Julie Shields Rutyna: [00:00:00] Well, good evening everyone. My name’s Julie Shields Rina, and I am the Senior Director of college Planning, education and training at MEFA. And I’d like to welcome you to our webinar this evening, college Athletics in Admissions. And we’re very fortunate to have, um, our expert presenter that, uh, has done this for us for numerous years.

Uh, Mike Jani, who is a counselor at Old Rochester Regional High School. And I will just give a couple of logistics and then I’m gonna turn it right over to you, Mike. But, um, on the screen you will just see all the places where you can connect with MEFA, uh, especially on social media, Facebook, uh, on x, on Instagram, LinkedIn.

We have a MEFA podcast where we talk about all kinds of topics in the, uh, world of higher education and [00:01:00] um, and. You know, wider, wider than that. Um, so if you have questions, uh, thank you for, if you have questions during the presentation, just throw them in the q and a and I will either, you know, interrupt Mike and we’ll answer them then, or we can wait till the end.

But put them in the q and a and we do disable the chat just so I don’t have to look in. Both places. And then know that I am recording, uh, the presentation. So tomorrow you’ll receive a link with the recording and with the slides, so you’ll have those. You don’t have to take a whole lot of notes and, uh, I think many of you probably know me, fa, but for those of you who don’t, please know we’ve been around since 1982 and we have the, uh, same mission that we had then to help families plan, save, and pay for college.

So please, uh, please visit the MEFA website, often, check out our other webinars. Um, they’re just a wealth of [00:02:00] resources there. And we’re also always available if you want to email us at college planning, uh, at MEFA.org or if you want to call us. So, uh, we, we work with students and families all the time, all year round.

So with that, um, I’m gonna turn it over to you, Mike.

Mike Janicki: All right. Thanks Julie. Um, hi everybody. Thank you for joining us today. Um, just to give a heads up of kind of the, the talking points. Um, we’ll first Des describe, uh, what the NCAA is, what the National Association of Inter Intercollegiate Athletics and National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association, um, how they differ from each other, divisions between one, two, and three.

Um, we’ll talk about eligibility, uh, in terms of recruiting and maintaining eligibility, uh, what you should be doing, you know, now as even as early as [00:03:00] seventh, eighth grade, freshman year, um, right through graduation. And then kind of the piece that people really want to hear is the search process, um, and how to, um, get on, uh, coaches radar.

Um, so really quickly, we’ll talk first about the ncaa. This is the college athletics that everybody knows and loves. Um, this is March Madness. This is, um, the college football, uh, championship we all just watched on tv. Um, it is just about a half a million student athletes. Um, and we’re gonna refer, I’m going to go back to that term a number of times.

Uh, student athlete. It’s always, always, always student first. Um, you know, the one thing that we talk about is you’re no good to a coach. You’re no good to a team if you haven’t maintained the academics and you’re not, [00:04:00] and you’re no longer academically eligible. So we want to make stress always, always, always.

It’s a student athlete. Uh, NCAA is, this is where, you know, people talk about the differences between divisions one, two, and three. Um, uh, we’ll do a little bit about that on the next slide. Um, but just be aware some things to, um, just put out there. Uh, the differences between the divisions are not based on competitiveness or who’s better than the other.

It’s really determined by the college, by the university in terms of finances, uh, resources allocated to the athletic department. Um, you know, this is 90 championships. You know, we, we all know and love the, the March Madness and football, but really it’s everything right down, not right down, but uh, all the way through, [00:05:00] including.

You know, rifle and archery and bowling. Um, so there’s a sport, uh, just, you know, for everybody. Um, but this is, this is kind of the, the, the, the college athletics that everybody kind of refers to. Just to kind of talk a little bit about the differences between Division one, two, and three, being a student athlete at the Division one level.

Um, it really is, it, it’s no joke. It’s, it’s the equivalent of a full-time job, um, having, uh, uh, a nephew playing basketball at the division one level. Um, the time he spends at this point is. You know, when we say 40 hours a week as a full-time job, it’s, it’s, it can really be considerably more. Um, summer, you know, there is no off season.

You know, there’s a season where, where the games are played, but, but practices, workouts, [00:06:00] academics, classes, uh, tape, weight room, it, it is legitimately a year round, um, away from home on campus kind of thing. Um, there’s a broad range of scholarship opportunities. Um, most, however, are, are, um, most scholarships are in the basketball, football, uh, arena.

And most are not full scholarships. Um, the whole concept of, uh, NIL money, you know, I’m not really gonna dive into that a whole lot as it is kind of an upper echelon piece. Um, but that is, you know, people talk about getting their, you know, their, their sponsorship from the local Cadillac dealer. You know, that’s not going to be the case with, with most athletes at this point.

Um, division two, it’s a, you know, again, a large [00:07:00] emphasis on um, or a growing emphasis more on the scholarship, um, and being involved on campus, uh, not as much of a travel commitment. Um, your conferences are gonna be more regionalized, you know, whereas, you know, you have the Big 10 conference at Division one ranges, you know, literally from coast to coast.

