Ron Parker, Father of Alanna Parker, Davidson Women's Lacrosse

What specific advice or tips would you give to other student-athletes and families that would assist them with the college recruiting process?

Start the process as early as the fall of your student's junior year of high school! First, get a skills evaluation from an appropriate person- club coach or college coach who is running a sport or training camp that your student is participating in- and determine your student's potential as a student athlete at the next level.

For instance, does your evaluator think your student has the potential, based on athletic ability and academic standing, to play at the NCAA division I level or community college level or somewhere in between?

Second, create a student athlete "player profile" (much like a resume) which would include a head shot picture and any pertinent information relevant to your student's sport. Keep updating the profile throughout the process!

Third, make a short skills DVD highlighting your student's skills (could be game highlights, practice drills, or a combination). Get this DVD done by the spring of your junior year!

Finally, start making contact with colleges by fall of your student's junior year. Send out a cover letter and your player profile in your initial contact. If the college coach responds back, they will probably request that you send your student's high school transcripts and a skills DVD at that time. Remember, colleges may make first contact with you which means that you are getting some good exposure in your sport!

How did you create your list of target schools?

First, look to see if there is a publication that lists the colleges that field a varsity team of your student's sport. This publication may include pertinent information such as size and location of the college, tuition fees, acceptance requirements, and specific information about the program, i.e. coach's information, etc.

For example, for the sport of softball, there is a publication titled "Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level", and for the sport of Women's Lacrosse, there is an annual publication titled " The Draw". Both of these publications, or similar publications can be an enormous help when creating a "target list" of schools. Second, create a list of colleges that your student would like to target. This list should be twenty to thirty colleges that would fit into your student's pre-determined criteria.

What factors are you including (or did include) in your college decision making process?

Does the college offer merit base scholarship? Does the college offer courses or degrees in the field of study that your student would like to pursue? Does you student want to go away to college? Does your student want a small college or large college experience? Does your student want to be in a rural or urban setting? Also, if recruiting trips are offered, take the trip. If multiple colleges offer recruiting trips, take all the trips allowable (these recruiting trips are usually all expense paid by the college program).

By taking these recruiting trips, the student gets a good "feel" about the college, the coaches, the players and students on campus. Keep an open mind and make your decision after all your trips have concluded.

What other final advice would recommend as part of preparing for college sports?

Unless your student is a "blue chip" athlete (very few students are in this category), be prepared to work hard during the recruiting process! There are nearly 7.5 million high school student athletes in our country playing a varsity sport and only 5% of them will go on to play at the college level. The student must take the initiative and do most of the work but with parents’ guidance.

If college coaches respond to your student's initial contact and show interest, stay in contact with them via e-mail or letter. Follow their requests of what they may need or want from the student. Keep the coaches updated on high school/club game or tournament schedules. Invite them to see you play. Keep them updated on your academics!

Your senior summer is your recruiting summer (summer between junior and senior year). By this time, your student should have narrowed their "target list" of colleges to a "top five" list. This list should be the colleges that meet your students criteria in what their looking for in a school, combined with how much interest the coaches have in your student as a student athlete prospect.

Get to know what the NCAA recruitment rules state to what coaches and players have to abide by during recruiting (http://ncaa.org/). Your student is playing a sport to attend college, not attending a college to play a sport! When your student is ready to make a commitment to a college, he or she needs to ask themselves, "If for some reason I cannot play my sport in college any longer, will I still want to attend this college for my degree"?