NCSA service undecided

You've read the thread on this board that was begun 2-3 days ago and is about 8 topics down from this one?

Please research this topic before you go out and spend 1,495 dollars on something like this. Coaches are looking for the same things in position players and have the same needs they have always had. I will stop there and just say, anyone will take your money if your going to give it to them.

For $1500 it seems you could take that money and buy your own video camera, take your own videos, and use the remainder for a showcase / camp or two, and the postage for your sending video and information to colleges that might be a fit for you.

Don't expect to pay anyone and then expect THEM to find the right fit for you to possibly extend your playing career. That's your job.

Go to the homepage here, not the forums. Read ALL the info on the Recruiting link.

Go from there. That has enough information to keep you plenty busy.

We looked into the NCSA, but it was way too pricey.

We have had very good luck without it. You make your own video's,as ctandc points out.

Your own leg work will pay off. My son would make cover letters to each recruiting coach he sent his information too. This was very successful in getting noticed.

Long story short, I believe you can get the same or better results with a lot of elbow grease.

Just make your own videos and upload them to youtube. Then you can email coaches with a specific link and save yourself $1500.

Everything you will ever need to assist you in the recruting process is here. You want to manage the process yourself anyway as it is too personal.

Good Luck!

quote:

Originally posted by dazed63:
We have had very good luck without it. You make your own video's,as ctandc points out.

As so many successful individuals say afterwards, "you make your own luck;" and that's precisely what the sons of contributors like ctandc, dazed63, and warningtrack...along with thousands of others who have relied on this extraordinary site...have done.

As mystifying as it might be, first-hand testimonials like theirs are insufficient, evidently; given the persistence with which questions about these services crop up here. Just as evidently, we need to quit tiptoeing around this topic.

Recruiting services prey upon the insecurity, gullibility, and vanity of certain players' parents. They target the parents of players whose capabilities are at the margin of acceptable performance at the college level. The parents of players whose capabilities lie comfortably within college baseball's requirements rarely, if ever, consider recruiting services because the well-established process of recruiting players does a good job of identifying and reaching them.

Having read and heard the comments of parents susceptible to these services over the years, I've detected a common theme. They tend to liken the services provided by them to those available to professional prospects. After all, they reason, if Joe Pro can benefit from being represented by an IMG, doesn't it make sense to have an NCSA representing my Johnny? ...and, oh, by the way, won't it sound neat on the high school sideline this coming season when I tell the other parents that Johnny's "represented" by Universal Recruiting Service?

A couple of important differences completely discredit the analogy: (1) Joe Pro is an identified professional prospect and (2) the recruiting services expect their money upfront. Significantly, the recruiting service's fee is fixed. They get paid regardless of Johnny's outcome. Guess what? The advisor/agent gets paid AFTER the signing bonus has been determined; based upon a percentage of the amount negotiated.

Here's a tip: The next time you're approached by a recruiting service, tell them you'll pay them a percentage of the scholarship they negotiate on behalf of Johnny; and they'll receive their portion each time he receives his scholarship check at the beginning of the academic year. You might find that their previous ardor for Johnny's skills wanes some.

If you believe nothing else in this post, believe this: Coaches mistrust recruiting service recommendations. They are routinely viewed as a last resort measure by a marginal player's parents to wrest a roster spot from them. Coaches know that recruiting service information goes out to anyone and everyone who might possibly have a need for whatever the touted player offers; that it has little, if anything, to do with the player's genuine interest in attending their college and being a contributor to their program.

This website is filled with all the information that a bona fide college prospect needs to secure a spot on a team appropriate to his skill level. If the player reads it and follows it, he will make his own luck...and his family will be $1,500 better off.

Just to clarify, I'm just going off what I've learned in the past firsthand with other kids and what I've learned here and other parents who have already plowed the road.

My son is a 2015. We'll be dealing with this soon enough. And the only thing I would be spending $1500 on is a car to carry him away from my house.

Thanks for the clarification, ctandc.

Actually, even better. Your son will benefit early in the process from what you've learned here.

