NCSA Athletic Recruiting. does anyone have experience or knowledge about this program?

[seabeyond]

http://recruit-match.ncsasports.org/clientrms/dashboard/unverified

my son signed up. there was one conference call, that i had to be involved in last night. at the end, i asked, what does it cost. a lot of salesperson hmmming and hawing to say, between 200-2000. i am already turned off. tomorrow we have another conference call with husband and i, and son. the recruiter will be calling and after his sales pitch, he will tell us the cost.

does anyone have any information on this org.

i am going to do some google research tonight.

thanks.

[fishwax]

1. I'd be very skeptical, sea

I don't know about this particular service, but I've seen plenty of accounts of recruiting scams over the years. They charge a thousand or two thousand or sometimes more (by having a subscription model), often to put information on their database, where coaches may or may not even see it.

A lot depends on what your son's sport is and how talented he is. If it's a money sport, like football or basketball, and he's very talented, then the money is better spent on college camps, which is where a lot of programs spot and develop their recruiting pools. Or competing in known quantities like AAU. These service might be more useful if he's in a more minor sport, I don't know.

But my advice, if you think an athletic scholarship is a real possibility and a goal that he wants to pursue, would be to start by talking to his coach. The coach will (hopefully) have a better sense of what level he might be able to shoot for as well as some strategies for how to go about it. Then, I'd recommend doing the research on your own. As you get a sense of what the opportunities might be, you can start investigating possible programs, both those nearby (I remember you're in Texas, so there will presumably be at least some possibilities nearby, unless his sport is something regional or somewhat obscure, like hockey or crew or what have you) and those spread a bit further out. Most athletic departments will have forms you can fill out online, I believe.

The people I know who have wound up with athletic scholarships have gotten it done through their own (and their family's) hard work. Both on the field and off. I'm not saying it's definitely a scam, but I would say that I would investigate the process (the whole recruiting process, not just this company) on my own before forking over hundreds of dollars to a company like that. Especially if the recruiting horizon is still very long and you are getting an early start.

[seabeyond]

2. i really appreciate your post. thanks.

crosscountry and track. he is the lower end of the top tier. this sport is not going to be where there are recruiters. we listened today. it is a good site, as far as sitting up a profile, but what i really like is all the colleges, per state, are on line, with the needed info clearly and uniformly there. lol. and i have not paid anything.

the upside listening today, is they research what is being looked for in college, and they will initially contact the schools, trying to make a fit. that is valuable. but, that is about it. and if son gets his ass in gear, he can easily do this himself.

academically, he is an asset and that will be something that will weigh in to it.

i appreciate the info you gave. it help to fit stuff in. it was an interesting call, and if nothing else, the man was good at laying out what the son needed to do, staying realistic, and assessing his abilities.

appreciate it.

[fishwax]

3. glad it was helpful, and that your call went well today -- with track, I'd say

it's even more possible to do this legwork on your own (which it sounds like is along with your current thinking after the call). The reason I say that is you can get coaches' attention with raw numbers. In sports like football, basketball, etc., great statistics might be explained by things like sub-par competition. So a scouting service can help coaches filter through the noise, and video highlights can help coaches see things like footwork, secondary skills, body control, and other things that will help them determine how representative the gaudy statistics are, how much room for improvement there is, how coachable the player might be, if there are serious shortcomings in other phases, and so on. And, conversely, a player who doesn't have outrageous statistics but has upside and has some very specific skills might get more use out of a recruiting service because the service can highlight that.

But in track, a low time is a low time. I'm not saying technique isn't important (certainly more in some events than others), but your son's times will carry weight, especially if he is actively engaged in investigating programs, in reaching out to coaches, and so on.

Anyway, congrats to you and your son on getting to this point.

