I would like to know if anyone has ever used NCSA National Collegiate Scouting Association for help in recruiting.
Do they do a good job or is something like this not worth the money?
I need advice please.
Thank you
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Don't know anything about them, BUT... college coaches rely on their own evaluations of players more than anything else. Marketing, at best, gets you a look.
A college may be drawn to take a look at a player based on a recommendation, but those recommendations generally come from HS coaches they know, summer coaches they know, area scouts and well-established organizations such as Perfect Game, TeamOne, Area Codes.
This does not mean that this organization you refer to is not worth it, I don't know. But I would be cautious. Ask them for some references and find out if their references really used them and what they felt they got out of them.
A college may be drawn to take a look at a player based on a recommendation, but those recommendations generally come from HS coaches they know, summer coaches they know, area scouts and well-established organizations such as Perfect Game, TeamOne, Area Codes.
This does not mean that this organization you refer to is not worth it, I don't know. But I would be cautious. Ask them for some references and find out if their references really used them and what they felt they got out of them.
A big part of their "pitch" to us went something like,"Go with us, and EVERY Division I baseball coach in America will receive information about your son." Thankfully, I'd spent enough time studying this website and talking with people associated with the recruiting process to know that that was exactly what we DIDN'T want!
A college recruiting process should be very carefully designed so as to target very specific schools/programs. Once that's done, it's not a difficult process to make sure that the coaches at those schools know about your son.
A college recruiting process should be very carefully designed so as to target very specific schools/programs. Once that's done, it's not a difficult process to make sure that the coaches at those schools know about your son.
I call it the "scattergun" approach
Calstars, I see you live in Orange County. If so, you are in the middle of one of the greatest areas in the country for quality high school & summer ball. If your son is playing on good teams, he should be seen by college coaches or scouts and have some opportunities through those channels. Talk with his coaches about providing some assistance with recommendations. Don't forget to be realistic about his ability and where he truly has a shot to make a team.
Most kids would love to have the college options that are within a couple hours drive of where you live, so in my opinion you can do everything you need to do yourself, or with some assistance from his coaches.
If you haven't already done so, I'd strongly recommend you look at the recruiting timeline, and other articles on this website about recruiting and then, get to it!
Most kids would love to have the college options that are within a couple hours drive of where you live, so in my opinion you can do everything you need to do yourself, or with some assistance from his coaches.
If you haven't already done so, I'd strongly recommend you look at the recruiting timeline, and other articles on this website about recruiting and then, get to it!
Spend the $1000 to $1500 on tuition or showcases, camps, that are local to the school your son wants to attend.
The flood mailing's they do electronically are not used by most of the coaches looking for talentted prospects. They have a good pitch and with other sports this may make sense but baseball with 11.7 is not one of them IMHO.
The flood mailing's they do electronically are not used by most of the coaches looking for talentted prospects. They have a good pitch and with other sports this may make sense but baseball with 11.7 is not one of them IMHO.
Gotwood4sale,
Thank you for your reply. May I ask what kind of letters did your son get? Were they just intro letters and questionaires? I am just interested in in the level of what type of letters the schools send. or better even though it was a region you were not interested in. Also, were the a good mix of schools or Lower levels.
Thanks
Thank you for your reply. May I ask what kind of letters did your son get? Were they just intro letters and questionaires? I am just interested in in the level of what type of letters the schools send. or better even though it was a region you were not interested in. Also, were the a good mix of schools or Lower levels.
Thanks
I have spend a good deal of time on the NCSA website and have yet to figure out what they actually do? I have also emailed them and one employee claims they are not a "recruiting service" but a "scouting service" and their definition of a recruiting service is a company that sends out mass emails and mailings to college coaches, which they claim not to be because they don't want to get lumped in with other players.
I did go through some press releases on their site that touted the success they had with placing several players and I contacted a few coaches at those schools and all said they had no idea those players were enrolled in the NCSA program and that they all found the players themselves???
I did go through some press releases on their site that touted the success they had with placing several players and I contacted a few coaches at those schools and all said they had no idea those players were enrolled in the NCSA program and that they all found the players themselves???
Letters can be just that: letters--- what was the importance of the letters?
Were they form letters with questionnaires or were they personal letters?
Were they form letters with questionnaires or were they personal letters?
.
Agree with Prepster....
Agree with TR...
Good marketing is targeted to a specific audience. We too listened to the pitch, While we felt that we would certainly get many letters, real interest from schools WE chose is what we wanted.
