CHAPTER 6.-RECRUITING: STEPS AND STRATEGIES
"Hey, Marcelle. Are you going to visit the University of T?"
"Why should I? The program is not even ranked."
"I never heard a thing from any university or college swimming program until I placed at NJOs. Now, I regularly get newsletters from about 20 programs."
"When I was little I went to swim camp at the University. Ever since then, I have dreamed about swimming for Coach T."
"Jane, how did your visit go this weekend?"
"It was really great. The coach is open and really concerned. The kids are easy to get to know. I got to meet a lot of people. The party Saturday night was awesome."
"Will you go if they make you an offer?"
"I'm going even if I have to walk-on."
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The organizational role of the coach includes both a technical dimension and a managerial dimension. By far, the technical side involves the most time and energy to learn, to stay current with new ideas and practices, and to conduct the day-to-day round of activities. One of the more time consuming aspects of the technical side of coaching is recruiting. A lot of ink has been spilled over the sins committed by coaches when attempting to convince athletes to attend their particular institution and swim for them, but relatively few descriptions exist that identify what coaches do at each step of the process.
The recruiting process
Steps involved.-Recruiting is one of the most important role responsibilities of a coach. Recruits are the lifeblood of a program. At the very least, they are needed to maintain a program and to replace swimmers lost for various reasons.(1) At best, recruits are the vehicle for improving the quality of the program. Typically, successful recruiting in many programs improves the coach's job security. To move into the top echelon of competition the coach has to be able to convince "blue chippers" to attend the institution. Given the current state of intercollegiate athletics where many schools compete for the services of an individual athlete, programs that already have an elite reputation have the edge in the bidding process. The rich get richer and get the "blue chipper." The others get the "pale blue chipper."
1. Who is out there?-The head coach and an assistant coach usually are responsible for recruiting. Recruiting first and foremost is an exercise in information gathering. There are two types of information sources: organizational sources which include lists published by various swimming associations and lists produced by private enterprise; and informal networks which include information available to the coach through alumni, friends, and supporters of the program. Organizational sources are relatively easy to identify. Each year various lists of swimmers are produced. These lists include: (1) High School All Americans; (2) Prep School All Americans; (3) YMCA National Meet Times; (4) National Junior Olympics Meet Times; (4) Top Times among Age- Groupers: and (5) Top Times in the World. These lists usually can be obtained from Swimming World and Junior Swimmer in the July and August issues. Also available from other countries are international and national meet results and top performances. For instance, Swim Canada lists top performances among age-groupers for the various provinces. Also available are lists of various high schools and prep schools and their coaches, U.S. Swimming clubs and the coaches, and some YMCA programs and the coaches.
Informal sources take time to cultivate. The coach must spend time and energy creating support for the program. Ties with various booster organizations, alumni, and fans must be developed. Ties with former swimmers need to be sustained. Once a support network is in place, these various people often send names, news clippings, and make calls in order to tell the coach of an up and coming prospect for the program. In some cases swimmers or divers who were recruited elsewhere, signed, tried the program and withdrew are identified by alumni, former swimmers, or friends of the university. This information often is an important addition to that obtained from organizational sources.
2. Preparation of a master file.- With the use of these lists and by calling coaches with whom swimmers train, the head coach and the assistant coach can produce a master file that contains the swimmer's name, age, class in school, home address, home phone, events and performances, swim club, coach, club/school address, club phone, student's GPA, SAT, or ACT scores, and other data as desired. In the past coaches recorded this information in file folders or on an index card. Today this information is more easily stored on a computer file or disk file and manipulated using a standard data base management system. There is a variety of good data management systems available for personal computers. If the head coach is not familiar with computers and programming, but one the assistants is, then the head coach should delegate to that assistant the responsibilities for entering data and updating the records. If no one on the staff is prepared to handle computers, find a student in the computer sciences department or a work study student with these skills. The time saved in using the computer is worth the cost. It is best to prepare the master recruit file so that it can be sorted on any desired characteristic. For instance, if the head coach is looking for a breaststroker, the master file can be keyed to list all persons who swim the breast stroke.
