The Importance Of Meeting With A Perspective College Coach / Program

An excellent piece by Carol Dalton Sebilia of Next Step Magazine highlights the importance of reaching out and being receptive to meeting with college coaches at institutions of higher learning where you as a student-athlete may be interesting in attending. Sebilia notes that the interview process becomes particularly important for those individuals who may “not be your team’s start player” and whose name is “not always in the headlines”; here, it becomes critical to emphasize the utility of your talents as a dedicated participant who loves his / her particular sport.

But what is the reasoning for engaging in such a process? What’s in it for you as the student-athlete?

Sebilia notes that the answer is easy – college coaches can and will be an integral part of the admission and scholarship process. She emphasizes this point by quoting Steve Coccimiglio, a head basketball coach at Diablo Valley College at the time her article was published, who states, “Meeting in person is the beginning of a relationship that can be evaluated by both parties”; engaging a coach and his / her staff as representatives of a program of interest, therefore, “is a must” and should be as much a focal points for a student-athlete as are statistical numbers on the field / on the court and grades in the classroom.

Keep in mind one very important thing – as much as you as a student-athlete are rating a given program and its coaches, the program and its coaches are rating you in return. “As a coach,” Sebilia quotes Mark Davis, a varsity men’s crew coach at the University of California – San Diego, “I want to meet the athlete to see if I want him on the program. If the recruit is the type of person we are looking for and will help us obtain the program’s goals, then I will do whatever I can to him get into our school.”

The meeting process will also assist you in better understanding your potential level of commitment as a student-athlete at a particular university. Sebilia suggests that potential recruits learn the team’s practice and game schedule in order to better evaluate how potential conflicts may arise with other interests both in and outside the classroom and playing field / court. Also, in discussion arising from conversations with the coach, take the time to identify how the coach works, his / her philosophy on player maturation, growth and participation, the level of competition you’ll encounter, the quality of facilities you’ll use. Ask to meet perspective teammates as well and get their take on the nature of the program and coaching staff. See if what you’re hearing from both perspectives jives with one another as the basis of making a solid, informed decision.

Other questions Sebilia suggests you ask yourself and / or a coach prior to / at the time of a meeting:

• Is there a chance that you might not play your respective sport the entire time you are at a given institution?
• Does the institution offer enough to you as an academic student in case you are unable to continue playing sports throughout the entire span of your collegiate career (due to injury, etc.)?
• Do your abilities as an athlete meet the talent-level of a perspective program, and vice versa? What level of competition (Division I, II, III) may best fit your individual strengths and desires as a student-athlete?