LESAProject

If there is one area of the college recruiting process that stands above the rest, I believe it is the way prospects effectively communicate with college coaches. Let’s face it, the majority of boy’s and girls in any given active recruiting pool will not be blue chip prospects and a reluctance to proactively communicate with college coaches will oftentimes result in an undertow that will likely drag a prospect and family backward in the college search. Below are simple tips to consider when making an introductory contact with college coaches.Define Yourself Before you take the plunge and either pickup the ...

The college experience is, in many cases, the most important four years in our children’s lives, as it will shape their future's personal and professional direction. That being said, securing admission to a college or university that best match students’ desires, strengths, and aspirations is essential.   Whether it happens to be that long awaited home improvement project, saving for a summer vacation or preparing for retirement, I think we can agree that any worthy project will go through a “launch phase.” This phase consists of a time of dreaming, planning and targeting specific time-lines to hit as you begin to “execute” ...

Whenever I lecture on collegiate athletics recruiting, a primary area I focus on is using “deliberate” communication with college coaches in an effort to build sincere personal relationships. Although eligibility, financial aid, contacts, and evaluations are all very important, I am convinced the area of communication is very important to the likelihood of success in the college search for athletes. I choose the phrase “dynamic exchange” to help differentiate between normal communication and effective communication with college coaches. The aim is simple: Whenever you communicate with college coaches, you want to create “impact,” with the aim of continuing the momentum you have ...

Organization is an important component in the college search for athletes and completing a college bound assessment for what you would like to achieve is a great way to start! Think of the assessment as the seed you want to plant to grow your recruiting effort. What grows will be determined by how you cultivate it from start to finish.   Looking at the “big picture” can be a tall task for most high school athletes, but if you can begin with the end game in mind and work backwards in developing your personal plan for success, you will most likely run ...

The college search for athletes is a very individual quest. A winning strategy for one prospect could be a losing strategy for another. I think we can all agree that when it comes to recruiting, the “blue chip” kids are going to be found. It’s just a matter of when.   That said, the majority of the prospects looking for a home on a college campus and a varsity team are NOT the blue chip kids. These prospects need to develop and execute a separate plan of attack and begin to tackle what I call the “grey areas” of recruiting.   When I speak ...

Like it or not, we are a society of rapid change and the rate we effectively adapt to that change can make the difference between a good and great experience. The same holds true in college athletics recruiting. The question is: How do we come to grip with this rapidly mounting culture shock in the college quest for athletes?   Today’s college athletic climate is much different than it was 30 years ago. Coaches are under tremendous pressure to achieve two important goals: Win and raise money. The one directly affects the other and successful recruitment is the college coach’s key that ...

Independent navigation in college recruiting can be a daunting effort. Whether it’s investigating NCAA rules and recruiting time lines or developing and implementing tactics to “get on the radar” of the college coaches on your “A” list of schools, an organized and informed approach to the college quest will give prospects and families the best chance at success.     Gather Information   Gathering information is critical to the successful organization of any worthy project. Building a college recruiting information base can begin as early as the ninth grade as a family hobby and increasingly grow into a highly organized, disciplined project by the ...

The dictionary definition of persistence is: continuing in spite of opposition; enduring, lasting or recurrent. In a nutshell, I feel strongly that a persistent effort in every aspect of the college search for athletes will, in the end, give prospects and their families the greatest chance at success. I work with athletes throughout the country, assisting them in putting their plans together for the college search. From place kickers in Southern California to midfield lacrosse players in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, the one common thread that helps weave my college quest plans for families is the necessity to embrace persistence as a critical tool ...

    Have you ever found yourself scratching your head during an introspective moment, in an attempt to figure out how someone or some team grabbed the brass ring before you did? I have! It can be a low and frustrating inner debate, but in most cases the difference between success and failure can be a very fine line and the game changer was simply that… The other guy “found it” and you didn’t.   This is a very simple statement to make and the probable solution to a challenge that haunts a lot of us in many areas of our lives, but by ...