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FULL RIDE Sample Content: Chapter 1: “You aren’t a recruit until a coach knows about you.” –Pat Dolan, St. Cloud State Baseball Welcome parents and students to one of the only sources of real information about making the transition from high school student or student-athlete to college student or college student- athlete. What’s the big deal? Students do this all the time. Yes, students do this all the time, but…. are they happy? Did they make the right school choice? Did they let emotion guide their college selection? What about scholarships? Were they able to continue playing their sport or did they give it up because they weren’t able to find a school to offer them a scholarship or roster position? Did they receive an athletic scholarship? What about academic scholarships? Did they get both? What division did they choose? Was that division what they really wanted? Did they understand the commitment they were making? Was the process difficult? What mistakes did they make? What about career selection and degree received? There are growing reports of student athletes getting degrees that have little practical value once they graduate. What happens once their athletic careers are over? Will the degree they earned help them find a good paying job? There are growing concerns about these issues, including Malcom Lemmons, a writer for Huff Post. He claims that many times, the degrees earned are near worthless. This book will help any student, whether an athlete or not, select a school based on their own criteria – not what someone else thinks the perfect school should be, but what they believe the perfect school should be. This is really important – according to the Washington Post, a study performed in 2015 showed that more than 36% of college students transfer after their first year. Why? Because they found that what they once thought was the college of their dreams, turns out not to be. Perhaps even more troubling, is that nearly 45% of those that transferred after their first year, did it again the following year! While this book and the college selection method will work for any student, this book is primarily focused on athletic scholarships. Many of the examples in this book are shown using women’s softball as the example. However, the principles work for just about any collegiate sport. Examples that can be used for any sport are provided when possible. Questions will be answered that many students and their families have about the recruiting process. Looking for a scholarship can seem like, and at times is, a monumental task. However, with some guidance that this book provides along with hard work and perseverance, you can put yourself in the best position to get one of those coveted scholarships. This book will take you from high school student (it also works if you want to start in middle school!) all the way through finally becoming a college student or student-athlete. LOW ODDS or REASONABLE ODDS? The majority of high school athletes never play in college. Most aren’t interested in doing so. The table below, provided by the NCAA shows the low percentages of athletes transitioning to play in college from high school sports. If you factor in how many players actually want to play in college, the percentages go up considerably. There are no formal studies or data showing what this looks like. However, from rough anecdotal data observed on 18u teams where the players are close to graduating high school, it’s possible to estimate that anywhere from 10-50% of the players want to play in college, depending on the sport. Therefore, the numbers in the chart can be at least doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled in many cases, indicating that those that want to play in college, and put in the effort to create a recruiting plan, and put in the diligence to execute the plan, will play in college. If we use women’s softball as an example, the chart below shows that across all NCAA divisions, approximately 5.6% of high school athletes will play in college. This percentage goes up if you remove those that don’t want to play in college, even though they are playing in high school. This number might be 50-75% for those that want to play in college! The remaining 25-50% might not play in college, even though they want to, because they don’t know how to get recruited. Most families don’t know where to start. They may ask their high school or travel coaches what to do, but often the advice they get is minimal. Coaches don’t typically have time to spend on helping a whole team get recruited. If they have any time, they may choose to spend it helping the most promising players, and even then, it may be limited to one or two players. Transitioning High School Athletes to NCAA Athletes (2018-2019 Data) Source: https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2015/3/2/estimated- probability-of-competing-in-college-athletics.aspx This book will help with many areas of transitioning from high school athlete to college athlete, including: • Career Selection • School Selection • Creating a Recruiting Plan • Executing your Recruiting Plan • Next Steps The process can be very complex, but when broken down into smaller, more manageable steps, it is something that is definitely achievable. We are going to roll right into Step 