THE WORLD ENDS FEBRUARY 3, 2016 ! ARE YOU READY ?

This is one of the funniest and at the same time one of the saddest myths in High School/College sports.  No matter the sport if you don't have an offer or haven't committed to a school on that sports national signing day the world ends as we know it. The sky turns black, California starts to slide into the sea, Canada attacks our northern boarders, a 50 wall of water is going to hit the east coast and Florida is over run by exotic snakes people have tossed into the everglades. YES there is no hope. 

To make matters worse company’s like ESPN and Rivals and 247 sports all claim their ranked players are the best in the world and if your student athlete is worth anything they will stand on this national stage with that companies ranking or they will be a no name players that just supporting the big names that paid big money to be ranked.

Then there is the recruiting companies that go into the liven rooms of student athletes and tell parents without them their student athlete will never get a scholarship unless they sign up with that recruiter and spend a sickening  amount of money to them to get offers by national signing day. I forgot to be fair for that poor family or single mother they will offer to bleed you of money slower by offering a down and monthly payment for you to make for years so that salesman that came to your house can keep receiving big money for taking your money. 

Then there is the parent that falls for this and believes the same thing as above and puts pressure on coaches, trainers, recruiters and their own student athlete. Sends his kid to camps at schools they will never get a shot to be offered at and overlooks the camps that might really help. 

To maybe help anyone who reads my blog I would like to help calm some nervous, reduce some pressure and maybe help you save some money. So I am going to take on these four points and very simply set you straight on the facts of recruiting. 

#1 First I can ensure you that the world will not end if you don't have an offer by February 3 2016. National signing day is really the start of national signing period and that runs for many weeks.

#2 let’s face it sports and especially college sports is growing so fast. Media has blown up the event to the point ESPN and Local news and sport shows cover some student athlete's live on national signing day. We will never change this however the stars of tomorrow will be still be signing their letters in the days weeks and months after so called national signing day. 

#3 Recruiting is a dirty business! I know I am in it. As a parent I sat at a table and had NCSA tell me and my wife if I didn't spend over 3000.00 our son would never get and scholarship and even said 90% of their student athlete's get D1 scholarships! Really? That statement with as little as I knew about recruiting at the time sent up the red flag to me. Knowing how few D1 scholarships there are knowing how few total scholarships there are across all sports I knew this man was sent to my house by this company to lie to me and soak me for as much money as possible. So my advice to all parent s no matter what the sport is (a) google reviews about the recruiting by company name as well as the person selling it to you. (2) Any company with integrity will give you some time to act. Do not fold to high pressure. (3) Look for all avenues to contact them phone, email, through a website and via social media. (4) Last contact the better business bureau. (5) Get their offers in writing so your expectations match their guarantees.

#4 it is never too late to get scholarship money. It takes an open mind to that not all student athletes will go D1 and open recruiting when it comes to where in the United States. Yes there are more openings early and as the school year winds down to the end they become fewer. We find if parents and student athlete's stay focused there is money to be found.

I believe a recruiter that offers more than a photo profile and has a system you understand and is priced fare is worth having because they know the waters you’re trying to swim in.  Remember a good recruiter does this for a living so they won't be free but it shouldn't keep you from feeding your family either. 

Please feel free to email me at kennethw.grover@outlook.com or comment on this blog. I will answer all questions. 

There are two types of reacting

One of the biggest things we learn as we grow up is how to react to situations. What kind of situations you ask ? All KINDS. As we grow or maybe even better as we mature we learn that there are two way to react to things.  React to the issue or react on how to solve the issue. The more mature we become the more BIG PICTURE we see. the more of a TEAM PLAYER we become,The more DIVERSE we become. Basically we grow up. This is the step from high school to college and hopefully sometime between graduating and retirement we learn how to react to find solutions and not react to situations. Well in sports we are faced with "how should I react to this" so much faster and so many more times than if your a broker or lawyer or any other career. Sports challenges us on every front in games at practice and even in our personal times and gives us little or no time to make the right call. A wrong step can cost you leadership, ownership, friendship or trustworthiness. There is adversity all around an athlete at all times and the type of reaction is critical to our standing with that team. It will dictate will you start, back up or be third string . Will I travel with the team or will I ever get a shot. When things look bleakest do you waiver or do you rise above. Do you ask what am I doing wrong or what can I do better ? Do I sit and pout and sulk in your own self pity? These are question I can't answer and questions only your actions,attitude and consistency will answer. There is no yes coach here, there is only leading by example doing by example and showing consistency in all your reactions.

