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Recruiting Services for high school athletes: your opinions?

Started by Grond, June 07, 2015, 08:41:13 am

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Grond

Let's start by defining a "Recruiting Service" - A company and/or person that aids a high school athlete in finding a college that the athlete can play for.

NOTE: If you feel this definition is incorrect, feel free to comment.

Some services are free, such as BeRecruited.com, while others charge a one-time fee of $1,000 (or more).

So, is a Recruiting Service a good investment?

D-TOWN LIZARD

June 08, 2015, 12:02:40 pm #1 Last Edit: June 08, 2015, 12:05:28 pm by D-TOWN LIZARD
no-all they do is post info.  They will give you pointers, but actually doing "the work" is up to the athlete, parents and coach. (if they are willing to help....some coaches don't)

Grond

I have seen Berecruited.com recommended by HS coaches. It is free, and is something of a resource for college coaches. Had the experience of several coaches looking at profiles on BeRecruited.com.

Sites like BeRecruited are a way to get easy access to your stats & films, via the internet. You can post stuff essentially the same way on YouTube, but my impression is that it is easier for a college coach to SEARCH BeRecruited for athletes, be it football, volleyball, etc.

Grond

Well, not much response. :-\  So, let me relate some recent experiences.

There seem to be two types of "recruiting services": one is a local guy that works in your region, the other is a national COMPANY that provides a service. Both cost around $1,000.

I have no experience in working with a local recruiter. (Which sounds a lot like an "agent".)

I do have the experience of dealing with a national recruiting service. There is good and bad, as follows:

National Recruiting Service - The Good
1) Provides information. As far as teams, videos, colleges.
2) Gives a location on the internet for college coaches to "find what they want". [We received emails from coaches inviting us to camps, after they had viewed our profile.]
3) Exposure to schools we would not normally contact. The more exposure, the better your chances.
4) Experienced personnel to communicate with.

National Recruiting Service - The Bad
1) The cost, with no guarantee.
2) Not local. Not going by colleges for you. At best, sending emails.
3) Getting you in touch with schools you can't go to. Division III and NAIA colleges tend to be small, EXPENSIVE, and have high academic standards. A partial scholarship at an NAIA school was still more expensive than attending a D2 college. D3 do not offer scholarships.
4) False sense of security. Just because the Service says a college is an excellent match, doesn't mean that the college thinks the same thing.

Mixed feelings based on our experience.

D-TOWN LIZARD

If u get a profile online and have your highlights on Hudl.  Then go to camps and combines and get noticed.  I wouldn't waste the money.  The only reason my son has a NCSA account is bc he got a free membership by getting the leadership award at an NUC 5-star combine.  I guess it just depends on how much the athlete has already been noticed and how much money u are able to spend on it

intruder

No, hudl and coaches are the best way for recruitment, along with camps to a certain extent. Be realistic in the camps you attend, they will all be glad to take your money. Invitation camps are best. Just my opinion

Grond

Quote from: intruder on September 30, 2015, 09:40:43 pm
No, hudl and coaches are the best way for recruitment, along with camps to a certain extent. Be realistic in the camps you attend, they will all be glad to take your money. Invitation camps are best. Just my opinion

I have to disagree with some of these comments.

"hudl and coaches are the best way for recruitment, along with camps to a certain extent"
Some coaches DO help with recruiting. But the vast majority don't. Most coaches are happy to talk to a college coach for you. But they are not going to go around making calls for you. Unless you come from a really good high school program, the college coaches aren't going to really react to what the high school coaches say.

If you are D1 level talent (U of A or UCA), they college coaches will LIKELY find the athlete, invite you to camps, etc.

But D2 is an entirely different story. They don't have the budget, time, or staff to travel. If the you are a D2, or low end D2, meeting that perspective college coach is so important. It is the best way to separate yourself from all the other HUNDREDS of videos.

