Free eBook on Contacting Coaches

Free eBook: Contacting College Coaches: Who, When, Why, What and How

This eBook goes over all aspects of contacting coaches for student athletes looking for athletic scholarships.  It includes extensive information on the following topics:

• How to Build Your List
• Building Your Contact Toolkit
• Contact Rules
• NCAA Rules Regarding Coaches and Contact
• Initial Contact Plan
• Prospect / Recruit Questionnaires
• Email Management
• Initial eMail
• Updating Coaches
• When to Send Updates
• Phone Calls

 Download it now here:  Athletic Scholarships and Contacting Coaches

Finding Schools with Rowing Scholarships

How do you find schools with Rowing Programs and Scholarships?

Where do you find rowing scholarships?

So, how do you find schools with rowing programs?  Below are links to DI, DII and DIII rowing programs.

Rowing Scholarship Information

NCAA Recruiting Calendar Presentation

Eligibility and Recruiting Calendars

Athletic Scholarships, Recruiting Calendars and Recruiting Eligibility Rules from Recruiticus

Want to see this as a video presentation?  Register at recruiticus.com 

Track and Field: Getting Noticed

How to get noticed for a Track and Field Scholarship

Track and Field Scholarships: Getting Noticed from Recruiticus

Do you now your Signing Day?

National Letter of Intent (NLI) Signing Day

Signing your Scholarship?

So what is all the talk about signing day?  The National Letter of Intent, or NLI Program, is a voluntary program that has been put in place to coordinate a signed agreement between student athlete and a college or university.  The NLI states that the student will commit to an institution for at least an academic year, and that in turn, the college or university agrees to provide athletic aid in turn for the same period.  Once the letter is singed, the prospective student athlete is "off the streets" and can no longer be contacted by competing schools for recruiting purposes.  Different sports have different signing dates, and you can view them here:

Need more information?
NCAA NLI Signing Dates 
NCAA NLI Information Center
National Letter of Intent Guide

Track and Field: How far, fast, or high

What type of time, distance or height do I need for a Track and Field Scholarship?

How far?

So, what do I need to do for a Track and Field Scholarship?  This is a compiled chart from internet sources that shows a range of times, distances and heights for DI, DII, DIII and NAIA scholarship Track and Field times and marks.  The original article was posted here:  Track and Field Scholarships: How far, fast or high?

Event	Men	Women
55m	6.4-7.2	7.1-8.0
60m	6.8-7.5	7.6-8.6
60m hurdles	7.8-8.7	8.6-10.0
110/100m high hurdles	13.95-17.5	14.5-17.5
200m hurdles	37.0-45.0	43.0-49.0
400m hurdles	51.0-60	60.0-1:20.0
100m	10.5-11.5	11.8-13.5
200m	21.25-24.0	24-26.5
400m	47.0-54.0	54.5-1:06
800m	1:53-2:06	2:10-2:35
1,500m	3:55-4:30	4:40-5:25
1,600m	4:15-5:00	5:00-6:00
3,000m Steeplechase	9:34-11:10	10:40-12:55
3,200m	9:10-10:45	11:00-12:30
High Jump	7’0″-6’0″	5’10″-5’0″
Pole Vault	16’6″-12’6″	13’6″-8’0″
Long Jump	24’6″-19’0″	19’6″-15’0″
Triple Jump	51’0″-38’0″	40’0″-32’0″
Shot Put	60’10″-40’0″	45’0″-32’0″
Discus	185’0″-130’0″	150’0″-100’0″
Javelin	210’0″-130’0″	140’0″-100’0″
Hammer	210’0″-130’0″	170’0″-100’0″
Decathlon / Heptathalon	7000-4000 points	5000-3000 points


Looking to build a Track and Field Recruiting Profile?  Track and Field Scholarships

