Tag: ncsa recruiting column

NCSA: How to get recruited for women’s college field hockey

A prospective college field hockey player should first learn how to effectively manage their recruiting process. NCSA is here to help.

Lindsay is a former NCAA DI college field hockey athlete and coach at both NCAA DI and DIII programs. Lindsay is just one of many former college and professional athletes and coaches who are part of the Next College Student Athlete team. NCSA’s history of digital innovation and long-standing relationship with the college coaching community has made it the largest and most successful collegiate athletic recruiting network in the country. 

If you want to join the roughly 6,200 NCAA college field hockey athletes, you’ll need to first learn how to effectively manage your recruiting process. This includes understanding how and when to update your recruiting profile, research prospective schools, schedule unofficial and official college visits, determine NCAA eligibility and meet all application deadlines.

While parents, guidance counselors and high school and club coaches make great resources, NCSA experts are also here to help you navigate the recruiting process with our complete guide to college field hockey recruiting.

NCAA Field Hockey Recruiting Rules and Calendar

A 2017 NCAA study on the college recruiting experience revealed that 70% of Division I field hockey players reported their first contact with a college coach happened before their junior year of high school. With field hockey being just one of a handful of sports that revealed a trend of early recruiting, the NCAA updated the recruiting rules and guidelines to slow down the process and create a more equal and positive recruiting experience for student-athletes. College coaches are prohibited from contacting recruits until after June 15 of the athlete’s sophomore year.

View a comprehensive list of the NCAA recruiting rules across each division level in our guide to the NCAA field hockey recruiting rules and calendar.

Field Hockey Recruiting Guidelines

What are college coaches looking for in field hockey recruits? While college coaches expect all recruits to possess some level of field hockey IQ, versatility and athleticism, they also have position-specific expectations across the five field hockey positions. For example, Division I college coaches look for goalies that are unfazed in high pressure situations, make consistent saves and have excellent hand-eye coordination.

In our field hockey recruiting guidelines, we outline the experience level and skillset that college coaches look for in goalies, defenders, midfielders, sweepers and forwards at each division level.

The Recruiting Process

The college recruiting process doesn’t start when college coaches can begin contacting recruits. Instead, you and your family should kickstart the recruiting process during your freshman year with the following steps:

  • Research field hockey programs: There are 281 college field hockey programs scattered across the Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, Southeastern and Midwest regions, with four programs in California. Start the recruiting process by identifying which of these programs best fit your academic, athletic, financial and social needs.
  • Build a recruiting profile: To get discovered by college coaches across the country, you’ll need to build a strong recruiting profile with relevant stats and a recruiting video that coaches can reference when creating their list of prospective recruits. Create your free NCSA recruiting profile here,
  • Create a recruiting video: As a result of the new NCAA rules, your recruiting video is likely the first time a college coach will see you compete. It’s important that your recruiting video highlights your versatility, field hockey IQ and athleticism, as well as the position-specific skills outlined in NCSA’s field hockey recruiting guidelines. Learn how to create and share your video.
  • Attend field hockey camps: Whether you’re attending a clinic, camp or showcase, these events can positively impact your college recruiting process by increasing your access and exposure to college coaches. Find a field hockey camp near you.
  • Contact college coaches: While you won’t hear from college coaches that are interested in recruiting you until after June 15 of your sophomore year, you can still reach out to coaches at your prospective schools to introduce yourself and express interest in the program. Learn how to write an introductory email.

Read more: How to Get Recruited for Women’s College Field Hockey.

Scholarship Opportunities

When awarding athletic scholarships, college coaches tend to prioritize positions that prevent scoring and put points on the board. So, if you want a field hockey scholarship, you’ll have to prove to college coaches that you can directly impact scoring opportunities.

As an NCAA equivalency sport, fully funded Division I and Division II college field hockey teams are allotted 12 and 6.3 full-ride equivalent scholarships, respectively. Unfortunately, not all programs are fully funded, leaving some college coaches with even smaller scholarship budgets. To make the most of this budget, coaches will award partial scholarships, rather than full rides. Student-athletes who receive a partial athletic scholarship are able to combine alternative forms of financial aid to cover costs.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to College Field Hockey Scholarships.

 Top Ranked Women’s Field Hockey Colleges

To find the right college fit, you’ll want to begin your recruiting journey by evaluating what colleges offer academically, athletically, socially and financially. To help student-athletes through this process, NCSA develops annual Power Rankings that rank the top colleges and universities with field hockey programs based on factors, such as cost, size, location and academics. View a complete list of colleges offering field hockey

NCSA: How to get recruited for men’s college water polo

From the guidelines to the best schools, NCSA breaks down how to get recruited in men’s water polo.

Dan is a former NCAA DIII college swimmer with over 13 years of collegiate coaching experience at the DII and DIII levels. Dan is just one of many former college and professional athletes and coaches who are part of the Next College Student Athlete team. NCSA’s history of digital innovation and long-standing relationship with the college coaching community has made it the largest and most successful collegiate athletic recruiting network in the country.

Men’s water polo is among the fastest growing sports in the United States. The NCAA saw a 12% increase in international water polo student-athletes between 2011 and 2016 at the Division I level, making for the largest growth that the NCAA has seen in any Division I level men’s sport. As the sport continues to grow, so will competition for roster spots on the NCAA’s 43 men’s water polo teams. This combined with the existing challenges that student-athletes face as they attempt to navigate the NCAA recruiting rules and calendar, search for the right college match and market themselves to college coaches, can make for a stressful and overwhelming recruiting process.