All the best to him!

quote:

Originally posted by Mleon:
Just had my NCSA interview and was impressed by the various features on their website. Have used Berecruited.com since May and only have 6 coaches views with no feedback. They want $1495 at NCSA for a highschool Junior. Features I thought interesting: What colleges are looking for right now by position, was told they send your video link to coaches they feel you have a match with. I've read most of the feedback on this site and was just wondering if any one had a recent positive result using this service.

dont be bummed out about the coach views on be recruited...YOU have to be PRO ACTIVE.get his schedule up there on the front page,start a blog and email the coaches where he will be showcasing and playing,,get video up there and start inviting coaches.Prep baseball report is another good investment from what I'm told by college Coaches.I would try PBR and bang on the berecruited sight a little more.

But if you have to email college coaches to generate traffic on a recruiting website, why not just provide a youtube link and some attachments (bio, schedules, etc.) in your email?

I have a friend who plunked down the 1500 for NCSA and they would not use the video's he provided.

They did "suggest" where to go to get the quality they wanted.

We did the upgrade on BeRecruited and it has gotten my son a few serious calls/enquiries. Also the upgrade came with a discount card which we have used at motels on college trips.

Thanks for all the good feedback. I wasn't about to plunk down $1500 for just about everything I'm getting on Berecruited, however, I just wanted to see if what I suspected was correct. Also when I mentioned to the interviewer that we've been attending College camps of specific schools we were interested in he said he wasn't a big fan of College camps but prefered camps with more than one school. The college camps always have additional DII and DIII coaches there as well.

I do not want anyone to think for one second I am trying flame on anyone or talk down to anyone. Thats not me. Thats not how I treat people. But I have to say this.

I have coached in hs for many years. Coached summer teams for many years. I have never had a player use a recruiting service. I have never had a player that wanted to play in college, who had the desire to play in college, not play in college.

First of all you have to know what your limitations are. Academics, financial, distance from home you are willing to go to play and attend school, ability.

Academics - This will eliminate certain schools. Either those you can not get into or those you do not want to attend because they dont match your standards.
Financial - Some are 50 60k a year and then add on out of state tuition. Lets face it some schools will be checked off the list based on costs.
Location - Do you need to know about the school in Idaho if you live in NY if your not willing or wanting to go to school that far away? Do you need to target west coast teams if that is something your not willing or capable of doing?
Ability- Do you need to send emails, videos, etc to UNC LSU SO Car, if your not a premier level player? If your not the best player you know? If your not a stud? If you were one of these players would you need a recruiting service? If your ability sets no limitations on your ability to choose a school then all you need to do is attend one high level showcase and the offers will be there right away. Guys with that type of ability do not need recruiting services.

So if were talking about a player that wants to get the word out there about himself then how can you do that without spending thousands of dollars to get 25% or less to play college baseball? And at a school that is the right fit for you? Both as a student and player? Do you need a recruiting service to do that for you? What can they do that you can not do for yourself?

Based on your academic goals and ability - Based on your athletic goals and ability - Based on where you are willing to go geographically - Narrow down your search. Target those schools. Go to their camps so they can see you play. So you can see the campus. So you can see if its a good fit for you. Play on a team that plays in venues that is a good fit for you. Contact the schools that you have IDed as possible good fits for you and then go from there.

If the D3 schools in your area have seen you and they dont have interest, do you think there is a good chance that D1 one thousand miles away might not? Is there really a reason to pay someone to do something for you that you can do for yourself?

I just dont understand why people think a recruiting service is going to help them find the right fit. Does anyone here know of a kid that used a recruiting service and they found the right fit for them? And they did it doing something they could not have done?

Help me out on this one because I have never heard of it happening. You would be much better served by contacting a guy like TR Hit. Contacting a quality hs coach in your area that would give your son a personal evaluation of his ability. And then asking him for help and assistance. Going to a college camp and asking for a personal evaluation of your sons ability. Going to a PG showcase and getting a professional evaluation of your son ability. And then going from there.

You can not pay for something you can not earn on the field. Maybe some will read this and see this as being cruel and insensitive. I just can't stand to see people throw hard earned money away thinking that somehow its going to get them something they otherwise could not have gotten.

Coach May,
Amen!