Event

Men

Women

55m

6.4-7.2

7.1-8.0

60m

6.8-7.5

7.6-8.6

60m hurdles

7.8-8.7

8.6-10.0

110/100m high hurdles

13.95-17.5

14.5-17.5

200m hurdles

37.0-45.0

43.0-49.0

400m hurdles

51.0-60

60.0-1:20.0

100m

10.5-11.5

11.8-13.5

200m

21.25-24.0

24-26.5

400m

47.0-54.0

54.5-1:06

800m

1:53-2:06

2:10-2:35

1,500m

3:55-4:30

4:40-5:25

1,600m

4:15-5:00

5:00-6:00

3,000m Steeplechase

9:34-11:10

10:40-12:55

3,200m

9:10-10:45

11:00-12:30

High Jump

7’0″-6’0″

5’10″-5’0″

Pole Vault

16’6″-12’6″

13’6″-8’0″

Long Jump

24’6″-19’0″

19’6″-15’0″

Triple Jump

51’0″-38’0″

40’0″-32’0″

Shot Put

60’10″-40’0″

45’0″-32’0″

Discus

185’0″-130’0″

150’0″-100’0″

Javelin

210’0″-130’0″

140’0″-100’0″

Hammer

210’0″-130’0″

170’0″-100’0″

Decathlon / Heptathalon

7000-4000 points

5000-3000 points

Athletic Scholarships? Recruiting Statistics Charts

High School to NCAA, NCAA to Pro, High School to Pro

Some great statistics charts for those aspiring to play sports at the next level.

Athletic Recruiting Stats - percentage of athletes from high school to college from Recruiticus

Athletic Recruiting Stats - percentage of athletes from ncaa to pro from Recruiticus

Athletic Recruiting Stats - percentage of athletes from high school to pro from Recruiticus

NCAA Recruiting Calendar: Understanding Periods

NCAA Contact Period, Evaluation Period, Quiet Period and Dead Period

Do you know your NCAA Calendar?

The NCAA Recruiting Calendar can be a nightmare of terms.  Understanding the NCAA Recruiting Periods is key to your athletic scholarship journey and recruiting timeline.  There are four periods: Contact Period, Evaluation Period, Quiet Period and Dead Period.  Each of these periods have strict rules on how, when and where the coach can contact  and meet the athlete and their parents.  For an extensive article on the topic, see below:

NCAA Recruiting Calendar Periods: Contact Period, Evaluation Period, Quiet Period and Dead Period

Also, you can get to the NCAA Recruiting Calendars here to see timelines for each sport:

NCAA Athletic Scholarship Links and Information

Athletic Scholarships: Setting Goals and Targets

Setting Recruiting Goals

Like this video?  Go to www.recruiticus.com to see more.

The Athletic Scholarship and the Full Ride

The Myth of the Full Ride Scholarship

Like this video?  This is a sample from the Recruiticus Athletic Scholarship Info Site

Rowing Scholarships and the ERG: Is the 2K all they are looking for?

Rowing Scholarships and the ERG:  Power is Key

ERG Power is the Key

So, going through this whole process with my daughter, we are at a D1 unofficial visit right now, and we talked with the coaches about ERGs, etc.  Of course the 2K ERG is a key determinant for scholarship eligibility in rowing, but we also talked about how coaches take total power into account.  So how do you test?

This test can be done by your coaches, and is a 10 second test where you row as hard and as fast as you can.  The resistance is set to high (200 on the CII), and max wattage is recorded.  Top performing high school men should be in the 6.5-8 range, and women in the 4.5-7.5 range.  I found a great overview article here:

Rowing Scholarships and the ERG:  Power is Key

Some great additional resources here:

Rowing Scholarship and Recruiting Information

Where do I start? Athletic Scholarships and Recruiting

Getting Started on the Athletic Scholarship Road

One of the most common Athletic Scholarship questions is:

Where do I start in the recruiting process?

In order to be successful, you need to have a structured, organized method.  Below are some steps to get started:

1.  Identify your goals.  What do you want from a college and an athletic scholarship opportunity?  This is the best starting point. 
2.  Pick your target schools.  Once you have built your recruiting goals, you can then target schools that will help you meet them.
3.  Create a contact plan.  Once one and two are complete, you can start to gather information on the coaches at your target athletic scholarship schools.  This starts the whole process. 

