FIELD 01 OF 06 / RECRUITING
Recruiting
What do we know—and what are we assuming?
Turn a college ambition into a useful conversation about fit, information and the young athlete's own interests.
A MOMENT TO EXPLORE
An invitation to another event lands in your inbox. It sounds exciting, but the family does not yet know what the event offers or whether the athlete wants to go.
Three ways a family might begin. Open one to see what it opens up.
01Start with the athlete
Ask what they would like to learn or experience. Their answer gives the family something specific to compare with the invitation; it does not decide whether the event is worthwhile.
02Clarify the invitation
Write down what is actually offered, what is only implied and who can verify the details. A discussion, an invitation and a commitment are different states.
03Look at the whole week
Name what the time and expense would displace. Take the unresolved question to an appropriate coach or recruiting professional before treating urgency as a reason to say yes.
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR NEXT CONVERSATION
Take one home.
- 01
What would make this opportunity useful to the athlete?
- 02
Which detail do we know directly, and which have we inferred?
- 03
Who is the right person or official source to answer the next question?
Write one question the athlete wants to ask before the family decides.
FROM THE ALMANAC / FIELD ONE
Learn the question before seeking the answer
- Before another opportunity goes on the calendar
- Leave with a next conversation
Recruiting is easy to encounter as a collection of outcomes. A commitment announcement has a photograph, a school name and a clear ending. A family's own situation rarely feels that tidy. There may be interest, uncertainty or simply an early wish to know what the path could involve. The distance between a public announcement and a private conversation can make every ordinary decision feel urgent.
Start by separating a child's wish from the family's working plan. “I would like to play in college” describes an aspiration. It does not settle what to spend, which event to attend or how much of family life to organize around it. A working plan needs questions, sources and time to reconsider. It also needs the athlete's current interest, which may change as they learn more.
Before a conversation with a coach or recruiting professional, make two short lists. On the first, write what you know directly: the child's current commitments, what they enjoy, what they find difficult and the question that prompted the meeting. On the second, write what you have inferred or heard elsewhere. A distinction as simple as this can keep an assumption from quietly becoming a fact.
THE ATHLETE FARM PODCAST
The questions parents should ask
A conversation for this field is in development. New conversations with the people behind college athletics are coming soon.
Watch the show ↗Original discussion prompts for your own family conversation. They are not personalized advice. Specific concerns belong with a qualified coach, clinician or official source.