I am so glad you said that about NCSA. I too received a call and was feeling very guilty for not following through with them as I could not afford the fee. I was afraid I was depriving my child of a leg up on the whole college soccer thing.
Glad I made the right choice.... I can do the work myself and do not mind doing so.

I have a similar question.

An organization called 365Sports contacted my son (a high school junior). They mailed him a letter telling him that "they heard about him" (from whom, they don't say) and invited him to a meeting. At this meeting, they will discuss joining their club and participating in tournaments (including one in England).

They implied, among other benefits, that joining this organization will increase his exposure to college coaches.

I am skeptical because A) I don't see American college soccer coaches going to England to recruit American players and B) they are raffling IPADs to people who attend their meetings (selling timeshares too?).

My question is, does anyone have any experience with this orgainzation OR any experience with an organization that has made similar claims?

Thank You,

Pat

Your first warning sign that something is not quite right here is that they "heard about your player" without a reference to how they picked up his name. When was the last time you sent an unsolicited letter or made a phone call to a referenced person without identifying the source?

Your second warning is the England trip for a potential college recruitment exercise. Our guess is that not many US college coaches would be on the sidelines in a recruitment event.

In their own words, "365 Sports is an immersive summer athletic experience unlike any other available to elite athletes. We bring individual athletes together into teams, conduct a training camp and compete in international tournaments and festivals." Translation : We generate cash for ourselves.

Notice on the web site that you cannot tell how much the fees for their services would be? Well, our BOTN Industries research has uncovered a parent who went as far as the package pricing discussion : $3,599.00 for a volleyball related recruitment/tournament package. Yes, you read that right.

The one thing for sure as you are seeing with aggressive marketing from some companies : big price tags come with these big promises. Delivery of value is another question. Save your money and work with your existing club, particularly as a junior year player.

BOTN Industries strongly urges you and your family to steer clear of this telemarketing effort.

Many many thanks,

The most difficult part was telling my son that this organization is not what they represent themselves to be. Especially after they cited him as an elite athlete. Who wants to be told that praise from an “international organization” was, in fact empty praise?

They obviously found him from a social networking website for potential college athletes which he joined some months ago.

Warning to parents. If your child athlete aggressively puts himself/herself “out there”, it will likely draw the attention of some unwanted players.

Thanks again,

Pat

We just got a similar email today, my son is only in 8th grade plus the information was several teams ago. Someone paid for a list of players, or got them from a tournament.

After reading through the thread I find I am a bit confused. I read that DI schools are signing kids at the beginning of junior year yet they are not allowed to talk to the student athlete until the end of their junior year?
If I have misunderstood or if someone and offer some clarification I would be appreciative.Also when is the right time for a club or high school coach to reach out to a college coach on behalf of the student athlete?

Thanks

coaches get around it by contacting the club coach and asking for the player to call them. This way the player is technically initiating the contact. You still can't talk to them in person if you see a coach at a tournament. My daughter was contacted january of her sophmore year and has kept in contact with coach as he requested. She finally commited november of her junior year after visiting several schools on visits she set-up. when it came time to make a decision, she was ready because of her early due diligence. I am glad she didn't wait to visit after the offers.

Did she set up the visits with the coach as unofficial visits or did she visit as a normal perspective student?

Official visits are not permitted until senior year. A potential player can have any number of unofficial visits.

Generally, the test that divides official from unofficial visits is whether or not the institution itself had a role in arranging the visit. (Note : this is too simple a definition, but will help provide a rule of thumb.)

If you need more details and a cheat sheet on this subject, read through the first few posts in our NCAA Rules and Regulations thread on the College Board.

Some of the visits were encouraged by the coaches and some others we just drove through campuses and watched training sessions. Coaches want players who are excited about the school.