Are you a parent/guardian, a coach, a high school athletics director, or a friend of a high school athlete, and you want to support them but don’t know how? Don’t worry! RecruitHer is here to provide ways that you can help provide support to your athlete, child, or friend.
This four-part series will highlight how four key players- parents/guardians, coaches, friends, and athletics directors- in a high school athlete’s journey can best support their athlete. Your support is critical during the recruitment process and you seeking out advice will be appreciated. The next segment of this series will highlight the role that coaches play.
The recruiting process for high schoolers is more effective when athletes have a proper support system helping them through the process. As a coach, it may not always be clear what your role is in helping your athletes get recruited. Below are suggestions on how you can better support your athlete and be a source of guidance throughout their journey.
1. Talk to your athletes – One of the benefits of being a coach is that it is likely that you have the ear of your athletes. Knowing this, it could be helpful to have chats with your athletes to understand where they see their athletic future going and if they are considering pursuing college athletics. These chats in their freshmen and sophomore years can be a great opportunity to plant the seed and open up their mind to opportunities they may not have considered.
For the athletes that have a desire to continue pursuing their athletics in college, they too may need guidance. Helping your athletes assess their skill aptitude, understanding
what type of coaching style they are receptive to, and more, are pieces of information that can help your athlete better understand what they should be looking for in a coach and an athletic program. These aspects are relevant to increasing their chances of athletic success and overall satisfaction with the program they select.
2. Host college recruitment info sessions – Many high school athletes journey through the recruiting process with minimal information. While they may know a bit about
scholarships, NIL, and some of the best schools for their particular sport, how many are familiar with evaluating their needs from a coach, understanding the likelihood of a first
year earning a starting position, and considering professional opportunities post-college? These aspects and more are less considered, yet can have a major impact on an athlete’s overall college satisfaction. Working with the athletic director or other coaches to host informational sessions on how students (and parents) can best position
themselves is key. Information on our blog site is a great place to compile such information and create your own presentation to provide athletes with resources. Rather the RecruitHer team come to your school and present? Contact us!
3. Include showcases in the competition schedule – Depending on the sport, skill showcases and tournaments are a useful way for athletes to interact with college coaches or even get recruited on the spot. Even if the schedule does not permit the inclusion of these showcases or it is not within the school budget, letting athletes and parents know of these opportunities can still be helpful. Not everyone will be a 4 or 5 star recruit, so for the average high school athlete, getting exposure to events where college coaches recruit talent is a great way to get on the radar. At RecruitHer, we advise athletes who have any level of interest in playing in college to attend these events.
4. Help build a recruiting profile – With social media recruiting on the rise, it is important that athletes begin creating highlight reels of their athletic performance- but somebody has to film it! If you or an assistant can film practices or competitions, this will be helpful for your athletes with creating performance highlight reels or recruitment videos. If you are already taking film perhaps for film review as a team or individually, make sure that athletes have access to the videos. Over time, your athlete will have a portfolio of highlights that they can post online or share privately with interested coaches.
5. Build relationships with college coaches – Another suggestion that involves working behind the scenes is you or the athletic director building relationships with coaches at
local colleges and universities. As mentioned before, for student athletes to be recruited, being able to showcase their skill in front of college coaches is important. If these opportunities are not feasible, perhaps a coach sitting in on a practice session or a home game is. Being able to contact college coaches, welcome them to your school, and
provide them with names of individuals interested in continuing their athletic career is simple, yet has the potential to be effective. As a high school coach, forming these relationships with college coaches can be mutually beneficial, especially over time.
At RecruitHer, we understand that as a high school coach, educating and helping your athletes get recruited is not the main part of your job description. However, doing any one of these suggestions and providing your athlete with resources, will help them in an immeasurable way. If you would like the RecruitHer team to come to your school for a presentation on the recruiting process for student athletes and parents or a workshop on how coaches and administrators can help student athletes, reach out to us here.
*This article is a 4-part series on the role student-athlete support systems play in the recruitment process.
