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Recruiting 101

Acers Fastpitch

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Acers Fastpitch

Recruiting Process Realities

o Full Ride scholarships are very limited (< 1%)

o Schools & Coaches get literally 100 emails a day

o The Head Coach rarely looks at the emails themselves

o Recruiting Service communications are almost always ignored and often trashed immediately

o 2015, 2016, & 2017 players… Now is your time to get on the Radar for the college coaches

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Acers Fastpitch

Finding the Right Fit College

o Research, Research, Research o Academics o Financials o School Size o Coach o Location (Far away / Close by, Cold / Hot) o Softball time commitments o Unofficial Visits

o The higher the level of softball o The earlier you should start

o The farther away from home o The earlier you should start

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Acers Fastpitch

Have a Recruiting Plan

o Be Proactive & Market / Sell yourselves

o Don’t wait to be discovered

o Create a Profile of your type of college

o Create a list of schools that fit your college profile

o Start getting correspondence out to them

o Make a Skills Video to send to these colleges

o Participate in recruiting camps & college camps

o Play games at strong showcase tournaments where college coaches like to go

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Acers Fastpitch

The NCAA Options

o NCAA D-1 o Can offer up to 12 Full Scholarships

o NCAA D-2 o Can offer up to 7.5 Full Scholarships

o NCAA D-3 o No Athletic Scholarships

o NAIA o Mostly offer Academic $$ but some have Athletic $

$

o NJCAA o Can offer unlimited Athletic Scholarships

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Acers Fastpitch

NCAA Recruiting Rules

o NCAA D1 and D2 o Cannot talk to players during a tournament o Cannot call a player until July 1st prior to their Senior

year o Cannot email a player until after Sept 1st of their Junior

year o Limited to the number of off campus contacts that they

can have with a player and/or family member at tournaments

o NCAA D3 o No restrictions on phone calls o Can have contact with you after your Junior year o Acceptance by the admissions dept must happen prior to

anything happening with the softball coach

o NAIA & NJCAA o Can talk to you anytime but they always wait to see if you

are interested in a D-1, D-2, or D-3 school first

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Acers Fastpitch

NCAA Eligibility Info

o Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center no later than the start of your Junior year (Clearinghouse #)

o Graduate High School

o Attain the minimum GPA for the college of interest

o Attain the minimum SAT / ACT scores o Take these tests early (no later than Fall of Junior

year)

o Recommend that you get the “NCAA Guide for the College Bound Athlete” that’s available at www.ncaa.org

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Acers Fastpitch

Tournament Etiquette

o Do not approach college coaches at a tournament o They are there to evaluate your skills

o If a coach wants to talk to you then they will initiate or arrange contact with you

o Email and/or Call a coach before a tournament to let them know of your interest & your game

schedule

o Follow up Emails after a tournament within 2 days after the end of the tournament is a must o Thank them for coming out to watch us play

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Acers Fastpitch

Email Correspondence

o Do not mass email coaches

o Email once a week during our summer tournaments (Tues)

o Sell yourself & tell them what makes you special & standout o Big hitter, fast, strikeout totals, pitching speed, etc o Avoid false statements or stretching the truth

o Send skills video & player profile links in all of your emails

o Subject line of your emails should always include o Name / Team Name / Jersey #

o Live game video links are great options too

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Acers Fastpitch

Recruiting Timelines

o Freshman Year o Prepare your list of schools o Visit local schools o Watch college games at the various levels

o Sophomore Year o Let the marketing campaign begin o Refine your list of schools (research / gather more

info) o Unofficial Visits are very important & start now o 20 schools is a manageable list to keep up with o If you can manage more then that would be even

better

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Acers Fastpitch

Recruiting Timelines

o Junior Year o Sept 1st is the key date that you can start to receive

direct correspondence via email and regular mail

o You should significantly intensify your marketing efforts

o Your video link distributions, emails, phone calls, & campus visits should be a high level

commitment

o Senior Year o Fall of your Senior year is a very important time to

play in front of your interested colleges o It is still possible to be recruited in the Spring /

Summer of your Senior Year but the chances are diminished

o Many D-3, NAIA, & JUCO don’t start looking at you until your Senior year

o You should consider looking more at your Plan “B” too

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Acers Fastpitch

Good Advice

o Have a Plan & don’t wait for coaches to come to you

o Showing up at a tournament having never contacted a coach or very many coaches is a poor approach

o Don’t expect to just show up at a tournament and expect to have a coach see you and say “Wow… That girl is exactly what I need & everything that we have been looking for” because that hardly ever happens

o Don’t get hung up on the “Full Ride” mentality

o Plan to see some athletic scholarship $$ supplemented by academic $$, financial aid, and student loans

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Acers Fastpitch

Key Notes

o You never know who is watching

o Your Level of Hustle can work for you or against you

o Reactions to success & failure are very important

o Recruiting is not fair & never will be

o Coaching your daughter through the fences is not an acceptable practice or habit

o Approaching coaches unless designated as the team’s recruiting focal is not permitted

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Acers Fastpitch

Recruiting Clinic / Guide

o Vegas Clinic o Hosted by Cathy Aradi o www.fastpitchrecruiting.com

o $ 15 per person (in advance) or $20 at the door o $ 25 per family (in advance) or $30 at the door

o Recruiting Guide o Written by Cathy Aradi

o Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level