In the recruiting process, it’s very easy for parents to get too involved and take over their
child’s experience. Whether it’s contacting coaches on behalf of the athlete, stalking a team’s Facebook page, or pressuring the student to make a decision, parents have to remember one thing: you are not the one being recruited to play college sports.
With that being said, it’s obviously okay to assist your athlete in the process, but you have to find the right balance. Most communication with college coaches should come from the athlete. If you want to monitor your athlete’s conversation with coaches closely, make a shared email account and have conference calls; but don’t respond to the emails and stay quiet during the calls. Your athlete needs to learn how to converse with the coaches on their own and not have you speak for them at all times. If they want a chance to earn an athletic scholarship, you need to communicate with your athlete that it is their responsibility, not yours.
Here are some Do’s and Don’ts for parents with athletes involved in the recruiting process:
Do
Help keep the student organized: create lists and calendars dedicated strictly to recruiting. That way, the athlete can keep track of coaches they have spoken with and mark down due dates.
Get questions answered: Whether you call or email us with a question, or you want to ask the coach, make sure you get the information you need. IE: If you want to know about football scholarships then ask, if you are left in the dark for too long, your athlete may miss out on an opportunity because you didn’t want to ask questions. We are here to help!
Encourage and Support your athlete’s efforts: Getting recruited takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and they will need your support throughout the process.
Be Realistic: Your athlete is the world to you and you wouldn’t ever consider them to be less than a Division I prospect. But athletes aren’t going to get responses from coaches in divisions they can’t compete in. Make sure to do the research with your athlete and openly communicate about which schools to target.
Don’t
Take over the Recruiting: College coaches want to hear from the athlete, not the parent. By keeping in touch with coaches, the athletes are learning to communicate with authority figures and are able to get to know their potential coach. If you do all of their talking for them, coaches may take this as a sign of disinterest. Don’t make this about you; it is not a “we” process. Make it about your athlete.
Stalk Social Media Pages: It’s okay to check out a team’s page from time to time, but as a parent, you should not harass or bombard the page with your athlete’s information. This channel is for information and to support the team, not to brag about your athlete’s capabilities, especially if the coach isn’t interested.
If you have any questions about getting help as a parent, then leave a comment below and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.