For more information, go to  the Recruiticus Athletic Scholarship Info Site

Rowing Scholarships: What is a weight-adjusted ERG score?

Weight-adjusted ERG Scores and Scholarships?

When rowing, speed is not everything, and power is very important.  Typically, larger, heavier rowers have the capability of producing more power.  On the water, a heavier person contributes to a boat that sits deeper in the water, which creates more drag.  Drag is a resistant force that the other rowers in the boat need to overcome.  The ERG has no way of adjusting for this weight difference, and a larger rower can seem to have more potential than their lighter peers.   So when evaluating ERG times, coaches will create a weight adjusted score, using a specific calculation.  Here is a link to the Concept II Weight Adjusted ERG Calculator.

So the real question is "How does the weight-adjusted ERG come into play in Rowing Scholarships?"

Coaches will evaluate the weight-to-power ratio for their recruits.  So for women, typically D1 coaches will look for weight adjusted scores below 7:00.

Here are some other great links about the topic:

Weight adjusted calculations for rowing

Weight adjusted ERG discussions

Weight adjusted Scholarship ERG discussion

Rowing Scholarships at DI, DII and DIII Schools:  A list

Rowing Scholarship Statistics

Please comment.

Track and Field Scholarships: How do I know where I stand?

How do I get a Track and Field Scholarship?

The first step in getting a Track and Field Scholarship is getting exposure.  There are a number of sites on the internet that provide a great baseline on where you need to be in certain Track and Field events to be in the running for an Athletic Scholarship.  Below are some sites that you can use as a reference, and most college coaches use these to recruit Track and Field Athletes:

Athletic.net   This is a site that is used by coaches to submit meet results.  You can search by individual Track Athlete, Track and Field Teams, or by individual events.  In my opinion, one of the best.

DyeStat  This is another good site, and has a number of "lists" to judge your performance.

Recruiticus Online athletic scholarship database.

For more information: Track and Field Scholarships

What is an NCAA FCS Football Team?

What is Division 1 FCS?

The NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) is comprised of 120+ schools that have football as a varsity sport.  Previously known as Division I-AA, the teams in this league compete in a playoff series.  From an Athletic Scholarship perspective, FCS schools operate a little differently than FBS Schools (See FBS definition).  In FCS programs, football is classified as an equivalency sport, and programs are allowed to give partial scholarships amounting to a total aid of 63 athletic scholarships.

What is an NCAA FBS Football Program?

What Division are FBS Schools?

The NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) are a set of schools that by definition have varsity football teams.  They are distinguished by those in the Division 1 Football Championship (FCS) Division by the following:

• FBS programs differ in Athletic Scholarship headcount, and may offer scholarships to 85 athletes.  Any player receiving aid in an FBS program counts against this 85 scholarship number.  In FCS programs, football is classified as an equivalency sport, and programs are allowed to give partial scholarships amounting to a total aid of 63 athletic scholarships.
• Division 1 FBS football is the only NCAA sport to determine a champion through a series of bowl games, and not through a post-season tournament.

Click here for a listing of NCAA FBS Schools

The Unofficial Visit: NCAA Rules

The Facts on Unofficial Visits

So what is the unofficial visit?  It is a visit to an institution / campus for those interested in athletic scholarships that is not funded by the college or university.  It is a key recruiting tool, and a great way for prospective student athletes to get a feel for the school and its program.  Below are some key Q & A on the visits.

How many unofficial visits can I take?

A prospect / recruit can take an unlimited amount of official visits.

When can I take an unofficial visit?

Unofficial visits can take place at any time, except during NCAA dead periods (see NCAA Recruiting Calendars for Dead Periods), and can occur starting Freshman Year.

Is there any documentation required for an unofficial visit?

No.

Are there any length restrictions on an unofficial visit?

No, there is no limit to the length of an unofficial visit.

Can the college / university provide cost-free lodging, meals and entertainment during an unofficial visit?

No, these items cannot be funded.

Can the college / university provide transportation to athletic practice, competition sites or athletic events?