Coach May
That might be the best post I have ever read on this forum. Its not cruel or insensitive, its the truth and it was free of charge!!!

Good post Coach May, seen it myself. The really good players have no problem being noticed.

quote:

Originally posted by Sandman:
But if you have to email college coaches to generate traffic on a recruiting website, why not just provide a youtube link and some attachments (bio, schedules, etc.) in your email?

because the sight has all the coaches names emails programs etc..and from there you just send your info.

I suppose that might save a little time not having to lookup the coach's email address on their school site. But wouldn't most recruits be checking out school/team websites anyway - reviewing rosters, records, etc.?

Maybe to some, this little time saver is worth the price. To each their own.

quote:

Originally posted by Sandman:
I suppose that might save a little time not having to lookup the coach's email address on their school site. But wouldn't most recruits be checking out school/team websites anyway - reviewing rosters, records, etc.?

Maybe to some, this little time saver is worth the price. To each their own.

it shows an interest on being recruited.if you dont think its worth the money having all those school coach email right there you are mistaken.If you get any type of conatact or emails or phone calls the price is well worth it..it only takes ONE to make it worth it

Frankly, Athnet, I've been reluctant to respond to your post out of the knowledge that if I or anyone else responded, we'd reinforce the obvious marketing intent of your post by calling greater attention to it. However, I finally concluded that some of the claims in your post and on your website need to be addressed.

Just as frankly, it's hard to know where to begin:

(1) "This is coming from a person whose recruiting advice is completely FREE but still understands the benefits that a recruiting service can offer a family."

Is this because you're choosing to play the semantics game with us; distinguishing between the sort of "recruiting advice" you dole out on your website as opposed to your "recruiting service?"

If what you do for recruited athletes is free, why would your testimonials include an allusion to the "investment" players' parents can make in your service; and why would a parent's testimonial claim that it was "well worth the money" in helping secure a bowling scholarship for her daughter?

Similarly, why would you be inclined to show the Better Business Bureau's logo on your site? Is the BBB tracking and reporting on websites that hand out free advice now?

Be honest. Your free advice is aimed at helping convince naive parents (i.e. parents who don't take the time to educate themselves on a site such as this one) that without the "advantages" of a recruiting service such as yours, the college recruiting process is a perilous one.

(2) "FACT: Currently NCSA represents 1 in every 6 NCAA athletes which is a far cry from only working with those mediocre athletes as mentioned in previous threads."

First of all, you're the only one on this thread who has used the term "mediocre." Compared to all high school athletes, no college athlete is "mediocre."

If, instead, you're referring to my post, I used the phrase "players whose capabilities are at the margin of acceptable performance at the college level." That's not "mediocre." It's simply the players who are the most uncertain of their prospects of being offered a partial athletic scholarship.

Moreover, the "fact" that "NCSA represents 1 in every 6 NCAA athletes" does nothing to refute my own and others' contention that recruiting services exist to attract players at the margin. The last time I checked, "1 in every 6" equated to ~17%; a percentage that, arguably, applies to the percentage of players who are at the margin.

Finally on this point, if you're really convinced that recruiting services apply to players at all levels, why don't you perform the following simple study to bolster your contention: Your website identifies 22 Division I baseball programs that you deem to be "top" programs. Take your extensive database of email addresses and email the recruiting coordinator at all 22 schools and ask them the following question: "Of the student-athletes you have recruited over the past 5 years, how many of them were initially brought to your attention by a national recruiting service?" Then, once you receive the avalanche of positive responses, you can add them to your testimonial page; which currently suffers from its obvious lack of such programs.

(3) "NCSA has a coaching network of over 35,000 coaches ..."

So what?

Since the NCSA (like your own service) accepts fees from recruited players in any sport that offers scholarships (see "bowling" above), are we to be impressed by that number? How many of those are baseball coaches; the only ones pertinent to this website? ..and, by the way, this very website provides contact information for all of the baseball coaches at all 4-year and JUCO levels.

(4) "Even with all the tools a company like NCSA offers the athlete and their family still has work to do!"

Really? You're joking, right? After forking over $1,500?!