Your division two conferences are going to be, um, much more local, much more regionalized to avoid that long travel. Again, emphasis on the student, um, you know, but still a high level of competition. Uh, division three, you know, your, your, your focus and competition is much more limited to the competitive season.

Um, you know, you are, you are a student. Um, in some cases even the coaches are maybe [00:08:00] part-time on campus. Um, so there’s less of a, um, um, time commitment across the board. Um, you know, but this is where most high school student athletes will, um, uh, you know, will, will continue on to, is the division three level.

Okay, really quickly, uh, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, um, this is, these are schools that are roughly, this can be equivalent, uh, equated to the Division two NCAA level. Um, much more prevalent in the Midwest, the Great Lakes region. Um, strong academic commitment. Um, again, the, um, uh, kind of the region of, of competition will be much lo much more local.

Uh, so that, you know, there’s [00:09:00] not as much travel. Um, there are athletic scholarships at the N Na, NAIA. Um, uh, level. And then also just to mention the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association. These are gonna be your, your two year, um, community college programs, um, is a really, we wanna stress here.

It’s a really good option if you are looking to, you know, you’re coming out of high school, you want to build on your academics a little bit, um, you’d like to, um, you know, get a little bit stronger, get a little bit, um, you know, build your skills in your sport. Um, it can be really a strong area to, uh, to do just that.

Okay.

Julie Shields Rutyna: So, Mike, I have a quick question. Yep. I may, maybe you’re gonna get to it, but it seems like this is around where I could ask it. Yeah. Someone asked if the NCSA organization is a scam.

Mike Janicki: [00:10:00] NCSA.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Okay.

Mike Janicki: Referring to.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah. Okay. So write in a little more about that and give us more information.

Mike Janicki: Yeah. Tell me what the NCSA stands for.

If it’s a recruiting piece, then we can, we can get a little deeper into that.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Great.

Mike Janicki: But yeah. Okay. Okay. Um,

Julie Shields Rutyna: oh yeah, she said, um, yeah, it’s recruiting.

Mike Janicki: Recruiting.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Okay.

Mike Janicki: Okay.

Julie Shields Rutyna: So we’ll talk about

Mike Janicki: that. Yeah. We’ll talk a little bit about that in a little bit. Yes.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you.

Mike Janicki: Okay. Um, so eligibility, you know, the next couple slides we wanna talk about eligibility.

Um, you know, it’s gonna be different at the three, uh, NCAA levels, the different divisions, and then also what’s, uh, as far as eligibility at the NAIA and, and, um, and the JU code level bottom line. Um, I think this was on the other side, 2.3 or take a knee. That’s, that’s kind of the rule of thumb. Um, if you [00:11:00] don’t have a, the minimum GPA.

Coming out of high school, even in college. Uh, 2.3. Um, so that’s a, a c, you know, uh, like a CD plus, C minus, um, you know, so basically that’s what you’re looking for. Okay? Um, you know, in that you want to have A-C-G-P-A, um, I would really like you to have a much higher GPA, um, but that’s what we’re looking for.

Okay? Division one, you know, obviously graduate high school. Uh, the next slide will, we will talk about the specific classes. Um, you may hear from time to time the ten seven rule, which means the 10 of the required classes, uh, must be completed by, uh, the start of the seventh semester, start of senior year.

Um, that’s a division one rule. It’s not the case in division two. [00:12:00] Um. You know, and again, a 2.3 GPA in the 16, uh, classes. Okay. No, there used to be a sliding scale. I don’t wanna confuse anybody, so we’ll just say it. There’s SATs and acts are no longer looking at the SATs. Okay. They’re no longer part of the, of the, um, eligibility piece.

Okay. That’s, I I do wanna say though, just because the NCAA may not be looking at the ACT’s, AC SAT scores, an individual school or a major might still require a, a set of scores. Okay. So eligibility wise, you might not need them, but admission wise they may be required. Okay. We’ll talk a little bit about that also.

And it’s coming up. Slide division three. Um, to be eligible, be admitted to the school. [00:13:00] So it’s gonna be based on the college, on the university’s admission standard. Um, and if, if they are, uh, looking to admit you, you are academically eligible at Division three level, this slide can be a little bit confusing, but bottom line is it’s really just laying out the classes required by the ncaa.

And, you know, while we’re looking at four years of English, three years of math, um, you know, two years of science, social studies here, the best recommendation I would give anybody in, you know, in, in terms of, you know, units of credit and all of that. Um, a good rule of thumb, just take four years of English, math, science, social studies.

I mean, that’s, that’s, that’s going to, you know, that’s gonna build your transcript, that’s going to make you a stronger student. Um, [00:14:00] you know, not just in terms of athletic eligibility, but just being a good student. Um, four years of English, math, science, social studies, um, you know, will just put you on the right track for college admission.

Um, you know, regardless of your high school graduation requirement. You know, I, I know most, most high schools require four years of math. Um, and more than two years of social science. I mean, you need three years to graduate high school in Massachusetts. So, you know, go beyond the, just the minimum, um, uh, minimum requirements.

I. Part of eligibility is also re in. The NCAA is being registered with the eligibility center. Um, the eligibility center is like the front door to participation in in athletics. Um, it’s an online, [00:15:00] uh, process through the ncaa. Um, there are three different levels of eligibility, um, uh, certification that we’ll talk about in just a second.

