Episode 71: Pursuing College Athletics

Episode 71

• Episode 71 Transcript

  [INTRODUCTION]

  [00:00:07] BHA: We know how much college athletics can factor into a student's college journey. With 27 Division 1 sports teams and even more ways to play recreationally, Bucknell attracts numerous talented athletes every year.

  [00:00:19] BT: For recreational players, pursuing a sport can be as easy as signing up. For those who are more competitive, the process is more complex. I'm Brooke Thames from Bucknell University, and in today's episode of College Admissions Insider, we're exploring the different ways students can pursue athletics in college.

  [00:00:35] BHA: I'm Becca Haupt Aldredge also from Bucknell. We’ll differentiate between recreational and competitive college sports and discuss how high school athletes can try to take their game to the collegiate level.

  [EPISODE]

  [00:00:45] BT: Our guests are Natasha Wilson, senior associate director of athletics for administration at Bucknell; and a returning voice to the podcast, Chrissy Findlay, associate Dean of admissions, athletics, and transfer students. Welcome to the podcast.

  [00:00:59] NW: Hi.

  [00:01:00] CF: Thank you. Happy to be here.

  [00:01:01] BT: We're happy to have you. So, can we start off by hearing a little bit more about each of you and the work that you do here at Bucknell?

  [00:01:10] NW: Okay, sure. Well, as mentioned, I'm the senior associate director of athletics for administration. I've worked in college athletics at all levels: NCAA, Division I, II, II; also, at the NAIA level. I have worked in higher education for over 17 years. Served in many roles, previously a vice president athletic director at an NAIA institution. I started here at Bucknell in March of 2022. Now, I serve in the role for administration, but also as a liaison to admissions.

  [00:01:41] CF: I started here at Bucknell in 1997, as the head women's soccer coach, and I really enjoyed my time coaching, and felt very fortunate to be able to continue in the sport that I loved because I was an athlete my whole life, and soccer was my game and absolutely was thrilled to be able to have a career in it. So I coached for about eight seasons and decided that I needed more of a work-life balance because I'm married to a college soccer coach.

  So I decided to move to admissions because I had learned quite a bit about that career while I was here, had a lot of connections and thought that I would really enjoy that aspect of my professional life. I really feel fortunate to have a coaching career and an admissions and enrollment management career here. So I've had a variety of responsibilities in admissions through the years. And currently, I'm working with transfer admissions, which I'm really excited about. That's a new role. But for the last 15 years, I have really enjoyed my role as a liaison to athletics.

  [00:02:48] BHA: So, it sounds like we invited the right people to this podcast, with a wealth of knowledge on the subject. When we say “college athletics,” I think one thing that comes to mind is varsity-level sports, football, basketball, maybe soccer as the big sport at some schools. But is that the only way to get involved in athletics in college?

  [00:03:06] CF: I'll take that. There are some other organized options for students. It's really up to the student to decide the level of commitment and investment they want to have. There's intramurals, which are often organized by students who form their own teams. It’s less of a commitment, often very little financial commitment. It's more like an extracurricular activity and usually doesn't involve practice. It's really great for students who are looking for an athletic outlet, casual, and social opportunities, without the pressure. Sometimes, intramurals are offered in sports that aren't even NCAA or NAIA sports like dodgeball, football, disc golf or even cornhole, which I've heard at a lot of schools, which I think is really, really fun.

  Then, the next level is club sports. It’s a step up from intramurals in terms of organization and competitiveness, it's usually run by students for students, but under the direction of the recreation side of the athletics and recreation department at colleges and universities. It might involve trying out to join the team. It may have a coach, and some club teams might even offer the chance to compete with other colleges and universities throughout the region, state and country. So I think club sports are a great way to continue to develop skills, and fitness, and sportsmanship and enhance the whole college experience. But it is more for students who maybe aren't at the competitive level of the varsity programs, but want to continue their sport possibly, or aren't as competitive, or they just choose to not pursue the varsity level. Some club sports are even coed. There's a variety there as well.

  [00:04:51] BT: Yeah, thanks for breaking all of that down for us. I'd like to spend some time digging into the varsity sports, that more competitive level. There are different division levels and leagues that various schools play in. I've heard us already toss out NCAA, NAIA and Division I, II, and III. Bucknell, for example, is a Division I university in the Patriot League. So, Natasha, can you give us an overview of that whole landscape?