[JDauntless]

7. Don't waste your hard-earned money

NCSA athletic recruiting made promises they didn't keep. My kid was received many athletic awards including: All district defensive player of the year and made first team all state in addition to scoring 770 on the math portion of the SAT; we did receive lots of offers to go to school but they were all from institutions that were mostly unknown. Absolutely no scholarship offers of any kind but NCSA did send plenty of emails and called twice in a 6 month period. There was no visible effort made by NCSA to assist us in the search for a school which offered both the degree program and athletic opportunity we were seeking. My kid did receive both an academic and an athletic scholarship to an NCAA D2 school but only through our efforts as the NCSA was not involved in any way but they did take the credit on their website in order to glean more money from unsuspecting parents. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! You will be much better off doing this work on your own but begin the process as early as possible, the NCAA can begin communicating with student athletes as early as the 8th grade. Good Luck to you!

[aignae]

4. My son was a member for 4 yrs.

As a parent of a former member, our experience was very successful. My so joined in 9 th grade we payed less than $400. He joined as a basketball player but later changed profile to football. Only problem we had was they was trying to charge $400 to make a football highlight video. Which after miss communication they made it for free. So we had maybe 3 phone chats, but we definitely took advantage of keeping profile updated an correct. So no complaints from me, u will be provided with a lot of tools up to you hoe you use them. Justin A.

[madinmaryland]

5. Welcome to DU and the Sports Group!

[hrmjustin]

6. Welcome to DU aignae!

[asutompowell]

8. Spend Your Money Wisely

I have been involved in the recruiting process over the past few years with high schools in So-Cal. From what I have noticed, most coaches will have a relationship with the colleges in their region. The colleges will contact coaches and ask them which athletes are talented enough for that school. If an athlete is interested in a particular school, that athlete or the coaches can reach out directly to that recruiter.

The benefit of sites like NCSA are that they provide a central location each athlete to post their sports and academic information. There are other sites out there, such as SportsBeat.com, that are completely free and have more interactive and cumulative capabilities. Paying for NCSA will provide you with a video and organized contact information, but getting you a scholarship is unlikely.

Parents that are willing to invest in getting their student athletes a scholarship should look into in a company that teaches young athletes how to mold themselves into an attractive recruit. This has multiple benefits. They stress how important grades are in the recruiting process. So even if your kid doesn't get a scholarship from the expense, they did see benefit. Play Up Athletics is the only one i can think of off the top of my head.

Cheers.

http://www.sportsbeat.com

[65amps]

9. NCSA Athletic Recruiting is a sham

I'm a Sr. Sales executive in the corporate world of over 20 years.

Here's my experience with NCSA.

They have a two-prong approach.

Your first contact is with someone in their Chicago HQ office. This will be a pleasant call where the representative asks many questions about your son/daughter and is very helpful. Their goal is to set you up with their "recruiter" in your area and to get "evaluated."

Once the appointment is set they ask you to confirm that both parents and the athlete is present for the meeting. They tell you the evaluation will be one hour.

We received the call from the "recruiter" and he proceeds to try to close you immediately into their services. There is no "evaluation." He refuses to answer any questions, does not offer any information rather just waits during dead air for you to commit to his hard-sale tactics and spend money immediately.

So, this is a scam. Bait and switch advertising. There is no evaluation. He is not a recruiter but rather a hard-sell salesmen waiting to intimidate good-natured parents who want to help their son/daughter. You can do everything yourself. You don't need NCSA. I'm going to file a formal complaint of bait & switch advertising against this company with the FTC. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY - IT IS A SCAM.

