The Importance Of Athletic Recruiting

According to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, Division I coaches may not contact prospective recruits before September 1, of the player’s junior year in high school. However, athletes can email, write, visit or call coaches as often as they like. If an athlete is interested in a school, it is the athlete’s responsibility to notify the college coaches of that university. Students start “advertising” or “selling” themselves around age 11, thus, initiating the recruiting process. College coaches are constantly seeking talented athletes to play for their schools in order to improve their chances of winning. “Coaches must act as athletic recruiters, who scout and enlist new members to play on their team. Recruiting in …show more content…
A “National Letter of Intent” is a legally binding contract where an athlete commits to play a sport at a named college in exchange for scholarship money. Although girls cannot sign the document until their senior year, the college coach and student athlete can enter into a verbal commitment at any time. Currently, there are no restrictions regarding these actions. According to websites such as goldfastpitch.com and flosoftball.com, current verbal commits are as young as 2019 graduates. This means these kids haven’t stepped on the softball field yet as a high school athlete. “While recruits can 't sign scholarship tenders until they 're seniors, rules don 't prohibit players from making verbal commitments to programs before then” (Medcalf par. 22). Although a verbal commitment is not legally binding, it is understood that once a player verbally commits to a school, the athlete stops the recruiting process and the college considers that position on their roster …show more content…
Often, the schools will invite recruits to see football games and try to convince the athlete their school is right for the athlete. “The recruitment of athletes is vital to the success of a sport program” (Kavekar par. 5). Additionally, the universities will notify athletes they are interested in prior to a camp and expect them to participate. Although it is against NCAA rules to have private camps, colleges might advertise on their website for a camp to the public that limited spots are available, then let the recruits they are interested in, know that registration is only open on Sunday from 2:00pm – 2:30pm. This way, technically, it was “offered to the public”, but the public wasn’t privy to registration