#51 Five Steps to Developing the Ideal Recruit

You've got to know what you want. This is central to acting on your intentions. When you know what you want, you realize that all there is left then is time management. You'll manage your time to achieve your goals because you clearly know what you're trying to achieve in your life.  --Patch Adams

When I was 15, I wanted to play college basketball or baseball more than anything in the whole-wide world.  I grew up in a small town, and I could count on one hand all of the people from my hometown who went to college and played college sports.  Most of those did not finish their careers or dropped out of college altogether.

My problem was that I had a dream but no plan on how to accomplish it.  In today's blog, I am giving you the 5 steps I wish I would have understood and followed in regard to developing myself into an ideal college recruit.  I hope it gives you some motivation to change your plan and get started affecting the rest of your life.

STEP 1:  MANAGING/MAXIMIZING YOUR TIME

• Create a simple routine  
• Start small/build as your confidence grows
• STICK TO IT! 

• Make your ACADEMICS your #1 priority
• No grades = No admission = No scholarship 

• Multi-task 
• Can you become a better student-athlete anywhere/any time?

• Set nightly goals for the next day
• Set goals you know you can accomplish/Post them!

STEP 2:  MAXIMIZE YOUR ATHLETICISM

• Strength and Conditioning  
• No matter your sport, your lung capacity AND physical strength are priorities

• Don’t speculate you know how to get better
• Make sure you know what your coaches expect from you

• Keep it simple
• Develop your skills daily.  Start small and build as your confidence grows

• Befriend the best athlete/hardest worker you know
• Challenge them daily to push you and compete with you

• Take care of your body
• Eliminate soda and processed sugar from your diet 
• 5 small meals/per day and LOTS and LOTS of water
• Fruits and vegetables are your friends!

STEP 3:  BUILD YOUR SUPPORT TEAM

• Make sure your teachers, coaches, guidance counselors, friends and family know your goals; know that you are committed to going to college 

• Ask for help and advice from those who are older and more experienced.
• Go search for answers to your questions that will give you immediate direction

• Ask this question to your Varsity Head Coach  TOMORROW
• I want to be a varsity starter and all-conference performer.  What do I need to do to be that person in your program?
• Could you do the same with your teachers?

STEP 4:  ENHANCE YOUR REPUTATION

• Show up early/Stay late

• Ask lots of questions.  i.e. How do I…? or What should I…?

• Never leave a doubt who the hardest working person on the team is…EVERY SINGLE DAY!

• Be your team’s most vocal cheerleader

• Watch your verbals and non-verbals – You never know who is watching.

• Demonstrate your drive and determination in all that you do

• ALWAYS put your team ahead of your personal needs/goals

• Keep the “knuckleheads” out of your life!

Step 5:  GET COACHES TO BUY INTO YOU

• See Steps 1-4 

• Make recruiting YOU simple
• Complete an on-line profile (1-Stop Shop) [www.ncsasports.org]
• Get a third party evaluation, so you know your reality
• Compete often…so they can see you perform live often
• Be persistent – email/call coaches
• Invite them to learn about you and watch you perform

• Don’t give up because they did NOT respond the first time

For most of you, your commitment to being the best YOU is what is holding you back.  For some of you, what you want is in great competition versus what you are willing to do and how hard you are willing to work.  Playing college sports is hard.  The problem is that no matter how hard you work, you simply may not have the genes or athleticism to make it at the next level.  However, if you want it and you are willing to put the time into making yourself into the best YOU you can be, the sky is the limit.

If you have any questions about any of this information or would like to discuss your recruitment strategy, you can reach me through any of my information below!

 

Go make your dreams come true!!!

Coach Matt Rogers

Phone:  (312) 610-6045

Email:  coachrogers12@gmail.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ncsa.rogers

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/madcoachdiary
Linkedin:  www.linkedin.com/in/rogersmatt16  

Matt Rogers is an 18-year high school and college coach veteran.  He has led two teams to the NCAA National Tournament and one team to a High School State Championship. His teams hold numerous school and one NCAA record. He has mentored and coached players at every level while serving as an athletics administrator at the high school and NCAA levels for 9 years. He has helped numerous players continue their careers at the professional level. He currently is the Head National Scout for NCSA Athletic Recruiting where he has helped hundreds of young men and women from around the world achieve their dreams of playing at the college level.  Coach presently lives in the Denver, CO area with his wife of 17 years and his two children. 

To request Coach Rogers to speak at your school or event, you can reach him through any of his contact information above.