Yes, transportation can be provided.

Can the college / university provide complimentary admission to athletic events?

Yes, the institution can provide up to 3.

Can I participate in practice during an unofficial visit?

Participating in organized athletic events to test or view the candidates skills is expressly forbidden.

Can a coach offer me an athletic scholarship during an unofficial visit?

The unofficial visit is typically used to gauge a coach's level of interest, and on come occasions, an athletic scholarship can be offered. 

What is the best time to take advantage of unofficial visits?

After establishing contact with a target school, Junior year spring / summer is the best time.

How do I schedule an unofficial visit?

Contact the coach by phone and let them know your intention.  Most will be very receptive and help you schedule an appropriate time to visit when they will be available.

Want Tips on Unofficial Visits?  See this post:  Tips on Unofficial Visits

Want information about NCAA Official Visits?  See our article here: Official Visit FAQ.

For more information, go to  the Recruiticus Athletic Scholarship Info Site

The Official Visit: NCAA Rules

NCAA Rules for the Official Visit

Are you ready for your Official Visit?

One of the most exciting parts of the college recruiting process is the NCAA Official Visit.  First off, if you are being offered a visit, you have obviously grabbed someone's attention, and they want to bring you to campus on their dime, and show you the merits of their athletic program.  Here are some of the basic rules outlined by the NCAA on Official Visits:

How may Official Visits can I take?

• A total of 5 D1 / D2 visits combined
• Only ONE visit per school
• Unlimited to D3

How long is an Official Visit?

• The Official Visit shall not exceed 48 hours in length, and is measured from the time the prospect arrives or is entertained by the institution (whichever comes first), to the time the prospect departs.
• If the prospect remains in the vicinity of the institution beyond 48 hours, the institution may not pay for his/her trip home.

What are the rules around transportation and the Official Visit?

• Round trip transportation costs can be covered via direct route from the prospect's home to the institution.
• If air transportation is used, it may not be beyond coach class.
• The prospect may not be transported by limousine or helicopter (I love this one ;)  )
• The institution may not provide an automobile for use by the prospect or the host student.
• Friends or relatives may not receive cost-free transport, unless they accompany the prospect during auto transport.

What type of lodging can be provided during an Official Visit?

• The prospect shall live and dine the way a regular student does at the institution.

What type of Entertainment can be provided on an Official Visit?

• Entertainment can be provided for the prospect and the prospect's parents or spouse.
• All entertainment must be within a 30 mile radius of the institution.
• Institution athletic event attendence can be provided for the prospect, parents and spouse.  It must be general admission seating.  Seating on the bench, in special boxes, etc. is prohibitted.
• The institution may pay for any reasonable expense incurred.
• Cash may not be provided to the prospect (but in my experience it is given to the host to cover meals)
• The host will receive $30 for each day to entertain (not including admission), and may not buy souvenirs.

Rowing Scholarships: Getting noticed

How to get noticed for a Rowing Scholarship

Other than the obvious:  rowing for a club, going to great regattas, etc.  There are a number of things you can do for exposure to College Rowing coaches looking to provide athletic scholarships to great rowers.  Below are some great tips:

1. Sign up at U.S. Rowing  U.S. Rowing is the National organization for rowing here in the United States.  You can sign up for free, and it is a great source of rowing scholarship information, and just the sport in general.  As a member, you can also work with your coach to submit ERG times for National Team Testing, a great way to get exposure.
2. Sign up for the log at Concept 2 ERG  If you row, you know the personal torture device that is the ERG, made by Concept 2.  They have an online tracking system that is fantastic, and it can give you some great exposure as the results are public.
3. Compete in National Events.  There are a number of great national events, the top being the Crash B Sprints.  You can find a listing of them here: Row2K Events.
4. Sign up at Recruiticus.  This site has an ERG rankings list that is distributed to coaches.  Link here:  Recruiticus Rowing Scholarships

This is just a short list of things you can do for exposure.  Want to know what a good ERG time is?  Here is a table of ERG Times for College Scholarships