It's not really that I dispute your assertion; but, if I'm going to hand over the equivalent of $125 a month spread over a year all at one time...up front..., I'm not sure that I want to hear that all I'm getting in return is a "TOOL [THAT IS] MADE TO BE USED!"

(5) "Start with looking into at least 100 schools, expect that 10-20% will show some interest."

I'm sorry. I'm confused here.

Are you actually talking about investigating 100 schools; or are you referring to the process of contacting 100 schools? If it's the former, I don't know about the need to actually investigate as many as 100; but, I would agree that it makes sense for a player and his parents to invest some time in figuring out which schools make sense for them. Of course, there are plenty of (free) resources geared to helping any college-bound student do that (including this website); and, after it's been accomplished, it puts the player and his parents in a much better position from which to follow the process so well described in a variety of ways on this site.

If, on the other hand, you're talking about contacting 100 schools, I'm going to tell you that you're out of your ever-loving mind. All a shotgun approach to the recruiting process does is confirm that the recruit (or his recruiting service) is directionless when it comes to his recruiting process. I mean, how impressive it must be to any head coach or lead recruiter to know that he's one-in-a-hundred!

(6) "You should never wait more than 48 hours to return an email or phone call, coaches have short attention spans and they will move on quickly. Visit campuses often and be upfront with your expectations. More importantly, be upfront with yourself on your abilities as well; not everyone is good enough to play D1 and a full ride is Baseball is rare unless your a pitcher. Understand and research the school and baseball program so you can actively engage a coach and he can see you truly are interested. FIND A WAY TO SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM OTHER SCHOLARSHIP CANDIDATES. If truly interested in the program, be open to walking on and understand the financial obligation that might bring."

Yep.

Virtually every one of those points (which are echoed by the "free advice" portion of your website) have been made over and over on this very website. Not only that, but thousands of players and their parents have read and followed freely available advice such as this and done very well in the recruiting process.

A suggestion, though: Take out the part about pitchers being the exception to the absence of full athletic scholarships. Canvas as many head coaches as you like, and you'll find that they're very rare among pitchers, as well. Higher percentages for the best ones, certainly. Full, no.

In the same vein, I'd suggest that you re-work the following FREE advice from your website: "The majority of coaches who attend camps and showcases are there only to watch players they have already had contact with." Of course it's true that coaches invariably have a list of players with whom they're familiar made out in advance of their attendance at a showcase; but, players are identified by recruiters all the time at showcases. It's ludicrous to think or suggest otherwise.


So, there you have it, Athnet: more free advertising for you on this website. So, since I've given you the benefit of calling more attention to your post, I'll conclude by re-posting a couple of points I made earlier in this very thread:

"Recruiting services prey upon the insecurity, gullibility, and vanity of certain players' parents. They target the parents of players whose capabilities are at the margin of acceptable performance at the college level. The parents of players whose capabilities lie comfortably within college baseball's requirements rarely, if ever, consider recruiting services because the well-established process of recruiting players does a good job of identifying and reaching them."

...

"If you believe nothing else in this post, believe this: Coaches mistrust recruiting service recommendations. They are routinely viewed as a last resort measure by a marginal player's parents to wrest a roster spot from them. Coaches know that recruiting service information goes out to anyone and everyone who might possibly have a need for whatever the touted player offers; that it has little, if anything, to do with the player's genuine interest in attending their college and being a contributor to their program."

Prepster, well said my friend. I am of the notion that most "recruting" services are for the marginal player who's parents are duped into paying an obscene amount of money because the are naive.

I say find one that offers you a source or outlet to post your own material, info videos and/or pictures for very little to no cost. After all, you are going to have to provide that same material to the big dollar companies anyway. Don't be afraid to do a little work yourself.

I find myself in the middle of marketing my 2104. It is all new to me, it's a lot of work, but it's kinda fun and worth it. Sites like this are v ery valuable, as that it gives you access to a lot of people who have been there and done that.

I'm not interested in attacking, but I do understand where "Fungo" is coming from.

More than anything, I looked at your site and didn't see much, if any, advertising.

You mentioned you do not receive kick backs for recommending customers to others. And you mentioned you do not charge for your service. So I am very curious, how do you exist? If you folks are doing this without any compensation, my hat is off to you.

