The Recruiting Closet

The Power of Simplicity, Gamification, and Empowerment in Recruiting

Today we're talking to André Lennox, recruiting coordinator at Los Angeles Volleyball Academy (@lavacademy [https://twitter.com/lavacademy]), or LAVA for short. Recruiting is a complex topic, and I know a lot of listeners are extremely motivated, extremely serious people - if you're a club staffer, you want to make sure your club is setting your players up for success, if you're a parent, you want to know what works, if you're an athlete, you want to DO what works. I've known André for about a year, and I've wanted to get him on this podcast for a while now, because more than anyone I've talked to, he's a guy who has figured out the recruiting process. He's cracked it. In this episode, we talk about how LAVA uses gamification to get players to take ownership over their own recruiting processes, we talk about the small things clubs can be doing to help their athletes get to the next level, how LAVA believes in empowering their players to succeed by giving them the tools to control their own destinies. We talk about why video is transforming the recruiting landscape, making it possible for players on the west coast to get recruited and play for colleges all the way on the other side of the country. And let me tell you, none of this is conjecture, it's all been tested and refined at LAVA and it's backed by real world success.

Recruiting Advice from a DI Coach

Today we have Jordan Nies (@jordannies), veteran college coach who has dealt with the collegiate recruiting process from the other side of the table - the side with the college coaches doing the recruiting. When you look across the Internet, you'll find helpful recruiting advice. However, most information is from the perspective of the recruit. Whether the advice is from a high school coach, club sports coach or club recruiting coordinator, or even a former collegiate athlete, you rarely hear from the college coach who actually does the recruiting. You rarely hear from people like Jordan Nies. Until now. Because of NCAA rules, college coaches have to be really careful of talking to the wrong people and being accused of giving advice to companies that can be classified as "recruiting services," or in the business of acting as agents for high school players to get them into college. Because SportsRecruits is not a recruiting service - we're a SOFTWARE company - we can talk to college coaches about the recruiting process. And good thing we can! Jordan has a perspective on the collegiate recruiting process you're not going to find anywhere else. He's been a standout athlete in high school, he got recruited to play sports at Bucknell, he was a Men's and Women's coach at Lycoming College. From there he went back to the High School level to coach some of the most gifted and talented young athletes at Culver Military Academy. He then became an assistant coach at the elite Division I College of Holy Cross. He's recruited the most sought-after young athletes in the country. He's coached All-Americans and Olympians. He knows what the families of high school athletes don't know but should, and he shares it with you on this episode. The idea for this episode came from a blog post that he wrote for the SportsRecruits blogs, Summer Events Advice from a DI Coach [http://lacrosserecruits.com/blogs/news/blog/2016/07/15/summer-events-advice-from-a-di-coach/], and after we saw the tremendous amount of interest that people all over the country have for his perspective, we decided to follow up and go really deep into the topics that matter to high school athletes trying to get to the next level and the club staffers tasked with helping them do it.

The Three Pillars of Athletic Recruiting

Today we have Matt Wheeler (@mattwheeler), Co-Founder of the tech startup SportsRecruits, the tech startup behind the recruiting management software platform by the same name. This episode is all about breaking down the recruiting process. Here’s why this episode is so valuable: while Matt has close to 15 years of experience with recruiting, this talk isn’t just about drawing from his experience. Rather, he combines the intuition he’s gained from all that experience with real, hard, empirical data to tell you what you need to know, and he cuts out all the other BS and misinformation you’ll find elsewhere.  He talks about the statistical realities of playing in college at the all levels, how many schools high school athletes should target to give themselves the best shot at overcoming the pretty steep odds; he breaks the recruiting process into three pillars: research, proactive outreach, and exposure. Most importantly, he gives you the blueprint to getting recruited. It requires a lot of effort, but it’s he maps it out for you in a way you’re not going to find elsewhere. Of course, the devil is in the details, so rather than me taking more time with this summary, here’s Matt Wheeler.

