Off-season young athlete help

[huskrthill]

Have any of you had DIRECT experience (and success) with getting a child exposure to college coaches? I'm dealing with a few athletes in two different sports (football and volleyball) that show an awful lot of promise, but my experience in the recruiting game is pretty limited... like non-existent.

We have all heard about athletes that receive scholarship offers in 7th and 8th grade, so obviously these kids are at least getting on the radar even earlier than that.

So I'm clear: I'm not trying to market 8 year olds or anything like that, but I want to make sure these athletes are proactive and don't fall behind the curve. I'm also not looking to put a ton of pressure on them. If it works out, great! If not, I will continue to work with them to make them into good, productive human beings.

I've read some stuff, but I'd love to hear about your first hand experiences.

Thanks!

 

[anotherdumbprediction]

This sounds like a set-up to get me kicked off the board. Not playing that game again.

 

[huskrthill]

This sounds like a set-up to get me kicked off the board. Not playing that game again.

Lol, I don't know what happened to you in the past, but this is a legitimate question. I'm hoping to help out some of my football players and some of the girls on my daughter's volleyball team. And their parents.

 

[Deleted member 3889]

Lol, I don't know what happened to you in the past, but this is a legitimate question. I'm hoping to help out some of my football players and some of the girls on my daughter's volleyball team. And their parents.

Do they have a Hudl account?

 

[huskrthill]

Do they have a Hudl account?

Not yet. Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought that the club or school had to have an account that the athlete latches onto? Or do they just make their own? Is it free?

 

[Deleted member 3889]

Not yet. Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought that the club or school had to have an account that the athlete latches onto? Or do they just make their own? Is it free?

I don't know. I can't get my oldest daughter to even pick up a basketball right now so I hadn't done much research. I think you have to pay to have a Hudl account, but I imagine you're right about the school or someone with access to game play tapes having to have one as well.

 

[HuskerRef]

My youngest Son played Division I Soccer in college, he didn't play in a big time soccer program in high school so we really had to work to get him noticed. The best exposure he got was at big time soccer camps. We took him to the Clemson Elite Camps and Ralph Lundy camps every year for 3-4 years. In the end it paid off with a D-I scholarship. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't flooded with offers but he had a few to pick from.

 

[Rainbow Dash]

I coached several high school girls in softball that went on to be pretty good college softball players. They were D2 and NAIA players. They had their pick of schools and colleges were always showing up and tournaments or bigger games to talk to them. Had they been elite D1 players, I would have recommended that they get in with a Lincoln travel team. They were playing Class B summer semi-travel.

I’d like to say it doesn’t matter but it does. Premier is huge in Omaha volleyball and high school coaches are promising varsity roster spots to 7th graders. I watched my friend’s son get recruited by a lot of OPS schools in junior high, decided on North and got some PT as a freshman.

I would recommend getting a girl in the best volleyball club around if you are looking for exposure and skill-building for volleyball. Football, I wouldn’t worry too much about that until junior high outside of Pop Warner. Baseball and softball is just ridiculous. Better off just playing league and paying for private lessons in my opinion. At least at a younger age anyway.

Youth sports is truly ridiculous. The parent drama is a real turn off.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Not yet. Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought that the club or school had to have an account that the athlete latches onto? Or do they just make their own? Is it free?

I can tell you when Ethan Piper was told to get a hudl account, he had a Nebraska and Iowa offer within a couple weeks. He didn't have a video before that. He probably latched on to his schools tho. I haven't been around any school that doesn't have an account tho so i'm probably no help

 

[Lavaman]

Have any of you had DIRECT experience (and success) with getting a child exposure to college coaches? I'm dealing with a few athletes in two different sports (football and volleyball) that show an awful lot of promise, but my experience in the recruiting game is pretty limited... like non-existent.

We have all heard about athletes that receive scholarship offers in 7th and 8th grade, so obviously these kids are at least getting on the radar even earlier than that.

So I'm clear: I'm not trying to market 8 year olds or anything like that, but I want to make sure these athletes are proactive and don't fall behind the curve. I'm also not looking to put a ton of pressure on them. If it works out, great! If not, I will continue to work with them to make them into good, productive human beings.

I've read some stuff, but I'd love to hear about your first hand experiences.

Thanks!

My gf was a scholarship volleyball player in college, she said that playing in national summer rec leagues really was the reason she got an offer. She had grandparents with lots of time and money for travel though which can definitely be a limiting factor.

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

What age, sport, and level of participation are we talking? I've worked some with players pursuing football scholarships and basketball scholarships, and I've had an acquaintance go through the process in pursuit of a volleyball scholarship. Hudl is usually purchased school-wide by most schools larger than a hundred in the high school, but it's expensive, so a lot of schools also are holding out. They've built a monopoly in football video because it's very easy to work with, share, etc. They're trying to leverage that head start into every other sport by putting together package deals as a site offering. I'm not familiar with how it works if your school doesn't already use it, but I'm sure there's a way.

For any athlete who is not already a senior, the best way to make an in-road is to attend the highest level camp that the athlete can get into at that school. I recommend attending as many camps as possible, and target different levels. It never going to hurt an athlete to be able to honestly name drop some smaller schools that are interested.

PM me if you want to talk more. It would be a lot easier to discuss experiences, recommendations, etc., on the phone.

 

[huskrthill]

Thanks fellas, this is helpful. We're talking about boys ranging from 7th grade up to 11th grade. It's a small charter school that is very new, not much exposure. I will talk to the AD about getting a school Hudl account... I think she'd be on board.