1, right here in the Introduction! The topic is that important. What you do and say online can have a lasting impact. It creates and impacts your personal brand. College coaches will be able to see what you’ve posted – even on services where they say the posts are no longer visible. There are tools that are available for business and professional use that don’t abide by the standard online rules. This allows coaches to look back at what you’ve posted, in some cases for years. You know those pictures of you drinking beer, or sticking your tongue out, or posing in your undies? Those can be seen by the coaches you are asking for a scholarship. Idiotic posts can haunt you for years, or possibly even forever. They may be available to your future bosses and in at least the state of New York, they may be visible to the state government as well. Those pictures may be a deal killer for you. Coaches only have a few scholarships to hand out per year, and there are several players who do exactly what you do (or maybe do it better) who are asking the school to invest in them. Coaches want to recruit players who won’t give them issues. Not only good players, but good kids and good students. Players who aren’t going to go off the deep end and party every night and then miss practices in the morning. So….. Step 1 and the very first thing to do, is erase any questionable pictures or posts from your social media. Then be careful not to post anything that shows you doing stupid things or saying stupid things. Don’t post about: • Political views (or candidates) • Sex • Religious views • Drug usage • Any type of illicit behavior • Etc. If you posted a lot of questionable things in your past (even if they are no longer visible or were deleted), make sure to post lots of positive things now to push those further back and help paint a better picture about your brand and the “current” you.
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Book 4 Sample Content: Chapter 1: The Pine Hills Flames win the Junior League Section championship. Once the girls each have a chance to run around the field and take pictures with the Section Championship banner, Coach Matt folds it up and puts it away to make sure it stays safe and doesn’t get ruined. The team has just won the Long Island Section championship and will move on to play in the New York State championship tournament! This is the highest level the Flames and the team’s captain – Penny Porter, can compete in while playing in the Junior League. Penny is Coach Matt and Coach Margo’s daughter. Their team – the Pine Hills Flames is now the best team on Long Island in their age group. Coach Matt gathers the team and their parents together, “Our team did something really special today, and everyone should be proud of themselves! Once I have some more information from the league, I will let you know what the plan is and the next steps. Players should get some rest as we are going to be playing in the New York state championship next week!” As Penny and her friends had hoped, the Stone family invited everyone over for a pool party. The families all arrive within a few minutes of each other, and the parents take up seats around the glass tables with giant blue and white umbrellas in the center. The players and most of their siblings drop their towels, shoes, and other items all over the ground and jump in the pool seemingly without a care in the world. The players all gather together in the shallow end of the pool and joke around with one another. Their siblings mostly swim nearby. Some decide they want to dive into the deep end of the pool and run over to the diving board. Coach Matt begins the parent meeting, “OK, let’s get started. First, I want to thank everyone for coming today. I know everyone is busy, especially this weekend, since we haven’t had much time to tend to issues at home with all the games we’ve been playing. My lawn is starting to look like a jungle! I reserved a block of rooms at the Excelsior Suites Hotel in Niagara Falls. Everyone will be staying on the same floor. I will email you the contact information and phone number to call later – you need to call them tonight and grab a room out of that block. Each family is responsible to pay for their own room. If you don’t call, they will release the reservation tomorrow morning and you won’t be able to stay at the same hotel. I was also able to negotiate a discount since we are traveling as a team. The room will only cost $129 per night. This includes a buffet breakfast. They even upgraded our rooms to full suites, which is great for traveling families. We leave for Niagara Falls Tuesday morning. Everyone will meet at our house…..” Coach Matt points to Coach Margo and then continues on, “We will travel as a caravan as much as possible. That means all of us will try to play follow the leader from Long Island to Niagara Falls! That should be fun. The kids will be our communications experts. They will setup a group chat and group video thingamabob… whatever they call it so they can all talk together. Here is the schedule for the week in Niagara Falls: Tuesday is a travel day, just like we discussed. We will arrive at the Excelsior Suites and check in. Everyone checks in separately. Each family is on their own for dinner that night. That way, no one has to rush around to make a group dinner. Some people like to rest up or wash up after traveling. Others like to unpack. Others like to dump their bags in their room and go explore. Whatever you need to do, you have time, and can then get dinner on your own. