Getting recruited is rarely a fairytale story. It doesn't just "happen" to you.
The recruiting process is a complex, winding journey that is directed largely by the student-athlete. The more a student-athlete knows about the recruiting process - and the more effort the student-athlete puts into the getting the results that they want – the better chance you have to fulfill your dream of competing at the college level.
The good news is that many swimmers have gone through this complicated process, and there are many resources available to make it less overwhelming.
As a TeamUnify member, Rockford Aquatics had access to a college recruiting resource: The Next College Student Athlete, or NCSA. The NCSA helps parents and swimmers to manage their interest in collegiate swimming and navigate the journey of college recruitment.
The NCSA Experience
NCSA is the world’s largest and most successful collegiate athletic recruiting network because our focus has always been on finding the best college options for student-athletes.
NCSA is the world’s largest and most successful collegiate athletic recruiting network. The NCSA focus is to identify the best college options for student-athletes. That means a school that can launch a lifetime of success by being a good athletic and academic fit.
The NCSA addresses every phase of the recruiting process. While each recruiting journey is unique, they all benefit from a systematic approach or process to hit key milestones and reach the ultimate goal of becoming the next college student-athlete.
The NCSA offers prospective college student-athletes many free resources that give swimmers the knowledge to get started and the verification college coaches require. The NCSA also offers swimmers and families support that can be had for a fee for service and provides a number of extensive recruiting solutions for the entire family.
Every NCSA member can expect to play a very active role in their recruiting process. And, like every sport, recruiting demands the same level of commitment, patient, persistence and competitive spirit. The following briefly outlines the typical recruiting journey with NCSA.
- Setting Family-Wide College Goals
- Review and Plan for Academic Eligibility
- Create Your NCSA Online Profile
- Compile Video Highlights/Skills
- Evaluate and Project Best College Level Fit
- Discover Your Top College Picks with Our Recruit Match Technology
- Connecting to College Coaches & Communication Training
- Planning for Camps, Combines, Tournaments and Showcases
- Free Online ACT/SAT Preparation
- Prepping for Official and Unofficial College Visit
- College Application Counseling and Financial Aid Planning
- Evaluate and Leverage College Offers
If all things go according to plan, there may be more than one college offer to consider. The NCSA can help guide and inform about decisions, suggest how to leverage offers, and figure out how and when to turn a verbal offer into a written commitment.
It’s important to note that not every student-athlete will complete the recruiting process or receive an offer. The recruiting journey is about discovery, and some student-athletes discover their passion for their sport may not be as strong as their passion for a chosen major, so they decide to put academics first. Others may find a school they love and are willing to walk on rather than sign with a college that’s extending an offer but just isn’t as good a fit.
The bottom line is that every recruiting journey is truly different. The NCSA is a great resource to give access to the right people, the right technology and the right network to help swimmer’s and their families make one of the most important decisions of their life.
Getting Started
Please see the links below to start your college search.
