Your swimmer is about to make one of the most important decisions of their life, selecting the right college. They need your help now more than ever.
When we start working with a swimmer and their family we make it very clear that the parent(s) must be involved throughout the entire recruiting process.
As a parent you can see just how busy your swimmer is between school and practice. Do you think they can find another 10 hours a week to handle all of the recruiting by themselves?
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do help them research colleges for academics and swimming
- Don’t tell them where to go. Your advice is very important, but let them ultimately decide
- Do help them keep their notes organized and readily accessible
- Don’t become their secretary at their beck and call. The swimmer must be engaged in the entire recruiting process from the start
- Do help them organize all of the email correspondence they will have with college coaches
- Don’t answer emails to college coaches for them
- Do have a family meeting and discuss finances and come up with a figure that everyone can agree on that would be the maximum amount you can invest in at least their first year at a college
- Don’t share this figure with the college coaches
Swimmers at D-I, D-II and NAIA schools that offer athletic scholarships always have a chance of getting a scholarship increase in their second year as they improve
- Do take video of your swimmer’s races and help them get it to college coaches. Nearly every coach today wants to see what a swimmer looks like when they race. You don’t need to hire a professional videographer for this. You can do it yourself
- Don’t provide commentary on the video
- Do take phone messages from college coaches if your swimmer is not available and let the coaches know when they can call back
- Don’t take up the coach’s time on the phone unless they want to talk. Coaches are only allowed one phone call a week to recruits and the NCAA rules state that talking with a parent for a certain length of time “could” count as the one phone call for that week
- Do encourage your swimmer to set goals and sell their potential to the college coaches
- Don’t try to sell your swimmer’s potential to the coaches
- Do get your swimmer’s coaches involved in the process and ask their opinion on different colleges. They know your swimmer and what they need better than anyone. Ask them to put together an assessment that your swimmer can send to college coaches
- Don’t expect them to get your swimmer recruited
- Do insist that your swimmer take ownership of the recruiting process
- Don’t abandoned them
Recruiting trips-
Parents are allowed and at some colleges even encouraged to accompany their swimmer on an official visit. Schools are allowed to pay for the parents’ room and meals on an official visit, but don’t count on it. Only a small number of schools have a recruiting budget large enough to handle this expense.
We advise our parents to definitely accompany their swimmer on an un-official visit, but let them take the official visits by themselves.
Enjoy the ride. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you and your swimmer.
unfortumately if the coach changes after you sign the NLI you have to keep your fingers crossed. The contract is with the school not the coach. Supporting your child is crucial in their decision making. But put the pressure on the school.
i want to advise parents to ask to speak to fellow parents of current swimmers. The coach is recruiting your daughter/son for their athletic talent. But that child needs to be supported. Not every program is set to offer what your child may need. Ask the questions. You are trusting this person with your athlete, make sure your child will get what they need. Good luck to all.
Joan Bearens brings up a really good point, as we are going through this now with a new coach in CT. Colleges most definitely protect their image and will not back the athlete if push comes to shove. Abuse of any kind, verbal or mental, should be a zero tolerance policy. Period.
Mid major brings up a good point about college preparing you for life after college. But coaches cross the line way too often and get away with it .
Joan Bearens comments above seem a little harsh.
Perhaps there are some coaches that have had “issues” with their swimmers.
The reality of a college swimming career is that it many ways it is an introduction
to the real job world that follows.
Competition among other team mates, learning to be a team player and most importantly
life/sports sometimes is a hard and not fair road.
College swimming will help prepare a young adult for the challenges to come after graduation.
Parents should realize that they can only “protect” their children for so long.
Sometimes “a bump in the road” while a child is maturing, is one of lifes harsh but real lessons.
please choose your college wisely. The coaches recruit, wine and dine, but the moment your child runs into trouble, they totally abandon them. Do not send your child further than your time to get into a car and drive to save and protect them. Colleges are all about protecting their image and do NOT give a hoot about your child. A family we know has been thrown into a nightmare and the college completely abandoned their lovely child. Ask questions, explore protections, find out the campus culture… Be pro- active and protect your child.
Do not buy into the BS that coaches will feed you. They will turn on a dime to throw your kid to the wolves to… Read more »
This is all great advice for recruits and families. It would be nice to hear about experiences when the coach that recruits you leaves the team after you sign. How do they handle a new coach that wasn’t what they expected?
Good question Swimmom57. That doesn’t happen too often, but it does happen. Once the swimmer signs a National Letter of Intent they are bound to that school even if the coach leaves before they get there.
We deal with this occasionally and the advice we give the kids is to give the new coach a chance and don’t assume that it will be a negative situation. Coaches come and go for various reasons and in most cases the schools do a good job of hiring the right coach.
Coaches who are new to a program usually bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm to the job. Although it is very important for a swimmer to find a coach they can… Read more »
When is the time to get your swimmers name out there to college coaches, 9 th grade?
WTDDUCKS, from the research we have done, there are a majority of college coaches who start putting recruiting lists together with 9th and 10th graders. A lot depends on fast the swimmer is and if they have a passion for swimming. You don’t want to start the recruiting process if there is any concern that the swimmer might “burn out” before they get to college.
Take a look at this article that I wrote for SwimSwam: http://swimswam.com/when-do-i-start-the-college-recruiting-process/
doesn’t hurt to prep your kid for said meetings/phone conversations with coaches. Like asking them what would you say if a coach asks this. not to a point where your scripting every interaction just getting him prepared for what they might ask/say.