![\"Robby](\"http:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/robby.jpg\")
<\/a>Because most college showcases and tournaments end in mid-November, the winter months are the hottest recruiting time of the year, said Robby Wilson, National Softball Director for NSR.<\/p>\n
Softball prospects often attend camps at college campuses to be evaluated by college coaches. However, they must be on the coaches\u2019 radar in advance, so they are treated as prospects, not campers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time of year is a feeding frenzy for college softball coaches,\u201d said Wilson, Area Director of Scouting in Arkansas. \u201cHowever, the rest of the year is equally important in determining adequate level of play, general interest vs. real interest, etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeeping in mind the key word here is \u2018process,\u2019 the winter months of recruiting are an absolute necessity to a successful recruiting campaign for any softball athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n
FOOTBALL<\/strong><\/p>\n While college bowl season receives most of the attention, college recruiting season is picking up steam.<\/p>\n With only six weeks remaining before National Signing Day, recruiting has shifted into high gear. Not only are coaches preparing their teams for bowl games, they also are evaluating talent and working the phones.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball recruiting is in its heyday right now,\u201d said Cagle, Area Director of Scouting in South Alabama. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t get any thicker than right now. There are dead periods and quiet periods coming up. But, once [recruiting] opens up, prospects start visiting schools in January, leading up to National Signing Day.\u201d<\/p>\n SOCCER<\/strong><\/p>\n There are lots of college showcases over the holidays, including the prestigious Disney Soccer Showcase later this month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very hot time for soccer,\u201d said Gil Barkey, National Soccer Director for NSR. \u201cThere\u2019s tons of stuff going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Soccer prospects need to take advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cChristmas Day is basically the only day off for college soccer coaches. They recruit very hard this time of year,\u201d said Barkey, Area Director of Scouting in Northeast Colorado. \u201cCollege prospects shouldn\u2019t stop for a second. They should keep those emails and phone calls going.\u201d<\/p>\n LACROSSE<\/strong><\/p>\n Because there are few, if any, tournaments right now, college lacrosse coaches make recruiting their top priority until mid-January or February, said Brendan Kennedy, National Lacrosse Director for NSR.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of the coaches carry [cell] phones,\u201d said Kennedy, Area Director of Scouting in New England. \u201cThey can receive calls and emails anytime. They may not work on Christmas, but if it\u2019s Dec. 23 or Dec. 27, they\u2019re going to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n That isn\u2019t always the case during the season.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the season, the team is always their first priority,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cRecruiting kind of takes a back seat.\u201d<\/p>\n BASKETBALL<\/strong><\/p>\n Although basketball season is in full swing, the holiday season is still a good time for recruiting, said Frank Gump, National Basketball Director for NSR.<\/p>\n \u201cRecruiting doesn\u2019t stop because of the holidays,\u201d said Gump, Area Director of Scouting in Oklahoma. \u201cCoaches may take a couple days off around Christmas and New Years, but that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n \u201cBasketball is kind of like softball. Winter, spring and summer are big for basketball recruiting. Fall is the only time it\u2019s a little quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n TRACK AND FIELD\/CROSS COUNTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n This is not the busiest time of year for track and field and cross country recruiting. Summer is the busiest recruiting time for track and late fall for cross country, said Andrew Novelli, Track and Cross-Country Director for NSR.<\/p>\n Still, he said, recruiting doesn’t stop.<\/p>\n “For 2016 prospects, it’s still important to keep in contact with college coaches, who are finalizing their rosters,” said Novelli, Area Director in Chicagoland. “For 2017 prospects, it’s important to keep coaches updated as they head toward their spring season and start establishing relationships with them.”<\/p>\n VOLLEYBALL<\/strong><\/p>\n Volleyball is in a dead period, said Kari Chavez, Area Director in Eastern Washington. There is no off-campus recruiting or on-campus visits until mid-January.<\/p>\n However, it’s a good time for prospects to contact coaches.<\/p>\n “College coaches will be stuck in their offices for a few weeks,” said Chavez, former assistant volleyball coach at Gonzaga University. “So now is the time to do housekeeping stuff.<\/p>\n “Prospects should continue to communicate with college coaches. Because they can’t go out, coaches have plenty of time to read emails and watch videos.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While high schools and colleges will be dormant during the holidays, there will be lots of activity for college prospects and coaches. College prospects will be participating in holiday tournaments, college exposure camps and showcases. College coaches will be preparing their teams for bowl games, holiday tournaments and regular-season contests. Recruiting will continue as usual. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[371,255,31,279,246,57,320,222,245,367],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8770"}],"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=8770"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8796,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8770\/revisions\/8796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>