by Kerry Brown NCSA Most coaches will tell you they recruit based on three factors. 1. Athletic Ability. 2. Academic Success. 3. Character. For this particular article I want to focus on number 3, character, and why it matters in your recruiting. I have heard countless athletes say “if I’m good enough, none of the other stuff will matter”. In today’s recruiting world that is just not true anymore. Character is more important than ever, and easier for coaches to gauge and research. In the world of social profiles and digital communications coaches can find out who you are as a person in a matter of seconds. However it doesn’t just take a digital profile to turn coaches off, be aware of how you act at all times. I will never forget when I was going through the recruiting process a coach from one of the all time greatest volleyball schools told me about a girl he was recruiting and why it took him 1 second to decide to stop, we will refer to him as Coach X for this story. Coach X was at a tournament watching a particular player who happened to be a ranked recruit, and on the top of his recruiting list. As he was watching the team warm up, he noticed that she walked towards the back of the court and yelled up to the stands at her mother and said “MOM.WATER.NOW”. Coach X told me that in that moment he crossed her name off his list and walked to another court to watch someone else. Coach X said that the way she spoke to her mother, and the fact that a 17 year old wasn’t responsible enough to get her own water before the match started made him realize that her .550 hitting percentage wasn’t worth a player with poor character. As NCSA’s Coach Bob Chmiel always says “College coaches want character, not characters”. Two important things to think about when deciding who you want to present yourself as. Friends and Character ****************** And remember that you can tell a lot about someone’s character by the company they are around. Even if you aren’t the one who is making bad decisions, by being around people who are making bad decisions it reflects on you and the choices you make. Social Media and Character *********************** Social media is a great place to build your character but if used irresponsibly, it could ultimately hurt your character. College coaches are using social media to get to know recruits as these platforms allow student-athletes to let their guard down. This could make you or break you so maintain a professional profile. Make good decisions and be accountable for the actions you take. In the past two years we have seen sever recruits lose their scholarship opportunities because of something they posted on social media. And always remember ****************** “Character is doing what’s right when no one else is looking” -JC Watts
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 14:10:39 +0000
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