#50 The Parent Plan: Paying For College [Updated]

Studying is something I really love doing, and I just hope to have enough money for tuition.  --Alexandra Kosteniuk

I have been meaning to write an update to my blog about financing college [you can find the original here [Paying for College], and I received a great boost of motivation from my new friend, Nina Milar, at BestSchools.com.  She had some great updated information that she shared with me that I was more than happy to share with you.

I encourage you to check out their website and the tools they have available to all of you immediately.  Below you will see some great links to start your journey to helping pay for your college tuition!

I'm going to take the liberty of para-phrasing a lot what Nina shared with me below (thanks Nina!).  Kudos to BestSchools.com for making this a much more efficient process for all of us!

BestSchools.com recently overhauled their FASFA guide and updated it for 2016. In the course of their research, they found that most students were not aware that nearly all of them are eligible for some form of financial aid. So they decided to create a user-friendly guide that clarifies common questions, making it easier for students to have access to the support they qualify for to start or continue their education.

You can see the entire guide along with some of its features here:

• http://www.bestschools.com/fafsa/

Largely in part because of their non-biased, data-driven approach, they are a trusted source for government entities and organizations throughout the US. Many publications and organizations already use their guides as resources for their readers. Here are a few examples:

1. State of North Dakota, http://www.nd.gov/ndyouth/education, listed as “Best Schools”
2. Iowa STEM, http://iowastem.gov/resources/Teachers, listed as “Financial Aid Guide for Online Students”
3. State of Montana, http://mt.gov/education/default.aspx, listed as “Online Colleges”

If you have any questions about any of this information or would like to discuss your child's recruitment strategy, you can reach me through any of my information below!

Go make your dreams come true!!!

Coach Matt Rogers

Phone:  (312) 610-6045

Email:  coachrogers12@gmail.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ncsa.rogers

Twitter:  @madcoachdiary
Linkedin:  www.linkedin.com/in/rogersmatt16

Matt Rogers is an 18-year high school and college coach veteran.  He has led two teams to the NCAA National Tournament and one team to a High School State Championship.  His teams hold numerous school and one NCAA record. He has mentored and coached players at every level while serving as an athletics administrator at the high school and NCAA levels for 9 years. He has helped numerous players continue their careers at the professional level. He currently is the Head National Scout for NCSA Athletic Recruiting where he has helped hundreds of young men and women from around the world achieve their dreams of playing at the college level.  Coach presently lives in the Denver, CO area with his wife of 17 years and his two children. 

To request Coach Rogers to speak at your school or event, you can reach him through any of his contact information above.

#49 You're Not Being Recruited if...

“When your ideas about yourself change, so does your experience.”
― Seth, The Nature of Personal Reality: Specific, Practical Techniques for Solving Everyday Problems and Enriching the Life You Know

One of my good friends and fellow collegiate scouts sent this to me recently (so thanks Coach Johnny Meier - *I am sorry I do not know the original writer of this editorial).  I thought it gave a fantastic synopsis of recruitment to many of you who are trying to figure out the recruiting process and the realities of your personal recruitment.  

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of this!

You're Not Being Recruited if...

• You have received information from college's admissions office. This information has nothing to do with being recruited to be an athlete for the college. Actually, you are being enticed through a highly-effective direct marketing program by the colleges to consider them your freshman year. Colleges purchase mailing lists of prospective students from several sources, but most likely they got your name and address from the companies which administered the standardized tests you took such as the PSAT, the ACT or the SAT. Taking these tests means you are serious about attending college. That's all most colleges need to send you a general info letter.
• You have received a letter and questionnaire from a college coach. The good news is that you are in the first stage of the process which is called "recognition." Getting recognized is the initial and most crucial stage of the process. If this doesn't occur, the process cannot begin in earnest. The number of questionnaires which you receive nearly always tells you how many coaches know about you, but it does not mean these coaches are recruiting you. Upon receiving and reviewing your returned questionnaire, a coach will determine if you basically meet the program's endothecia, speed, ranking, strength, grades. All these are important determinants. If so, then you will advance to Stage 2, "evaluation."
• A college coach watches you at a tournament, a travel or club team event or meet. While it is rare for college coaches to discover talent at these events (they usually enter the gates with a list of players they have already evaluated on paper and on tape), keep your fingers crossed that they see you make a great play, hit a double off the wall, come from behind in a race or shoot the round of your life. But, unless you are already on their "list," it's doubtful things will go much farther. Even if a college coach asks someone, perhaps your coach, about you, until you receive a questionnaire, note, email or phone call from the coach, you are not being recruited.
• You receive a letter or email from a coach saying that he or she will keep up with you. Coaches have a long list of prospects and they keep all their options open until they decide on the top few athletes they will decide to invite to their campus for official visits. For this reason, they keep a number of athletes interested with the "we will keep up with you" statement. Recruiting is a business. It is a hard, but true fact and prospects are too often paralyzed by these letters into doing nothing or waiting day after day for the coach to make an offer which in all likelihood will not come. Coaches must simultaneously woo their top recruits as they keep second tier prospects on a string. This is the way they accomplish their goal. While not entirely fair, it is nonetheless the nature of recruiting.
• A college coach calls your high school or travel team coach to ask for information about you. Again, the good news is that if a coach has gotten to the stage of calling others about your abilities, you are at the very least on their list of players to seriously evaluate. College coaches must be time management pros. So, there are a number of reasons they might call your coach. They may not know your address or phone number. They may have heard about you, but have not seen you perform in person. Maybe they want to know your upcoming schedule. A call of this sort means one thing - you are somewhere in the evaluation process, but not necessarily being recruited.

