Ok, if you have made it this far in your recruiting journey, then count yourself lucky! Congratulations on getting your official visit setup. Here are a few reminders, rules, what the visit may be like, and how to set yourself up for success!
I’ll lay it all out there then tell a story about a visit gone bad!
First the rules around Official Visits:
They are paid visits. Schools can pay for your travel, hotel, meals, as well as get you tickets to some of those exciting Football and basketball games if they fit in your visit timing!
Schools cannot pay for flights for parents, just you. But they can reimburse you for travel by car to and from campus. It sounds like some do, and some don’t.
You only get five official visits. I have however heard rumors of the NCAA taking this rule out and allowing you to take an unlimited amount. Good for you if that passes!
Visits can only be 48hrs in duration start to finish. Again the NCAA might be changing this. Just makes some logistics easier from our end…I don’t see a need to actually stay on a visit longer than that.
Be prepared for your visit! Have some questions you want to get answered. Most of them will naturally get answered thru the visit, but there is nothing wrong with busting out a pad of paper with a list of questions on it to ask during your meeting with the Head Coach or the coaching staff. Do not shy away from asking hard questions. Financial questions, how long are they going to be there questions, questions about playing time….everything is fair game. If coaches are doing it right they should be giving you honest information about what they think your experience at their institution will be like. You get to decide if that fits in with the experience you would like to have.
Dress appropriately. Look like an athlete. Your handshake is your first impression. Be firm with it. Looks the staff in the eyes, nod in understanding. Keep your phone in your backpack, or keep it tucked away only to take out to take some pictures. You can catch up on the world later, don’t do it while actively out and about on your visit!
Here is what a sample itinerary may look like:
Friday
5pm - Arrive on campus
Meet with coaching staff
6pm - Dinner with coaching staff and student host
7:30pm- Parents check - in to hotel
Recruit stay in the dorms with student host
Saturday
9am - Breakfast with coaching staff
10am - Campus Tour
11am - Meet with Academic Adivsor
12pm - Photo Shoot
1pm - Attend training session with team (may or may not be able to practice with
them depending on the NCAA Division level)
3:30pm- Attend Football Game
7:30pm - Dinner/Stay in dorms with student host
Sunday
9:30am -
Pre-Game meal with the team
11am - Wrap up meeting with head coach
1pm - Kickoff
3pm - Game Ends
4pm - Head home
Story of a visit gone bad…
So Annabelle (made up name) got into town on Friday evening for her visit. Solid first impression and her dad was on the visit with her. Dad did a lot of the talking that first night, but I didn’t think much of it. He works in sales so naturally wants to take over the conversation.
We pickup Annabelle in the morning to head out on the campus tour. As we work thru campus, Annabelle is pretty quiet and dad is still running the show. We get thru the day, and between practice, the football game, and heading back with the players Annabelle is off the hook. Dad gets to talk and pushes all her greatest qualities. Many of them are clearly exaggerated. Look, we like Annabelle, that’s why she is here on an official visit, but come on dad. We are also aware of her weaknesses. Big Red Flag. She ends up spending a lot of time on her phone, texting friends, and not engaging. Another Red Flag.
So we wrap up and try to get Annabelle to open up. We ask her some very specific soccer and academic questions. Dad, just won’t get out of the way. Annabelle barely gets to answer and he jumps in and starts talking. I mean dad won’t be playing for us, we need to get to know the student-athlete but he is making it very hard. And when Annabelle hits some adversity how is she going to respond? We don’t know and we don’t like how this is going. So the wrap up meeting ends and we put off making an offer. We had planned to make her a very good offer…but we didn’t. We told her we needed some time.
We play the game, Annabelle goes home, and I go grab her student host. We always talk to our athletes and see what they think of recruits. It’s important, we are bringing someone into our family, into our circle, and we need to get it right. Well, Annabelle apparently spent Friday and Saturday night wanting to find a party. Our players thankfully wouldn’t do it. She was most excited about the football game, and didn’t really ask any questions about the soccer. Not someone we want in our program. I did a little extra digging into her social media and it became clear. Annabelle wants to party, her parents want her to be a successful soccer player.
So we were about to tell Annabelle a couple weeks later it wasn’t the right fit. But she already knew, and committed somewhere else. A win for us, and hopefully it worked out for her.
Let your kids be front and center on visits! It’s ok they have to answer some hard questions. Be prepared, engage, ask questions, and if you're looking for a party, you are better off looking elsewhere!
Enjoy your visit! Have fun meeting lots of amazing people, seeing some really cool places, and maybe buy a tshirt or two. You are in the minority if you are getting an official visit opportunity! Make the most of it!
Thanks for reading!
The Recruiting Dad
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