3. Screening.-Once the file has been generated, it is sorted by class in school and sex to ascertain which recruits are seniors and eligible. Those individuals who are juniors or younger are tracked. Their performances in meets are recorded along with any honors achieved. Letters congratulating them for their achievements are regularly sent to let them know that the program is interested in them. To accomplish this mailing, standard form letters can be created. With the use of a merge and sort routine, names, addresses, and personal information can be integrated into the standard letter. A variety of software packages are available for personal computers that can handle these tasks. As further advances are made in personal computers and in the field of desk-top publishing, this part of the recruiting process will become more sophisticated, flexible, and faster.
Senior swimmers' files--high school and prep school--are examined for event and performance, test scores, and GPA in order to ascertain whether they are scholastically eligible under the minimum standards specified by NCAA Proposition #48, and whether their performances are competitive enough for the program. If swimmers pass this initial screening, a letter and questionnaire are sent to them along with general information on the university. The questionnaire solicits information that helpful in assessing the students' level of preparation academically and athletically. Special interests also are probed, so that any follow-up communications can make use of the information in order to establish rapport between the coach and the athlete. Swimmers interested in the program fill out the questionnaire and return it.
Once any contact has been made between the athlete and any agent of the university, a file should be started and kept on that individual. Contacts by phone, letter, or personal visits should be documented with a brief description of who represented the school, what transpired, and the date. This procedure of maintaining files is helpful in aiding the coaching staff to adhere to NCAA guidelines when recruiting. Such materials also are useful as evidence should NCAA inquiries be made into program practices.
4. Getting the athlete in the pipeline.-A letter of acknowledgment is sent thanking the student for interest in the program. A college or university catalogue is sent with an admissions package, which includes an application form and information on academic scholarships. If the admissions office and the athletic department cooperate in the process of recruiting, the coach will contact the admissions office to request that this package be sent to the athlete. The swimmer is invited to apply for admission to the institution. When the application is received, the admissions office informs the coach. An admissions officer sends a NCAA form to the high school to have the student's list of core courses, GPA in those courses, and overall GPA verified. The admissions officer checks grades, and SAT or ACT scores to determine if the minimum academic performance requirements are satisfied.
5. Keeping contact.-If the swimmer is interested or has applied, then contact is made on a regular basis throughout the senior year by mail and phone. Mail-outs to recruits tend to stress information about the athletic program, the swim team's progress and performance, and personal news on particular swimmers. Any available newsletters are routinely sent.
Newsletters are sent to recruits, adult and student boosters, alumni of the swimming programs--age-groupers, clinic attenders, and former team members, officials, and individuals who have expressed even a vague interest in the program. (Parents of swimmers receive the newsletter regularly along with others on the list.) Newsletters contain items on the dual meet schedule (home and away) as well as sites and dates of conference championships and nationals. Where special arrangements can be made for food and lodging at reduced rates for athletic functions, the newsletter indicates which hotels and motels are cooperating with the athletic department or the school and the name of the person to contact for reservations. Plans for special events--such as the team banquet, orientation party, or parents' weekend--also are included.
At the beginning of the year new additions to the squad are introduced and their expected contributions to the team's performance noted. This publicity release provides an opportunity for the coach to set some public goals for the athletes. (Sometimes the goals are a surprise to the athletes beyond their earlier estimations of their abilities. The fact that goals are openly stated gives the athletes something to which to aspire.) During the year progress with training, set-backs due to injuries and general interest stories are released. During the competition phase of the season, the team record is noted and regularly updated. Outstanding performances are highlighted. Weaknesses in the team are obvious by their omission. An astute recruit will recognize those events in which a team needs help. When team news is slow the newsletter can be used to educate the audience on the team's philosophy, to explain some of the technical parts of the program, or to introduce the coaching staff.
The head coach can delegate the preparation of the newsletter to an assistant coach who writes well. Since the newsletter represents the team and an academic institution, it is imperative to edit it. Typos, syntax errors, poor diction, and slang are to be avoided. Recruits who receive a newsletter filled with errors or quotations from the coach that smack of illiteracy may decide to look at another program. If coaches cannot write, the head coach should find an English or communication major to do the job. Better yet, if the sports information office is large enough, turn the task of preparing newsletters over to them.
Phone calls emphasize personal interest in the swimmer, keeping abreast of the swimmer's progress, and developing a feel for the swimmer's personality. Phone contacts vary in number for each recruit. Some like to be called frequently and it is necessary for the coach to maintain a high level of contact in order to demonstrate that the program remains interested. Others would rather be left alone and will reach their decision without continued pressure. Many coaches use phone contacts as an opportunity to develop rapport with other members of the family. In some cases coaches find it more profitable to talk with the parents instead of the athletes. Others feel the opposite is true.