Um, it’s an online ea, it’s an easy online registration. Um, the high school, you will not be required to upload your transcript. Uh, your high school, uh, will have access to, um, uh, an eligibility portal. And from the high school side, we will. Upload your transcript. Just let your guidance counselor, uh, your registrar, however your school handles it, and, um, talk to your athletic.

Sometimes in some schools it’s the athletic director, um, and then they will upload your transcript to the eligibility center. If you are looking at division one or [00:16:00] two level competition, you’ll need an academic and athletic certification through the eligibility center. There is a fee, I believe this year it’s $140.

Don’t quote me on that. Um, and that is to certify that you have the proper classes. Um, the proper GPA, uh, there will be, um, a quick certification of your athletic. Um. Amateurism. Um, and, and that should be all set there. The, if you’re looking at a division three, um, uh, competition, just need a profile, what’s referred to as the profile page.

Uh, there’s no fee for this. Um, you know, your school will still upload your transcript. Um, but it’s just a, so that the NCAA is, is, [00:17:00] um, uh, tracking who’s going through the recruiting and admission, um, process. In all cases, you will re, once you register with the eligibility center, you’ll receive an N-C-A-A-I-D, uh, if that will be, that will be used by coaches.

Um. And, uh, on campus to, so that they can track, um, and, you know, keep track of everything through the ncaa, uh, that they’re, you know, that their recruiting process, um, uh, is, you know, up, up to snuff on, on campus.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Now, Mike, someone just asked, when is the right time to register? Junior year, senior year.

Mike Janicki: As soon as possible.

As soon as you, as soon as, you know, I’ve, I, some students have been as early as, you know, seventh and eighth grade, if this is, you know, and, [00:18:00] and really I wouldn’t necessarily, in se certainly in seventh and eighth grade, you know, I wouldn’t necessarily, I, I would not recommend, um, you know, the, the academic and athletic certification, um, piece of this.

Um, but certainly create a profile page. It’s free. You know, you’re not losing anything. You know, you’ll have your ID number, um, if by chance, you know, in, in, in eighth grade, we, you know, you, it’s a lifetime before you get to, uh, freshman year of college. Um, you know, so a number of things can happen. Um, you know, but it’s nice to have that ID in case, you know, things take a step in the right direction and, and you start being noticed by some high level and division one, two schools.

Um, and you can provide that ID and always, you know, bump your, your, um, uh, [00:19:00] your, your profile page to that next level of the certification page. But, you know, if, if, if, if it’s, if you’re truly interested, um, you know, be patient with yourself, be patient with your, um, with your student, um, you know, maybe create the profile page just to.

Just to have it. Um, you know, but, but understand there’s a lot of time between, um, eighth grade and, and freshman year of college. Um, in fact, and, and actually the opposite of that is also true. I’ve had a number of students, um, you know, not go to college. To, to play sports, um, and then call back and say that they were now interested in, in fact, probably the biggest number of those have been, have been football players not going on to college to play football.

But when they get to college, um, they’re recruited for crew, uh, for rowing, [00:20:00] and then all of a sudden, you know, they’re like, oh yeah, I can, I can do that. And, uh, and the, the college crew coach, um, ask them to create an account and, and we take care of that all after they’ve graduated high school. So there’s, you know, there’s, there’s not really a too early and possibly not really a too late either.

Um, for the national, uh, athletic, for the NAIA, um, again, it’s 2.3 or higher. The difference here, um. Is it needs to be a, you know, you need also, uh, two of the following, a cumulative GPA, um, and the unique one here is the, the class rank of you’re in the top 50, um, of the graduating class. That’s kind of the unique one that’s different.

Um, if you don’t have a 2.3 or higher, it needs to be a 2.0. [00:21:00] You know, one of the, one of these two following, um, a cumulative 2.0 in the top 50 graduating class, um, or the a CT score of 18 or nine 70 on the s SATs. Um, there is a, similar to the eligibility center, um, just register with play naia.org. Um, it’s their version of the NCAA’s, um, eligibility center.

So, but the, the unique thing to point out here is, um, in the top half ranked, in the top half of the, of the graduating class. Um, similar to division three eligibility, um, at the, at the junior college, um, athletic association, um, you know, be high school graduates, um, in good academic standing, um, and simply meet the entrance requirements of, of the institution.

So, um, fairly straightforward. [00:22:00] Um, you know, so it’s very similar to, um, uh, division three level. Just a quick piece on transferring, um, just ’cause I know sometimes, you know, in terms of going to a junior college, two year school and then transferring. Just want to put this here, that if you are looking at transferring, um.

You know, when you get, when you get to the college level, um, it’s gonna be a lot of work, a lot of, a lot of communication between both your current school and the school where you are going to transfer to. Um, you know, you’ll need work with, uh, the athletic department, um, you know, possibly your academic advisor or the registrar’s office in just getting your transcript, uh, forwarded over, um, ensuring that admissions and [00:23:00] any kind of classes that you’ve taken at your first school will transfer over.

