How to Obtain What You Want Out of the Track & Field Recruiting Process
All the recruiting tips in one place
If you interview any number of track and field recruits, each would have different college recruiting experiences. Even more interesting, the process for each recruit varies greatly from institution to institution. While there is no one recruiting course, there are proven ways to convert the wide-ranging experiences into beneficial outcomes. This website will provide you all the resources you need to achieve what you want out of the track and field recruiting process.
For my NCAA DI recruiting process, the entire coaching staff at one university departed from the institution within a couple of weeks of me answering all 11 essays for the admissions application that was opened early for me. In another example, within days of having a home visit with one coach, I learned that he abruptly left the university and there was rumor that he was involved in misconduct. On one official visit, I was hosted by a collegiate record holder and NCAA champion who graciously showed me a wonderful time and enthusiastically answered all of my questions; on another visit I was dumped by my host and warned by a different athlete that I wouldn’t be happy on the team. For one visit, my parents and I were lavished with separate hotel rooms for multiple nights; whereas, for a one-night visit at another institution, no hotel room was provided until we inquired and I subsequently learned that hotel accommodations weren’t provided for other families on the same trip. During the recruiting period, one coach was very attentive in calling me regularly and precisely on time, while a different coach contacted me sporadically with form emails that hardly recognized my prior responses.
For sure, I underwent a heterogeneous college recruiting process, but through it all I remained fully engaged and truly kept an open mind. By reading, and listening to college athletes as well as college coaches as they made their cases for me to attend their institution, I gained a wealth of information about what was important in choosing a university where I would be able to thrive both academically and athletically. In the end, I landed in the honors college at a university with a track and field program that is a great fit for me, where I have already won a conference title with a personal best time, was a part of a school record-breaking relay, and earned the President's Freshman Award for achieving a 4.0 GPA. Having completed three years as a collegiate athlete, where I’ve had numerous conversations with recruits and my teammates, I deepened my appreciation for the vastness of athletes’ needs and the availability of a wide array of resources.
Signing Day!
I created this website as a guide for high-potential track & field high school athletes going through the NCAA DI recruiting process to help them achieve their main objectives. Surely, much of the information can be used by student-athletes being recruited at other college divisions or for other sports. I lay out the logistics as well as the personal side of the recruiting process, so that student-athletes are well informed and prepared to capitalize on their interactions with coaches and college athletes to realize their goals. On this site, student-athletes will obtain details on various recruiting scenarios and gain perspective on their personal concerns, which would help them be more confident and effective when reaching out to coaches, hosting home visits, taking official recruiting trips, accepting/declining offers, and more.
Instead of repeating basic information that is widely available, this website includes links to various sites that provide materials on the ever-changing NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) rules and regulations. It also provides links to sites that are useful for compiling data on colleges and universities, as well as track and field programs. In all, this is a free one-stop guide, full of tips, analyses, anecdotes, explanations, and samples to get student-athletes ready and excited for a successful recruiting journey.