Tonight's Blog came to me from a few emails i received today. Adversity will show is ugly head. How you react to it will show how you or when you matured. Let me list a few thoughts below.

Never react to a bad situation. Always give it some thought and share with a family member mentor or  pastor . Someone away from the issue to begin with.

Always look for a win win. A reaction that benefits all involved.

Last remember GOD never places more on your shoulders than you can bear.

Good night from the recruiting Guru !

Game Day Visits

There are many reasons for game day visits in College sports. Just about all sports use them to get recruits excited about the school and it's program. They also use it to show they are promoting the school to it's boosters and donors. When on a visit there are some thing both parents and student athlete's should know. In today's blog I want to post some of them. They are important and these come right from coaches we meet through out the year. I am also going to post some wake up and smell the coffee statements. Some things that will help open your mind and help your student athlete in the recruiting process. So lets get started on game day invite do's and don't's.

For the student athlete
* When meeting the coaches extend a firm hand shake look the coach right in the eye when talking.
* Know where you are with your grades. Be upfront and don't say things like "i think" or "I am not really sure" Know where your at and where you will end up.
* Same with your SAT or ACT know your score or when you will take the test. If you are aked if your going to retake it always say yes. This is the coaches way of telling you they are looking for a better score.
* The coaches will want to talk to you. This is to see what kind of person you are what you think of TEAM and quiz your football knowledge. (NEVER SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT COACH SCHOOL OR TEAM)
* Never tell them an untrue number. So know your 40 time, what you bench and other testing numbers.
* Be comfortable separate from Mom or Dad show your ready for college.
* Get either the recruiting coach or your position coaches number and communicate with them weekly.
* Last please keep your social media clean not just what you post but what others post on your accounts.
* Have your hudl ready to send via your phone to a coach and make user you post it on a YouTube channel os it can be seen from any phone.

For the parents.

* The school and sports program isn't recruiting you. They don't want to hear how little Johnny or Tammy is the greatest ever. They, the coaches want to hear from them the student athlete so back off and let your student athlete stand on his or her own. Coaches tell us all the time an over active parent can kill a recruiting visit. So parents for you Less is More.
* Parents every student athlete there is a star at his or her school so on these visits you have to understand this. It is a level playing field and parents can become an un-leveler.
*get your student athlete evaluated by an outside person so you aren't taking your student athlete to school that won't offer him or her.

Well these are the thoughts of  The Recruiting Guru !

For parents of student athlete's in the class of 2016 looking for scholarships for their kids I have a few things to say. Before you read this understand I am direct and to the point. Like it, don't like it The Underground Recruit has an outstanding track record of placing student athlete's in school. So sit back tight your seat belt put these few things into play.

It is September 25th 2015 and if you don't have a scholarship offer don't panic. All you are doing is upsetting your Son or Daughter. Look at four things.

1) Are they communicating with any coaches over the phone ?

2) Have you had an evaluation of your student athlete's skill level done by an outside person ? (this is someone that doesn't know your kid)

3) Has your student athlete taken the ACT or SAT ?

4) Last do you know how the NCAA or the NAIA views your student athlete's GPA ? (hint most schools and counselors can't answer this question)

There are no other questions to ask ! Without know these answers anything you have done is for not ! Recruiting is all about these four questions. Now there are a lot of other things that are watched and need to be highlighted and work to be done for exposure .

Next if you have a recruiting service that recruits your student athlete by putting up a profile and telling you coaches and schools are looking at your student athlete and they didn't ask any of the questions above you might want to start looking for the answers to the questions put to you.

Last Recruiting is a dirty business. Coaches never tell you the truth . They lead you to believe your student athlete in on their list when the fact is most don't even know who he is. Recruiters will say look at all these schools looking at your profile ! Really, do you think a head coach or even position coaches have the time to sit at a pc and look through all the profiles out there of student athlete's photos to recruit. ?

If you want to know what to do or how to best help your student athlete read my blogs ask questions and it might help guide you the right way. It sure won't hurt !.