Phone contacts are a rewarding part of the process, but they are time consuming and often require long hours at night or on the weekends. Many high school seniors are difficult to reach either early in the evening or during the week. There also may be differences between time zones to which one must accommodate.
6. The visit.-If a swimmer is interested in visiting a campus, arrangements are made for a visit. Recruits may be assigned to a host/hostess--swimmer or diver. In some cases a coach or another agent of the university may escort the recruit while on campus. Visits tend to be exercises in "stage management" by creating a schedule of events, circumstances, and personalities that display the university and the program in the best possible light.
In orchestrating the visit the coach must take into account the student-athlete's interests: possible major, hobbies, and friends who attend the school. Meetings with academic representatives, with appropriate administrators, and with friends are scheduled. (Incidentally, it is important to build a pool of faculty and administrators who will help with recruiting. Make sure that they are protagonists of sport and sympathetic to the swimming program. See the section in Chapter 8 on coping with the faculty.) The itinerary is structured so that the recruit gets a chance to ask questions about the university and the athletic program, to see the physical layout of the school, and to develop a feeling for the rhythm of daily life by watching practices and attending classes. The recruit also has an opportunity to sample the social life.
When the swimmer visits campus, whether early in the fall or immediately before signing date in the spring, is a matter that needs to be judged by the coach based on a reading of the recruit's interest in the school versus other programs. It is not clear whether first impressions or last impressions are most important in shaping the decision to attend a school or not. Most recruits usually visit during the fall, winter, and spring, but rarely during the summer. Statistics indicate that for those athletes that eventually attend a particular school, roughly two-thirds had visited on a recruiting trip. Thus, a visit is important for the recruit's decision to attend a school.
Some coaches feel that it is more important for the recruits to get to know the coaching staff on the visit, since these are the individuals who will be structuring their lives during the next four years of eligibility. Conversely, some coaches feel that it is more important for the recruit to develop rapport with the swimmers. In many cases, these will be the people with whom one rooms, eats, trains, studies, and parties. Regardless of the emphasis used in organizing the visit, it is important that the recruit always have something scheduled and an escort acting as guide and host.
Visits may be scheduled to coincide with a special event--such as a football game between major rivals, Homecoming, parents' weekend, or a party weekend. If two schools are wooing the same recruit, a coach may invite the recruit for a visit when these schools compete. This strategy has a high risk, and usually finds that the winner takes all.
Recruiting focuses on establishing rapport between the coach, the athlete and the family. Often it is important to solicit support of one or both parents, convincing them that the school and the program are ideally suited to the academic and athletic needs of their son or daughter.
7. Getting a verbal commitment.-After the mail-outs, phone calls, and visits, the head coach and assistants attempt to assess the chances that the swimmer will decide to attend the school and swim for the program and that the parents will agree with the athlete's decision. Based on the athlete's interest in the program, the rapport with the coaches and the swimmers, the evaluation of the program, and the merits of the academic opportunities and social life, an inclination is solicited from the athlete on whether he/she is leaning toward or away from coming. Those not favorably inclined are asked which programs they like best in order to assess whether their commitment is firm or whether they should still be courted. Where rejection is firm, the connection cools.
Those athletes favorably inclined or ambivalent are further courted and attempts are made to overcome any doubts concerning the school or program. Even if an athlete verbally commits to the program, the coaching staff recognizes that nothing is assured until the athlete signs a letter of intent (if a scholarship is offered) or enrolls for courses, attends, and shows up for practice when the training season begins. Even then some swimmers drop out of the program.
8. Signing.-In programs where athletic scholarships are offered to student-athletes, the goal of the entire process of recruitment is signing. Some coaches tender a scholarship offer by mailing contracts to the athletes, then await responses as of a specified deadline. Other coaches contact those individuals who have made a verbal commitment and set up a visit in the recruits' homes so that the athletes can sign letters of intent indicating they will attend the school and accept the scholarship offered.