Luckily, NCSA recruiting experts have created a guide to the water polo recruiting process to help student-athletes through a stress-free recruiting journey.

NCAA Water Polo Recruiting Rules and Calendar

As a result of recent changes made to the NCAA recruiting rules, men’s water polo recruiting will likely begin earlier than it has in past years.

These changes are rooted in a 2017 NCAA study on the college recruiting experience that revealed a rapidly growing trend of early recruiting across the majority of NCAA-sponsored sports. Effective as of May 2019, communication between college coaches and student-athletes is prohibited until June 15 after the athlete’s sophomore year. The NCAA also changed the date that water polo recruits can start scheduling unofficial and official visits to after August 1 of their junior year.

To review a full list of the NCAA recruiting rules across each division level, visit our guide to the NCAA water polo recruiting rules and calendar.

Water Polo Recruiting Guidelines

Did you know that the college water polo course is 30 meters, while water polo courses at the high school level are only 25 meters? The two most important skills athletes must have to successfully adjust to the eight-meter difference are speed and swimming ability. While college water polo coaches do consider player stats, such as goals scored, ejections drawn and assists, it’s skills such as speed and swimming ability that coaches put the most emphasis on when evaluating recruits.

To see if you have what it takes to set yourself apart from the crowd of college-bound water polo athletes, check out our recruiting guidelines section, where we outline the experience level and skillset that college coaches look for at each division level.

The Recruiting Process

The water polo recruiting process starts long before college coaches can begin contacting recruits. Below is a look at steps you should be taking to prepare for the recruiting process as early as your freshman year:

  • Research water polo programs: Start by identifying which of the 43 college water polo programs you feel are the best fit for you academically, athletically, financially and socially.
  • Build a recruiting profile: College coaches search NCSA recruiting databases regularly to evaluate talent. Build a recruiting profile that college coaches can access to evaluate your stats and recruiting video. Create your free NCSA recruiting profile here,
  • Create a recruiting video: College coaches typically start the evaluation process by reviewing recruiting video. To ensure that your recruiting video features the skills college coaches are looking for, visit our How to Get Recruited for Men’s Water Polo for a list of recruiting video tips by position.
  • Attend water polo camps: What are the best water polo camps to attend? Find a list of 2019-20 water polo camps on the East and West Coast and in the Midwest here.
  • Contact college coaches: College coaches cannot contact you until after June 15 after your sophomore year. In the meantime, show coaches that you are interested in their program by sending an introductory email. Learn how to write an introductory email.

Scholarship Opportunities

If you play a position that is versatile and directly impacts scoring opportunities, like goalie or utility player, you are more likely to receive an athletic scholarship offer. But it takes more than just playing one of these positions to earn a scholarship. College coaches reserve their scholarship budget for elite-level all-star talent that can immediate impact the team’s growth and success in their first season.

College water polo programs have a small scholarship budget with the NCAA allowing just 4.5 full-ride equivalent scholarships per team each year at the Division I and Division II levels. This budget is even smaller when the program is not fully funded by the institution. As a result, coaches are more likely to divide their scholarship budget to award multiple athletes a partial scholarship, rather than full rides.

Read more: Men’s Water Polo Scholarships.

Top Ranked Men’s Water Polo Colleges

Where will you play collegiate water polo? Selecting a list of prospective schools to find your college match takes time, but with our Power Rankings, you can more easily find programs that meet your needs when it comes to size, location, cost and academics. View a complete list of colleges offering men’s water polo.

National Signing Day: The Biggest NCAA Men’s Basketball Commitments

Here’s a look at who signed with some of the best Division I men’s basketball programs in the NCAA on National Signing Day.

Julian is a former NCAA DI basketball and tennis player. Julian is just one of many former college and professional athletes and coaches who are part of the Next College Student Athlete team. NCSA’s history of digital innovation and long-standing relationship with the college coaching community has made it the largest and most successful collegiate athletic recruiting network in the country.

The recruiting process is officially over for some of the top NCAA men’s basketball recruits. Yesterday, November 13, was National Signing Day for D1 basketball and all other sports besides football, kicking off the signing period for 2020-2021 enrollment. Athletes took to social media to announce and celebrate their college commitments. While the majority of this recruiting class made their school selection on the first day of the signing period, eight top 25 ranked basketball recruits are waiting to make their commitment.

Here’s a look at who signed with some of the best Division I men’s basketball programs in the NCAA on National Signing Day.

Duke

Duke welcomed six five-star athletes to The Brotherhood: wing Jalen Johnson (No. 4), guard Jeremy Roach (No. 22), DJ Steward (No. 25), forward Jaemyn Brakefield (No. 29), center Mark Williams (No. 30) and forward Henry Coleman (No. 41).

North Carolina

The Tar Heels successfully signed three top 25 recruits: center Day’Ron Sharpe (No. 18), center Walker Kessler (No. 20) and point guard Caleb Love (No. 21).

Texas Tech

The Red Raiders locked down their first-ever five-star guard in Nimari Burnett, along with Micah Peavy and Chibuzo Agbo.

Oklahoma State

The recruiting class of 2020’s No. 1 composite ranked ball player, Cade Cunningham (point guard), and guard Rondel Walker officially signed with the Cowboys.

Kansas

Bryce Thompson will stay in the Midwest, playing for the Jayhawks as the team’s first five-star recruit since 2018.

Tennessee

The Volunteer’s class of 2020 will include five-stars players Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson, and a four-star player Corey Walker Jr.