Recruiting Presentation Playing Field Hockey in College

Playing in College There are ~60,000 girls that play high school field hockey in the US ~5,600 girls play college field hockey D1 78 teams D2 29 teams D3 164 teams Statistically, a player has a 9.3% chance to play field hockey in college Expensive sport-tournaments (hotel & flights), gear and training is expensive Time and effort required to play at a high level-both now and when you get there Playing a sport in college is hard work Summer workouts-be ready to spend ~2 hours a day, 5-6 days a week getting ready for the season In season-10 to 12 hours a week practicing and training. Additional time at actual games and travel to away games Off season-5 to 10 hours a week practicing and training. Additional time at scrimmages/play days Are your parents willing to keep paying your club fees, taking you to tournaments, etc.? Source: Scholarshipstats.com & Fieldhockeycorner.com

A year in the life of a prospect… January: Club practice and tournaments February: Club practice; travel to Disney for College Showcase ( e-mails to coaches, miss school); Futures training may start March: Futures training; college clinic/recruiting days (e-mails) April: Futures training; Club tournament; college clinic/recruiting day May: Futures Regional Tournament; Club tournament; college clinic/recruiting day; College Connection Showcase Westchester (Memorial Day Weekend) June: National Futures Championship (3-4 days); club tournament; college camp July: Super Sixty Showcase (3 days at UD; 4th of July weekend); college camp August: Junior Olympics (5 days); college camp; unofficial visits September: College clinic/recruiting day; unofficial visits October: College Clinic/recruiting day/unofficial visits November: Club practice starts; club tournaments; Festival (4 days including Thanksgiving); College Clinic/recruiting day/unofficial visits  December: Club practices and tournaments; college clinic/recruiting day/unofficial visits  *This is all in addition to your spring and fall high school sports schedule as well as any other commitments for other sports **Throughout the year you will be regularly e-mailing college coaches; receiving camp and clinic brochures; capturing and sharing video; and working closely with your club coach who is the essential conduit from college coaches to you. *** Add up the total time and monetary commitment and it will blow your mind **** And, oh by the way, there are no guarantees

Rules of Contact - Communications Division I - A coach cannot initiate any phone calls, emails, text messages, Facebook messages, or Twitter direct messages with a prospect or their parents prior to September 1st of the prospective student-athlete’s JUNIOR YEAR. As of September 1st all forms of electronic communication is unlimited; and all Facebook or Twitter messages must be private and direct to the individual. Division II – A coach cannot initiate any phone calls, emails, text messages, Facebook messages, or Twitter direct messages with a prospect or their parents prior to June 15th following the completion of the prospective student-athlete’s JUNIOR YEAR. As of June 15th all forms of electronic communication is unlimited; and all Facebook or Twitter messages must be private and direct to the individual. Division III – A coach may initiate phone calls, emails, text messages, Facebook messages, and Twitter direct messages with a prospective student-athlete at any time. BUT NOTE: you may call and e-mail coaches without limitation prior to and after these dates. And you can meet with them unofficially “on campus.”

Rules of Contact - Visits Division I & II - A prospect can make up to five official (paid) visits, but not more than one to a particular institution. The visit is limited to 48 hours in length, and all meals and entertainment must be comparable to that of normal student life. The earliest opportunity to take an official visit to a Division I institution is after the opening day of classes of the prospect’s SENIOR YEAR in HS. For Division II you may make an official visit after June 15th preceding the prospects JUNIOR YEAR. Division III: Unlimited official visits to Division III schools, but only 1 official visit per school. You do not have to count Div. III official visits as part of your five visits to Division I and II schools. But note: there are no limitations to “unofficial visits” where you travel to a school at your own expense to play at clinic and camps, take campus tours, and meet with coaches.

National Letter of Intent (NLI) An NLI is a binding agreement between the prospect and the school and must be accompanied by a scholarship offer: Most major Division I (not Ivy League) and II schools participate in the program. Division III schools do not participate. Signing an NLI is voluntary. There are two signing periods: (early – one week in November; regular – April through August) Once you sign, the recruiting process is over –you are off limits to other NLI schools. If you sign and then violate your NLI, you will lose 1-2 years of eligibility.

D1 78 teams Usually bigger schools Fully funded means 12 scholarships for the entire team of ~24-28 Scholarships are broken up and allocated as the coach sees fit Ivy league offers no athletic scholarships Can help with admission Regular fall season with travel and also a spring season

D2 29 teams Many of these schools are less well known Fully funded means 6.3 scholarships per team Academic and other aid available These schools have the reputation of being the most generous for aid

D3 164 teams Usually smaller schools, some are very well known No athletic scholarships Can help with admission, depending on the conference and school Student athlete, not athlete student

Fit? Fit=a school where you feel comfortable academically, athletically, socially and are likely to succeed Would you want to attend the school if you didn’t play field hockey there? Have you met some of the current students? Would you feel comfortable “hanging out” with them? Have you eaten at the cafeteria and see how students interact? “Brand Name” schools get attention, but aren’t for everyone Can you afford to go there?

