are busted for importing steroids from Mexico...read the story in the New Haven Register...since Steroids are in the news, what are some of the warning signs? (US Department of Health and Human Services)
For Guys:

Books to consider: Advisor Recommends...
- Baseball players and parents should read MoneyBall....not because I think it is the way things must be done, but because you need to understand the direction player evaluation is heading...

- Female athletes and those coaching female athletes might want to consider a new book from Human Kinetics called Athletic Strength for Women by Oliver and Healy...this is the first book by HKP for women that really addresses athletic performance enhancement and not just traditional strength training...the book provides detailed guides for developing pre-season, in-season and off-season programs that are sport specific...good photos and descriptions... For all you moms and dads coaching AAU soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball, etc., this one is important. I'd warn against going from 0-60mph with a new strength and conditioning program without the guidance of a strength and conditioning professional, but just understanding the concepts puts you ahead of the game as a coach and a consumer of strength and conditioning services.

Life after college athletics: What do people do?
I often wonder what people do in life after their college athletic career. Usually they go into a profession like the rest of the world: teacher, medicine, banking, insurance, construction, etc. Some go into coaching and a few become...Basketball Entertainers. When Ilze Luneau purchased The College Coaches Online CD Rom from me, I could not help but click on her web address www.basketballfamily.com...this is not your average family business!

If you want to order the Web Subscription to this impressive college search database you can do so and save $5 with promotion code AA123. Visit www.collegecoachesonline.com

Who says you need Club Lacrosse to be successful and play in college?
As lacrosse grows by leaps and bounds, the sport is looking more and more like soccer in terms of structure and club teams. We all know the problems: expensive, time consuming, conflicts with other sports, fear of not being "recruited", etc.

Here is a refreshing story of 3 girls from the same high school in California who played Lacrosse as a way to keep in shape between soccer and field hockey season. As seniors the school hired former college lacrosse players as the new coaches and they encouraged the girls to promote their skills to college coaches, even Division I schools like Cal and Oregon.

"They got us to realize we were good enough to play on the college level," Poponyak said. The girls, who had only picked up the sport as ninth graders, sent out highlight tapes to schools all along the West Coast"

It would make one call and all three would get on the phone," Larsen (Head Coach) said with a smile. But the future Ducks still weren't convinced they were Division I material. They traveled to Eugene in February for a lacrosse clinic, but still didn't know what the future had in store for them. Then Larsen visited.

The girls who used lacrosse as a fun interlude between other seasons now had a big-time head coach travel almost 1,000 miles to see them in person. "It was crazy," Fleming said.

"We were worried we could never compete with (the east coast girls)," Bradley said.

"We really had to show them that they were actually qualified to be on the team and quite good," Larsen said. "Getting that confidence and having them believe was one of the biggest things."

With their best lacrosse still ahead of them, the "Cali girls" have overcome their limited experience to become key players in the Ducks' inaugural season.

"That's the biggest upside is that they have so much to learn ... about the game," Larsen said. "They have some of the things you can't teach."

Read Full Article from the Oregon Daily Emerald

There is a lot to think about from this article.

1) The high school coach's role in A) the recruiting process and B) setting the expectations players have in themselves.
2) The "Do it yourself" recruiting efforts that led to scholarships at a Division I program.
3) The lack of year round lacrosse that seems to be growing in popularity. These girls started playing in 9th grade. Granted Oregon is a new program, but they recruit the East coast heavily and are not looking for sub standard talent by any measure.
4) The camaraderie and bonds sports helps create.

Hamilton College Lax Player Survives Tsunami and Starts Goal A Thon Program to Raise Fund...
Gene McCabe, the head men's coach at Hamilton College, sent me this amazing story about one of his senior tri-captains harrowing tail of survival over the Christmas break. Both the men's and women's teams at Hamilton have a lot of skill and even more heart and compassion as they are raising money for the victims of this incredible disaster.
Info about fundraiser

Apparently the student was in a hotel pool located in Thailand when the waves hit and turned the pool into a murky, brown soup. The student athlete then retreated to the 3rd floor of the hotel and watched the second wave crash in. Eventually a local resident led hotel guests on a mad dash to high ground where they waited out the waves. 36 hours later, the Hamilton Laxer landed in Pittsburg wearing his swim trunks, a loaned t-shirt and flip flops: the only things he had besides his life.

Read Complete Story Details

New NCAA Academic Progress Rate Explanation.
Earlier in the month, Myles Brand, the NCAA Chief, announced sweeping changes in academic reform. New, hit them where it hurts, penalties have been installed to keep schools accountable for the academic progress of their student athletes.

This monthly letter from the Northeastern University Athletic Director gives a good example of how the rates are calculated.