[iamslh]

27. disagree

in our evaluation interview my son couldn't commit to the work effort entailed in networking with coaches. thecall ended then. they weren't interested in a player who isn't committed to the hard work of reaching out to coaches and networking.

we called back a couple days later and got a great plan, high level not low, for less than 800 bucks. the success he's found reaching out to coaches and building relationships with coaches we wouldn't have known how t

[iamslh]

28. disagree

in our evaluation interview my son couldn't commit to the work effort entailed in networking with coaches. thecall ended then. they weren't interested in a player who isn't committed to the hard work of reaching out to coaches and networking.

we called back a couple days later and got a great plan, high level not low, for less than 800 bucks. the success he's found reaching out to coaches and building relationships with coaches we wouldn't have known how to do wo ncsa. now less than 6 months later invited to Canadian OJHL Team Main Camp (surprise invite from coaches, no prospects camp attended), subsequent nahl main camp invite received again no predraftcamp attended, and 1 tier 2 jr a ready to sign my son. it works if

1. you work it
2. your kid has SOMETHING coaches can find unique/special/intriguing/interesting
3. you offer coaches unedited game footage, approximately a period worth of game play so they can see your child play.

totally worked and at this point dealing with the domino effect of interested coaches

[terrier80]

10. Athletic recruiting for high school students and their parents

Online recruiting entities are good at least for one thing...information about the process. To spend $2000-$3000 for that information seems daunting when you factor in the fact that you still all the real leg work and that their operation is mostly automated.

For my money I like the personal touch. I like a recruiter or adviser, or consultant that actually visits my home, and talks to my parents, and understands what we think we would like to accomplish. A person who looks into the performances of our child, talks to his coach, and reviews his grades and subjects to fully understand what our son/daughter represents to the outside world.

I'd like a consultant who pays attention to our child's needs for the right school in addition to coaching us through the process. In a perfect world this adviser will also have been a college athlete, doesn't matter what sport as long as they have been down the path. I want this person to advise my child based on their experiences having been there and done that. I would also like this consultant to have been a college coach too, one who recognizes an athlete when they see one and who can advise, even get us back down to earth with our expectations too.

This is a person, who represents a program, that I would gladly pay $3,000 for.

For example: I played high school football and lacrosse. Was a"blue Chip" recruit. Earned a full student-athletic scholarship to Boston University. Played college lacrosse as well including a stint with the Boston Lax Club professionally. Coached football at Curry College. Have direct coaching relationships with assistants at Brown University, Assumption College and URI; have coaching relationships with head coaches at Curry, Dartmouth, Harvard University and the New England Patriots. Have interacted with every coach for field hockey in the Division II Northeast 10 Conference. Have coached high school sports for 6 years. Guided my daughter through the field hockey recruiting process and helped more than 700 students enter into post secondary schools for the right reasons to the right schools.

If your child has a shred of athletic talent I will spot it instantly and be able to evaluate it in comparison to each Divisional Level in college.

And I use a program that organizes the work I do for the recruits and their families to ensure that success is defined by your child entering the best school they can get admitted to for the right reasons and if they play a sport, is the bonus. My work simply increases the odds of this achievement.

[Rhmacaulay]

11. Recruiting

Hi - are you a consultant/recruiter?
Interested.
Jane M

[Videoscore]

23. Have you received any help with this?

My company has a consulting service in this regard. I'm a former NFL player and I'd love to chat with you about it. We have been doing this for over 10 years. Find us at www.videoscoresports.com

Thank you!

[ctjack]

12. Crazy

We live in Canada, My son is interested in a US school for Lacrosse... Keep getting calls from companies like NCSA
Muddy waters...
Not Fun

[mrmpa]

13. It depends on what level he wants to & can play at........

Division I, Division II or Division III.

[Videoscore]

24. Any luck?

I'd love to help. Look us up at Videoscoresports.com.

[crey]

14. I know multiple families who had great success with them

I wouldnt listen to any of the people encouraging you not to move forward with this company if you are looking to get the best chance to get to the best school for your child. I am a father and was asking around for my children on where to start, what to do, etc. I did not get recruited in high school even though I had letters, phone calls, etc and had many people telling me they would help me. After talking to several families in my area (green bay WI), it appears there are some bad apples out there in the recruiting services world but every family I spoke with about NCSA had nothing but awesome things to say.