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we will play one pool game per day. After Friday, the tournament director will rank the teams from one to fifteen in order of how they did in the pool play games. Some teams will have the same win-loss record we do, so it’s important to give up as few runs as possible, so we seed well. If we have the same ‘runs allowed’ stat as another team, then they will use the ‘runs for’ stat. This is how many runs the team scored in the entire pool round. If there is still a tie, then they use a coin flip to decide who ranks higher.” There is a large splash from the pool as one of the kids dive into the deep end. The parents with their backs to the pool, turn around to see what caused the large splash. Once they see it is just one of the kids diving, they turn their attention back to Coach Matt. Matt clears his throat and continues, “Wednesday begins with the opening ceremonies at 12 noon. The opening ceremonies are supposed to be a big deal. We get to represent all of Long Island. The tournament director said they are really making into a big deal. It sounds nice. After the ceremonies, we have an afternoon game versus the Olean Owls, followed by a team dinner out. This will be a full day! We have a lot going on. Thursday is a morning game versus the Kingston Knights, followed by a team activity. We will decide on what that is when we get there. The area has lots of activities and things to do, so it shouldn’t be hard to find something interesting and fun to do. I think the kids will have fun even if we only go to the movies. We’ve never done that as a team before. Friday is another morning game versus the Rochester Rockets, followed by a visit to Niagara Falls. We will only have the afternoon there, so we will need to schedule something quick and fun, but I really would like to get the team to explore the Falls. Saturday morning are the quarter-finals. If we make it past those, then we play in the semi-finals. If we make it past that then we play in the championship game on Sunday morning. Even if we lose on Saturday, the plan is to stay and see the championship game. I think the girls will learn something by watching…. But hopefully, we are playing and not watching! We will all need to get up early on Sunday morning to pack up and check out of the hotel. The championship game ends after checkout time. Any questions?” Bobi Rogers, mother of Alyssa Rogers, the team’s shortstop, asks, “What time are we leaving on Tuesday?” Coach Matt answers, “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. We leave at 7:00am. That means that we all meet at my house at 6:30am. My bathroom will be available for anyone who needs it before we take off on our caravan journey. Anyone who doesn’t make it by 7:00am, will be on their own, unless they can catch up to the caravan. The speed limit increases once we get upstate New York. I plan on traveling right around the speed limit. No reason to take any chances on speeding. Factoring in some quick pit stop breaks, it should take about ten hours to get to the hotel. This doesn’t include any unforeseen road closures, accidents, bad weather, or any other things that may slow us down. That means if all goes well, we should arrive at the hotel around 5:00pm or so. That gives us plenty of time to check in, unpack, and grab some dinner. Any other questions?” Al Carson, father of Jenny Carson, the team’s center fielder asks, “Matt, what are we going to do if the caravan gets split up?” Coach Matt nods his head and answers, “Another great question. If it’s a minor split, then we will slow down a bit and wait for the others to get caught up. If it’s a major split, then the first part of the caravan will pull off the road and wait for the rest to get caught up. That way we all try to stay together. The kids will be our communications network. They can relay info from their parents to the rest of us. So… if you get stuck or separated, make sure your daughter lets the rest of us know. That way we know to wait for you. The key thing here will be communications.” As the temperature starts to climb in Pine Hills, all of the players and their siblings jump in the pool. Sue goes over to the pool cabana and checks the thermometer that is mounted to the cabana but not in direct sunlight. The thermometer reads almost one-hundred degrees. Penny, Jenny Carson, Alyssa Rogers, and Taylor Meyers – Penny’s catcher, are all gathered together on the pool steps. Penny is mostly out of the water, with her face positioned upwards toward the sun. The team parents can be heard talking in the background. The smell of sunscreen, chlorine, and lilac from a nearby bush are all mixed together in the smells of summer. She has her eyes closed and is thinking about how the team will do in the New York state tournament. Suddenly, her nose wrinkles up and she asks, “Do you guys think we are going to do OK in this tournament? I’m like……really nervous!” No one answers right away. Then Alyssa blurts out, “Of course, we’re going to do OK. We won the Long Island championship, didn’t we? Penny sits up and opens her eyes. She looks at Alyssa who is in a red and