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August 2006 Varsityedge.com newsletter - Newsletter Homepage
The August Varsityedge.com newsletter consists of a few words of advice from various parents who are currently involved in the recruiting process or who have recently concluded the process.
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The best advice we could give someone in our son's position is "Don't believe everything your coach says, unless he went on to college playing in the same position that you did".
There is no doubt that Jason is a gifted and talented kicker for football, but the truth of the matter is, that very few D1 colleges will offer scholarships up front for kickers (or any special teams, if you are limited to that position).
Jason was offered many "preferred walk on" offers from D1 and D2 schools. He was offered a great scholarship package (academic and athletic) from a D2 school, however they didn't offer anything in his field of interest as far as majors go. He was called frequently from smaller colleges in the NE part of the US (we live in the south central midwest area), and many of them were private colleges with very high tuitions, so financially, unless it was a great amount of scholarships we could not afford him to attend there....Thankfully, he wasn't interested in going to that part of the country.
His football coach kept insisting that a D1 school would offer him a great scholarship deal for someone with his talent, and to hold out for it...but it never came. He considered his walk-on possibilities and went for the school that most interested him academically, was in a location he could live with (not too far from home, but not in our backyard), and that had a coaching team that was genuinely interested in him and saw his potential to benefit the team (which happened to be a new coach and staff). It all came together in the end, but not a dollar of athletic money is going to his initial tuition...and if we were holding out for it, he'd still be searching for it.
The other thing to remember is that there is more than one player being recruited at the same time for your position...so don't believe everything the recruiter says either. They have to keep their options open, and as we saw this year in football (regarding the Mustain incident with U of A), coaches have to keep their eyes on all areas of the recruiting field. Also remember that any "rumored" coaching problems can completely affect your chances for even preferred walk on if that coach gets bumped from the staff. That happened at one of Jason's top 5 schools...the coach that was talking to him, effectively recruiting him, ended up quitting at the end of the season, and his replacement dropped all contact with Jason....enough said.
It ended up that 3 major colleges in our area had complete coaching changes this past year. That made it hard to follow through with contacting them, and for months we had no one to contact!
The third point I would make is to stress to the STUDENT to show initiative in talking or contacting the coaches at prospective schools. Not to be irritating, but to keep your name on their mind by sending copies of articles, stats or anything else positive to let them know you are really interested in attending their school and playing in their program. The squeaky wheel will get some grease goes true in the college recruiting world too.
Jason will be attending camp at ********* as a preferred walk-on for a kicker position. He's looking forward to majoring in Construction Management.
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I would like to share with the readers of your newsletter a e-mail I received at work from my son who recently committed to a Major D-1 school for football. Some times it does appear that we question our selves as to why are we doing all this traveling and sacrifice for our kids when we should turn it over to the local coach and let it be his job. Well this is an example as to why we do what we do, no one knows the heart beat of child like his own parents or parent if your a single parent. I think in the long run our road trip to this places has been some of the best times in my life as well as my wife. We both have enjoyed spending the quality time with our son on the road visiting numerous colleges staying in hotels an eating on the road, but most of all we where able to spend time together , something parents don't get to do these days our rush-rush world of hi-tech toys and TVs etc. When your on the road it gives you time to talk to one another and really find out what's going on with your child life.
We have been bless to have two sons receive scholarships as a result of their hard work and our willingness to do what it takes to get them where they need to me. I guess when you really stop and think about it isn't that what parents are suppose to do. I wasn't expecting the email from my son , because I knew in my heart he appreciated all that we had done for him traveling over 5,000 miles to different schools , for him to pick one only 40 miles from our home. In closing I just want to encourage any parents out there who are asking the million dollar question WHY"""""""""""""" because it's what WE DO............. Here's the email so grab your tissues.
Subject: Thank You
Dad,
Since my commitment I haven't really told you thank you for all the sacrifice and time you devoted to not just my recruitment... but my football career in its entirety... I want to thank you for getting me out in the back yard and breaking me down from a spoiled little fat kid so that I could become the young man with dreams of professional football I am today... I want to thank you for pushing me at all times even when you knew I didn't want to be pushed... but you pushed anyway because you knew where I needed to be. I want to thank you for instilling in my mind that great things do take work and that they just don't get handed to you... Throughout my entire career so far you have always foreseen what would happen... not only did you KNOW what COULD happen... but you BELIEVED it WOULD happen... you single handily set me up for an opportunity that very few kids see... and although I take a lot of your wisdom for granted... I now look back in hindsight at how many times you said exactly what was going to happen... I know from day to day I seem spoiled at times and unaccepting of your advice... but one way or another I always end up following what you say... I know I still am not anywhere near where I can be... but I'm ready to take on the challenge of getting where I need to be... I just wanted to tell you thank you... As I rode in the car today on the way to drop it off and we passed the stadium I just thought about how GOOD it feels to know that when the game is over, YOU are there... waiting on the sidelines to discuss with me how I played... to congratulate me on a win, or to tell me where I need to improve... I can't even imagine football with DAD... Although I never tell you how much I appreciate you, and everything you have done for me... I just want you to know, without you I wouldn't be playing college football... you and mom have given so much for me... and I just wanted to make sure you know I'm thankful...
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