1 Recruiting 101 - PowerPoint Presentation

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Recruiting 101

Acers Fastpitch Slide2

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Acers Fastpitch

Recruiting Process Realities

Full Ride scholarships are very limited (< 1%)

Schools & Coaches get literally 100 emails a day

The Head Coach rarely looks at the emails themselves

Recruiting Service communications are almost always ignored and often trashed immediately

2015, 2016, & 2017 players

… Now is your time to get on the Radar for the college coaches Slide3

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Acers Fastpitch Finding the Right Fit College

Research, Research, Research

Academics

Financials

School Size

Coach

Location (Far away / Close by, Cold / Hot)

Softball time commitments

Unofficial Visits

The higher the level of softball

The earlier you should start

The farther away from home

The earlier you should start Slide4

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Acers Fastpitch Have a Recruiting Plan

Be Proactive & Market / Sell yourselves

Don’t wait to be discovered

Create a Profile of your type of college

Create a list of schools that fit your college profile

Start getting correspondence out to them

Make a Skills Video to send to these colleges

Participate in recruiting camps & college camps

Play games at strong showcase tournaments where

college coaches like to go Slide5

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Acers Fastpitch The NCAA Options

NCAA D-1

Can offer up to 12 Full Scholarships

NCAA D-2

Can offer up to 7.5 Full Scholarships

NCAA D-3

No Athletic Scholarships

NAIA

Mostly offer Academic $$ but some have Athletic $$

NJCAA

Can offer unlimited Athletic Scholarships Slide6

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Acers Fastpitch NCAA Recruiting Rules

NCAA

D1

and

D2

Cannot talk to players during a tournament

Cannot call a player until July 1

st

prior to their Senior year

Cannot email a player until after Sept 1

st

of their Junior year

Limited to the number of off campus contacts that they can

have with a player and/or family member at tournaments

NCAA

D3

No restrictions on phone calls

Can have contact with you after your Junior year

Acceptance by the admissions dept must happen prior to anything happening with the softball coach

NAIA & NJCAA

Can talk to you anytime but they always wait to see if you are

interested in a D-1, D-2, or D-3 school first Slide7

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Acers Fastpitch NCAA Eligibility Info

Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center no later than the start of your Junior year (Clearinghouse #)

Graduate High School

Attain the minimum GPA for the college of interest

Attain the minimum SAT / ACT scores

Take these tests early (no later than Fall of Junior year)

Recommend that you get the “NCAA Guide for the College Bound Athlete” that’s available at

www.ncaa.org

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Acers Fastpitch Tournament Etiquette

Do not approach college coaches at a tournament

They are there to evaluate your skills

If a coach wants to talk to you then they will initiate or arrange contact with you

Email and/or Call a coach before a tournament to let them know of your interest & your game schedule

Follow up Emails after a tournament within 2 days after the end of the tournament is a must

Thank them for coming out to watch us play Slide9

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Acers Fastpitch Email Correspondence

Do not mass email coaches

Email once a week during our summer tournaments (Tues)

Sell yourself & tell them what makes you special & standout

Big hitter, fast, strikeout totals, pitching speed, etc

Avoid false statements or stretching the truth

Send skills video & player profile links in all of your emails

Subject line of your emails should always include

Name / Team Name / Jersey #

Live game video links are great options too Slide10

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Acers Fastpitch Recruiting Timelines

Freshman Year

Prepare your list of schools

Visit local schools

Watch college games at the various levels

Sophomore Year

Let the marketing campaign begin

Refine your list of schools (research / gather more info)

Unofficial Visits are very important & start now

20 schools is a manageable list to keep up with

If you can manage more then that would be even better

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Acers Fastpitch Recruiting Timelines

Junior Year

Sept 1

st

is the key date that you can start to receive direct correspondence via email and regular mail

You should significantly intensify your marketing efforts

Your video link distributions, emails, phone calls, & campus visits should be a high level commitment

Senior Year

Fall of your Senior year is a very important time to play in front of your interested colleges

It is still possible to be recruited in the Spring / Summer of your Senior Year but the chances are diminished

Many

D-3, NAIA, & JUCO don’t start looking at you until your Senior year

You should consider looking more at your Plan “B” too Slide12

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Acers Fastpitch Good Advice

Have a Plan & don’t wait for coaches to come to you

Showing up at a tournament having never contacted a coach or very many coaches is a poor approach

Don’t expect to just show up at a tournament and expect to have a coach see you and say “Wow… That girl is exactly what I need & everything that we have been looking for” because that hardly ever happens

Don’t get hung up on the “Full Ride” mentality

Plan to see some athletic scholarship $$ supplemented by academic $$, financial aid, and student loans Slide13

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Acers Fastpitch Key Notes

You never know who is watching

Your Level of Hustle can work for you or against you

Reactions to success & failure are very important

Recruiting is not fair & never will be

Coaching your daughter through the fences is not an acceptable practice or habit

Approaching coaches unless designated as the team’s recruiting focal is not permitted Slide14

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Acers Fastpitch Recruiting Clinic / Guide

Vegas Clinic

Hosted by Cathy

Aradi

www.fastpitchrecruiting.com

$

15 per person (in advance) or $20 at the door

$ 25 per family (in advance) or $30 at the door

Recruiting Guide

Written by Cathy

Aradi

Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level