The APR measures both eligibility/graduation and retention during each semester for every student-athlete on athletics scholarship. If a student-athlete attends Northeastern for the entire academic year, that student is eligible to earn up to four points. During each semester they receive one point for being eligible and one point for continuing school at the same institution. These points are accumulated for each individual sport and for the athletic program as a whole. For example, during the 2003-2004 school year, the men’s baseball team had 14 individuals on full or partial athletics scholarship. Out of a possible 56 points, they earned 54, which is equivalent to 96.4% of their available points, which is presented as a 964 APR. Baseball lost two points for retention because two individuals whose eligibility had expired chose to pursue a professional baseball career and not return to finish school in the fall of 2004.

Full text of letter

Ultimately the new NCAA academic progress program will impact only a few teams given the initial scores that are surfacing. The sad thing, in my opinion, is that the athletes most hurt will likely be those from non-traditional backgrounds, backgrounds with limited family support and resources and those from "first generation to attend college" families.

The recruiting tip here is to ask what the current Academic Progress score is for the program in question and learn if you are considering a program that might face penalties in the future.

Should facilities like strength and conditioning factor into my college decision?
As we have touched upon in the past, colleges have built or are in the process of building state of the art workout facilities on their campuses. Athlete or not, today's student has some nice options and more and more athletes are considering things like facilities, sports medicine and strength and conditioning programs when they decide on schools. It makes sense to want the best available resources to help you reach your goals, especially if you have narrowed down your list to 2 or 3 schools and can't decide which school is #1.

The truth is not all athletic programs are created equal in facility or personnel terms. Some teams have a history of breaking players down and that is one factor you should look at carefully. Injuries are sometimes preventable with the right training program. If you do get an injury who will manage your rehabilitation? All are important things to consider. Not to pick on any one school, but Harvard could use a jab once in a while. The school has 41 Varsity Sports, more than anyone in the country, but they have only two full time strength and conditioning personnel the last time I checked. This is not enough to deliver the best service to each athlete. Harvard has many world class athletes, they deserve more in my opinion.

Just out of curiosity, I went to the Penn State web site to look into the fitness and conditioning resources they offer. Check this out:

1) The Fitness Loft - a cardio only center with 40 pieces of equipment, all overlooking an indoor pool.
2) MBNA Fitness Center - 15,000 sq ft, 60 pieces of cardio, and 125 pieces of strength equipment.
3) IM Fitness Center - a smaller version of the MBNA center, just in a differ location.
4) Recreational Weight Room - all muscle no cardio!
5) Athletic Weight Room - don't let the name fool you, this is not for Varsity athletes.

This does not include Aquatics or all the Spinning, KickBoxing, Yoga classes they have.

So where do the Varsity Athletes Workout? Check that out if you want, but the football team has a 10,000 square foot weight room for themselves.

Since my daughter has her sights set on an Ivy, (as a longshot), what is your opinion of her taking one of these courses?

Dear Ivy Dad:

When applying to an Ivy or the other top selective schools in the country it pays to show academic curiosity, academic ability at a high level and the ambition to take on scholarly pursuits. I don't think it can hurt at all, and as an athlete you need to make sure you are showing the school that you are more than a one dimensional "jock." I'd say go for it and don't feel bad telling a college coach you are going to miss the XYZ Tournament because you have an academic obligation. We are talking Ivy League desire here, remember.

I ran into a women who works in Admissions at one of the Harvard graduate schools. She is knowledgeable about the admissions processes in all the schools at the university. She made a point to say that Harvard and all Ivy's are taking a hard look before admitting students who could be called "deep and narrow". There is a fear that too many specialists in anything (sports, music, dance, physics for example) is not a good thing for the school. Well rounded students are coming back into vogue a little bit and the specialist had better be very special.

For example, maybe the #1 ranked concert pianist is less desirable than the #5 ranked pianist who also wrote a new computer program to help kids learn to play the piano. This is hypothetical as I don't think piano players are ranked but you get my point!

Dear Advisor:

My son will be a senior at (DIVISION I UNIVERSITY) and his new football coach said he is going to take away his scholarship. My son is doing every thing he can to be in good standing. Could the coach remove his scholarship?

Thanks - Concerned Parent

Concerned Parent:

This is the cold, business side of college sports. The coach can choose not to renew the scholarship and under NCAA rules the player has the right to ask for a hearing to appeal the non-renewal.

Your son should speak to the Athletic Director or the football team administrator about such an appeal. If he does not get a positive response, you should contact the NCAA directly.

Now, for the dirty side of this. A new coach (this is a first year coach) coming in to turn around a program has a very short window to do so (schools are losing patience faster and faster as salaries rise). Any Division I coach has a lot of salary on the line and knows that a quick turnaround can lead to a contract extension and a sizeable raise. Most people would consider this a scumbag move. But this is part of the massive housecleaning that always goes on when a turn around is in the works. I have written about this numerous times in the CompuSports newsletter Coach's Advisor.

