From time-to-time, Christianson Tutorials highlights our parents or tutors when they offer services that could be beneficial to our students.
Are you a student-athlete hoping to compete in Division I sports in college? One of our parents, Dana Rachwal works for East Coast Power Volleyball as a recruiting consultant. For student-athletes that plan to compete at the collegiate level, she walks students and their parents through the process. She advises them on:
- The courses to take in high school
- What happens when you receive an offer
- What to expect when you do a campus visit
- What to expect when you meet with coaches
- What to expect if you’re competing for a full athletic scholarship
She teaches student-athletes how to market themselves by creating a profile, providing scripts on how to talk to recruiters and coaches, and how to film a video of their athletic talents. She assists student-athletes competing in any collegiate sport, not just volleyball. And she helps students seeking to play at any level (Division I, II, or III). Each sport has to follow NCAA rules, but has slightly different timelines.
For current student-athletes, here are two helpful hints as you prepare to consider playing at the collegiate level:
- Athletes should become familiar with NCAA rules. There are rules about contact between coaches and prospective athletes. For example, "during an evaluation period a college coach may watch college-bound student-athletes compete, visit their high schools, and write or telephone student-athletes or their parents. However, a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents off the college’s campus during an evaluation period." There are recruiting calendars available on the NCAA website for each sport to assist students with knowing the timelines of when coaches can contact them.
- To effectively market yourself to prospective coaches, student-athletes should start early. Some coaches are looking for athletes even before high school begins, so serious athletes should be prepared as early as their freshman year or before. Athletes should start their list of top schools and start researching their programs early in their high school career.