The college recruitment process can be very stressful for athletes. Women’s collegiate athletics have grown an extensive amount due to many different factors. The recruiting process in women’s collegiate athletics is still very competitive. It may be hard to figure out exactly what the coaches are looking for in athletes during your recruitment process. Understanding all the steps that may be involved through this long process will help you successfully manage your recruitment journey.
College coaches are always trying to find athletes that stand out or help contribute to their program/school, but athletes need to think about whether the schools they are interested in fit the best academic and athletic opportunities provided. The key is making sure the coaches you are trying to impress are identifying your talents within your sport, make sure you are able to make connections with the other players that are on the teams already, and lastly that you are able to achieve a spot on the teams that you are looking at.
Guidelines For Recruiting:
The NCAA creates many different rules and guidelines for recruiting. These guidelines do change based on the different college levels (DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, and NJCAA).
DI has the highest level of competition because they are allowed to give athletes a full ride athletic scholarship. The recruiting process for athletes competing for DI scholarships usually start around the end of middle school to early highschool. Coaches and athletes at this level have very strict rules about contact and being able to have official visits.
DII is still pretty highly competitive but not as much as DI. Coaches have more flexible rules about contacting athletes. Athletes are also able to receive athletic scholarships but most commonly particle scholarships.
At the DIII level athletes are not able to receive any sort of athletic scholarship. The coaching contact rules are not very strict but still have some rules about when they are able to reach out or have contact with an athlete.
Lastly, NAIA and NJCAA have separate rules around their contact guidelines and scholarships.
Steps In The Recruiting Process:
1. Evaluate your achievements and goals.
Where you are at with your skills and what level aligns with your skills. Along with your academic standing and what college would fit best for your interests.
2. Create a highlight reel/profile.
It is common for athletes to create some sort of athletic highlight reel or profile for coaches to see. Most athletes include some sort of highlight reel or footage from a game, some stats from past seasons, and maybe some ways to contact you specifically.
3. Finding schools you are interested in.
The next step would be trying to find schools that you may be interested in. Once you find some options it would be helpful to reach out to those coaches, so they know that you are interested and you attract their attention.
4. Sign up for camps at colleges.
After figuring schools and reaching out to coaches most colleges have some camps that you can attend that are ran by colleges.
5. Schedule an offical or unoffical visit.
You then would want to schedule an unofficial or official visit. These rules may differ depending on the level you are trying to attend. Unofficial visits are normally paid for by the athlete and you can schedule as many visits as you want. Official visits are visits that are paid for by the school you are going to and you normally have a limited amount of visits.
6. Making a commitment.
Your last step in your recruiting process would be committing to a school. After you receive an offer from a college you are able to make a commitment. There are three different ways that you are able to do this. The first is a verbal commitment which means you are in a non-binding agreement with that school before you official sign. The second way is a letter of intent which means that you are in a solidified commitment to a school and are not able to be recruited anywhere else. Lastly, would be a preferred walk on, meaning you are not on scholarship but you are guaranteed a roster spot. This is normally seen at DI schools.
Athletes Insights On The Recruiting Process:
Sabrina Ionescu:
“I just practiced and played hard, and whatever was going to happen, was going to happen,”
“The longer you wait and the longer you get to know the coaches and their team, the better it is. Why not wait?”
Caitlin Clark:
“I didn’t really take any visits until after my freshman year of (high school), and then I didn’t decide until my senior year. So, I was never in a rush and my parents did a really good job of making sure I have a really good circle around me, like it wasn’t always about college recruitment. I wasn’t like posting my offers, like also that wasn’t really a thing when I was growing up.”
Harper Murray:
“Like I said earlier they recruited me in like 8th grade and Jalen, John, and Kelly. I’ve known for a couple of years now. And I think that when I came here for Dream Team camp that’s when it really set in. Obviously there were other schools that I looked at but I think deep down like if you really knew what I wanted in a couple years I think most people knew that I wanted to come here and I think I knew that too. At first it’s hard when you’re getting all those offers and getting all the attention, I think it’s hard to have a clear mind sometimes and I struggled with that during my recruiting process a little bit but deep down I did know I wanted to be here.”
Leave a Reply