white striped one-piece bathing suit. Penny argues back, “All of the other teams will have won their sections too. Won’t they be as good if not better than we are? What if we’re the worst team there? What if we don’t even win a single game?” Taylor joins in, “What if we’re the BEST team there and not the worst? What if we win every game? What if we come home as champions?” Jenny adds, “Have any of you thought about anything besides softball? School starts in a little over a month! We are going to be middle school seniors! Finally!” Taylor replies, “Yeah, I heard that 8 th grade is much harder than 7 th grade, so I’m not really looking forward to that. I’d rather just go on enjoying my summer, thank you.” Penny laughs and adds, “Ummm….I’m taking a couple of honors level classes. Those classes count as 9 th grade classes - which count toward my high school GPA.” Alyssa asks, “What’s a GPA? Never heard of that.” Penny answers, “Really Alyssa? You never heard of a GPA? It’s a grade point average. That’s how they determine how well you did in school, from ninth grade through twelfth grade – and in some cases like honors classes, a few in eighth grade also count. If you do well you can get into a lot of colleges, and maybe even get a scholarship.” Alyssa makes fun of Penny, “What’s a scholarship, professor?” Penny chuckles at her friend, “That’s where the college pays you to take classes there. Let me ask you geniuses something else – have you done your summer reading yet?” They all join in, “No!” Alyssa says, “Nope. Not gonna do it either. Last year, I read all their stupid books and it didn’t count for anything. Besides, what if you’re on vacation the whole time? Maybe traveling around the world. They can’t make you read while you’re traveling. What are you supposed to do, carry all those books with you? Say you and your family are traveling to Greece or somewhere over there. There’s no way you would have room in your luggage for those books.” Alyssa giggles and continues, “I’d rather get detention for not reading than waste my time again on boring books that don’t mean anything. That reminds me – I need to go back to school shopping. I need a new wardrobe. Maybe wear something chic from my trip to Greece and Italy – ya know, with all that shopping I did in Rome!” Alyssa winks at Penny. Then, Penny adds, “Yeah, I think I need some new clothes too.” Alyssa, who is always the troublemaker of the bunch says, “Penny, all you ever wear are tournament shirts and leggings. You don’t have any REAL clothes. Just sports stuff. Do you even own shoes? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear anything besides a softball-related t-shirt, sneakers, and your hair up in a ponytail. Penny considers what her friends is saying. She has a flash of resentment, but quickly gets over it and responds, “Ya know Alyssa … sometimes, you can be … so … right. I don’t have anything but softball sporty clothing. Maybe you can help me shop for some better clothes?” Alyssa overacts surprised and starts to blush, “What? Really? Me? Sure, I can help you go shopping. I mean I’m no fashionista or anything, but I do know how to shop for real clothes.” Penny giggles and says, “Hey, maybe I can talk some sense into you about doing your summer reading and why it actually is important.” Later that night after Penny makes a list for what she needs to bring on the trip, she is sitting at her desk in her bedroom thinking about school starting soon. After a while, her mind drifts off and she realizes she is staring at a woven bracelet hanging from her lamp. After a moment, she breaks her trance and realizes that the bracelet is similar to one that Will was wearing earlier in the summer. Will was a boy she met over the summer at a pool party. Penny wonders what Will has been doing. She suddenly gets the idea to find out. I know … I can text him and see what’s up. Penny grabs her smartphone, goes into the texting app, and finds the last text she received from Will a few days ago. She begins typing, Penny: Hey Will, you there? Will: Yeah, Penny, what’s up? Penny: So, we won our Long Island Section championship! It was pretty exciting. Now we get to go to Niagara Falls. Will: Oh wow. Cool. Sorry I couldn’t make it, but I was in a karate tournament. Penny: I know. That’s OK. So, how did you do? Will: Actually, I got my butt kicked by some giant. The guy was like seven feet tall. I had no chance. But I did make it to the first playoff round. Penny: Ouch!!!! Will: I know. It’s hard to compete against a giant, so I don’t feel so bad … So, what about you? When do you leave on your big trip? Penny: We leave on Tuesday morning. I’ll be gone most of the week. The tournament ends Sunday morning, so we should be back late Sunday night. Will: Do you think your team can win it? Penny: Who knows? We have no idea how the other teams look. They could all be better than we are, or they could be worse, or it could be a combination. We’ll know more on Wednesday when we have our first game. Will: Wow. Sounds like a lot of pressure! Penny: No more pressure than having your butt kicked by a giant! Will: I guess so. LOL Penny: Alright. I gotta go. I just wanted to check in. Will: Well good luck. I hope you guys win it all. Penny: Thanks, Will. I’ll text you over the trip and let you know how we’re doing. Will: Cool. Talk to you then. Bye Penny: Bye