Recruiting 101

Other Sports Recruiting Timeline

Freshman Year

• NCAA recruiting guidelines stipulate that you become a college prospect by the start of your freshmen year in high school. Start Planning now!
• Prepare for your future as a student-athlete by making your schoolwork and your grades a top priority -- College coaches want to recruit "Student-Athletes" - not just athletes!
• Talk to your guidance counselor to make sure you know the 16 core courses you must take to become an NCAA Academic qualifier - Know the list of your high school's approved NCAA courses at eligibilitycenter.org by clicking "resources" at the top of the screen.
• Begin keeping a record of your scholastic and athletic achievements. This information will be vital when you start building your athletic recruiting profile.
• Focus on your offseason training and conditioning over the summer months. Taking official visits at this stage of the game is expensive and unnecessary.
• Don't make the mistake of attending sports combines too early. If you aren't ready to be tested, attending these camps too early will hurt you more than help you.

Sophomore Year

• Make sure you stay on track academically - Don't let the sophomore blues put in the academic cellar. Stay focused and disciplined in the classroom!
• Begin researching colleges that you believe have your competitive level and your desired academic field. Keep your options open and think about schools from different areas of the country. Make a list of these schools.
• Put together your initial player profile. Plan on updating your profile every semester throughout your high school career.
• Get in the Game! Visits college websites that you have an interest in and complete their online recruiting questionnaire.
• Now is the time to start thinking about attending a sports combine that may be in your state or local area.
• If you decide to attend a combine be sure to practice and prepare before attending. Know the drills they will test you in and be ready to perform at your very best!

Junior Year

• Continue to take course that meet your high school graduation requirement and that meet NCAA initial-eligibility requirements.
• Make sure that you have completed 10 of the required 16 core courses by the end of your junior year. If you fall behind be sure to use summer school sessions to catch up!
• Keep college programs that you have an interest in updated on your athletic progress. Your junior season is very important for college recruiting!
• Be realistic! Select programs on your target list that meet your athletic and academic abilities as a prospective student-athlete!
• Register to take the SAT and/or ACT test. When registering for the SAT/ACT, be sure to select the Eligibility Center as one of the recipients to receive your test score {Code: 9999}.
• At the end of your junior year, register with the NCAA Eligibility Center and complete the amateurism certification questionnaire (eligibilitycenter.org). A fee waiver is available for students who received a waiver for the SAT or ACT fee. Your high school guidance counselor must request the fee waiver online through the Eligibility Center.
• Create your junior season highlight video that you can send to college coaches along with your player profile that you have been updated throughout your high school career. Start sending your profile and video highlight to college coaches that match your competitive level, geographical preferences and academic interests!
• Schedule at least three unofficial visits to college campuses over the summer. Be sure to choose colleges that have shown an interest in you or schools that fit your competitive level!
• Pick two or three College camps that you would like to attend. This is a great way to allow college coaches to meet you personally and see what you can do!

Senior Year

• Stay in communication with as many college coaches as possible by email and phone. If your phone is ringing you are being recruited!
• Beginning July 1st of the summer before your senior year college soccer coaches may call you once per week.
• Plan to retake the SAT/ACT test early first semester of your senior year if you need to obtain a higher score.
• Start setting your five official visits. You are allowed a total of five visits no matter what division you decide to visit.
• Many Division II, III and NAIA offers will take place during your senior year so it's important to stay in touch with as many coaches as you can with timely updates of your player profile and video highlights.
• The Early Signing Period is in November and runs for 7 days. To learn the exact dates please visit: nationalletter.org. The Regular Signing Period is April 16 and ends May 21 for Division I and for Division II the Regular Signing Period is April 16 and ends August 1st.
• Get ready for the college life... You have a great future ahead of you!

Success Stories

Caitlin Colesanti

Caitlin committed early decision to Williams College. As you know, her strategy was to leverage athletics for the best academic opportunity. As it turned out thanks to you and CSA, Caitlin had a number of great opportunities in all Division’s and was being seriously pursued by Yale, UPenn, Middlebury, Holy Cross, Johns Hopkins, Elon, Mercer, Iona, Hamilton, Sacred Heart, Rider, Carnegie Mellon and Swarthmore. From this list her top 5 were Williams, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Holy Cross and Middlebury and sh e did the official visits. South Carolina, Albany, Pace and others expressed serious interest. She was still receiving calls from coaches as of last night as a result of the last CSA-PrepStar posting. We think she made a great decision and are extremely proud.

Nelson Spruce

I'm writing to let you know how much I appreciate all you did to help Nelson in the recruiting process. You guys were able to identify his talent and objectively relay his abilities as a football prospect to top college programs nationwide. Going into Nelson's senior year I had no idea how complex was going to be but your assistance proved to be invaluable to helping Nelson land a football scholarship with the Buffs. I highly recommend your services to any family looking to create the best possible college opportunities for their son or daughter.