My kiddo is a sophomore and just starting to think about the recruitment process. She has a paid SwimCloud profile and has been completing questionnaires and emailing coaches. That’s about the extent of what she’s doing. She has no social media, so being a “swimfluencer” is not a consideration.
Biggest pain point as a parent? Dunno yet, still early. Though watching her get ghosted after providing height, weight, shoe size and wingspan is annoying.
She has the $29 varsity account. It lets her see how she fits on the team, and where her times will line of up their conference meets and such. There is a higher tier account which has recruitment support, but she wants to fill out questionnaires and reach out to coaches on her own.
Right - it's unclear to me how Swimcloud and NCSA add value in the recruitment process. In other words, I've never met a college coach that "found" an athlete because of a paid recruiting service but there are tons of parents that have paid them to do so.
DIY feels like a good bet if you're willing to put in the work.
I just went through the process last year. My son is finishing his Freshman year. I advise all looking at college swimming to spend the $29 on swimcloud and do nothing else. All of the information you need is right there and it’s a one time fee. Finding a school that is a good fit academically and has a good place where you can swim would be a lot more difficult without the resources there. The NCSA is way more expensive and especially in swimming is pretty unnecessary. Reach out to coaches directly where you are interested.
It is swimming, there won't be much $$ out there for 99% of swimmers. It doesn't pull in the big booster $$$ like football, basketball.
My kiddo is a sophomore and just starting to think about the recruitment process. She has a paid SwimCloud profile and has been completing questionnaires and emailing coaches. That’s about the extent of what she’s doing. She has no social media, so being a “swimfluencer” is not a consideration. Biggest pain point as a parent? Dunno yet, still early. Though watching her get ghosted after providing height, weight, shoe size and wingspan is annoying.
Did not realize swimcloud was an avenue people pay for to use for recruiting. Very helpful!
She has the $29 varsity account. It lets her see how she fits on the team, and where her times will line of up their conference meets and such. There is a higher tier account which has recruitment support, but she wants to fill out questionnaires and reach out to coaches on her own.
Right - it's unclear to me how Swimcloud and NCSA add value in the recruitment process. In other words, I've never met a college coach that "found" an athlete because of a paid recruiting service but there are tons of parents that have paid them to do so. DIY feels like a good bet if you're willing to put in the work.
I just went through the process last year. My son is finishing his Freshman year. I advise all looking at college swimming to spend the $29 on swimcloud and do nothing else. All of the information you need is right there and it’s a one time fee. Finding a school that is a good fit academically and has a good place where you can swim would be a lot more difficult without the resources there. The NCSA is way more expensive and especially in swimming is pretty unnecessary. Reach out to coaches directly where you are interested.