1) Take a deep breath…The recruiting process is a long and winding road that will have times of heavy activity, very little activity, lots of communication, and very little communication. Nothing will be decided quickly, it is a long slow process.
2) Don’t put too much pressure on yourself or your kids…Again, it is a long process. There are no make or break games or interactions. Coaches are not making decisions on 1 game or 1 interaction. It will be a player's body of work that will determine their recruitment. Coaches will be watching and getting to know our players over the next year or two. It is a relationship that will build overtime, don’t worry if you have a bad game or an awkward interaction.
3) Be communicative … Athletes, plan on sending updates throughout the year to schools you are interested in. Even if you are not receiving emails back, keep emailing after tournaments or games. Coaches receive A LOT of emails and will not always have time to respond, especially during their season. Keep them in the loop of your athletic activities and they will respond when they can. Don’t get discouraged by a lack of responses, keep being proactive with your updates.
4) Don’t compare your process to others…Each athlete will have a different journey in their recruiting process. College coaches may respond to some emails, may not respond to others. Coaches may show interest in your teammate and not you throughout the process. Things may change along the way, stay your course and keep doing what you are doing. Again, it is a long winding road. Some opportunities at some schools may open up at the end, and some opportunities may close up at the end. As long as you are consistent in your communication process and not putting all your eggs in one or two baskets, options will be there for you at the end, some that you may not expect.
4a) The best school for one athlete may not be the best fit for someone else…Again, this journey is to find the best fit for you, which may be totally different than your teammate or what you expected it to be.
5) Cast a wide net…In our experience it is very good for athletes to give themselves plenty of options. Start with a wide net and as the process goes along you can begin to trim it down. Make sure to keep all options open, you never know.
6) Appreciate being wanted…I have seen many instances of athletes shunning coaches that are actively recruiting them in hopes of going to a school that is maybe not as interested in them. Definitely value a coach who believes in your ability to be a part of their program. Even if it is not your first, second or fifth choice. If you truly want to play in college, understand that there are opportunities for you, it just might not be exactly where you want it to be.
7) Stay positive…There will be ups and downs throughout the process. Doors will open and close and re-open and close again. Just stay consistent with your communication and your hard work and it will work out. In the end, you will end up where you should be.
8) Coaches look at the whole picture…Coaches are very interested in how you interact with your own coach, your teammates, the referees and your opponents. Are you coachable? Are you listening during game breaks and timeouts? Are you encouraging and supportive to your teammates during games? How do you react when things aren’t going well in a game? How do you react to wins and losses? Coaches are looking at you as a person as well as an athlete.
9) Be honest with yourself…While we believe that water polo can be a great avenue to get you into a school, there is something to be said for the best fit if you want to play all four years of college and have an impactful career. We have seen athletes go to a big name school and their toe never touches the water and they end up quitting by their sophomore year. They could have been a starter and/or four year player at a different school. Be honest with what your goals are and be realistic with what that means to you as an athlete.
10) Parents… Please let your athletes take the lead on communication with coaches. There is no need to hover while they are talking with coaches on the deck. Coaches will involve the parents when it is time, they mainly want to talk and get to know the players at this point. Let the process play out and don’t try and force things. Coaches know what they are looking for, let them discover whether your athlete is a good fit for their program.
11) Collegiate Club Water Polo…Club water polo is great option for athletes that would like to continue playing in college, especially ones that do not have a varsity program. We have had several of our athletes have great collegiate club careers. Several of our athletes have actually started clubs at their schools as well, which we are very proud of. Club is a great way to stay involved in the game.
These are just a few things to think about in the college recruiting process. We are here to help and are more than happy to help narrow down your lists and read over emails and give advice on what we think the next steps should be. We have your athletes best interest at heart. We all have relationships with coaches and will help in any way we can and we are always going to be honest with the athletes and with perspective coaches.
SHAQ