  [00:05:18] NW: Sure. I don't know if we have enough time for me to really give you an overview of the full landscape. But in terms of Division I, we're made up of about 350 schools that provide opportunities for more than 170,000 student-athletes — opportunities to compete for championships, opportunities to earn your college degree while also maybe receiving a scholarship.

  The Patriot League, for example, is one of those conferences that offers and sponsors championships. We sponsor championship competition in 24 sports: 11 for men, 13 for women. And the championship teams from 16 of the sports are guaranteed advancement into the NCAA postseason competition. So competing at the highest level of competition is definitely one of the benefits of Division I, but also not just in athletics but also in academics.

  [00:06:18] BT: That gives us an idea of Division I. But when we're talking about Division II and III, does that mean we're talking about divisions at lower levels than Division I?

  [00:06:25] NW: I mean, yes. A lot of people…When we talk Division I, Division II, and Division III, honestly, the distinction is usually, No. 1: competitiveness. And then No. 2: probably financials. A lot of your bigger state schools are members of Division I. So Penn State, for example. There are other institutions such as us, those of us who are Patriot League members, we compete at a high level athletically, but also academically, along with other institutions like the Ivy League.

  Division II may have your smaller institutions or smaller state schools. Division II, they do also offer athletic scholarships, just like Division I does. You may get more offers that combine grants and aid at a Division II versus what you may get in a full scholarship at a Division I. Then there's Division III, where Division III doesn't offer any athletic scholarships. They have other institutional aid that they can provide to student-athletes, but you won't get an athletic scholarship at a Division III level.

  [00:07:36] BHA: So regardless of the division or league that a student might be interested in playing in, most colleges and universities will recruit high school athletes for their various sports teams. That process is pretty long and somewhat complex. Let's start by establishing a timeline. How early does a student need to know that they want to play competitively in college?

  [00:07:52] CF: Well, it would be so easy if it was just a prescribed process and everybody could follow it. But just like the college search process, it really varies per student, per family and the bottom line is they just need to start when they're ready. There's just no perfect time to start, even every college program and college coach has their own unique timeline, as well as their conferences. So what we're up against these days is the fact that the recruiting process seems to be happening earlier and earlier for student-athletes, and I think social media is really putting a lot of pressure on students, and families, and college coaches to really expedite this process.

  In general, it could start as early as ninth grade where students could be thinking about the next chapter of their life as a student-athlete, may start to see themselves or feel like they're heading towards the next level of their sport. They can picture themselves as playing their sport in college. So what has to happen is they need to start researching their colleges to seek the best all-around fit. Again, that can start as early as ninth grade. They need to be looking at web pages, looking at the athletic pages, looking at the academic and admissions pages, the financial aid and social because it's all about fit at the end of the day. The comprehensive fit, that is.

  Students and families, they should be discussing the process with their high school coaches, their club coaches and really trying to, together, put a list together so they can then proceed to take their search to the next level.

  At that point, I think they need to have conversation with their high school counselor so they can start learning about the rules and the regulations that are in place. And a really great resource there is the NCAA Guide for the College-bound Student Athlete, which talks about timelines and eligibility. It’s really great resource that students, and families, and counselors can find online.

  [00:10:01] BT: What I'm hearing is that it's never really too early to start considering all of these options and for a student to ask themselves some questions about how long they'd like to play their sport and whether they'd like to take that to the next level. So at what point does the actual recruitment process start for a student in high school? The point where coaches and students come in contact? What does that typically look like?

  [00:10:25] NW: Generally, June 15 after your sophomore year is the start of the contact period for most Division I college coaches. Also, Division II as well, in which they can start talking with high school athletes. Now, coaches may look at or evaluate student-athletes prior to this, but the actual contact when they're going to send you an email, when they schedule a phone call with you, wouldn't start until June 15 after your sophomore year.

  Again, this could be in-person contacts. It could be them visiting the school, which a lot of coaches will do. They'll schedule a visit with coaches and meet student-athletes, meet with counselors, start evaluating your academic records during that time. Honestly, the face-to-face contact up until that point doesn't necessarily happen. But coaches are always watching.

