Most things in life come down to timing.<\/p>\n
A student athlete wanting to \u00a0play in college is no different. Timing for recruiting is essential. Almost daily, people ask me about timing. \u00a0Concerned parents and dedicated athletes \u00a0alike are trying to determine the best time to jump into the recruiting world.<\/p>\n
What is the best time to start thinking about the recruiting process? When is too late to get into the recruiting cycle?<\/p>\n
All of these questions are common concerns in my world. But, the answers to these questions are not as simple as one might think. \u00a0When parents or athletes ask me about timing, I need to know several pieces of information to give them a knowledgeable answer. \u00a0First, I need to know the gender of the athlete. Why the gender? Simply put, females mature faster than males. \u00a0A female athlete may be nearing her adult height and fine tuning her skills at the close of middle school.<\/p>\n
On the flip side, boys may not hit their growth spurt in middle school and may still be lanky and not done developing. \u00a0Due to these facts, female recruiting often begins earlier than male recruiting. \u00a0Along that same line, recruiting is also very sport specific. \u00a0Some sports start recruiting much earlier than other sports. Softball and Volleyball start recruiting early. \u00a0Baseball and Football often run a later recruiting cycle. \u00a0But once again, the individual sport recruiting is not as cut and dried as one might hope.<\/p>\n
In addition to looking at an individual sport\u2019s recruiting, we must look at the level of play of the athlete. \u00a0The potential level of play of an athlete is vital in determining the right time to begin the recognition process. Obviously, the higher level of play of the athlete the earlier the athlete needs to be in the recruiting cycle. Why? Because these higher division coaches are looking at the athletes earlier and earlier. \u00a0Not because they like recruiting this way, but more because they have to, to get the athletes before other schools start offering.<\/p>\n
We are seeing more and more big schools verbally offering to 8th and 9th graders and even younger on rare occasions. But keep in mind, these 8th graders getting offers did not just pop up on the college coaches radar a week before. \u00a0These athletes were followed and observed by college coaches for a significant amount of time before these offers started falling.<\/p>\n
As if the previous variables are not enough, now I need to know the size of the athlete, the tangibles of the athlete and the position of the athlete. \u00a0Knowing the sport is simply not enough to determine the recruiting cycle. \u00a0Knowing the level of play is simply not enough to determine the recruiting cycle. \u00a0I need to know the athlete\u2019s size, tangibles and position. \u00a0These additional three variables go into the equation.<\/p>\n
Different colleges have different size expectations for certain positions. Based on these size \u201cboxes\u201d an athlete may or may not be a potential fit for a program \u2013 this effects the recruiting timeline. Certain tangibles such as speeds, jump heights, mph, etc. put athletes in certain abilities \u201cboxes\u201d, this also effects the recruiting timelines. \u00a0Finally, certain positions are recruited earlier than other positions. \u00a0For example, skilled positions are recruited earlier in Football than the other positions. Hitters and blockers are recruited earlier than defensive players in Volleyball. \u00a0Pitchers and the middle of the field are recruited earlier than the corners in Softball and Baseball. The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n
All of this information to say what? Recruiting is VERY individual.<\/strong> Your athlete needs to be evaluated based on her\/his skills alone. The athlete\u2019s gender, sport, ability, size, tangibles, and position all help determine the best individual recruiting cycle. Recruiting is NOT a One Size Fits All kind of thing. Recruiting is NOT even a One Size Fits Most kind of thing. Your recruiting or your child\u2019s recruiting, needs to be personally designed for them as an athlete.<\/p>\n What is the BEST way to know when your recruiting should begin? \u00a0Get evaluated.<\/a><\/strong> This FREE evaluation<\/a> <\/strong>by an NSR<\/strong><\/a> qualified scout can help you determine the best route for your recruiting. \u00a0When is too late? \u00a0There does become a time when your recruiting window passes and the opportunity will be gone \u2013 forever. \u00a0You have one opportunity to get recruited, don\u2019t miss it!<\/p>\n National Scouting Report<\/a><\/strong> believes in evaluating athletes. \u00a0We evaluate ALL athletes before we advocate for them to the college coaches. \u00a0It all begins with a proper evaluation. \u00a0If you are out of season, you can still contact your local scout and run through a workout with him\/her or provide the scout with substantial video. \u00a0If you are in season, one of our scouts can come watch you at a game or tournament or even at a practice. \u00a0Get evaluated, now.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most things in life come down to timing. A student athlete wanting to \u00a0play in college is no different. Timing for recruiting is essential. Almost daily, people ask me about timing. \u00a0Concerned parents and dedicated athletes \u00a0alike are trying to determine the best time to jump into the recruiting world. What is the best time … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,1],"tags":[10,11,31,56,222,111],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7689"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7689"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14776,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7689\/revisions\/14776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}