Once athletes have signed, they cannot compete for other schools without a release from the institution with which they signed. Coaches differ over who represents the program and the school when signing the athlete. In some cases assistant coaches take this responsibility, in others it is strictly the domain of the head coach. Often it depends on which coach has worked the longest with the recruit during the process of recruiting. When dealing with the "blue chipper" most head coaches, funds permitting, make the trip to sign. Roundy and Roh (1973) find that approximately two-thirds of top basketballers have been visited either by the head coach or the freshman coach. Based on limited conversations with swim coaches, most feel that home visits are critical in the recruiting process. Over the years a higher proportion of athletes who have been visited at home end up attending the school than athletes simply contacted by mail and phone. The personal touch is mandatory.
The funnel effect versus the wedding cake.-The number of athletes who are screened, contacted by mail, fill out questionnaires, fill out admission applications, visit, get accepted, and are tendered a scholarship, accept, and show up on campus varies. The process of recruiting acts like a "funnel." Initially several hundreds of athletes may be screened. A few hundred may be contacted by mail and asked to fill out questionnaires. A large portion screen themselves out of further contacts by refusing to return a questionnaire. From the remaining pool of returns, some refuse to send in an application for admission. Of the applicants, a few or many (depending on admission standards at the school) may not get accepted. From the recruits admitted, a small sub-set represents potential scholarship material. Among those who are tendered a contract, some may decline and go elsewhere. Some sign and may not show up on campus. If the arrive on campus a few may decline to swim and drop out of the program.
No study swimmers exists which systematically examines the proportionate losses at each stage from the original pool of athletes screened, controlling for division, academic reputation, rank of the program, gender, and reputation of the athletic program across all sports. From conversations with coaches at meets and conventions, it appears that the magnitude of losses from the initial screening to acceptance and actual participation are greatest in institutions with outstanding academic reputations and/or those that do not offer scholarships.
Another way of thinking of the pool of recruits, besides the funnel effect, is the image of a wedding cake.(2) The wedding cake is constructed of three layers. The top layer is small. It contains the elite swimmers, the "blue chippers." These swimmers have been competitive internationally and nationally as age-groupers and interscholastic swimmers. As freshmen they will score in the NCAA championships. They will bring instant visibility to the program. These are the individuals who receive the full brunt of the school's attention as well as attention from all the major swimming programs in the country. The head coach takes full responsibility for contacting them, making phone calls, and visiting their homes. Wherever they sign, they will receive full rides.
The middle layer is larger. It contains well-seasoned swimmers, the "pale blue chippers." These individuals will make a solid contribution to the program, probably winning in dual meet competition, and scoring in conference championships. As freshmen they may qualify for NCAAs as a member of one of the relay teams. By the time they become upperclassmen they should qualify in individual events. Depending on the competitiveness of the program, they may receive full rides or partial scholarships.
The bottom layer of the cake is the biggest. It contains experienced swimmers. They are good competitors, but have yet to make a showing in major competition. These are the swimmers with potential who may mature once involved in a rigorous program. They may place or show in dual competition or score a few points in consolations in conference meets. They may earn partial scholarships.
There is nothing pejorative about this ranking system. Judgments are made based on available information. Sometimes "blue chippers" wash out. Conversely, sometimes walk-ons develop into top flight athletes. Athletes at each level contribute to the overall strength of the program. The more swimmers with which a coach has to work, the stronger the team will be in both dual and championship competition. The more depth a team has, the greater the flexibility in training and assigning individuals to events. With the new scoring system which emphasizes depth, coaches will have to fill their plates with pieces of cake from each tier.
Strategies of recruiting
"Selling the athlete."-How coaches choose to recruit is a matter of personal style and preference. Some coaches believe that "you tell the athlete whatever he or she wants to hear." The point of the exercise is to get the athlete on campus. Most recruits are not going to be sophisticated enough to disentangle fact from fiction, will be awed by the process, and will not ask the right kinds of questions concerning academic requirements, availability of programs, excellence of majors, eating and housing plans, insurance and medical coverage, and so forth until they get home. The visit often appears as a blur to the recruits. So many activities are packed into a brief period of time that there is no opportunity to assimilate all the information being presented. Following a visit, recruits when telling their parents about the school will often recognize that many of the questions that were supposed to have been asked, were not. Recruit then call in order to fill in the missing pieces.
Such an approach assumes that once athletes begin school as a freshmen they can form their own opinions based on personal experiences. If a freshmen is disgruntled and cannot adjust to the school or the program, the option always is open to transfer, although not always without penalty--such as the possible loss of scholarship and/or one year of ineligibility. This approach tends to focus on the athletes as the focal point of the recruiting process. Coaches who take this approach are not entirely cynical. In some cases, where the fit was poor between the school and the individual athlete, coaches have signed releases, recommended a particular school to attend, worked actively to get the athlete admitted, and obtain a scholarship. Such efforts may lose the current freshmen, but over time will gain support within the swimming community.
