Question for athletic recruits--tell me about phone calls from coaches--update below

[plansrme]

Class of '18 swimmer, and now that their (the colleges') conference meets are mostly over, my daughter is getting emails from coaches asking to set up phone calls. Her first one is Sunday.  What do they talk about?  Should she ask questions?  If so, what kind?  Is it too early to talk ballpark money?  Normally, I would not think "ballpark money" would be appropriate or necessary this early, but the school she is talking to on Sunday has a COA of $70K.  If there's zero chance of getting that down to something reasonable, she needs to strike this one off of her list.  On the other hand, the initial email from this coach basically did a Julia Roberts in Pretty Women, "I have money to spend here."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2017 by plansrme

Here's a bunch of good articles on the subject of college swim recruiting:

 

https://swimswam.com/tag/rick-paine/

 

 

[snowbeltmom]

Class of '18 swimmer, and now that their (the colleges') conference meets are mostly over, my daughter is getting emails from coaches asking to set up phone calls. Her first one is Sunday.  What do they talk about?  Should she ask questions?  If so, what kind?  Is it too early to talk ballpark money?  Normally, I would not think "ballpark money" would be appropriate or necessary this early, but the school she is talking to on Sunday has a COA of $70K.  If there's zero chance of getting that down to something reasonable, she needs to strike this one off of her list.  On the other hand, the initial email from this coach basically did a Julia Roberts in Pretty Women, "I have money to spend here."

 

The coach talks about the school and their sport's program.  When my son went through the process last year, he had a list of questions that were specific to each school, and then a list of "sport questions" that he asked every coach.  Some of his phone calls lasted 20 minutes, while others lasted more than an hour. 

 

If the school offered athletic scholarships, the coach talked about money in the first phone conversation.

 

Good luck to your D.

 

[hopskipjump]

The coach talks about the school and their sport's program. When my son went through the process last year, he had a list of questions that were specific to each school, and then a list of "sport questions" that he asked every coach. Some of his phone calls lasted 20 minutes, while others lasted more than an hour.

 

If the school offered athletic scholarships, the coach talked about money in the first phone conversation.

 

Good luck to your D.

 

Our experience was similar. If dd had a question the coach couldn't answer, he would always find out and/or have someone else call dd at another time with an answer.

 

Money was always brought up pretty quickly by the coaches. Sometimes in very concrete terms, sometimes in general terms at first, with a specific offer coming shortly thereafter.

 

The offers increased considerably as time went on, but dd was in a pretty unique ("late bloomer") recruiting situation so I'm not at all sure how common that is. She did not talk with any coaches until her senior year - so it was all pretty fast. Talking with the coaches during jr year will really help build that relationship and they will put money aside specifically earmarked for your kid.

 

Some of the coaches were waiting for specifics of the concrete academic scholarship dd was offered through admissions - then they'd talk specific numbers with her. They can find this info out sooner than dd, so it didn't delay the talk by much - she just had to get her applications in.

 

Oh- and some of the coaches were NOT on-time or always reliable with the phone calls. Didn't seem to matter the "tier" of the school or team - they were late and/or forgot at least once. 🙄

[MysteryJen]

Sorry I am late here. By spring of junior year, we had a list of about 20 schools that showed interest in dd1 and dh had made a list of what percentage we would need for dd1 to attend. Coaches will say that they have money, but unless you are in the top 20% timewise for the team, or fill a large hole for them, they really won't be specific beyond, "yes we have money." If you have a firm figure, you need to get that out there right away. Don't waste your time on a program that you can't afford.

Dd1 was always able to segue into the money question by mentioning an older brother in college and a large family. She made it clear that she would need money to attend. Specific money offers didn't really come until late summer when coaches were trying to set up official visits. Some programs didn't want to talk money until she committed to a visit. She didn't go to those schools.

She picked schools for swimming first, then academic reasons.  Generally, calls lasted about 20-40 minutes. Coaches are selling their programs and swimmers are trying to get noticed. If you are looking at high academic D1 schools, these phone calls will be about making sure the swimmers have the academic chops. That was the case with dd1's calls with Ivy programs which have no athletic scholarships.

PM me if you want specific examples with money, asking for it, and tricks that coaches do.

 

Good luck!

