Contributor, Rick Paine, is an expert on the college recruiting process. He is also the Director of Swimming at American College Connection (ACC). ACC is a SwimSwam Partner.
There seems to be a lot of swimmers and especially parents who think July 1 is magic for recruiting calls from D-I college coaches. Don’t panic if you have not received a ton of calls on July 1. This is only the first day that D-I coaches are “allowed” to start making calls.
I have spoken to many coaches who tell me that they won’t even pick up the phone on the first because everyone else is calling. A lot of coaches take their families on Fourth of July vacations during this time. You should evaluate your contacts around the middle of July and resend your info out to the coaches that have not contacted you.
Things to Do:
- Make sure your greeting on your phone is respectful and short and sweet. There is nothing a coach hates worse than making 20 calls a day and getting a greeting that sounds something like this, “Hey Dude, can’t come to the phone now so do your thing and I might call you back.”
- Have a pen and paper by the phone so you can take notes
- Make sure you have a quite area to take calls. No reason to have the TV blaring in the background when you are talking to someone about your future.
- Be respectful to every coach who calls. Regardless of the level of their swim program every coach deserves respect.
- You should feel honored to have any college coach take the time to call you.
- Sell the coaches on your potential.
- Questions to consider asking a coach about their program:
- Who would be my primary coach?
- What events do you see me helping the team out the most?
- How are your training groups divided?
- Do you shave first semester?
- Describe your strength training program.
If you know a coach will be calling do your homework and research the school and swim program before so you can ask intelligent questions that are specific to the school and team. This sends a message to the coach that you are seriously considering their school.
Please, please DON’T ask “how much yardage do you do.” This might be the dumbest question of all time.
I suggest not talking about scholarships on the first call unless a coach is very persistent in having you commit to an official visit. If you are interested in the school you will need to find out if the school is affordable for your parents.
If a coach has not discuss scholarships by the 3rd phone call you need to bring up the subject. Don’t let a coach recruit you forever without talking about money.
Enjoy this time in your life. It only happens once and YOU WILL NEVER BE THIS POPULAR AGAIN, and remember there is nothing magic about July 1.
This was a worthwhile article and I wish my daughter and I had read it BEFORE we started looking at colleges. I will say, however, that with the numerous clerical errors (quite-quiet / has not discuss…ed / seemS to be a lot of swimmers / etc) it is hard to rely on some of the actual advice given. For example, “how many yards” is not the dumbest question ever, and in fact many swimmers can use this topic to learn a lot about the coach’s philosophy. It’s just crazy to think most people would actually want to hear how a coach answers but here it is labeled “dumbest of all time’. The number of yards itself may not be important… Read more »
I agree Jonathan. We were open and honest from the beginning about the sort of $$’s our family would need (we are International) as we didn’t want to waste any coaches time talking with them if they knew that the University couldn’t put a package together. We didn’t get into specifics at the start – just ball park and now that we are reaching the pointy end we all know approx what the minimum will be on the table.
If a coach isnt making calls on July 1st then they are not serious about thier job.
Academic philosophy? Nutritional support? And of course the most important thing never mentioned: athletic training support (injury philosophy).
Rick,
Can athletes get partial $ from BOTH swim and water polo? Have you ever worked with athletes who have done this in the past?
Thanks Shannon for the kind comments. I have been doing the recruiting for 31 years as a college coach and the last 14 years as a recruiter so I should have it figured out by now…haha
Rick Paine you were such a huge help to us. And everything you wrote above went as you said it would. As a swim parent you will be so glad when they pick a school! And some days you will be wishing it was any school just to get the process over with!
How do you best bring up the subject of money?
Ask the coach what it will cost for you to attend.