They did say that if you just sign up and expect miracles to happen, then you are probably going to be disappointed. You do have to get in to their system and use it but they all told me that they would have never gotten to the schools they did without them.

One family, in particular, was going in to their senior year of football in the Green Bay area. Their high school coach told them not to do it, it was a waste and he would help the family even though he didnt think the kid was good enough to play in college. Turns out they decided to do it anyway because they were late in the game and didnt have any real connections yet and within 3 days they had 50 emails from different coaches. A few months later this kid signed with the University of Minnesota on a full ride offer. They also have people to help with questions. They sited one instance where a coach at Purdue tried to get them to sign an offer and because of the guidance they got before going in to the meeting with Purdue, they didnt sign despite a hard sales pitch by the coach or recruiter for Purdue. They ended up with a much better offer at a better school for the kid because of the coaching they got from NCSA.

I would recommend that any family who wants help at least goes through and talks with them. I know I don't have the time or connections and I learned from my experience not to rely on coaches or other people. Things have changed a lot, even in the last 5 years with technology and in a lot of industries. Each person can make their own decision but I am going to be in touch as my children get a little older and know they want to play in college.

[sneurock]

15. NCSA

We just did our interview yesterday also. All I've got to say is - check them out on the Better Business Bureau website. It's not real good.

There are 3 levels 799.00 1499.00 and 2499.00.

[cookiechand]

20. NCSA

I am seriously considering using this service as we are late in the game and have a middle of the road athlete. I am VERY curious, however, about your comment. I DID check them out on the BBB website, and did not see anything that bad. What are you seeing that you think is so terrible, if you don't mind my asking.

Thanks~!

[GusBob]

16. We belonged for about a year it's not worth it

See post 9 spot on

Make your own HUDL account and have your son contact schools directly

Also keep the grades up and all his social media above the board clean

[GusBob]

17. 8 first-time posters in this thread

I have never seen such a thing. Interesting

Must've hit a hot topic
Welcome to DU

[Auggie]

18. And over 63,000 views???

[SwankyXomb]

29. Someone probably linked to it

from a related web site

[Goblinmonger]

19. Don't waste your money

Don't know what sport your son is in, but mine is a college wrestler. We had a call with them. Them promised him they could get him a full ride to a D1 school. Wrestling gets 9.9 full rides that they can divide up in D1. There are 10 wrestlers on the starting roster. For the most part, NOBODY gets a full ride in wrestling. That's when we knew they were useless.

We spent a couple hundred dollars having a local video guy put together a video and made some copies and put it online. We sent DVDs to the schools he really wanted and then send emails to pretty much every other D1 and D2 school (took a couple evenings while watching television to get the list on my own, but it wasn't hard--every college program has information on line at the university website).

He got about the scholarship that he should have. He likes where he's at and what he's doing.

[tmr0923]

21. NCSA

Here's the thing. If your kid has talent, NCSA is a great way to connect them to coaches from all over. But don't expect NCSA to find your kid a scholarship if he/she doesn't have the talent. My daughter signed up a year ago - as a Junior. She is a sprinter and has really good times, has broken meet records, school records and went to state last year. I only say that because you cannpt blame NCSA (or any recruiting organization) just because your kid does not get contacted. Because of NCSA, my daughter now has connections with several coaches, has been on many visits with "official" visits already scheduled. She expects scholarship offers from several schools. She did her work too - emailing coaches from schools she was interested in and replying to every coach who took the time to email her. We definitely feel that NCSA is worth every penny we paid.

[Goblinmonger]

22. Really, Mr. one post

So how exactly was that NCSA rep going to get my kid a full ride to a D1 wrestling college when that doesn't really exist except for, like, maybe a dozen kids nationwide? They have 9.9 full ride scholarships to divide among all the wrestlers on their team. With 10 starting spots and recruiting to fill about 2 backups for each slot, 9.9 full rides doesn't go very far.

