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Weston High School - April 12th
Varsityedge and The Athletes Advisor gave a seminar at Weston High School to about 80 parents and students. We spoke for roughly an hour and then fielded questions at the end of our presentation. We would like to thank AD Peter Foley for having us. Peter is a well respected AD and that was clear from the personal relationships he has with each parent and athlete that showed up at the recruiting night. Several people from other towns also drove down to see us that night and that was appreciated as well.
If you have any questions about ordering The Making of a Student-Athlete or any questions/comments regarding any topics discussed that night, please contact us directly at info@varsityedge.com
We fielded several questions from parents after our presentation. Here are a few questions.
My son is in 7th grade and plays 6 sports right now, should I be leaning him in one direction?
This was a question for Dr. Phil, but he wasn't around. My response was that it was easier for your son to participate in that many sports because of his young age and the lack of commitment that each sport took. As he gets older and into high school, practices and time commitments will be a little more intense and it's quite possible that he won't have the time or desire to play 6 sports. In reality, at the high school level playing more than 3 sports is unrealistic - (one in the fall, winter, and spring). It was my opinion that as time went by, he would naturally gravitate to just a few sports that he truly liked and was good at. The same thing happened to me and it happens to a lot of other kids.
Should we consider Early Action
Early Action isn't for everyone, but if you have done your research on a particular school, have really good grades, and want to improve your admissions chances, then Early Action is often the way to goo. Too often however, many kids use Early Decision and Early Action as simply a way to increase their odds of getting into any school, rather than the school they want to. Many kids visit one or two schools, apply early and get in, and then suddenly realize they do not want to go there. Since Early Action is not binding like many Early Decision programs, it's less of a risk, but at the end of the day you can only apply Early to one school. The other risk of applying early is that your application will be lumped in with other very talented academic students, and unless your academic record is stellar as compared to other applicants, you may look like an average student in the Early Admission pool. Many schools will not let you apply regular decision after you have applied Early Action.
Had you waited and applied regular decision, your academic record may have looked much stronger with the regular applicant pool. As far as recruiting goes, Early Action and Early Decision are powerful factors for coaches, especially at the D3 level where no National Letter of Intents are signed. ED allows a coach to lock in a recruit and both programs show a coach and school that you are truly interested in attending, two traits that both coaches and schools look for from applicants and recruits. At the end of the day, if you are unsure as to what school you want to attend, applying early really won't help you decide. If you know what you want, know where you want to be, and have a strong academic record, and the coach is interested in having you on the team, then applying early can be an effective tool.
When can college coaches contact me?
Division 3 coaches can contact you at anytime in high school. D3 coaches do not have the strict rules that D1 and D2 coaches have because most D3 coaches are overworked, underpaid, and don't have the time or resources to start calling star freshman basketball players in high school. D1 coaches are allowed to place one telephone call on or after March 1st of your junior year (this is a recent rule change from July 1 of junior year). After March, they cannot call until July 1 after your junior year. Football is a little different, coaches can call during the month of May of junior year, then not again until September of senior year. Basketball at the D1 level is also different, they can call once in March and not again until June 21st.
Division 2 coaches can call after June 15th of your junior year.
**One thing most parents and students are not aware of is that you can call a college coach at any time in high school as often as you like. You can also email them and instant message them if you so choose. If you leave a message and it's not the proper time to call you back, they cannot, but you can keep calling them. The trick is to know when they can and cannot call you so you don't leave 20 messages that cannot be returned. Coaches are sometimes hard to get a hold of by phone, so try emailing and asking when the proper time to contact them would be?
How do we find a track and field program to play at?
This isn't a simple question to answer so my advice was to read The Making of a Student-Athlete first and then you should know how to find a program to play at, as there are many factors involved in finding the right program. It is also wise to seek out former track players to see where they are currently in school and how they are doing. It is also possible to ask a few college track coaches what they would recommend as far as levels and programs. College coaches spend a lot of time answering questions from parents and directing them to the right places and they understand that many parents and students are not sure of what to do. It never hurts to ask and most coaches would be happy to recommend other programs if they think you do not fit into their program.
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