The girls are mostly 7th grade playing on a pretty good club team. There are probably 3 girls that look (right now) to have great potential, plus maybe 2 more that can be developed.

I'm not saying these kids are 4* division 1 prospects, but I think they can probably play at the next level SOMEWHERE. I've had a handful of junior high players end up D-1 football players, and I am confident that these kids can be competitive in college somewhere if they keep on this track.

 

[Deleted member 3889]

Thanks fellas, this is helpful. We're talking about boys ranging from 7th grade up to 11th grade. It's a small charter school that is very new, not much exposure. I will talk to the AD about getting a school Hudl account... I think she'd be on board.

The girls are mostly 7th grade playing on a pretty good club team. There are probably 3 girls that look (right now) to have great potential, plus maybe 2 more that can be developed.

I'm not saying these kids are 4* division 1 prospects, but I think they can probably play at the next level SOMEWHERE. I've had a handful of junior high players end up D-1 football players, and I am confident that these kids can be competitive in college somewhere if they keep on this track.

Good luck, Thill. I think what you're doing is awesome.

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

Thanks fellas, this is helpful. We're talking about boys ranging from 7th grade up to 11th grade. It's a small charter school that is very new, not much exposure. I will talk to the AD about getting a school Hudl account... I think she'd be on board.

The girls are mostly 7th grade playing on a pretty good club team. There are probably 3 girls that look (right now) to have great potential, plus maybe 2 more that can be developed.

I'm not saying these kids are 4* division 1 prospects, but I think they can probably play at the next level SOMEWHERE. I've had a handful of junior high players end up D-1 football players, and I am confident that these kids can be competitive in college somewhere if they keep on this track.

What sport are the 7th grade girls playing?

I didn't see the numbers this year, but I vaguely remember a site-wide Hudl account for a small school for all sports costs around $1000 per year, but you can get promotional offers for less than that. If the school isn't willing to put up the money for it (which is not unlikely), get the coaches and boosters on board, and you'll probably find a way.

Also, fwiw, if you have talent, get the video to the respective coaches/recruiters, and they'll let you know. I've coached at very small schools, and I recently had a football player (O-lineman) with a lot of potential as far as size and strength, but his attitude, work ethic, etc., were not good. I benched him after the 2nd game because of the disciplinary issues, and he didn't earn a starting spot back (on a very bad team) until more than halfway through the season. He still loafed a lot, but in our second to last game of the year we were playing the eventual state champions, and he happened to be matched up against an all-state D-tackle who was projecting to be somewhere between NAIA and a D2 football player. Suddenly, my guy came alive. He pancaked that kid repeatedly. It was the best blocking that I've personally ever witnessed from one of my own players in a game. Keep in mind that we didn't win a game that year, and our opponent was about to enter the playoffs and win a state championship, yet there were a handful of plays where my guy pancaked multiple defenders who are now playing college football ... on the same play.

A week later my player contacted me about putting together some game film for some coaches. He'd never mentioned any interest in playing college football before, and (quite frankly) I hadn't thought that he was good enough, or at least not disciplined enough. What had happened, though, was that some schools who were looking at film of players on the other team had seen my guy man-handling their prospects, and they wanted to know more. He ended up getting a few NAIA and D3 coaches pursuing him. It never got to the point that they asked to talk to me about him because they got a hold of his transcripts and school records, and some red flags scared them off, but I was sincerely stunned at how quickly all of that had happened, and with so little effort.

 

[huskrthill]

What sport are the 7th grade girls playing?

I didn't see the numbers this year, but I vaguely remember a site-wide Hudl account for a small school for all sports costs around $1000 per year, but you can get promotional offers for less than that. If the school isn't willing to put up the money for it (which is not unlikely), get the coaches and boosters on board, and you'll probably find a way.

Also, fwiw, if you have talent, get the video to the respective coaches/recruiters, and they'll let you know. I've coached at very small schools, and I recently had a football player (O-lineman) with a lot of potential as far as size and strength, but his attitude, work ethic, etc., were not good. I benched him after the 2nd game because of the disciplinary issues, and he didn't earn a starting spot back (on a very bad team) until more than halfway through the season. He still loafed a lot, but in our second to last game of the year we were playing the eventual state champions, and he happened to be matched up against an all-state D-tackle who was projecting to be somewhere between NAIA and a D2 football player. Suddenly, my guy came alive. He pancaked that kid repeatedly. It was the best blocking that I've personally ever witnessed from one of my own players in a game. Keep in mind that we didn't win a game that year, and our opponent was about to enter the playoffs and win a state championship, yet there were a handful of plays where my guy pancaked multiple defenders who are now playing college football ... on the same play.

A week later my player contacted me about putting together some game film for some coaches. He'd never mentioned any interest in playing college football before, and (quite frankly) I hadn't thought that he was good enough, or at least not disciplined enough. What had happened, though, was that some schools who were looking at film of players on the other team had seen my guy man-handling their prospects, and they wanted to know more. He ended up getting a few NAIA and D3 coaches pursuing him. It never got to the point that they asked to talk to me about him because they got a hold of his transcripts and school records, and some red flags scared them off, but I was sincerely stunned at how quickly all of that had happened, and with so little effort.

Thanks for the additional inputs.

The girls are club volleyball players - I don't know if the club has a Hudl account. I took it upon myself to at least start recording their matches, but I'm far from being a skilled videographer and the gyms are often cramped without good places to set up a camera.

I need to get some thoughts together and start working some of these angles, but I may reach out to you more.

If anyone else also has stories to share I'd love to hear them!