Um. Then, you know, you wanna make sure that you’re taking rigorous classes right through, um, high school, because you’re transferring to school will also will most likely also request your high school transcript. Um, so you wanna make sure that you’re main, even though you’re planning on going to a two year community college and then continuing to a four year school, you know, don’t think that your high school transcript isn’t, is no longer part of it.

It will still be part of it. So make sure that you’re maintaining, um, rigorous classes through, through high school. Um, so I know the next couple slides are kind of what people really want to hear about the recruiting process and the search. Um, the one thing that I do wanna point out, just keep in mind that really on only 2% of high school [00:24:00] athletes.

Are offered athletic scholarship, um, you know, that’s beyond a vast majority, you know, that, that do not receive athletic scholarships. So, so, you know, you may be, you know, you may be captain of your team and, and, and, you know, all conference where you are. Um, you know, there are literally millions of others playing at college athletes, athletics.

Um, and so, you know, I, I don’t, I don’t, I’m not saying that to burst your bubble or anything like that. I’m just saying, um, you know, there, there’s a, the higher emphasis, uh, is on, um, making a good college choice and being comfortable where, uh, where you enroll in, in school. So the first piece here is start early.

Okay. You know, we’ve said it first. Uh, the student is first. Okay. It’s a student athlete. [00:25:00] Okay. Um, it’s about choosing the right school. Um, so, you know, the campus setting fit, all of those things that we talk, when we talk about your college f when we talk about your college search process with every student, with every, whether they’re an athlete or not, um, it’s about fit.

Okay. Um, it’s not just fit of do I like the team? Do I like the coach? You know, do I like the campus? Um, am I going to be comfortable playing here? Am I gonna be comfortable being a student here? Um, you know, when I, when I go, are the residence halls comfortable? Um, do they even have my major? You know, why would you, you know?

Great. It’s a great team. It’s a great coach. And you like the teammates. But they don’t offer the major you’re, you’re interested in. Um, you know, so really think of the whole package, um, approach this [00:26:00] as, you know, first from the standpoint of you’re a student on campus, and where do you, where do you want to be a student on campus?

And then think about how do athletics fit into your experience on campus. Um, you know, what are your responsibilities? Um, you know, are some coaches will run summer camps, uh, you know, for, you know, they’ll run youth camps, um, and do they have their athletes work those camps? Um, you know, if you are, um, if you’re a nur, if you’re interested in being a, a nursing major or an engineering major, those course loads are.

Substantial. And can you balance that with, um, with the academic, with the athletic calendar, um, you know, will you need to take summer classes and are those classes that you missed available in the summer? Um, you know, really how does the whole [00:27:00] piece fit together? What does the whole puzzle look like? This really is the slide that I think people are, are always interested in is how do you get seen?

How do you make a contact with coaches? Um, you know, and you know, there was that question earlier about recruiting companies. Um, I I, I, I’m not going to advocate one. Are, are, are those things scams? They can be. They, they can be, because you can do a lot of this yourself. You can do a lot of this yourself.

If you are diligent, organized, responsible, you can do this yourself. Um, [00:28:00] you know, there are opportunities to participate in camps, um, and club teams that go to showcases, that go to, um, scouting combines that if you put yourself on those team, if you’re good enough to make those teams, I should say. Um, and you’re working with your high school coach, your club coach, your, um.

And you’re, and you’re participating in those programs, in, in, in those combines, in those showcases, you don’t necessarily need, um, a third party recruiter, almost like a headhunter. Um, you know, can [00:29:00] they take some of the workload off of you? Yeah. But I think you can do, if, if you’re diligent, if you’re focused, if you’re talented enough, if you’re talented enough, you’re gonna get seen.

Um, if you’re, if you’re talented enough, you’re gonna be invited to, to these camps. Okay. One of the first things, and again, you know, we’re also talking about, um, a level of a level, there is a discrepancy between talent. Um, if you are good enough. You’re going to be seen, most, most high school athletes will be participating.

You know, continuing on to the division three level where, you know, where those coaches don’t necessarily have the resources to get to some of, to get to more of [00:30:00] your games, of your high school games, of your club games. And that’s where, um, some legwork on your part, uh, can really carry the day. So, you know, sending an email, uh, sending a communication to coaches, you know, with very, very basic, um, your name, your NCAA id, your height, weight, uh, positions, you know, how do they get in touch with you?

Um, share your scores, share your GPA, share your transcript if you have it. Um, they want to know if you’re. Going to be academically worth pursuing. Um, you know, they’re not going to want to take a, um, uh, if, if it’s a high academic school, a coach main only have so many, uh, options to go to the admissions office to stick [00:31:00] their neck out for somebody who may not meet the academic standards at that school.

Um, so make sure that you’re academically eligible at that Division three school. Um, share your coach’s name and their informa their contact information. Um, and then really, you know, most. High schools, club teams will have, you know, like a huddle account or you know, if you’re playing baseball, if, if you participate in, uh, PBR scouting combines, they will be in, in a position where they can provide, uh, uh, film clips, um, and, and scouting reports, uh, that they have written for you.

