CCO Hosts NCAA Panel, Sports Recruiting Discussed
The College Counselling Office (CCO) hosted a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) panel for students this past Thursday during department meetings. Panel members included Physical Education Teaching Intern Avery Reavill ‘12, Brandeis University Associate Head Coach of men’s soccer, Gabe Margolis and Assistant Coach of field hockey at University of New Hampshire Ross Gorham. The panel members addressed the many aspects of sports recruiting for college and answered questions asked by CCO faculty and the audience. The panel was part of the CCO’s efforts to inform prospective recruits about the process and experience both of being recruited and of being a college student-athlete.
Director of College Counselling Elizabeth Dolan explained the panel’s potential benefits for interested students. “The NCAA Panel is designed for students who are interested in competing at the collegiate level,” she said. “It is meant to give students an idea of the recruitment process, the competitive intercollegiate season, the demands of being a college student-athlete and the rules associated with the NCAA.”
She explained that the college process for an athlete can be different from that of an application process for a non-athlete. For example, athletes often enter an earlier admission cycle and are reviewed differently.
CCO works with Exeter’s varsity coaches to help athletes through the recruitment and admission processes. Dolan explained that the CCO can start working with student athletes starting when they are in tenth grade. From conducting a preliminary credential review with a coach and an admission liaison to making sure a student meets the NCAA core eligibility requirements, and many things in between, the college counselors are quite involved with the recruited student-athlete,” she said.
Dolan emphasized the role of coaches in the process. “Coaches can best support student-athletes by being knowledgeable and being engaged with a range of coaches at the division I, II, and III levels,” she said. “Knowing the differences between divisions as well as individual college sport programs can make all the difference in finding the ‘right’ coach and program for a particular student-athlete.”
Many students attended the panel in the hopes of gaining more information about a process that they were unfamiliar with. “I didn’t know a lot about recruiting so I was curious to see what I could learn during this session,” lower Elizabeth Williams said.
Prep Charlie Venci felt similarly. “I felt like it was something important to consider for my future,” he said.
Throughout the session, the members of the panel addressed concerns expressed by and provided advice to the students. Reavill explained that he hoped to share his experiences as both an Exeter graduate and a former college athlete by shedding light “on what it's like to be a student athlete navigating the recruiting process.”
Prep Andrew Sun found the advice on contacting college coaches especially helpful. “I learned how important it is to be proactive and persistent in contacting coaches because they can be very busy,” Sun said. Venci agreed with Sun and described the importance of initiating conversation with college coaches. Williams also commented on Gorham and Margolis, who coaches a division one and division three college, respectively. “The two different division coaches were helpful in comparing and contrasting the two divisions’ recruiting processes and general student-athlete life,” she said.
Reavill reflected upon his own recruitment, crediting CCO and his coaches for guiding him along the process. However, he stressed the importance of students taking the initiative throughout the process. “In the competitive world of college recruiting it is vital that the student-athlete advocate for themselves and makes sure coaches hear from them on a regular basis,” he said. Dolan echoed Reavills’ sentiments saying, “The best results for all involved is when the student-athlete drives the process.”