I think the flip side to what you are saying is why give NCSA any money at all if your kid has the talent. Those schools that want that kid will contact them. Trust me.

[JasonGregory]

25. Student-Athlete Service Successes

My son (and our family) have had tremendous success with a company called Leonard Andrew Consulting (www.leonardandrew.com). We did look at NCSA and decided against it after seeing a number of 'scam' notices online. While my son is on berecruited.com, which is a free site, we wanted something more. We had heard from a friend about working with Chad and his team and we are glad we did. They are much more than just a recruiting service - they work with students to find a best fit, a school where my son could work for the major he wanted while playing the sport that he wanted. They work with their clients both athletically and academically, with tutors, test prep, and essay writing all available. They are true when they say that they want their students to be both athletic and academic all-stars. I think that many of these services forget about the academics part. In the end, I'm blessed to say that with LAC we were able to get our son into a really great school where he'll be playing football next year.

[iamslh]

26. great experience with ncsa

it works but only if you work it.

my son is 15yo, plays hockey and joined jan 2016. May 2016 he's received 2 invites to main camp from coaches WITHOUT attending pre draft or prospects camp for either team (OJHL team and NAHL team) and recently had a tier 2 team offer to sign him.

he has sent over 450 emails to coaches. he created a youtube channel with unedited video of game play. he has spent HOURS UPON HOURS NETWORKING.

It works if you work it. but don't expect college coaches or jr a coaches to beat down your door. it is a LOT of work but ncsa gives you the resources to contact the coaches you want, over and over and over again with updates.

[ProfessorGAC]

30. This Thread Looks Spammed To Me

Anybody know how to check if a bunch of posts all come from the same source.

I've been here since nearly the beginning, and even then didn't see this many brand new posters on one thread.

Quite suspicious.

[RecruiterGuy]

32. PLEEEEEEASE

Do not do this site. They are a con that over promise and under deliver. If you talk to someone on the phone, ask how many student athletes their recruiting coach has to work with? See if you want that kind of attention for your son or daughter.

[JonLP24]

34. This thread will never die

It will be like the jealous douchebags thread except it will be 1 count posters bumping the thread.

[Iggo]

36. LOL.

See below.

[JonLP24]

37. Over 1 million views

This thread is surreal not to mention the op is a banned poster.

[amhlawyer]

35. My two cents... from a clueless mom

I don't know anything about this company.

However...

I found this thread while investigating NCSA because I know that recruiting companies are a necessary part of working the high school athlete-to-college angle.

I know this because one year ago I had twins in the 8th grade and I knew NOTHING about recruitment. Then we took on a foster child who was going into his senior year of high school and he is an incredibly talented football player. When we came into his life, my nerdy husband and my nerdy self had never thought about college athletics and recruiting. Sadly, we didn't figure out that we needed such help until it was too late. Our foster child had a Hudl account, but he had no computer to create the highlight reel. He was well-regarded as the best DE in our region but we didn't know we had to do more to get in front of a coach's eye. We are from a small town and we don't produce a lot of high-quality athletes so our school wasn't on a lot of D1 and D2 school's radars.

Yes, you can do this stuff yourself, and much of using a recruiting company involves contacting coaches and following up yourselves. But if you find yourself in a situation where you are behind the 8-ball, getting help is worth the money.

My business partner made some mistakes with his first child he was trying to get into college for Soccer. He wised up the second time around, he started early, he set up online recruiting accounts and the second child got a much better deal for a volleyball scholarship because he put in the effort.

If I could turn back time, I would have gladly paid some money (how much, I don't know) to get some help with the recruiting process for our foster child. I now have a high school freshman who appears to have some real athletic talent in track and field and in football and I'm going to do what I can to pay attention to this now as opposed to waiting until the last minute.

Things have worked out for our foster child because he was able to get need-based scholarships and perks at a D3 school that will cost him a very manageable amount of money. But now that he's committed, we know that mistakes were made, and that both money and opportunities were lost.

A