And again, you don’t need a third party, uh, recruiter. Uh, you know, if you’re playing some of these, you know, I’m using PBR as an example right now. Um, prep baseball reports, you know, [00:32:00] they will provide you scouting report, um, that you don’t need the third party recruiter to do. Um, you know, they can work with you to provide that information for you.

Um, and, and bottom line is. If, if the student here, if the student athlete is initiating the contract, the contact, um, that, that shows a level of responsibility, a level of maturity that’s gonna be attractive to a coach, you know, that a, a coach is gonna wanna see. Um, so I think that’s also a place where you can demonstrate your, your readiness, your willingness to, to engage in on a college campus, on a college team.

Julie Shields Rutyna: And Mike, just because I asked you that question earlier, is the nnc SA, a scam? I just wanted to report that there is a parent who, uh, wrote in and just said, I just wanted to say that we have had a very good experience with them in terms of getting in front of [00:33:00] relevant coaches. So I just, I felt like I needed to balance that.

Mike Janicki: Yeah. Yeah. And I, I certainly wouldn’t say, I certainly wouldn’t say, don’t use it, don’t do it. I, I would only say. It, you know, there are, there are places where it can be helpful and there are, there’s plenty of opportunities where you can do it yourself.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah,

Mike Janicki: that’s right. There are plenty of opportunities where you can do it yourself.

Um, and then, you know, as when you have that opportunity to talk with a coach, um, you know, these are just some, some simple questions, um, that, uh, might want to, might want to ask. Um, you know, specifically the, the second one, um, you know, you’re interested in majoring in nursing engineering, and I always use those because those are heavy duty, um, courses of study.

Um, you know, how does that. Impact, um, or Im, you know, affect the, the athletic, um, competition. [00:34:00] Um, you know, what’s what the other one I like is, uh, what’s the meal plan options? Um, you know, at that point you’re, um, I know in our house you’re probably cheaper going away to school than feeding them here. Um, you know, so what are those options available to you?

Um, and, and also really what’s the application process? Um, college coaches their athletics, not admissions. Um, a college coach will cannot offer you an admission, uh, to the university, to the college. Um, that will come from the admissions office. So you need to work with admissions. The coach may help you and guide you through it, but the admissions office will be the one that, um, uh, you know, works that side of the house.

Um. Then, you know, in terms of division one, two level, [00:35:00] um, you know, what happens when the, um, you know, what happens if the coach leaves, what happens? Um, you know, how does the transfer portal impact at the division one or two level? Um, you know, are they looking at other position players similar to where you’re at?

Um, you know, uh, there are, there are other, there are other athletes being recruited. Um, so how, you know, how do they all fit together? Um, you know, so just, again, it comes down to fit. Same thing as, as when we’re choosing a college at any point, um, you know, how, how are you gonna fit into the, um, into the program?

Um. Just a couple, a couple slides here regarding, uh, the calendar, and again, this is more of an NCAA piece, more so than the, [00:36:00] um, the other associations, um, and I was blanking on the term earlier, but compliance officer, uh, that’s gonna be your person on campus. Um, the compliance office is going to be where, um, your eligibility, um, you know, you’re really going to work with that person to, um, to know that you’re, you’re ready to go.

Okay. Just a couple quick points, uh, in terms of, of, um. Common terms, you might hear a contact simply anytime a coach says more than hi. Um, any kind, any kind of face-to-face meeting is considered a contact. And there are certain times in the calendar, um, where there’s a contact period, um, and it or dead period, meaning there are certain times in the calendar.

Um, depend. This is all gonna be depending on the sport and whether in [00:37:00] season or out of season when a coach, uh, can or cannot talk with you or your family. Um, so just be aware of contact period and dead period. An evaluation is simply anytime a coach is watching you, evaluating your practice. Uh, competition.

This includes, uh, summer, so showcases or, uh, tournaments. Uh, you may go to. Um, you know, we, my, my, my boys played, um, uh, lacrosse, so, you know, going up to UMass, uh, in the summer or still Vermont in, in the summer. Um, you know, there’s, there’s coaches all over the places. Those are, those are all well within the evaluation period.

Um, you know, so again, those are calendar days where colleges coaches get, watch you. Um, an official visit, and this is mostly in, this is at the division one or two level. Um, an official visit [00:38:00] is where the college pays for you, some members of your family to come to campus. Um, you know, housing, meals, um. And then any, you know, sum, uh, participation or, or, or, or going to a, a, um, uh, a game, um, you know, including the ticket to that.

Uh, in order, in order to, um, be okay to participate in an official visit or be offered an official visit, uh, remember you have to have your certification account with the eligibility center. Um, unofficial visit is anytime, you know, you’re, you are going on your, your, your own dime to, um, uh, to visit campus.

Um, just remember, um, you know, the dead period and contact period. [00:39:00] Um, you know, you can’t, you cannot do an official visit in a dead period. Um, but you know, you can, you can visit campuses. Anytime. It just may be, it may be an unofficial, um, some things to keep in mind. Okay? Uh, as, as we’re going through this whole process, your grades, okay, again, you’re a student athlete.

