College Recruiting

1. College Recruiting For High School Swimmers

2. When Should I Seriously Start to look at colleges? • Due to new NCAA legislation, college coaches can now talk to prospective student-athletes after the summer of their sophomore year, going into their junior year • This is different from the old legislation which said it was the summer of their junior year, going into their senior year

3. What I should do during my Junior year? • SAT • The best thing to do is to take your SAT. To be NCAA eligible, you only need an 800 composite score of your Reading and Math Scores, however most universities will not accept this • The better the score, the better you are getting accepted into any school • ACT • You should also take the ACT. The ACT is “easier” than the SAT, and many schools in the Midwest and Northeast prefer an ACT score over an SAT score

4. What Next? • NCAA Eligibility Center • Before you even take the SAT or ACT, you should sign up with the NCAA Eligibility Center. If you want to meet with any college coaches, the first thing they will ask is if you are registered with the NCAA. • You can always go back and add in your SAT and ACT scores • http://web1.ncaa.org/ECWR2/NCAA_EMS/NCAA.jsp • NAIA Eligibility Center • As a just-in-case, also register with the NAIA Eligibility Center. • http://www.playnaia.org/

5. How do I put my name out there? • Recruiting databases are the best way to put your name out there, and coaches especially look at 4 services • CollegeSwimming.com • Swimming World Magazine • NCSA Athletic Recruiting • berecruited.com

6. CollegeSwimming.com • CollegeSwimming.com is the largest source of news, results and rankings on college swimming. It's also the number one resource for swimmers to learn about colleges and be discovered by college coaches. • Unlike most recruiting services, CollegeSwimming.com is always FREE to parents and swimmers. • Your account allows you to: Create your own "Recruiting Resume" that can be searched by coaches or sent directly to them, read exclusive articles designed to help you navigate the recruiting process, Let Coaches know YOU are interested in THEM, Find the right college that is for you • You're most likely already listed and ranked, but registering a profile can strengthen your recruiting rank, let coaches know what schools you are thinking about, and increase the likelihood of coaches contacting you.

7. Swimming World Magazine • It is essentially the same thing as CollegeSwimming.com since it places the recruit on a points scale • The user keeps up with their best times, and they are awarded a stars scale from 1-5

8. NCSA Recruiting Service • NCSA is a recruiting service used by college coaches for almost all sports • Features: • Get an exclusive ebook with recruiting tips from former college coaches and players • Access online tools to connect with open roster spots and guide you through the recruiting process

9. berecruited.com • Another recruiting service used by college coaches of almost all sports • Features: • Able to set up an account through Facebook • Rest of the features are the same as NCSA

10. What’s the Difference? • The tricky part of college swimming is all the different categories that schools are in. • However, to swim in college does not mean you can just go to an NCAA school!

11. Categories • Essentially there is 5 categories of college swimming schools • They are: • NCAA Division I • NCAA Division I Mid-Major • NCAA Division II • NCAA Division III • NAIA • NJCAA

12. NCAA Division I • Division I is the highest sanction of a university in the NCAA system.  • D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with larger budgets, more elaborate facilities, and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition. These smaller schools are called Mid-Majors • Examples of D-I schools: University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Miami • Examples of D-I Mid-Major schools: Florida Gulf Coast University, University of North Florida, Cleveland State University

13. NCAA Division II • Division II is an intermediate-level division of competition in the NCAA. • It offers an alternative to both the highly competitive (and highly expensive) level of intercollegiate sports offered in NCAA Division I and to the no athletic scholarship environment offered in Division III. • Examples: Florida Southern College, University of Tampa, University of West Florida, Saint Leo University, Nova Southeastern University

14. NCAA Division III • Division III is a division of the NCAA that consists of colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletically related financial aid (athletic scholarships) to their student-athletes. • These schools are usually small, prestigious schools. • Examples: MIT, Lake Forrest College, Denison University, Kenyon College

15. NAIA • The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. • Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. • The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA as members. • The NAIA has two members in Canada and at one point had one in the Bahamas, which made it the only international intercollegiate athletic association in North America until 2009. • Examples: Savannah School of Art & Design, Oklahoma Baptist University

16. NJCAA • The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is an association of community college and junior college athletic departments throughout the United States. • It is divided into Divisions and Regions. • Examples: Indian River State College, Darton State College

17. Recruiting Trips? • There is 2 types of Recruiting Trips: an Official Visit and an Unofficial Visit • Official Visit is a 48 hour trip to the school that is paid for by the university • You can take up to 5 official visits • Unofficial Visit is where you go visit a school on your own dime, and the school can sponsor a meal for you and your parent/guardian/coach at a dining facility on campus • You can take as many unofficial visits as you’d like

18. When are the signing periods? • The Early Signing period is around the second or third week of November; essentially right after the High School States meet • In the last couple of years, many prospective student-athletes are signing during the early signing period, mostly due to the new rule changes • The Spring Signing period is around the second or third week of April • Many internationals sign at this time • A lot of kids from Florida sign during this period because it is after High School States, Senior Champs, Sectionals, and Junior Nationals

19. WHOA! • I understand that this is a lot of information, but it’s not as much as it seems • If you have any questions, ask either Coach Don, Coach Connie, or Coach Jen and they can answer all of your questions.

20. GOOD LUCK! • The college recruiting process is a very nerve-wracking time of a prospective student-athlete’s life, but it is also very exciting, and it leads to bigger and better things

21. Presentation created by: Pieter Ritz Assistant Coach of Swimming and Diving at Henderson State University Cell: (239) 560-6077 Email: pieterritz@gmail.com