First Contact Recruiting
|
|
|
This page is dedicated to the parents of the college bound swimmer or diver. We have provided answers to the most frequently asked questions we receive about our program and the college recruiting process. Feel free to email us if you have other questions that are not addressed below. - Who and what is First Contact Recruiting? - How much does your program cost? - When does a collegiate program's recruiting process begin? - What information do college coaches want? - How safe is the personal information my son/daughter provides to your site? - What do I do when our child receives mail from a college or university? - Where and when do we file with the NCAA Clearinghouse
*****************************************************************************
Who and what is First Contact Recruiting? First Contact Recruiting is Bonnie and Paul Shane, a mother-son partnership in our 7th year of operation. Our belief is that every child who has the ability and desire to compete in college swimming or diving should have the wonderful experience of being recruited. Our responsibility is to identify all of them and bring their information to the college coaches who are looking to recruit them. Paul began his 13 year swimming career as a YMCA and USS competitor. He swam high school and college D1 on scholarship. He continues his involvement in swimming as the technical advisor, programmer, web master, and marketing person for FCR and as a high school and NCAA official in his home state of Illinois. As a YMCA and college swimmer and mother of two, Bonnie has both the athlete’s and parent’s perspective of age group, high school, D1 and D3 college swimming and diving. Our family members have experienced college recruiting and the athletic and academic scholarship process. Bonnie continues her involvement in swimming as a high school assistant coach. Her role at FCR is in research, data entry, communications and networking, support, and working with the college coaches from her home in Wisconsin. We are not agents for any athlete or college. We do not promote one over another. Our role in this process is to research meet results and swimming sources to find good swimmers, and then to network with their coaches and families to gather the information that the college coaches need to select and make that “first contact” with student athletes that meet their recruiting requirements. The coach and athlete take it from there.
How much does your program cost? This program is free for the student athletes. Our research and expenses are fully funded by the colleges and universities that participate in this program. The program is open to any NCAA member school. We do not solicit from the athletes, families, or their clubs nor do we sell or give information to any individual not affiliated with a collegiate NCAA swimming and diving program. Free means free!
When does a collegiate program's recruiting process begin? From your child’s perspective, the recruiting process begins when their swim career begins as they learn about hard work, dedication, setting goals, and delayed gratification. But a good time to begin the focus on college swimming is upon entering high school. If 9th graders understand that they need to hit the ground running when it comes to academics and planning, striving for good grades, taking challenging coursework, and working hard in the pool, they will keep all the doors of opportunity open for themselves. FCR is on the very front end of the recruiting process. For our program, the journey begins when your child enters high school and hits one of the qualifying times for our database. Their file is opened at that time and updated throughout the high school years. It is released upon request to the coaches who recruit in your child’s speed range. Typically these requests come during the student’s junior year. This is why it is important to use our webpage form to complete your child’s file as soon as they are eligible, preferably prior to the start of their junior year. Registering early does not mean you will be contacted early or excessively by colleges. There are NCAA regulations that prohibit early and excessive contacts and our coaches comply fully with those rules.
What information do college coaches want? The coach's first consideration is speed. We provide information on your child’s times based on official meet results. However, the most important information they need besides times can only be provided by you. The single most important thing you can do to enhance your child’s chances of recruitment is to provide your home contact information. If we don’t have a home address, the coaches have to mail through a swim club or high school. Although some clubs and high schools are very good about forwarding mail to an athlete, many are so poor at it that many college coaches feel it is waste of their time and postage to try that route. Secondly, many of the schools who participate in this program need to find athletes who can meet their high academic admission standards. These schools request basic academic information including GPA, rank in class, SAT/ACT scores. Providing that information will enhance your child’s recruitability to those schools and alert all coaches to your child’s potential for qualifying for some of their academic scholarships. The recruiting coach can be your child’s #1 advocate on campus if he or she is applying for those types of non-athletic scholarships. Your child’s leadership experiences, community service, honors and other extracurricular activities are all very important, particularly in the admissions process. But that is information your child will communicate to the coach when responding to their initial mailing.
How safe is the personal information my son/daughter provides to your site? Given the world we live in, we understand the anxiety inherent in passing personal information about a child through the email/internet. Our database is closed. It is NOT accessible through the internet – not even to the college coaches who participate in this program. The information goes to them in report form and is mailed only to legitimate college coaches. They sign a User’s Agreement that prohibits them from passing that information on to anyone not directly involved in the swimming and diving program at their particular college or university. We are all concerned about the safety and welfare of your child. Many parents use a work address or give their own email address rather than their child’s so that they can closely monitor what comes through. That is perfectly O.K. We have no problem communicating with parents and from our perspective, any coach who would object to communicating with a parent is not a coach you would want in your child’s life. Please feel free to call us or e-mail directly if you have questions or concerns about this issue. (414) 543-6887 or contact_1@sbcglobal.net.
What do I do when my child receives mail from a college or university? Read and study the information. If it is a school in which your child might have interest, fill out and return the questionnaire or follow the instructions in the letter. This is what begins the process. It does not tie your child into any particular school. It just opens the door for further communication so that your child can gather the information needed to make a good choice down the line. If the coach does not receive a response, he/she will assume there is no interest.
Where and when do we file with the NCAA Clearinghouse? In order to be eligible to compete in a NCAA Division I or II program (with or without athletic scholarships), your child must meet academic requirements and register with the NCAA Clearinghouse. When reviewing the Clearinghouse form, check the Core Course Requirements early in the high school years to plan the proper course selection and register with the Clearinghouse after your child has completed his or her junior year. Appendix B is information for parents regarding registration, eligibility, and financial aid. Appendix E has a summary of the recruiting rules and regulations that must be followed in order to gain and maintain eligibility for NCAA sports participation. Click the following link to access the NCAA's page. www.NCAA Clearinghouse.com
First Contact Recruiting 4363 S. 118th Street Greenfield, WI 53228 (414) 543-6887 – Bonnie
|
Send mail to webmaster with questions or comments about this web site.
|