[clementine]

Google swim coach recruiting questions - our dd printed out a list of them & prepared herself with those. Any that she didn't prepare for were easy for her to answer. Once your dd gets the first call out of the way she'll feel more comfortable. Good luck to her!

[plansrme]

 

 

If the school offered athletic scholarships, the coach talked about money in the first phone conversation.

 

 

 

That is good to know.  We've been very up-front with her about what we're willing to pay, so I am hoping schools that are financially out will be apparent early, before she gets attached.

[plansrme]

Sorry I am late here. By spring of junior year, we had a list of about 20 schools that showed interest in dd1 and dh had made a list of what percentage we would need for dd1 to attend. Coaches will say that they have money, but unless you are in the top 20% timewise for the team, or fill a large hole for them, they really won't be specific beyond, "yes we have money." If you have a firm figure, you need to get that out there right away. Don't waste your time on a program that you can't afford.

Dd1 was always able to segue into the money question by mentioning an older brother in college and a large family. She made it clear that she would need money to attend. Specific money offers didn't really come until late summer when coaches were trying to set up official visits. Some programs didn't want to talk money until she committed to a visit. She didn't go to those schools.

She picked schools for swimming first, then academic reasons.  Generally, calls lasted about 20-40 minutes. Coaches are selling their programs and swimmers are trying to get noticed. If you are looking at high academic D1 schools, these phone calls will be about making sure the swimmers have the academic chops. That was the case with dd1's calls with Ivy programs which have no athletic scholarships.

PM me if you want specific examples with money, asking for it, and tricks that coaches do.

 

Good luck!

 

Great advice.  Thanks.  My daughter also is picking schools for swimming first, and I'm good with that.  

[plansrme]

Google swim coach recruiting questions - our dd printed out a list of them & prepared herself with those. Any that she didn't prepare for were easy for her to answer. Once your dd gets the first call out of the way she'll feel more comfortable. Good luck to her!

 

Thanks!  The school tomorrow is a stretch academically, and it's not one she identified (they came to her), so she definitely does not have any attachment to it.  I think that makes it a good one to start with.  

[plansrme]

In case it's helpful for anyone else, I thought I'd update about how this call went.  Since it is not yet July 1, she and the coach arranged via email for my daughter to call the coach at the appointed time.  The coach told her about the school, just general stuff about student size and the campus layout; gave her a lot of details about their practice schedule (and this is what interested my daughter the most--"school, shmool; let's talk about swimming"); told her their plan to raise their standings in their conference and how my daughter would fit into that plan; and then arranged to touch base in a couple of weeks.  They did not talk money, but the intro email from the coach did say they have scholarship money available.  It was low-stress, no pressure and all very preliminary or, at least, that's what it sounds like from what I got from my daughter--I was dying to but did not listen at the door!  

 

Another college coach with whom she's been in contact for almost a year came to her meet this last weekend to, and this is a direct quote, "watch you swim."  I'm sure he was there to watch others as well, of course, but that's what he said.  Interestingly, although I could not talk to him or him to me (no off-campus contact is permitted yet), I happened to have a clear view of him as he watched the meet.  When her big race came up, his eyes were locked on her from the minute she walked behind the blocks until well after her race, when she was having the post-mortem with her coaches.  She said she'd seen him move up to the railing during the part of her warm-up that they were doing "tempo work," whatever that is.  It was clear that he was watching something other than her form in the water, and I found that immensely interesting.  (Thankfully, she rocked that particular race.) Anyway, in case it's helpful for future recruits, remember that coaches may be watching more than your athletic performance.  I know articles all say that, but it was really interesting to see it up close.

[Rebel Yell]

In case it's helpful for anyone else, I thought I'd update about how this call went.  Since it is not yet July 1, she and the coach arranged via email for my daughter to call the coach at the appointed time.  The coach told her about the school, just general stuff about student size and the campus layout; gave her a lot of details about their practice schedule (and this is what interested my daughter the most--"school, shmool; let's talk about swimming"); told her their plan to raise their standings in their conference and how my daughter would fit into that plan; and then arranged to touch base in a couple of weeks.  They did not talk money, but the intro email from the coach did say they have scholarship money available.  It was low-stress, no pressure and all very preliminary or, at least, that's what it sounds like from what I got from my daughter--I was dying to but did not listen at the door!  

