Hi there !
Ok so I am back with a long overdue post here on my blog and I thought that today I would cover the major off-season activity involved in coaching at the university level, recruiting. Recruiting in Canada within the CIS is really a difficult process more so at some universities vs. others, because of the reality about the place that inter-university sport takes in the scope of visiblity and awareness among average canadians but also in many cases due to the expectations that potential student-athletes (and sometimes more importantly their parents) have concerning the realities of what is and isn't available and possible for recruiting purposes. The sports landscape in the US has created an expectation that schools are running around with huge checks to give student-athletes to cover tuition, books, room and board etc and that canadian schools might also be able to provide a certain compensation. However without getting too much into the details of a recent presentation that I attended where a former soccer club coach in Ontario presented his progress from encouraging players to leave Canada for the NCAA to now seeing the CIS is really a very viable and in many cases better solution, I can share the following with you. On average, 65% of all Canadian student-athletes who leave Canada for the States, return home before the end of their 2nd year. Secondly, the average scholarship available in the US yearly is around $9000, the average tuition + room and board - $25000, finally in many cases, degrees earned at many of the universities in the US are not even recoognized domestically. All that to say.. in Canada, when we recruit, we are often selling the university, the city, and the overall experience. as much as we are selling the athletics compontent. I personally try and attract student-athletes that will enjoy a rewarding overall experience on all fronts, academically, athletically and socially. I also draw the line at telling players what they want to here (how good they are, how they will get lots of playing time, how I ensure their spot on our roster) just to get them to attend Concordia. I think that we ( or at least I ) have the responsability to be as upfront and honest with potential student-athletes concerning what we can and can't offer and what the experience might or might not be like so that the individual and yes even their parents can make an informed , well thought decision. Varsity athletics is not for everyone although many look forward to it, thinking that it will be just like playing high school sports but the reality is that while there is a certain prestige, rewarding experience and even certain privileges that come with being a student-athlete at the university level, I am sure that there are a not so small number of students who can tell you that they really didn't get anything rewarding out of it and that for many reasons. Recruiting has now become a full year task, contacting coaches for referrals and references, emailing, calling potential players and their parents, attending games, attending showcases, evaluating team needs... all part of what goes into finding those players that will make the team better, both short term but also over time... then you have to balance that with not getting too many players who want to come to your university because you get them all on the roster or give them all playing time. Finally every so often, you get an email out of the blue from a potentiall strong player who on their own, thought of Concordia and wants to play on our soccer team... and you hope that this surprise player might be one that gets you closer to the main goals, playoffs and nationals... plus maybe balance out the tons of emails you get from potential student-athletes who write some messages like " I never played competitive soccer but I always thought it would be interesting" or " I am not really that good but people tell me that I am really friendly and would make a great team-mate" or even "My biggest strength as a player is that I am really hard working and have a great personality" Yup, recruiting is fun, you make some mistakes, you think you will be the coach that gets the most out of a player that no one else could, that you will be the coach that will get someone to realize their untapped potential, etc and sometimes, things come together like this past year and a great group somewhat falls in your lap (plus I would like to think I did some pretty good recruiting too) and it just gives that much more motivation to keep looking for the next great addition to the roster.
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
January 2023
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