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You Are Being Recruited if...

• A college coach calls you at home twice. Once is not enough. It must be twice. Why? If a coach did not "click" with you or if your parents obstructed the process in some way, you may not hear from that particular coach again. But, if the coach calls and talks to you twice, he or she is interested and wants you to know that you are on his or her list of recruits.
• A college coach comes to your home field, court or course to specifically see you play. Time is precious for coaches and budgets are tight. When they spend time and money to specifically see you play in person, they are interested in evaluating you in person and learning more about you as an athlete and person.
• A college coach invites you on an official visit. Official visits are not handed out like candy to everyone who walks by. Not to be confused with unofficial visits, when a coach invites you to spend time with the coaching staff and the team, you have made it to the final recruiting stage. Make the most of it because this is serious stuff.

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You're in Trouble When...

• You have only a few questionnaires (or none at all) from college coaches. There are nearly 3,000 colleges carrying most sports across the nation. How many know about you? Count your questionnaires. That's how many. It's time to find help.
• You believe it when somebody tells you that if you are good enough college coaches will find you. That old saying no longer applies. With competition fierce for scholarships and roster spots, if your profile and videotape are not made available to a wide range of coaches, there is a good chance you will not be noticed, evaluated and recruited.
• You believe that a friend or relative's "connections" will get you a scholarship offer. That's old school thinking which seldom works out for prospects. College coaches are notorious for not seriously following up on kids brought to them by co-workers, old friends and program supporters. Yes, they will send letters, but it is unlikely anything will come of it. Coaches have their own processes which they trust and rely heavily upon.
• You do not have good statistics and videotape to give college coaches upon their request. Most college coaches make their first evaluation of prospects based on the substantiated numbers the kids make available. While many high school and travel coaches will say they don't want their players to "focus too much on stats," the reality exists that prospects need good stats if they expect to get recruited. Otherwise, they are at a distinct disadvantage. And, the kids need to have ready access to these numbers so that they can relay them to college coaches. Videotape is another essential part of the evaluation process. Prospects must have good game footage, in most cases, to enable college coaches to properly and fairly evaluate them.
• You have narrowed your choice of colleges down to less than five you will consider attending BEFORE the recruiting process starts. The chances of you fitting those five specific coaches' needs (athletically, position, size, speed, strength, statistics and grades) are not in your favor. For this reason, extending your options is a much, much better plan.
• You think walking on is a great option. If you are a true competitor, you will want to play in college, not just practice and sit on the sidelines while scholarship athletes are the only ones receiving significant playing time. Colleges love for you to walk on because you will be paying, in most cases, the entire fee to attend that school. You cost a coach nothing. However, walk-ons rarely see much playing time and typically miss out on things like making travel squads and living in the dorms with the scholarship athletes. If you must take this route, do your best to secure the status of "invited walk-on." Most walk-on athletes stay in the program only one or two years.

Contact me directly if you have additional questions or would like to discuss the specifics of today's blog.

Coach Matt Rogers
Twitter:  @madcoachdiary
Email:  coachrogers12@gmail.com
Linkedin:  www.linkedin.com/in/rogersmatt16
Blog:  madcoachdiary.blogspot.com
Phone:  (312) 610-6045

Matt Rogers is an 18-year high school and college coach veteran.  He currently is the Head National Scout and National Speaker for NCSA Athletic Recruiting where he has helped hundreds of young men and women from around the world achieve their dreams of playing at the college level.  He has led two teams to the NCAA National Tournament and one team to a High School State Championship.  His teams hold numerous school and one NCAA record. He has mentored and coached players at every level while serving as an athletics administrator at the high school and NCAA levels for 9 years. He has helped numerous players continue their careers at the professional level.  Coach presently lives in the Denver, CO area with his wife of 17 years and his two children. 

To request Coach Rogers to speak at your school or event, you can reach him through any of his contact information above.