Another aspect of this process is location. If a player is D2 talent, and there are no D2 schools close by, you have to travel to the camps to be seen.

intruder

I hear exactly what your saying. The way husk helps is your son making his own highlight videos. A coach can do as little or as much as he feel like doing. I went through all of this a year ago, I paid to have one of the recruitment company's send some videos, no responses. He ended up with 3 DII offers, I think that the summer camps helped the most

Grond

Quote from: intruder on October 01, 2015, 12:38:45 pm
I hear exactly what your saying. The way hudl helps is your son making his own highlight videos. A coach can do as little or as much as he feel like doing. I went through all of this a year ago, I paid to have one of the recruitment company's send some videos, no responses. He ended up with 3 DII offers, I think that the summer camps helped the most

YOU ARE RIGHT.   ;)

Sorry, I think I misunderstood your original comment about Hudl; my bad.  :-\

I can't make up my mind about Recruiting Services. Through the recruiting service, we got exposure to D2, D3, & NAIA schools in Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. But they didn't really do anything for us in Arkansas. It got us invited to some camps........that we were going to anyway.

They are selling dreams.......and they are preying on dreams.

We are lucky enough to have sons playing college football. I guess I would be more critical if my son wasn't playing.


intruder

I wish you would have had this thread a couple of years ago. Lots of insight here

Fanofsports

Have friend who coached at a University near us.  She said she never looked at the things the recruiters sent.  Spoke with a coach in the SEC and he said that players should call the position coach and email plus go to camps.

vtowneagles

Now another thing high school players need to learn is that every time you touch the ball it's not a highlight.. Don't put "non" highlight plays on a highlight film. Non highlight plays such as a 5 yard run where they got tackled by one guy in open field. Or 10 yard catch and they get tackled by one guy.. A highlight is touchdowns, great plays, interceptions, big hits, open field tackles, pancake blocks, long runs where you broke a couple tackles, long 3rd or 4th down run. Nothing aggravates me more when I watch a 8 minute highlight film and 6 minutes of it is stupid pointless highlights. Oh and when they put dirty plays such as late hits or hit in the back..

vtowneagles

Also college coaches want someone who goes all out 100% of the time every single play. And believe me they know if you do or not. If they are seriously interested in you they will not only watch your highlight film but will watch your game film to see what you do when you're not making a highlight. Are you slacking off because you're not getting the ball? Or the play goes away from you, are you just kinda standing there. I too went through the recruiting process. Ending up being a invited walk on at Arkansas tech. Everything that has been said it very true. The recruiting process sucks for a good high school player who thinks they have what it takes to play at the next level but just doesn't have it. It's a huge reality check. An even bigger reality check is when you get to camp and realize that it's not high school anymore.. The plays are much more complex, the players are much bigger stronger faster, it's a JOB you're up at 6 and you do class and football till 8-9 that night! It's not just practice.. It's study hall, position meetings, team meetings, class, practice. I didn't make it at tech I was overwhelmed and found out real quick that I didn't love football as much as I thought I did! D2 and lower football players truly do play for the love of the game because the odds of going pro are VERY VERY slim. I thought about it long and hard realized that I wanted to be a football coach so I wasn't "walking" away from the game. I made peace with quitting and decided to focus on school. I got involved with the pee wee program back home and I love it! Playing college football takes a lot!! I respect anyone who can do it

Grond

Everything that vtowneagles and Fanofsports wrote is correct, based on our experiences.

One of the good things that some Recruiting Services can do is help you review and evaluate film.  Is it worth $1,000 for them to do that? Up to you.

vtowneagles

I did one before my senior year it helped a little not worth the money if you're not looking at going out of state IMO. Got tons of contacts from small out of state colleges but wasn't really interested in going out of state.

Vballfan

Might be sport specific, but reality is parents/athletes can do anything a paid service can do and really a lot more.  make. A video, publish it to YouTube, send the link to every college coach you are interested in., send interest emails, etc. In volleyball, I see a lot of parents paying a lot of money to help their kid, I am sure there are success stories with this, but I would suggest using that money for more private lessons, more unofficial visits, legit recruiting combines, etc.  Talent will get recruited if talent does the outreach. If your kid is marginal, I would suggest this approach and try every level. If d2 is interested but no response from d1, you kinda know where you stand. If no one is interested from a wide outreach, maybe putting that money in the college fund is a better idea

Lions84

Guys is just as crazy with Band.  If my daughter had wanted to go out of state she could of went from East Coast to West Coast, I have feed the recycling bin with 20 pounds of letters and offers for Band.  Our school pushes Hudl and works to help our kids go on the next level.

