• Official visits can be fun, but if you are from Hawaii, well, unless you are Division 1 (FBS in football) the visits are few and far between.   You may ask the coach if they will pay for you to visit the school.  If they say they cannot afford it (many FCS and most D2/NAIA schools will not pay for an official visit especially from Hawaii, they have very limited recruiting budgets) if it is financially feasible for your family,  ask “if my parents pay for the airfare can you host me for the weekend”.  They will be thrilled with the offer and will say yes.  They will put you up in a hotel or in dorms, feed you, give you tours of the campus and if possible, you will attend a class.

Important information on how College Coaches recruit
and what each step means to you.

Camp Invite - While it is very true that college coaches will invite players to a camp to seriously consider them for a scholarship, these same coaches have to invite a lot of other players as well.   At basketball and football programs across the country, the pay of coaches is supplemented with money that is earned during summer camps. So if a coach wants to earn his pay, he needs to get more athletes at the camp. And at the same time, what this coach can do is invite any player who was named All State or  All Conference.   If one player eventually receives a scholarship, it was worth the money to go to the camp.  In the majority of cases, the player does leave camp without a scholarship offer. (But at least they get a t-shirt)

Questionnaires - College coaches will send out questionnaires to recruits to learn more about them. When they originally start their recruiting database with thousands and thousands of athletes, the questionnaires will help them narrow things down.  Division 1 schools will send to everyone they hear of, everyone who fills out an online questionnaire. However, if the athlete does not perform at their level or it is apparent they are not a D1 player, it is likely to be their last piece of mail that they send the kid.  Additionally, if a college sends you a questionnaire and you do not return it, do not expect to ever be recruited by that program, they will assume you are not interested.  Unless you have an offer in hand, you cannot afford to lose opportunity so fill out all questionnaires you receive unless you are honest with yourself and know you can’t play at the level of a particular school.

Form Letters - These are the generic letters from college coaches that are typed up and not personal at all. It can include brief talks about the school, updates on the program, and anything generic that has nothing personal about you at all except your name on the letter.  This is another letter that could go to 1,000 different athletes throughout the country monthly. While these are nice to receive, getting one does not mean you are being recruited by this school. 

Emails - While there has been software developed recently over the last few years that allows coaches to send out mass emails to prospective recruits (Trust me, more coaches than you think use these), emails are a step above the form letter when it becomes a personal thing. If they are just email blasts with no substance included, they are the same as form letters. But if it is personal and to just you, asking you for video, asking you to call the coach, the coach setting up a call time etc,  then of course, it’s a very good thing!  

School Visits – Mostly Division 1 programs.  While it is great to say hello to a college coach visiting your school, many of these coaches go through the same schools every year. They do this as a way to talk to the head coach and pick up video. They may not be serious about you as a prospect but something that the college coach does every year just in case your school has a prospect. It is building up that relationship for future use.  When a college coach visits a school on Maui, Kauai, Big Island, or a school that is not often on the list in Hawaii (as Waialua was not a few years ago but is regularly visited now) then it is usually because there is an athlete they have genuine interest in.   Because Hawaii is so spread out, the coaches are usually in town for a very short time and the distance from the mainland makes it difficult to do several visits, the college coaches squeeze as many schools in as they can each visit.  Unfortunately it is often at the expense of neighbor islands.  They will always visit Oahu schoos Kahuku, Saint Louis, Kamehameha, Punahou, Kapolei, Mililani (whether these schools are having good years or not) plus a few more good programs, but will visit other schools based on who the available academically eligible recruits are.  It’s definitely nice to have a coach come by but since they cannot technically visit with you, the player, your best option is to have good video available to send to coaches then hopefully they will come out to your practice, watch a game or invite you for a visit.

Hand Written Letters - Receiving hand written letters from college coaches means that they are serious enough about you to spend enough attention to write out what should be a personalized note.  One thing to note on these hand written letters. I know of several athletes who were being recruited hard Division I football teams and had received hand written letters from them during the spring of their junior years. These kids ended up playing sports at the D2, NAIA and Division III level. Hand written letters are a step up but nothing to get a big head about.  

Junior Day Visits (football mostly, occasionally other sports) - Regarding the Junior Day visit, let me state that it really depends on the school. I have seen some programs keep their visit numbers very low and all of the players there eventually go on to a scholarship somewhere. On the other hands, there are schools that bring in as many kids will come. Did you play varsity? Then come on to the Junior Day. The bigger the numbers, the less prestigious it is. According to the NCAA coaches I work with, if there are above fifty athletes at junior day, than being invited is not that special.  It’s nice, but not that special.   Coaches often use this as a way to get kids to camp. While it will be a good evaluation tool, these coaches realize that many of these players will never play at the Division 1 level.

Phone Calls - When receiving a phone call from a coach, you know that it is something good. This gives you as a player a chance to learn more about the coach and their program. This gives the coach a chance to learn more about you as a person and not just an athlete. Athletes that are being seriously recruited by a school will receive a call during the open periods. If you are quiet or shy, make sure to ask the coach questions about the program and show them they you are interested.   There are questions on the PIAA website as suggestions, but make your own questions if you like, just ask questions! While they would not stop recruiting you from this, coaches will dread calling kids who are quiet and tough to talk to. That is a known fact from coaches at all levels.  Hawaii athletes tend to be less aggressive and less likely to ask a lot of questions.   Come up with three questions.   Ask the same three questions to every coach.  For an athlete from Hawaii “how is the weather there during football/baseball/soccer etc season?” is perfectly legitimate!   There should be no “uh huh”.  Speak clearly, with Yes Coach or Yes Sir.   If he asks your stats, you should have them – not “I don’t know”  If you don’t, tell him “I will email my stats to you as soon as I get them together”. But you should know last season’s stats.  Absolutely no excuse not to know how many tackles you had or how many yards you rushed or passed for!