If your GPA falls below eligibility, and just because the NCAA says 2.3, the institution may set a higher standard for eligibility. Okay? 2.3 is just the bare minimum. And anytime I hear somebody say, bare minimum, you’d better be working a heck of a lot harder to be well above that. Um, you know, so make sure that grades, and again, there, there are majors that are gonna be considerably more difficult, um, um, more challenging, more rigorous, you [00:40:00] know, additional labs that, you know, um, expectations.

So maintaining grade, um, is, can be tough. Um, the second point here, desire to play, you know, we’re gonna talk about this in a second also. Um, this is the student that wants to play, make sure that you want to be there. Um, you know, um, it’s not just, um, you know, the student’s interest, but, but also pa as parents, we have to have, you know, a reality of the ability.

Okay. Um, we all put our kids on a pedestal. Um, and I’ve been on, and I think we’ve all been on sidelines where, um, boy, I’ve heard some comments of like, that kid’s really great. And I’m like, oh, okay. Um, you know, and that’s not, that’s not belittling somebody’s ability. Um, it’s just the reality of the situation.

[00:41:00] Um, you know, it’s, it’s very easy to be a, it’s very easy to be a big fish in a small pond. But again, there’s, you know, there’s a million other athletes out there, um, vying to play college athletics. Um, you know, so just, just something to, just, something to throw out there. And then, uh, again, we talked about mostly at the division one, two level is the transfer portal and how that has, um, impacted the recruiting and, um, just movement, movement from team to team, um, over the past few years.

Um, just a quick piece about the student athlete. Um, uh, this, this top bullet is, you know, one, I was, I was staffing an event, um, with, um, Yukon basketball and, um, after the game, you know, one of the, one of the players was, you know, signing autographs and. [00:42:00] You know, doing, playing, taking pictures with, with a bunch of kids and the academic advisor, um, you know, is working through, you know, they also, I think, I think she even said like, there’s a Sports Illustrated photo shoot the next day or something like, and she legitimately asked, what class do I have tomorrow?

Um, it’s a lot. Um, and I think that’s a lot at, mostly at the, primarily at the division one level. Um, you know, I don’t know how many Division three teams are being stalked by, uh, the Sports Illustrated and, and 50 kids asking for autographs after a game. Um, but just, just to be aware, the, the investment of time, um, at the division one, division two level is, is substantial.

Um, and that’s why on campus there are. Uh, academic advisors, and that’s not just, that’s not just division one and two, uh, some division [00:43:00] three programs will have an academic advisor. And that’s really a good question to ask as you are going through this process, ask the coach, ask the athletic department what help is there for, particularly in season.

Um, what support are there, is there for, um, for athletes? Um, you know, so that, you know, sometimes there’ll be study halls, mandatory study halls. Um, I remember working at, at, at Providence and we would have study halls, uh, all the time, uh, for the student athletes, um, so that they can, again, main maintain eligibility.

Um, just a quick, just a quick slide, um, to keep in mind like. Desire to play? Is it, is it us as parents that are really like, Hey, it would be, it would be great if my kid, uh, w was a star athlete at Notre Dame. Um, yeah, that’s great. Um, but if my kid [00:44:00] really doesn’t wanna play, um, you know, I gotta have that honest conversation.

Um, I gotta have that honest conversation with a coach. Um, you know, can they, should they, um, you know, just something to, I just want to, it’s just something I always want to share, um, that, uh, you know, sometimes we need to have these honest conversations of who’s, you know, we, we’ve, we’ve put our kids in, in, in sports from first grade, if not earlier, and they’ve been playing for the past 12 years.

Um, do they want to keep going? Really? Um, and so just, just something to just a talking point and, and, and. You know, if they, if they do fantastic. Great. It’s, um, there’s study after study proven after time, after time that, um, students that participate in college athletics, um, repeatedly have demonstrated, [00:45:00] um, incredible job potential leadership.

Um, you know, employers look for student athletes because, you know, especially, you know, successful student athletes because they know you’ve proven that you can balance, um, time commitment. You’ve proven that you are responsible, you’ve proven a level of maturity that you can’t, um, anywhere else on campus.

Um, you know, so being a student athlete is, you know, can really. Head and shoulders put you in a, in a great, um, place post post-college. Um, and so one of the other things to be aware of is, um, you know, if, if you do need that time to get a little [00:46:00] stronger to, to get your grades up a little bit more, to, um, um, you know, hit the weight room a little bit more, improve your skills, um, you know, prep school can be a great, uh, you know, post grad year, uh, can be a great place to do that, where you don’t tap into your, um, uh, years of eligibility at the college level.

Um, you know, it can be a, it can be a great spot for that. Um, you know, and, and also a good. Uh, avenue for recruiting too, to be honest. Um, you know, the many, many post-grad programs, um, are known by college coaches, as you know, can be a real strong feeder, um, into the college, um, onto the college team. So something to, to be aware of.

Um, so before I finish that, [00:47:00] another one of the other pieces that I I’ve neglected to, to, to mention on the, on a previous slide is, um, quite honestly, club sports. Um, you know, outside of, um, uh, you know, the intercollegiate athletic, if somebody is interested in, I, I want to keep playing. Um, but I’m not committed time-wise.