  So there's other avenues that coaches may be evaluating or researching through. So recruiting services like NCSA, MaxPreps, Hudl, all of those things coaches are on and researching your athletic competitiveness and other things about you throughout your high school with your club season.

  [00:11:40] BHA: Even though that date opens up the communication process, there might be other ways that a coach is getting to know players before actually initiating that first point of contact.
  I'm sure it's really exciting for high school athletes to have a college coach begin to show interest in them. But are there ways that a student should or shouldn't be communicating with the coaches that they're in contact with?

  [00:12:01] NW: Pretty much when the contact period opens up, all communication is fair game. Prospects can contact coaches directly. They can contact them, they can DM them through social media, they can email them, they can make phone calls, and vice versa. One thing that coaches aren't allowed to do is, say a prospective student-athlete makes a post on their Twitter, the coaches cannot publicly reply to that post so that everyone can see what they're saying. They can DM and message that student-athlete, but nothing can be done to where everyone can see the conversation.

  Also, coaches can work through high school coaches or club coaches to make contact with student-athletes. Student-athletes, they can send emails. A lot of coaches, they get lots of emails, especially depending on the sport. They may get 100 emails in a day. So, it's good for prospective student-athletes to be strategic in how they are reaching out to those individual coaches or schools that they're interested in. Using your club coaches or your high school coaches to help make contact is really smart, probably can put you ahead of others on the radar in terms of recruiting.

  [00:13:20] BT: We have a good idea of what happens from a student's freshman year up until they're able to be formally recruited later on. But what about in between? Are there things that an athlete can do to increase their chances of being noticed by colleges and universities?

  [00:13:37] NW: Yes, so again, a prospect can email coaches on their own. Definitely, communicate to your club and high school coaches about the programs that you're interested in. Social media is definitely an easy way to get noticed. Posting, basically, your athletic resume or clips through social media is an easy way for coaches to see what you're doing and see it in real time. Just make sure that whatever you're posting is appropriate, and you don't harm your personal brand in the process of trying to use your social media to get seen and get recruited. There are definitely lots of student-athletes who have lost scholarships because of what they've posted on their social media.

  [00:14:22] CF: I think another way to use social media is to also get to know coaches and teams through their social media as well. So I think that's also a great resource for a student-athlete to get to know a program.

  But also, I think there's a lot of…In my experience as a former coach, and my experience in admissions, and talking to families who were just trying to figure out how to start the process or what to do in the middle of the process, they can check out the college program athletic sites to get to know the team, the coaches, the stats and more. I used to have soccer camps here and, while there still are summer camps, it seems like these one-day clinics have replaced what's traditionally been summer camps for a lot of sports and showcases on college campuses. Often those events have other college coaches in attendance. And often those coaches are listed on programs and websites about these recruiting events.

  But it could be as simple as completing the online questionnaire on program websites, researching upcoming tournaments where student athletes are playing, because often they're listing what college coaches are going to be there. Athletes can reach out to the coaches and say, “I'm going to be playing at this tournament. And hopefully, you can come see me play.” I think, finally, this day and age, you can actually watch a live game on the internet, which didn't happen when I was coaching. So I think there's a lot of ways to get to know coaches and programs, but also, for coaches to get to see you not only play and compete, but learn about you and get to know you as a young person.

  [00:16:08] BHA: Let's take a moment to shed some light on the parents or family members in this process as well. We've talked about the students who might be tweeting and DMing, and going to camps and clinics, honing in on their sport and their skill. But what is the parent role in this process? And how can they support their student while also giving them room to lead and drive this experience?

  [00:16:08] NW: Yes, definitely parents are vital to the recruitment process, and it should certainly be invested. I think parents are helpful in helping a student-athlete to really focus in on things outside of the athletic competition. So, having conversations and talking about what majors are you interested in academically, what programs? What can lead to the next step in your future, whether that is a career or playing [after college]?

  
  There's all types of opportunities that a student-athlete can explore, but I think when they're being recruited, there's that tunnel vision and only focusing on, “Am I going to get to play? This a winning team.” Those are things that, yes, everyone wants to think about that. But your ultimate goal here is to get a college education. So we want you to think about those things, as well as the life-changing experiences you're going to have as a student.