Where Do You Fit? Academics Do you have the test scores and grades to qualify? At some schools, athletics are no or are very little help for admission (Davidson, Haverford, Washington & Lee) Would you succeed academically, while playing a time consuming sport? Does the school have your intended major or other interesting programs if you change your mind? Have you had a conversation with your parents about how much or which schools you can afford? Do need tutoring to bring your test scores up?

Where Do You Fit? Athletically Have you realistically evaluated your skill, speed & athleticism? Look at some of the bio’s of girls who are on and playing on (not just sitting on the bench) teams that you are interested in. Do they have all Americans, all metro, all county players, or 4 year varsity starters? How do you compare? Are you getting feedback from coaches? Is the feedback positive? Is there no feedback? No feedback is a message as well. Does a school list majors of the players? If you are interested in a science or engineering degree are there players on the team with similar majors? Does the team have many seniors or juniors? If not, why not-a new coach or do they burn out?

Where Do You Fit? Socially/School Culture Greek Life? School Size? Live on campus, off campus or even with a team? Close to home or far away?

Recruiting “Cast a wide net” (Pam Dixon). Easier to narrow the list later Make your list 5-10 D1 & 5-10 D3, D2? Talk to your coaches about your list Do you have “reach” schools Schools where you look like a good fit “Safety” schools Talk to your parents about your list

Get Exposure Futures Good training, not too expensive Tournaments Festival, Disney, NITs and others that H2O competes in Clinics -can be a good way to meet a coach, a team and see a school’s facilities If the clinic is large or at a popular school, the coach may be preoccupied with recruits on their list Camps With a large number of coaches, they can be a good way to get exposure A few camps-College Connection….. They can be expensive $500+ Video Services offered at many of the tournaments H2O attends Can be expensive Futures Good training, not too expensive

Exposure: USFH Futures Program Two reasons you players should participate: Great training at a reasonable cost (2014-$485 for 30+ hours) For recruiting: Chance to compete against best players in country in front of DI-DIII coaches Will be coached by college coaches at all levels Highly respected training program for college resume regardless of how far you progress Developmental pipeline for US National Teams: Evaluated by high school or club coach at “Futures trial” Invited to train at designated site in Region 7 Participate in Region 7 tournament against players from all sites Selected to participated in National Futures Championship against players from all Regions throughout US: Junior Olympics Futures Elite Junior national Camp National Teams Details http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Field-Hockey/FUTURES/FAQs Major college visibility and college resume !!

Recruiting-Freshman Contact coaches Email introduction letter, get on a coach’s list Customize each email to each school, no mass emails (something unique about the school or team) Email tournaments and schedule Send occasional updates (team wins a tournament, etc.) D1 & D2 coaches can’t officially respond. They can only contact you about camps and clinics

Recruiting-Sophomore Visit some of the schools you are interested in Email coach and ask if you can introduce yourself Ensure you say hello to the coach if you are able (they remember and want to meet recruits) Watch some of the teams play you are interested in (either in person or on a school’s website) Send video/share links Send tournament schedule Attend a clinic at a school you are interested in Attend a summer camp (College Connection, etc.)

Recruiting-Junior Sep 1 – email correspondence can begin from D1 coaches Follow up and adjust your list Who on your list has shown interest in you? Who has shown interest that wasn’t on your list? Should you add them or politely decline? Who is on your list but hasn’t shown any interest? Perhaps you should remove them from your list What “tier” are you in? 1st tier-great! 2nd tier-don’t give up, spots open up when other first tiers go elsewhere Where is the coach in their recruiting process for your year? How many recruits are they looking for? How many recruits do they already have? Do they have a junior day that is very important to be recruited? Will you be invited? Commit?

Recruiting-Senior Summer before senior year, academically demanding schools can give you a “read” on admissions-with your transcript and test score (SAT or ACT) Better field hockey programs may be done recruiting Better academic schools will run your grades and scores through admissions Committed yet? No, make sure schools you are interested in still have spots open and keep working to obtain one of them Yes, congratulations! (the harder work begins after high school!) Keep your grades, stick skills and fitness level high!

Resources Scholarship Stats - mailto:http://www.scholarshipstats.com/fieldhockey.html NCAA - mailto:http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/want-play-college-sports Field Hockey Corner - mailto:http://www.fieldhockeycorner.com