How To Conquer The World

On May 28, 2016, the United Women's Lacrosse League [http://www.ultimategoallacrosse.com] (the "UWLX") will kick off its inaugural season in Bethlehem, PA. Michele "DJ" DeJulius is the first Commissioner for the professional women's lacrosse league that she thinks is poised for greatness. That Michele is at the forefront of such a significant turning point in lacrosse is a surprise to no one who follows the sport. She's a titan in the world of women's lacrosse. The 4 time collegiate All-American who first picked up a lacrosse stick as a freshman in high school and qualified for the U.S. National Team just four years later has too many awards to mention in an episode summary while still qualifying as a "summary."  She's risen to the top of the U.S. Lacrosse world as a player and as a coach. She captained the 2009 U.S. Women's World Cup team that won it all in the 2009 FIL World Cup in Prague.  In 1999, she joined the Baltimore City Police Department and quickly rose through the ranks as a member of the SWAT Team and later as a Detective in the Executive Protection Unit. During her five-year career in law enforcement, she earned a Meritorious Conduct Award and the Police Commissioner's Award of Excellence.  Despite the demands of her law enforcement career, she still found time to found the Ultimate Goal Lacrosse Club [http://www.ultimategoallacrosse.com] in January 2001. The club quickly grew in size and reputation, and today the club has over 500 members every year. * How great coaches adapt their coaching methods for different players, age groups, learning styles [5:45]  * On coaching the U.S. National Team [7:47] * On the importance of role models for young women. [12:30] * How it felt to become teammates with her heroes. [14:21]  * How she finds the time to coach 20-30 kids every week as President of her club [21:28] * What separates Ultimate Goal Lacrosse Club from other clubs (and why she's thankful for all the other clubs out there) [25:50] * What the UWLX means for women of all ages; why the league is so important. [36:05] * Michele predicts which UWLX team is going to win it all this year. [37:47]   Select Quotes * "I always feel like I'm a good listener, and I want to make sure I'm doing what is asked of me. But I also want to make sure I'm going above and beyond."  * "If kids are always asking questions or they're not doing what you've asked them, then you haven't taught it. [...] Every kid learns differently."  * "For me, being a 'master' is just from experience and putting the time in." * "You have to be able to instill confidence in a kid and make them feel like they're amazing and that they can do it. I enjoy that part (of coaching)." * "In my 20-some years in this sport, some of the people that I looked up to the most were the US players. I would go to those US clinics, and I remember specifically in high school having them come and just being in awe. That influenced me immediately, where I was like, 'I wanna be like them one day.'" * "I like to be responsive. So, if someone emails me, I would never let it go for longer than 24 hours, and if it's going to, I'll email them because I want them to know it's important to me." * "We are very on top of communicating with the college coaches on our kids' behalf. A lot of times, that might not be something that a parent or kid could see unless I told them. But we've started using LacrosseRecruits, which has been really good. I've been able to manage a lot of our kids easier, they've been able to communicate with the coaches, and I've been able to see what they've been doing and making sure that I can keep them accountable."    Selected Links * UnitedWLax.com [http://unitedWLax.com] * Follow the UWLX on Twitter @UnitedWLax [https://twitter.com/unitedwlax] * Ultimate Goal Lacrosse Club [http://www.ultimategoallacrosse.com]

Coach Your Best Players

Today we're talking to Jared Spires, the Chief Operating Officer for the soccer club Real Colorado.  And wow, what a guest he is. Let me just read a snippet of his resume to give you an idea. Jared began coaching at the age of 19 and became the Director of the Competitive Program for then Douglas County Blast, later renamed Real Colorado. He holds a USSF A license, the highest achievement in the US in coaching criteria, which he earned at the age of 26. He spent some time at Vanderbilt University as the women's assistant soccer coach, and here's something youth soccer fans everywhere can get excited about. You've probably heard of a young phenom by the name of Mallory Pugh, the 2015 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Soccer_Athlete_of_the_Year], who this January became the youngest female player to be selected and play for the U.S. national team during an Olympic qualifying tournament. Jared coached her at Real Colorado when she was a U-11 and U-12 and has been front and center watching her develop into the player she is today.  Currently, Jared is the  Chief Operating Officer at Real Colorado, where his duties are accountability for managing the operating budget, implementing policy, and operationally leading Real Colorado in the direction determined by himself, the Executive Director of Coaching/President, and the Board of Directors. We talk about all of this and more in this 30 minute interview. We talk about what it was like coaching Mallory Pugh, how she compared to other players at her age and how Jared thinks young players can and need to emulate about her development, as well as what players can't or shouldn't emulate. We talk about the recruiting process, what Jared views as the proper role of the club staff in the process. We also get into the thorny issues surrounding the ECNL and the Development Academy, what ECNL clubs like his are doing to prepare for the GDA in the next 6, 12, 18 months, how he thinks the situations is going to play out in that time and into the future. It’s a great conversation, I really hope you enjoy it, so without further ado, here’s my conversation with Jared Spires.