gomer

Save your money and use it for visits. Most of them only give you the tools to make contact with schools easier. Just identify the schools you are interested in targeting then go to their webpage and find the coaches directory. You can email or call them with much greater success. I actually worked for one "service" for a very brief amount of time. They send out mass emails to college coaches. When a coach opens up the email whether he reads it or not it sends a read response back to the recruiting service and their system shows it as a coach view. Here is the deal...there will be hundreds of profiles per email. That coach probably never even looked at yours. He just opened up the email and deleted it and you get a notification that a coach viewed your profile. Pretty shady. Save your money and start putting in the work yourself. I have developed some great relationships with some coaches trying to get my son recruited. We have got to go watch a lot of free Saturday football too.

macadoshis

I figured if I'm going to do the work of making the video on hudl and emailing the coaches.  And getting my son to the camps he's been invited to, then why give money to anyone to do less than I'm already doing

bigworm

Do you simply call the coaches as a parent and express the interest of your child, or is it better for the player to contact the coach?

Grond

Quote from: bigworm on January 27, 2016, 12:07:59 am
Do you simply call the coaches as a parent and express the interest of your child, or is it better for the player to contact the coach?

Well, it depends. Can you give more information about your situation?
- What sport?
- When graduating?

EDIT: Some of the advice that has been given is to mail information to a coach, then the player calls a week or two later.

bigworm

Quote from: Grond on January 27, 2016, 12:34:38 pm
Quote from: bigworm on January 27, 2016, 12:07:59 am
Do you simply call the coaches as a parent and express the interest of your child, or is it better for the player to contact the coach?

Well, it depends. Can you give more information about your situation?
- What sport?
- When graduating?

EDIT: Some of the advice that has been given is to mail information to a coach, then the player calls a week or two later.

My son is a junior this year. Football QB. Really good numbers and has some interest but I'm not depending on who is already interested. interest and offers are 2 different things is what I mean. we want to be sure we put forth the best effort so we don't miss out on anything. have contemplated using athletic quest, but im leaning toward just giving our best effort and sticking with that.

Grond

Quote from: bigworm on January 27, 2016, 04:55:19 pm
Quote from: Grond on January 27, 2016, 12:34:38 pm
Quote from: bigworm on January 27, 2016, 12:07:59 am
Do you simply call the coaches as a parent and express the interest of your child, or is it better for the player to contact the coach?

Well, it depends. Can you give more information about your situation?
- What sport?
- When graduating?

EDIT: Some of the advice that has been given is to mail information to a coach, then the player calls a week or two later.

My son is a junior this year. Football QB. Really good numbers and has some interest but I'm not depending on who is already interested. interest and offers are 2 different things is what I mean. we want to be sure we put forth the best effort so we don't miss out on anything. have contemplated using athletic quest, but im leaning toward just giving our best effort and sticking with that.

I strongly suggest attending college football camps this summer 2016 at colleges where he is interested. Have a jump drive (also called a 'thumb' drive) with his highlight film.

bigworm

So your saying have a portable highlight film and face to face put it in coaches hands?

Grond

Quote from: bigworm on January 27, 2016, 09:51:06 pm
So your saying have a portable highlight film and face to face put it in coaches hands?

Short Answer: YES

Long Answer:  If your son goes to a one-day summer football camp (usually cost $40), and a coach shows interest in his abilities, then you want to be able to provide information to the coach.

I am not a coach, just a parent whose kid went through the process (see my "D2 Walk-on Experience" thread).

Another option is to put his highlight film on YouTube, or Hudl.

Just remember: College coaches receive about a zillion emails.

bigworm

yes. I have emailed highlights to lots of coaches, but I assumed they get tons of them. I really appreciate your help. I will put it to use.

Grond

Here is a link to the QB guidelines from GoBigRecruiting.com:

https://www.gobigrecruiting.com/recruiting101/football/positional_guidelines/quarterback

GoBigRecruiting.com is a paid service that helps with highlight film. We did not use them, but their website has a good POSITIONAL GUIDE for athletic characteristics. In my limited experience, their info on size/weight/abilities needed for different college classifications is fairly accurate.

bigworm


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