To the team. Um, you know, club sports on campus can be a great, um, option to, you know, maintain that level of competition, um, but not the level of time. Um, I’ve had a, a, a few of my kids have gone, um, uh, college and played at, at club level. Um, and it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s been a great place for them [00:48:00] to actually develop in increased leadership skills because they’re the ones coordinating the games, coordinating the tournaments, coordinating travel that the athletic department does not.

Um, just throwing that out there as, as something to be aware of as you are looking at schools. Um, just to know that, that that’s out there. Um, so I’m pretty confident there’s a lot of questions. Um. Um, but that’s, that’s kind of it in a nutshell. Um, yeah.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Well, I’ll ask you one and then, um, folks can Okay. I see.

Yep. They’re coming in now.

Mike Janicki: Yeah, they’re starting to come. Okay. There we go.

Julie Shields Rutyna: But, um, one is, can you just talk a little bit about sending videos and this person is actually asking about volleyball.

Mike Janicki: Yep. Um, so, you know, [00:49:00] programs like, um, I know our school uses huddle, um, and so the coach will, or the athletic department, um, sometimes the, you know, an a a U club or, um, you know, lockdown or you know, whatever, whatever club you’re playing with, you know, may have an account.

Um. Or even if you go to tournaments, you know, that tournament will provide, um, uh, video of your games, then you would just access, basically send a link, um, you know, a a, a link to that video, um, to the coach. There are, there are some sports that lend itself. You wanna see the whole game. There are some sports that [00:50:00] lend themselves to highlights.

Um, volleyball, you know, is probably one of those sports, you know, where you wanna see the, you know, the movement of the six on each side, um, where you wanna see the whole game rather than individual highlights. You might have some great highlights and show that too. Um, you know, um, you know, baseball may, you know, show plays that you’ve been, that you, that you’ve participated.

You know, if you, if you’re playing, playing right field, then you’ve got ball after ball to left field, you know, you can show how you back up a throw. Um, you know, but you wanna show, um, specific to your, to your sport. You know, the clips that you have. But you can send links to the clips depending on what platform you’re using.

Um, just links so that the coach can, [00:51:00] um, can sign in and, and see, see you in action.

Julie Shields Rutyna: That’s great. And this is a good question. Setting scholarship opportunities aside, does students’ interest and skills in playing a sport, particularly sports other than football and basketball, enhance their application to the school?

Mike Janicki: Do the, do the athletic skills impact admission? Is that,

Julie Shields Rutyna: yeah, I suppose I maybe probably said another way, you know, um, you know, skipping, not, not worrying about the, the money, but just, um,

Mike Janicki: the straight admission,

Julie Shields Rutyna: just the fact that a student is playing and enjoying a sport and

Mike Janicki: Yeah. Oh yeah. So I mean, that’s being a student athlete, you know, similar to like, what, what I was saying earlier that, you know, participating in college athletics really does increase your job outlook after college.[00:52:00]

Participating in high school athletics does increase, you know, can really increase your chances of admission. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, a athletics is a great way to show, you know, your, your commitment over time. You know, you know. Your, your responsibility to a team, um, your leadership potential, your engagement, your maturity, um, you know, not just, you know, great, you’re a starter, but I mean, I can show you video after, you know, news clip, after news clip of, um, Gino rma talking about players are more valuable, players can be more valuable on the bench than on the, on the court.

Um, you know, he’s watched as, as he’s recruiting, um, basketball players. He’s looking at as they come off the court, what’s their affect, what’s their demeanor when they [00:53:00] go to the bench? Um, you know, those are things that a high school athlete can demonstrate to admissions. Um, you know, by being a good, by being a good student athlete, you’re a good student.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah.

Mike Janicki: Um, and that’s, and that’s, that’s attractive to admissions.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah. That’s great. And believe it or not, I think everyone was asking their questions as we went along. I’ll give it another,

Mike Janicki: I wasn’t a lot, I didn’t

Julie Shields Rutyna: do anything. 30 seconds. I, I know. Are there any further questions? Well, it’s a very comprehensive presentation.

That was great, Mike. I’ll just see if anyone else has any more, but I’m not seeing any,

Mike Janicki: I know the big thing is, is the getting seen, um, you know, and that, that reaching out, that recruiting, it’s, it’s a balance [00:54:00] between putting yourself out there and being recruited, so to speak.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Hmm.

Mike Janicki: Um, and, you know, especially at the division three level, um.

A lot of times it can be the student that takes the first step, especially geographically if you’re looking at schools outside of, you know, outside of areas that a college coach will travel to a tournament or a showcase, um, especially geographically, um, it’s probably gonna be the student that takes the first step of, of this matchmaking process.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah. Yeah.

Mike Janicki: Um, and then once you, once you get yourself in front of the eyes of the coach, um, then it becomes a, a [00:55:00] more of a two-way conversation than anything. So

Julie Shields Rutyna: that makes sense.

Mike Janicki: And, you know, and those, you know, the discrepancy, the discrepancy between. In the high school level between a division one caliber student and, and everybody else.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Mm-hmm.

Mike Janicki: Um, it’s substantial.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah.