I tell this to people all the time... when it come to the marketing project of your player NO ONE is going to care as much as you do. NO ONE is going to know your player like you do. NO ONE is going to adapt to the changing and shifting dynamics of this situation the way you will. The obvious answer if you can, do it yourself.
IMO $1K can go a LONG way if you do you homework.
PS...as I always seem to..I agree with Justbaseball too...
Good Luck!
Agree with Prepster....
quote:A big part of their "pitch" to us went something like,"Go with us, and EVERY Division I baseball coach in America will receive information about your son." Thankfully, I'd spent enough time studying this website and talking with people associated with the recruiting process to know that that was exactly what we DIDN'T want!
A college recruiting process should be very carefully designed so as to target very specific schools/programs. Once that's done, it's not a difficult process to make sure that the coaches at those schools know about your son.
Agree with TR...
quote:I call it the "scattergun" approach
Good marketing is targeted to a specific audience. We too listened to the pitch, While we felt that we would certainly get many letters, real interest from schools WE chose is what we wanted.
I tell this to people all the time... when it come to the marketing project of your player NO ONE is going to care as much as you do. NO ONE is going to know your player like you do. NO ONE is going to adapt to the changing and shifting dynamics of this situation the way you will. The obvious answer if you can, do it yourself.
IMO $1K can go a LONG way if you do you homework.
PS...as I always seem to..I agree with Justbaseball too...
quote:Don't know anything about them, BUT... college coaches rely on their own evaluations of players more than anything else. Marketing, at best, gets you a look.
A college may be drawn to take a look at a player based on a recommendation, but those recommendations generally come from HS coaches they know, summer coaches they know, area scouts and well-established organizations such as Perfect Game, TeamOne, Area Codes.
Good Luck!
[QUOTE]Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
CalStars4:
Again, our son found a good match both academically and athletically in the South on his own.
gotwood4sale:
How did you define " a good match academically"
Did you compare your son's GPA and SAT scores with to the average student scores at the school in question?
If you used other decision making criteria I would be interested if you could list them. Mt son is a 2007 and we are just starting this process.
Thank you
CalStars4:
Again, our son found a good match both academically and athletically in the South on his own.
gotwood4sale:
How did you define " a good match academically"
Did you compare your son's GPA and SAT scores with to the average student scores at the school in question?
If you used other decision making criteria I would be interested if you could list them. Mt son is a 2007 and we are just starting this process.
Thank you
Good, bad or indifferent, we signed up our 08 with NCSA over a year ago. In our initial meeting, my son was very specific about wanting to go to schools from VA down to FL and over to TX. Not interested in NE, MW or out West.
While I agree with many of the posts here, I do have to say that NCSA has delivered as promised so far.
When the baseball coordinator sends out his profile (3X since we signed up), we have seen an influx of camp invites and questionaires. I would say 90% have come from the region we requested (a few from PA, MD, NJ and NY). Most of the communications have been from D3s, some D2s and D1s.
Again, I agree with most of the comments here that $$$ could have been spent better, but to this point I don't feel disappointed and/or deceived.
While I agree with many of the posts here, I do have to say that NCSA has delivered as promised so far.
When the baseball coordinator sends out his profile (3X since we signed up), we have seen an influx of camp invites and questionaires. I would say 90% have come from the region we requested (a few from PA, MD, NJ and NY). Most of the communications have been from D3s, some D2s and D1s.
Again, I agree with most of the comments here that $$$ could have been spent better, but to this point I don't feel disappointed and/or deceived.
jbbaseball,
For my own curiosity, what did the company do that you could not have done on your own??
For my own curiosity, what did the company do that you could not have done on your own??
ghouse-
To be frank, with you, probably nothing.
The initial conversation they had at my house with my son and myself, we probably could have done internally. The coordinator did cite some stats and facts that were eye opening for my son regarding athletes that get college $$$, as well as some of the facts about baseball $$,(again not that I couldn't have found them myself)
We could probably send out his profile ourselves. Besides working full time, I was also starting up my own business. So I felt I did not have the time to devote doing the "grunt work".
Probably could have spent $$$$ better, oh well.
To be frank, with you, probably nothing.
The initial conversation they had at my house with my son and myself, we probably could have done internally. The coordinator did cite some stats and facts that were eye opening for my son regarding athletes that get college $$$, as well as some of the facts about baseball $$,(again not that I couldn't have found them myself)
We could probably send out his profile ourselves. Besides working full time, I was also starting up my own business. So I felt I did not have the time to devote doing the "grunt work".
Probably could have spent $$$$ better, oh well.
if it worked for you it aint money wasted