The coach is likely hedging his bets that this player will not want to stick around the program when he (the player):
A) Knows he will never play if he wins the appeal.
B) Has to deal with being a pariah with the coaching staff if he wins an appeal.

Most athlete's want to play their sport and have a chance to earn playing time. I will go out on a limb and say this athlete has no shot under these circumstances. If an appeal is won, he might decide that football is his job that pays for school and stick it out with that mindset.

If is a safe bet that at all these schools listed on ESPN.com, there are similar stories happening.

When Injury Ends College Dreams...luckily, under NCAA rules, any scholarship player who is physically unable to compete sill stays on scholarship and it does not count against the school's limit. Still the emotional pain of not playing and the lack of a group affiliation for the first time in an athlete's life can cause turmoil. ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel chronicles a Georgia football player and the thoughtful way the head coach is managing the players loss.

Chandler forced to adjust college dream

College Coach Reaffirms the "I want to see how you react to adversity" Story...
We always preach to people that college coaches, when evaluating you, like to see you fail and then how you react to it. It is the most telling sign of character they can find and a predictor or future success in college when failures can come fast and furious at the beginning. This comes from Boston College baseball coach Pete Hughes in a Boston Globe article (3/6/05) about players Jason Delaney and Drew Locke:

What impresses Hughes about Locke and Delaney is how they deal with adversity. ''It's easy when everything is going good," he said. ''I like to see how a player reacts when things are not going good. I want to see how they handle adversity and how they compete in those situations."

We don't make this stuff up...read full article about the Boston College seniors.

The Importance of Playing at the Right Athletic Level and in the Right Culture.
- Prep coach explains
Once again a Boston Globe article has some interesting quotes to share. These are from Bob Hohler's March 6th article about the Prep Basketball Program at Notre Dame of Fitchburg, one of the many elite Prep Programs in New England.

Ponder this:
"I tell the [college] coaches, 'You have to ride herd on the kids and hold them accountable,' " Barton said. "But a lot of coaches only care about what the kids do on the basketball court. They don't care about the rest of their lives, which I think is a crime."

A number of Notre Dame players have hurt their chances of succeeding, Barton said, by choosing the wrong college. Nate Daniels, for example, a 6-foot-7-inch forward from San Diego, signed with Fresno State despite Barton's warning that the basketball program was too "laissez faire" to safeguard his educational needs. (the player flunked out)

Another of the coach's players chose Seton Hall and was kicked off the team for fighting.

"He was averaging about 1 point and 1 rebound a game when he got into the fight and they kicked him out," Barton said. "If he had been averaging a double-double, one fight wouldn't have gotten him kicked out."

The ethics of this example are questionable, but the point is that this player went to a program where he was dispensable. Initially, a program looks at a player like him and thinks he might pan out. If he doesn't produce out on the court, they'd like another player in his place if possible. They found a way to make that work.

It was interesting to see that Notre Dame charges tuition to the players based on skill. The best player on the team only pays $1,500 to attend, about a tenth of full tuition.

This article was talking about big time college basketball but the lessosn are important for everyone to consider in their quest for the right academic and athletic fit.

Great Goalies are Forgetful - by Dr. Adam Naylor
I had the chance to meet Dr. Adam Naylor a few weeks ago at the Boston University Athletic Enhancement Center. The BU AEC is a great facility and their programming seems to be just as strong. We will have more about that in next month's edition, but this month I thought all you goalies out there would benefit from one of Adam's articles.

This is great for goalies who live in the past and can't seem to "let go" when they do let one slip past. The article has good advice and also gives you tools to work with and apply to your own game/style. This is very plain English, nothing "scientific" to endure.

Read Dr. Naylor's Article

This new page is attempting to list out all the quality places young athletes play their sport and train. Please forward your facility to us and we will list it. In the first month we have focused on Baseball and Strength and Conditioning Facilities but we plan on adding as many as possible regardless of sport. Please help us out and send the name of the facility and the web address.
Submit your facility.

Links -
Independent529plan.org - a complete site dedicated to the Ind. 529 plan - private schools
NCAA.com now links to www.ncaasports.com
NCAA.org is their official business site - rules, publications, etc. Let's hope they make that site a little user friendly as well.
Campus Dirt - where college students tell you how they really feel! Need to register but it is free.
NextStepMagazine - Life after High School, great for students and parents.

Recommended Services and Tools
College Coaches On-line - Directory of all college coaches, 20,000 plus NCAA and NAIA. a must have to start your proactive college search.
Collegiate Choice Walking Tours - an inexpensive way to see a campus!
estudentloan.com - the Lending Tree of student loans- comparison tool.
webball.com - baseball nuts will drool over this site!
Common Application - Over 255 colleges use the common application.
TrainBoston - athlete performance and conditioning

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