Mike Janicki: It, it’s more than just, you know, there’s an eye test that it’s pretty easy to, pretty easy to see. So,

Julie Shields Rutyna: yeah. And there is one last question. Yep. Um, any specific comments on track athletes? All the same stuff. Getting seen what to

Mike Janicki: expect? Yeah. Track, track and swimming.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah.

Mike Janicki: You know, the, the, the clock doesn’t lie.

Um, the clock doesn’t lie. Um, you know, so similar to, um, you know, that reaching out to coaches, um, you know, send a list of [00:56:00] your prs, um, the events, um. Uh, the events that you’ve run, um, and quite honestly the events you like to run and the events you hate to run. Um, you know, coming out of high school I hated the 800 and I never told anybody that I ran that.

Um, um, but then, you know, if you do have, there is something to be said if you do have film, especially for sprinters. Especially for sprinters. I, I’ve coached, uh, track too. Um, if you are putting up a good time in the 50, the 100, the hur hurdles high jump. Um, if you’re putting up solid times and your form is ugly, um, that can really be attractive to a coach, a college coach, because if you have a good time with ugly form, a good coach can clean that [00:57:00] form up and get a lot more speed out of you.

Um, you know, so, um, I’m not saying if you have great form and you have a good time, that’s the best you’re gonna get. I’m not saying that. Um, but um, you know, just as you get strong, as you get bigger, as you get stronger, you’re gonna get faster. Um, but yeah, the, the, the clock doesn’t lie. So share, share events.

Um, share your PRS in all events that you’ve run, even the ones you don’t like to run. The 800, uh, I hate the 800.

Julie Shields Rutyna: That’s great. Um,

Mike Janicki: and

Julie Shields Rutyna: actually, um, someone else also asks, do you have any thoughts about get, making sure you’re getting an honest evaluation from the high school coach. This person has, um, uh, boys soccer is the, is the sport.

Mike Janicki: Yeah. Uh, an hon I think I, I think I know where you’re going with this. Um. [00:58:00] The honest evaluation from a high school coach. Um, I think I know where you’re going. Share. Let the coach speak for themselves. Let the, let the coach speak for themselves. You know, if, if, if, if, if it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, then so be it.

But that’s up to the college. The, the college coach will be the, will be the one that puts eyes on you just the same.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Mm-hmm.

Mike Janicki: Um, and they will know if your style of play, if your ability of play, if your caliber of play, whatever you wanna say, um, meets what they’re looking for on their team.

Julie Shields Rutyna: That’s good.

Mike Janicki: Um.

So I, I think I understand what you’re saying about the college coaches’ assessment, [00:59:00] but that’s one, um, you’re really interested in the college coaches’ assessment. Um, and work with them. And work with them.

Julie Shields Rutyna: And then I think the last question here, um, because you talked about track, do students need to perform well in more than one event with track?

Mike Janicki: Um, it’s when you get in, in high school, in high school, it’s nice to be diverse at the college level. You’ll probably, especially at a Division one program, you’ll probably be asked to focus on one or two events.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Mm-hmm.

Mike Janicki: Um, you know, sprint. D you know, distance. Um, of course I’m going to be hypocritical here and say decathlon, [01:00:00] we are doing 10 events.

Um, but, um, at the high school level, you know, if, if you’re a sprinter, um, you know, it’s good to demonstrate you can do, you know, indoor 50, outdoor hundred, you know, the 200, um, you know, mile two mile if you’re a distance runner, um, you know, it’s a long way of saying a high school track is going to be coached a lot differently at the college level.

You’ll, you will become more specialized by, by that, that program’s coach. Yeah.

Julie Shields Rutyna: And then any comment on swimming? Any disadvantage for not being in a club team, just on the high school team?

Mike Janicki: I, I don’t think so. Disadvantage? [01:01:00] Disadvantage? I don’t, I I wouldn’t think so. Only because there are, not to say there are so few

Julie Shields Rutyna: mm-hmm.

Mike Janicki: Club swimming teams, you know, they’re not as prevalent as, you know, club lacrosse and club soccer and club volleyball. Um, you know, there aren’t too many club track and swimming teams. Um, you know, sure. Your local YMCA may have something. Um, you know, but if, if, if you’re comfortable, you know, and you have, you know, for something like swimming, I would, you know, time yourself in, in the, in the off season.

Um. Send a video, you know, record your own video.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Mm-hmm. You know,

Mike Janicki: it’d be kind of fun to put a, put a GoPro in your head and go, but, um, but, you know, swimming is swimming. Swimming and track are a little, [01:02:00] you know, little bit different in that, you know, there’s not too many off season kind of things. Um, you know, maybe the Bay State games can be a place to, to eng engage, you know, do some competition outside of the high school season.

Um, yeah. You know, something like that. Maybe the, maybe your, your local Y has a, has a meet coming up, uh, you know, that you can enter individually. Um, I wouldn’t necessarily disadvantage, I wouldn’t necessarily use that word though.

Julie Shields Rutyna: That’s good. All right. Well Mike, thank you so much for You bet, all of that.

You bet. It’s been wonderful to have, have you be able to talk about all these different things and thank you all for your participation and good questions. And um, thank you and everyone have a wonderful evening.

Mike Janicki: Thanks. Hope it was helpful.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Mm.