I think many people think the way I do when it comes to certain things. I know we do lots of showcase type events, but there's a showcase on every street corner these days. So I don't like the name "Showcase".

Recruiting services have the same reputation for much the same reasons. I am one that does believe NCSA is the best. However, I cringe whenever I hear the words "Recruiting Service".

Truth is most people do not need a Recruiting Service or a Showcase.

What I'm saying is that, just like Showcases, Recruiting Services, can best be described in this way.

99% give the others a bad name!

$1,500??? Wow! Honestly, go to that schools camp. If your good, the coach will offer you at the end of the camp; end of story. Many, many stories of this happening. In fact, I don't know of any other way that it does happen. Showcases are for fun, really. All those internet sites (free ones) are also for fun. If you were a coach or an employer, would you hire, or recruit anyone from a letter, video or internet site. No, you want to see this person in-person. See them perform. Their camp is an opportunity for them to see you as many times as they want in specific situations.

COASTAL--I HAVE TO DIAGREE WITH YOU REGARDING COLLEGE CAMPS---UNLESS THEY KNOWYOU AND YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC INVITE THEY WILL NOT EVEN KNOW YOU ARE THERE

In full disclosure (ha ha), we belong to Perfect Game. I do know that how a player gets evaluated is important to college coaches (by Perfect Game). Many reference the PG ranking of signee's on their schools website. Let me emphasize that if you love baseball, you'll love going to watch a showcae or two. I have gone to watch other players and now its time to watch my own son. Looking forward to having fun. (you could go to 2 PG events and a couple of college camps with that $1,500....)

I didn't mean to be negative. I guess I just come from a different perspective in the south. The kids I have coached already have an idea which schools they want to target. They have a realistic idea of their abilities because of the competition down here. If they are a pitcher throwing in the 90's, they will get an opportunity at **** school. If they are high 80's, then, **** school. If they hit bombs with bat exit velo of 100 or more **** school. 80 or more, **** school. All-State player **** school and so on; etc. It is usually more about academic fit, location, cost and other issues. These are all questions you ask at camp once the coach guns your gas or watches you hit bombs.

many camps are handled by volunteer coacheswho cannotechnically recruit---as for competition georgia doesnot have a corner on the market

First off right up front let me tell you I run a
<shudder> recruiting service *********.com. But I did want to chime in on this thread, I agree completely that there is nothing my site or any other site does for stutdent athletes that parents cannot do on thier own. But what I would add is that many parents dont have a clue where to start, how to approach the process etc etc.

For me this is where a service like mine comes in. Yes there is cost involved, but if you think that camps, combines etc. are really EFFECTIVE then either you are misinformed or your experience was unique. My son, was a high school allstar, played in the Shrine Bowl, was invited to several camps sponsored by local schools. And my experience was that it was a meat market. Certainly there were kids that got noticed, and generally those kids were the very exceptional, either size or speed wise. For everyone else, it was mostly a waste of time, a good experience, but not an effective way to get a middle of the road (size wise) athlete.

I will never agree that having a few coaches (who are seeing possibly hundreds of kids at a camp) is a more effective way of getting your child noticed as apposed to having a service that allows you to send videos, stats etc. directly to the coach in a stylistic email.

I personally got my son offers in less than a day using this methology, and hence its why I started the service. Is there more to it than that? Of course, parents and students need to educate themselves, you do need to decide where you want to play, who offers the best education for you and finally who has the best offer concerning scholarship offers.

Theres tons of work, education etc. that needs to be done, no doubt, but for many parents, help is needed and like anything else in life, usually that costs you something.

Didnt meant to offend anyone, just my thoughts on this thread.

So they decide what colleges are looking for right now? I dont like that part of it. Im looking at escout4u.com, anyone have info. on them? They say they can send my videos out to coaches across the country, they claim this increases my exposure, and chances etc. Also, seems to be allot about NCSA on here, anyone have another site they used with success?

We used and liked www.getmynameout.com

We set up 2 sites for two son's. One needed te exposure more than the other.

I know that offers were made based on recruiters viewing the sites.

If I could do it all over again I would do everything the same way. We built very through web pages with linked imbedded showing fielding and hitting. It was not free, but it was not overly expensive.