  There are lots of other things that you're going to get to experience, you're going to learn, you're going to grow. And so parents can help their students think about that. Think about the culture that you want to be a part of. Think about the social experience you want to have. Yes, we want you to enjoy your playing career, but we also want you to enjoy your life in college. So it's important that students think about what type of experience do they want to have, and is this an institution that's going to give them that opportunity of being the student in the classroom, but also give them a great athletic experience outside of that?

  [00:18:17] BT: It's great that you mentioned academics there, and all of those experiences that happen outside of the sport. Because at the end of the day, an athlete has to be admitted to a college to play on its team, and they need to make sure that that college that they're admitted to is a college they want to be at. So what does that end of the recruitment process look like as far as how recruitment works alongside admissions?

  [00:18:40] CF: So it really varies among institutions and universities just vary when it comes to the commitment level to athletics. But in many cases, athletics plays a big role in meeting enrollment needs. Therefore, there's prescribed processes in place that are rooted in collaboration amongst admissions, athletics and the financial aid departments.

  They're generally called prescreening processes because we want to make sure that, academically, student-athletes are presenting compelling cases to be admitted. Because at the end of the day, they're student-athletes here. But we also know that our coaches are actively recruiting students just like the admissions office is. Again, it's about collaboration.

  Again, it really varies amongst institutions, amongst conferences and leagues, and so students need to do their research, or they just need to ask questions of coaches when they're talking to them. “How does the process work?” Because if a coach makes an offer without mentioning anything related to academics or admissions, that's a red flag. Because again, we don't want students committing to a university, to a process, when the admissibility hasn't been discussed.

  So, our process here involves coaches presenting academic credentials. Transcripts, test scores — even though we’re test-optional — potential majors. As the liaison I review them, have conversations with coaches, and make sure that these recruits are admissible. We basically clear them through the prescreening process, and then coaches proceed with their recruitment at that point.

  [00:20:32] BHA: I'm glad we're talking about the ways that the athletic process and the academic process line up. Because here at Bucknell, we take a lot of pride in our athletes and their commitment to both their athletics and academics. We actually refer to them as student-athletes, with an emphasis on the student part. Can we talk about why it's important for both college athletes and high school athletes to keep that part in mind?

  [00:20:55] NW: Yes. The ultimate goal of the college experience is graduation. And we want to provide experiences and life lessons that will help them as they pursue their future goals. We have student-athletes who major in biology, mechanical engineering, management, political science, economics, et. cetera. All of these students are pursuing these majors of interest with the idea that they're going to graduate and go into these fields.

  Here at Bucknell, we've had a league high of 176 student-athletes on our fall academic Honor Roll. In the spring, we had 517 student-athletes on the academic Honor Roll. So academics is No. 1, and No. 1 for our student-athletes. When you're coming in as a recruit, college coaches are looking at your academic record not only to see that you're admissible and can get into the institution, but they're looking at how you maintain your academic performance while you're practicing and competing. Because once you get here, it's not going to be easy, and you're going to have to manage that. Seeing how well you do that throughout high school proves to them that you can manage and you can do that here.

  Then lastly, and I know lots of people have heard this stat, but it's facts. Out of high school and collegiate student-athletes, less than 2% go pro. That's why being a student first is so important, because you're going to leave here and you're going to leave here with a future, whether that is yes, maybe playing professionally in your sport after this, or going into a career, in a field that you enjoy.

  [00:22:48] BT: I think I speak for all of us when I say that we hope that every student-athlete who wants to play in college gets everything that they hoped for and dreamed of when it comes to playing their sport, especially if they want to go pro. But that doesn't happen for everyone. So what advice do you have for students who might deal with disappointment or loss of confidence when they don't get recruited to the school they wanted to play sports for?

  [00:23:13] NW: No one wants their dreams to be crushed, or to feel that defeat, especially if you don't get admitted or get recruited into your No. 1 choice. But I think what's important for prospective student-athletes to know is there are lots of opportunities and possibilities to gain a student-athlete experience. I think it's important for parents to know also that that's another part of your role is helping your students to explore and dive into all of these other options that are out there, whether it's Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, like we've mentioned before. You can come here to Bucknell and we still have — if you're not a varsity student athlete — you have the opportunity to participate in club sports, other rec leagues that we have so that you can still participate as a student-athlete.