 

Another college coach with whom she's been in contact for almost a year came to her meet this last weekend to, and this is a direct quote, "watch you swim."  I'm sure he was there to watch others as well, of course, but that's what he said.  Interestingly, although I could not talk to him or him to me (no off-campus contact is permitted yet), I happened to have a clear view of him as he watched the meet.  When her big race came up, his eyes were locked on her from the minute she walked behind the blocks until well after her race, when she was having the post-mortem with her coaches.  She said she'd seen him move up to the railing during the part of her warm-up that they were doing "tempo work," whatever that is.  It was clear that he was watching something other than her form in the water, and I found that immensely interesting.  (Thankfully, she rocked that particular race.) Anyway, in case it's helpful for future recruits, remember that coaches may be watching more than your athletic performance.  I know articles all say that, but it was really interesting to see it up close.

I have zero idea about athletic recruiting, but when I read your last paragraph it reminded me very much of dance and theatre auditions. It's been said that your audition begins as soon as you sign in (if not before) and doesn't end until you're out of the studio. Directors look at how you prepare, if you're paying attention to directions, if you take direction and correction. Also if you have a SuperStar issue and are always pushing other out of the way, or rolling your eyes at them.

 

Diamond has auditioned students for class placement and roles in musicals. If someone is borderline but seems interested and works hard that counts as much or more than someone slightly technically better with a crummy attitude.

 

Good luck to your swimmer! May the scholarship come rolling in!

[clementine]

That period of not being able to talk is so weird.  There were a few meets where our dd would be handed a college info packet by her high school coach after the meet was over.  She had no idea that a coach was even there watching her.  

 

 

[hopskipjump]

In case it's helpful for anyone else, I thought I'd update about how this call went.  Since it is not yet July 1, she and the coach arranged via email for my daughter to call the coach at the appointed time.  The coach told her about the school, just general stuff about student size and the campus layout; gave her a lot of details about their practice schedule (and this is what interested my daughter the most--"school, shmool; let's talk about swimming"); told her their plan to raise their standings in their conference and how my daughter would fit into that plan; and then arranged to touch base in a couple of weeks.  They did not talk money, but the intro email from the coach did say they have scholarship money available.  It was low-stress, no pressure and all very preliminary or, at least, that's what it sounds like from what I got from my daughter--I was dying to but did not listen at the door!  

 

Another college coach with whom she's been in contact for almost a year came to her meet this last weekend to, and this is a direct quote, "watch you swim."  I'm sure he was there to watch others as well, of course, but that's what he said.  Interestingly, although I could not talk to him or him to me (no off-campus contact is permitted yet), I happened to have a clear view of him as he watched the meet.  When her big race came up, his eyes were locked on her from the minute she walked behind the blocks until well after her race, when she was having the post-mortem with her coaches.  She said she'd seen him move up to the railing during the part of her warm-up that they were doing "tempo work," whatever that is.  It was clear that he was watching something other than her form in the water, and I found that immensely interesting.  (Thankfully, she rocked that particular race.) Anyway, in case it's helpful for future recruits, remember that coaches may be watching more than your athletic performance.  I know articles all say that, but it was really interesting to see it up close.

 

I'm glad it went well for her and was relatively stress free! The coaches always seem to be HYPERvigilant about making phone calls and visits feel very low-key and stress-free. They were always so with dd until she had it narrowed down to a couple of schools and they were getting a mite impatient (understandably on their part... for several very logical-for-us reasons she drug the decision out until the latest possible minute she could - and her offer from School #2 kept increasing...). Even then, they were unfailingly polite - just more insistent and reminded her of the timeline involved.

 

And when your dd goes on officials - it's just like any other scholarship "multi-day" interview. She'll have meals with the team, personal meetings with the coaches, and lots of time with the girls from the team. They're getting a feel for her as much as she's getting a feel for the campus/team. That's tough for a natural introvert sometimes - dd had to push through, especially when she happened to have officials back-to-back and she was exhausted.

 

It's an exciting time!! :) Meeting coaches at meets and knowing they were somewhere... watching... at any given moment... was minorly stressful for dd. lol And I couldn't travel to her meets (they were all clear across the country from us...) - and so I couldn't "watch her back" to see what the coaches were watching and their reactions. roflol!! :D When coaches would call HER coach out of the blue and ask questions about her, that too was an odd, sort of stressful feeling. O_O