The database with the coach's email addresses was very helpful.

One son went on to play 4 years in college, with several strong offers.

The other blew out his arm and had to hang up his cleats.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
I HAVE TO DIAGREE WITH YOU REGARDING COLLEGE CAMPS---UNLESS THEY KNOWYOU AND YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC INVITE THEY WILL NOT EVEN KNOW YOU ARE THERE

Not sure where this is coming from. My 2015 and I attended the first D1 College camp last month. As I sat for two days with a large group of parents watching 80 or so "athletes" we could identify the handful of players who excelled by their standout performance on the field. Our assessments were confirmed as we watched those few players being approached by coaches. You are correct in that if you’re not a standout ball player (90-95% of attendees in our case) you won't be noticed.

Sprawl-I couldn't agree with you more. Parents pay for reputable services for their children all the time especially when these services relate to enhancing a child's well being, whether it be tutoring for a school class or for the SAT's or ACT's. With regard to athletics we pay or have paid for skills training with regard to hitting and/or pitching. And how about the ever increasing popularity of the personal training business. My point being that when we determine that certain additional services from skilled professionals are required to help our children be successful with things that they already work so hard in, and those services are offered by a reputable source, there is nothing wrong with paying for these services.
My personal experiences with my son were similar to yours. We did a lot of research to find a list of schools that would satisfy our requirements from an academic standpoint first, and then put in countless hours to get the exposure we needed to obtain an opportunity to workout in front of one of the coaches or his staff at one of these select institutions. And to top it off, we had a small time frame to get this done. (My son had experienced an injury during the summer between junior and senior year which limited his ability to showcase during that time frame. He worked extremely hard to get himself back into both physical and baseball shape during this time period so that he could be afforded the opportunity to be able to showcase) In the end he was successful which is a clear indication that "HARD WORK PAYS OFF". Subsequent to these events, I too developed "College Baseball Placement" collegebaseballplacement.com so that I could utilize what I learned through the whole process to be able to help other student athletes go on to be successful in obtaining their goal to play college baseball. Needless to say, I am always happy to communicate advise or ask questions where practical to any bloggers on this site. In addition, there are many other experienced people who offer great advice in many disciplines. The bottom line is we are all trying to help our kids be successful through the experiences we developed through the love we have for our kids and the love we have for baseball. All the best and a happy and healthy New Year to all!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Otis:
Sprawl-I couldn't agree with you more. Parents pay for reputable services for their children all the time especially when these services relate to enhancing a child's well being, whether it be tutoring for a school class or for the SAT's or ACT's. With regard to athletics we pay or have paid for skills training with regard to hitting and/or pitching. And how about the ever increasing popularity of the personal training business. My point being that when we determine that certain additional services from skilled professionals are required to help our children be successful with things that they already work so hard in, and those services are offered by a reputable source, there is nothing wrong with paying for these services.
My personal experiences with my son were similar to yours. We did a lot of research to find a list of schools that would satisfy our requirements from an academic standpoint first, and then put in countless hours to get the exposure we needed to obtain an opportunity to workout in front of one of the coaches or his staff at one of these select institutions. And to top it off, we had a small time frame to get this done. (My son had experienced an injury during the summer between junior and senior year which limited his ability to showcase during that time frame. He worked extremely hard to get himself back into both physical and baseball shape during this time period so that he could be afforded the opportunity to be able to showcase) In the end he was successful which is a clear indication that "HARD WORK PAYS OFF". Subsequent to these events, I too developed "College Baseball Placement Services"collegebaseballplacement.com so that I could utilize what I learned through the whole process to be able to help other student athletes go on to be successful in obtaining their goal to play college baseball. Needless to say, I am always happy to communicate, advise, or ask questions where practical to any bloggers on this site. In addition, there are many other experienced people who offer great advice in many disciplines. The bottom line is we are all trying to help our kids be successful by utilizing the experiences we developed through the love we have for our kids and the love we have for baseball. All the best and a happy and healthy New Year to all!

I thought I'd pass on my experience with NCSA after my son became a member a few months ago.