  I also would say, be open and don't get stuck on I have to have a full scholarship in order to participate in my sport, and think that that's the only option, because there are other scholarship opportunities out there. Some people don't offer full. Some people offer a half-scholarship, and that can at least help with college finances. There's other ways. If you don't necessarily need the scholarship, you could talk to coaches about walking onto a team, and there's been student-athletes who have walked on to teams and have gotten scholarship opportunities after they've gotten on a team, and they stay committed and dedicated to the sport.

  Then there's other ways to be involved. You may not get recruited. You can come in, you can be a team manager. There are a plethora of ways to get involved with athletics especially because we do understand that sometimes that's your motivation. That's what pushes students is being athletes. So I just would hope that prospective student-athletes don't get stuck in, “If I don't get my No. 1 choice. If I'm not recruited by this school, then everything is over.” It's not. There's so many opportunities to be involved.

  [00:25:19] BHA: Well, we're coming to the end of an episode that I've learned a ton from. I've been really excited and looking forward to this conversation, and I'd really like to leave our listeners with some encouragement. I imagine going through the recruitment process can lead some students to prioritize performance over fun. How can a high school athlete continue to find their joy in their sport while pursuing the recruitment process?

  [00:25:45] CF: I think that student-athletes need to focus on themselves and their own wellbeing. Competing always leads to some kind of stress, and it can be good. A little stress helps the body face a challenge. But too much can really just take the fun out of a sport and make it just really hard to perform and hard to enjoy their college experience. Student-athletes, they’re feeling pressure, maybe from parents or coaches, to win, win, win or having too busy of a schedule. Or maybe they're not feeling the joy in the sport anymore. So I think it's really important for student-athletes to communicate to their coaches, to their teammates, and to just talk about their mental health and their wellbeing because that's a priority. Sports are a great way to have fun. But they also teach a lot of great life lessons — working as a team, overcoming challenges, and controlling emotions and just taking pride in their own individual and team accomplishments.

  I think, going back 30 years, I loved every moment of being a student-athlete. That's probably why I got into coaching. I didn't want to let go of what I took away from that experience, and I would love for every student-athlete, nowadays to have that. That’s not always the case, it's not always perfect, and there's a lot of stress on our students, but you need to prioritize your own wellbeing because that is most important. If you don't have that balance in check, it's going to affect your collegiate experience, and you don't want to regret anything.

  [00:27:23] NW: Yes, I would agree with everything that Chrissy said. I think, for student-athletes, what's important…and again, as a former student-athlete myself, I wish I would have listened a little more about finding balance, managing the time management and prioritizing what was important. I loved my experience, I had a great time, but there were definitely stressful and challenging moments. Time management is vital and we offer lots of resources and help through academic coaching, peer mentoring. We will connect you with other places on campus to help you get through those challenging times or the stressful times. It's really important for student-athletes, as they're coming in, to understand, to take advantage of all of those resources, because all it is is we're here to help you and to make it easier.

  College athletics does require a lot of your time, commitment and dedication. But we all still want you to enjoy your campus life and what campus life has to offer. So, it's a matter of finding the balance, prioritizing the things that are important, alongside what you're doing in terms of competing in athletics.

  [00:28:42] BT: I hope those messages leave our listeners feeling really encouraged and excited about the process alongside all of the tips that you two gave about what they should expect and prioritize throughout the entire experience. So thanks for being here with us.

  [00:28:56] NW: Thanks for having us.

  [00:28:56] CF: Thank you very much. This has been fun.

  [00:28:59] BHA: And thanks to everyone out there listening. If you're a fan of the podcast, please take a moment to rate, subscribe and share this episode with the students and families in your life.

  [OUTRO]

  [00:29:08] BT: We'll be back with another episode in a few weeks. In the meantime, send your questions, comments, and episode ideas to podcast@bucknell.edu. We read every note that arrives in our inbox.

  [00:29:19] BHA: And finally, you're invited to follow Bucknell on your favorite social media apps. Just look for @BucknellU you on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok. You can also follow our student-run Instagram account which is @iamraybucknell.

  [00:29:34] BT: Until next time, keep reaching for your dreams and your dream school.

  [END]