When Can College Coaches Talk To Parents?
If you are a parent of a high school athlete who is getting recruited, you may be wondering when you can talk to college coaches. While you do not want your child to go through this process without any help, you also want to be able to step in when you need to. So, when can college coaches talk to parents?
Just like for high school athletes, the NCAA prohibits college coaches from contacting parents until either June 15 of a child's sophomore year or September 1st of their child's junior year depending on their sport. The NCAA does not however limit parents or high school athletes in their ability to reach out to college coaches.
As a parent of a prospective collegiate athlete, you should be aware that coaches analyze you just as much as they do your child. While most parents are heavily involved with the decision-making process, it is important to be aware of when and how you should be involved..
Why Does The NCAA Limit When College Coach Can Contact Parents?
The goal of the NCAA is to protect the amateur status of the student athlete. To do so for high school athletes, they place regulations on many things including when coaches can contact athletes and their parents.
Prevent Recruiting From Starting Too Early: Each year, recruiting seems to be getting earlier and earlier. It’s common for elite programs to even have lists of middle schoolers that they are targeting and plan to offer a scholarship to if their skills continue to progress. By the NCAA restricting when coaches can reach out to student athletes and their parents they ensure recruiting doesn’t start too early.
Protect The High School Experience: The NCAA wants to preserve the high school experience for both athletes and their parents. If the NCAA didn’t place contact restrictions on coaches, some athletes and their parents would begin receiving emails and phone calls from coaches as early as middle school. Contact rules are meant to allow parents and their athletes to have a high school experience free from the pressures of recruiting.
Allow For Academic Development: Beyond the high school experience, the contact rules placed on college coaches allow for high school athletes to complete many of the academic requirements before the recruiting process even begins. As a parent, imagine making sure your athletes prioritizes academics all while college coaches are telling them they will be a star athlete. Luckily, these NCAA rules are here to help you out.
There are many reasons the NCAA limits a college coaches’ ability to reach out to high school athletes and their parents. Most, are designed to protect the high school experience and create space to allow your child to grow into a student athlete ready to excel at the recruiting process.
Parents Don’t Be Too Involved
As a parent, you want to be involved with your child's recruitment process but want to make sure you are not overstepping. Athletes need tremendous support when going through this process and parents are an essential part of that support. Here are some positive ways to be involved with the recruiting process.
Help Make A Highlight Video: Since athletes cannot record themselves and play at the same time, parents often take charge of filming their child play/compete. While this is also a great way to document an athlete's time in high school, it also helps with the creation of a highlight video that is a huge help in recruitment.
Staying Organized: Since athletes will talk to several coaches throughout the recruitment process, it can be hard to keep track of it all. Helping your child stay organized with all the coaches they interact with aids with the decision making process in the end.
Encouragement: At times, the recruiting process can be very daunting and there may come a time when athletes become discouraged or unmotivated. Positivity and strong encouragement can go a long way and can give the athlete a boost when they most need it.
Talk With The Coach When It’s Appropriate: It’s normal for parents to sit in on calls with college coaches. Be sure to let your child do the talking during these conversations. The best time for parents to talk to a college coach is when their child is seriously interested in a particular program. Coaches know that parents will have plenty of questions or concerns and will be sure to fully include them in the process at this point.
While parents need to be involved in the recruiting process, it needs to be understood when a parent's presence could potentially turn into a negative thing. As long as parents are involved at a healthy level and maintain contact with coaches when it is appropriate, the recruiting process will take its course.
What Do Coaches Want To See In Parents?
Coaches want to see that parents play a supportive role by letting their child be in control of the process. While all athletes need a parent's support, place your influence only when it is needed. Below are some things that college coaches look for in the parents of athletes.
Let The Coach Be The Coach: Many parents are coaches for their children or maybe act in that way. Anytime this comes off as too invasive or intense, college coaches do not look fondly on this. While coaching your child isn't a bad thing, keep in mind how it may come off to college coaches who could be coaching your child someday.
Respectful Spectating: When coaches are scouting athletes, they often can infer who the parents are. If parents are being disrespectful to the other teams or are cheering inappropriately, it does not give the athlete a good look.
Helping When It Is Needed: The recruiting process is best done when the athlete takes a proactive role in getting themself recruited. While this cannot be done alone, it is important to know when your help is needed and when it is not. Coaches who solely see initiative from parents do not believe that the athlete is interested, so they move on.
Coaches respond positively to parents who follow these guidelines and don't overstep. As a parent, you should let the coach initiate contact with you instead. Coaches will make time to talk to the parents of athletes when the time is right.
Things To Keep In Mind
Let Your Child Do The Talking: Anytime where a parent talks to a college coach before an athlete does, it is an immediate assumption that the athlete is not ready for the process yet. It also gives the sign that the athlete is not interested in the program. Coaches want to see initiative from the athlete.
Stay Out Of It: Parents that are too present in the recruiting process are immediately red-flagged by college coaches. You should be a factor in the recruiting process but wouldn’t want to put your child’s collegiate career in jeopardy.
Be Patient: As a parent you may be eager to speak to the coach about a multitude of things. You must wait until the time is right to talk to the coach about any questions or concerns you may have. Coaches will make time to make sure the parent's needs are attended to.
Respect The Athlete: You should only talk with coaches if your child is also present. The only reason why you should talk to coaches without your child present is if the coach requests it.
You Are Not Restricted: Remember, the NCAA does not restrict you or your child’s ability to reach out to college coaches. So you can begin contacting college coaches as soon as your child is ready.