While 2014 is not a D1 prospect, I believe he can compete for a spot on a D3 roster. This season will be pivotal for him since he has only played JV, but within a very competitive HS program. If he earns significant innings (he is a RHP), I believe he will be more actively recruited, but who knows. Of course, he will need to play in showcase tournaments this summer.

2014 is at the very top of his class in a big school and will graduate with a STEM diploma and likely high AP honors. This, combined with hopefully exceptional SAT/ACT will make him a top applicant at some of the better universities.

Why did we go NCSA? I'm sure there was some element of literally buying into the dream, but my wife and I believed that NCSA membership would draw our son more directly into the recruiting process as well as increase his accountability for success/failure. We also believed that his academic profile would draw interest from coaches.

Our results so far are mixed, but it's still early for a 2014 D3. We are not getting the kind of profile view traffic we expected yet even though we have "connected" with dozens of schools. The resources on the site, especially the videos, provide an excellent background to the process. The database of schools is comprehensive, although nothing you can't assemble yourself with time and effort. I feel that the "matching" process leaves much to be desired. Even with preferences set (e.g. highly selective academics, engineering), we are getting matched with schools that are not an academic fit. Regardless, 2014 contacts the schools he wants anyway. The ability to get advice from your assigned recruiting coach is excellent, and the help we have gotten thus far has been prompt, professional, and well-versed. Basically, NCSA "holds your hand" through the process, but indeed, the student/athlete needs to take charge to yield results.

We did not pay $1500 by the way. We have the mid-tier service and it was discounted to $1000. Why? Because we balked at the price. It's negotiable.

The jury is still out for us. If 2014 uses the network to its fullest extent and he is successful in getting multiple offers that can be weighed, it will have been worthwhile.

Now, if someone were to ask what's a better use of your money - NCSA or attending camps, I might be inclined to say the latter right now provided those camps are at schools where he wants to attend AND where he can play AND where he would be an academic fit. But for 2014, most of the schools on the top of his list are pretty far away.

Our HS has a single D1 player graduating in 2013. They worked their asses off in the recruiting process despite his obvious talents and scouting draw. I wonder if NCSA would have made any difference for them. Perhaps, but the end result was still what they hoped for.

prepster I think will agree that the vital exposure is on the field where you can be seen and evaluated

Hey Sprowl,
I have had experience with escout4u.com. You do need to educate yourself! I played in high school, was a all star selection and played in the shriners all star bowl for high school players. I didn’t have a clue how or when to get recruited and I didn’t get any offers. But after my senior year my dad used the escout4u.com system and I got a lot of interest, and accepted an offer at a local division II school. I think their system works really well. Good luck, and start early, like in your sophomore or junior year if possible.

Wanted to get in my 2 cents worth on NCSA...

 

1 - The good:  I am getting insights information from the site and emails pertaining very important topics (what to ask during a visit, what NOT to ask, Tips, etc).  Please NOTE I am getting these for FREE!  Yes - they want me to sign up my kid but I'm not going to place that much money in one person's hands and then sit back and expect coaches to come beat down my door.  REALITY: My son is not an out right STUD (for pitchers 90+) - there are few of them and once word gets out all the college coaches know.  Mine flies just under the radar.  Not enough to have PG gloating over them but enough to garner attention from D1 and D2 coaches. 

 

2 - The bad:  First off $1500....Second the impression that you give them money and they do ALL the work.  With teams I expected coaches to go out there promote your kid and get them scholarships (makes them look better right?).  Coaches help - however YOU need to get the ball rolling.  YOU need to be in charge of who and how you recruit yourself.  You also need to decide what is the best fit.  If Johhny was left to decide, he may go somewhere that either has no degrees he likes (just cause he likes the team) or if someone else is promoting you it may be becuase they can get you a 30% scholarship for the first year - however its at a $60,000 school.

 

Bottom line - Don't expect others to do your work for you.  Coaches help but work best when called upon to ask about.  Your HS and Summer / Travel coach will know a lot more about your son than a recruiting agency and coaches know that.

 

If NCSA was $149 - then maybe consider what it offers for the cost.  But $1495 is a much different story.

 

Target your schools and your showcases.  Do your own homework.  Hard work is rewarded.