Parent Involvement

What parents should know?

You are being judged just as much as your children. So dress and act appropriately. Say thank you, hold doors and if you want to be thought of someone with a certain background then act like it. If you show up with designer clothes and act like you have money we take that into account when factoring in scholarships or the backgrounds of the kids we recruit.

When to get involved as a parent?

Parents ask the best questions but the role in the recruiting is to have your son or daughter own their own recruiting process. Your job is to guide from the sideline and be there for the ups and downs of the journey.

Early on:

  • Help with making a list of schools and programs based on the important factors to you and your family

  • Email editing, not writing

  • Asking good questions of your son or daughter so they think about the different factors of each school or program

  • Challenging your son of daughter to ask good questions of college coaches and their programs

  • Be there to keep them on track even if there isn’t much initial interest, recruiting is a marathon not a sprint

On a visit:

  • Parents ask the best questions but have your son or daughter ask a few of them and let them do the most speaking

  • Hold doors

  • Say thank you to coaches

  • Dress appropriately

  • Don’t talk up your son or daughter too much

Later in a recruiting process:

  • Now is the time to talk through finances when you are comfortable seeing your son or daughter at that program and school

  • Be polite and factual about your finances (the university will look up your finances in most cases anyway)

  • Schools factor in your subsequent kids that will either be going to college or be in college at the same time in providing financial aid packages

  • You can always ask for money or bring it up with a coach if your financial situation changes, we work with these things often

  • Giving a donation to a program isn’t a sign that your son or daughter will be recruited, if you want to do this wait until after your son or daughter is in the program and don’t make this known beforehand

  • Spending money (unofficial visits, recruiting assistance, SAT prep, extra soccer development) to find the right school/program and fit for your son or daughter is worth every dollar in lieu of quick decisions, pressured decisions or decisions based on not knowing enough information