The role of the coach: Prep School v. College Athletic Recruitment

One of the greatest misconceptions that exists around prep school athletics is that the recruitment process for a student athlete at the prep school level mirrors what occurs at the collegiate level. The reality is that prep school and college recruitment are vastly different from one another and while there are multiple reasons for that (additional reasons will be coming in future blog posts), some of the primary differences are the role and responsibilities of the coaches. 

Athletic teams at the collegiate level are run by a staff of full time coaches whose full time  responsibilities are (in the vast majority of cases) solely focused on finding and developing talented athletes for their teams. At the DIV I level, in addition to their Head Coach, most athletic teams have multiple assistant coaches, recruiting coordinators, and talent evaluators whose sole responsibility is to find student athletes, gauge their abilities and encourage those athletes to consider their school. While staffs at the DIV III level are often times smaller, they too will almost always have multiple coaches out on the recruiting trail evaluating players at practices, games, and showcase type events throughout the year. Because finding talent is the primary job of coaches at the collegiate level, if an athlete is competing at a high level and possesses the ability to positively impact a college team, odds are that coaches will know them and will be in communication with them before the admission process begins. 

At the prep level, it is very rare to find coaches, including Head Coaches at the varsity level, whose primary job is focused solely on recruiting and coaching their team. The primary responsibilities of the vast majority of coaches at the prep level are to also be teachers, administrators, or some other faculty positions within the schools where they work. Most prep coaches also have other responsibilities as advisors, dorm parents, or support staff to other co-curricular activities, in addition to managing whatever varsity teams they work with.  

Additionally, at the prep school varsity level, most teams are limited to 2, possibly 3 coaches, all of who have job descriptions that include responsibilities well beyond their sports. Because of this, coaches often do not learn about the talent of an athlete until that student engages with the school’s admission process. 

These differences in the responsibilities of coaches means that most student athletes at the college level will begin the admission process having already been evaluated by a member of the coaching staff, while at the prep level most coaches won’t have an opportunity to make an evaluation until after the student athlete chooses to engage with the school. 

This is why it is so important to be aware of the entire secondary school admission process, to enter the cycle in a timely manner, and to seek assistance along the way. 

For interested families, we offer a tailored package to help student athletes through the process-  from generating an appropriate list of schools through finalizing their enrollment decisions. Along the way, we serve as an experienced advocate to bridge the gap between families and schools. You can learn more about the admission process and our role in my upcoming webinar this Thursday, July 20th at 7pm ET. Register through the link below.