"Selling the family."-Other coaches focus on convincing the parents that the school and the program are ideally suited for the student-athlete. Since the parents have a vested interest in their child's future and in many cases have expended a great amount of time and a lot of money in supporting a swimming career,(3) they are fairly well-informed on the relative strengths and weaknesses of various swim programs. Coaches who cater to parents generally take a posture of providing information freely and openly. Conversations with coaches on recruiting suggest that the most influential persons in shaping a recruit's decision to attend a school are the parents. In some cases high school coaches and age-group coaches play a role. Less important are girl friends or former team mates who swim in the program.
Let the program speak for itself.-Some coaches let the merits of the program do the selling. "Blue chippers" often use the national rankings to determine which schools they will consider or not. Some recruits on visits have claimed they would not go to a school unless it was ranked in the top 5, or 10 by the end of the season. Clearly swimmers standards for deciding on which school to bless with their presence vary. Conversely, some "blue chippers" want to be the star on a team which is developing rather than one elite performer among many.
Top-ranked programs in institutions with reputations for academic excellence and with scholarships usually have a number of applicants from which to choose. Instead of facing the task of enticing someone to attend the school, these coaches contend with the problem of losing good athletes because of poor grades or low test scores.
Roundy and Roh (1973) surveyed top prospects in basketball in order to ascertain what influenced recruiting decisions. They found that recruits were drawn to a program by the reputation of the coaching staff; the tradition of the school in the sport; its educational opportunities; the style of play; the school's location; the quality of the facilities; parental influences; job opportunities during the summers and after graduation; and, conference prestige.
Students first? Athletes first?-The coach must decide whether to recruit athletes who can thrive intellectually at the institution, can merely survive, or surely will flunk out. If a coach repeatedly recruits good athletes, but marginal students, then the team may do well each year yet suffer high rates of turnover. This strategy may ensure a good win and loss record, but in the long-term is probably counterproductive to the development of a solid program. Most coaches would like to be able to plan on the contribution of swimmers for their full term of eligibility. In programs with high turnover caused by academic failure recruits who are weak run a high risk of not finishing their degrees. If this kind of pattern persists, the coach and the program may develop a reputation in the swimming community for exploiting athletes, a fact that can be used by other program in "negative recruiting." When a student visits a rival institution, the coach and swimmers delight in detailing the weaknesses and problems with the other's program. A coach with a reputation for exploiting athletes eventually will not be able to recruit competitively with other institutions of similar academic standing.
If a coach recruits athletes who run into academic difficulties but survive and eventually graduate, then weak students are less likely to become an issue. If the drain on resources is high in order to ensure that weaker students eventually graduate, then questions may be asked by the administration or AD about the excessive levels of financial support needed to maintain athletes for more than four years. Similarly, it does not make sense to recruit high risk students who cannot meet the basic requirements spelled out in Proposition #48.
Given the pressure in intercollegiate athletics to upgrade academics and reduce the exploitation of athletes, a coach runs a higher risk when recruiting weak students. Fortunately, the problem in swimming is not as great as in football or basketball. Historically, swimming is a sport which drew disproportionately from the middle and upper middle income groups, strata with higher proportions of better students.
There usually is a sufficient supply of good students who are "blue chippers" or "pale blue chippers" so that a coach can recruit without fears of non-compliance with Proposition #48. Many coaches have adopted the attitude of recruiting students with GPAs of 3.00 or better and solid ACT and SAT scores. These coaches argue that strong students will face a period of adjustment and may underachieve in the beginning of the freshman year until they adjust to pressures of studies, sport, and social life. By recruiting stronger students, in effect, coaches hedge their bets, by reducing the likelihood of a number of swimmers developing academic problems. Better students, if they do experience academic problems, may only drop to Cs and Bs. If coaches recruit strong students, problems of grade fixing, changes in transcripts, and extended financial assistance are virtually eliminated. Coaches should recognize that recruitment is a time consuming task with absolutely no guarantees of success.
International, national, or local?-Coaches who wish to be competitive have to decide from which pool of athletes they will draw in the recruiting process. Some coaches who have been athletes or coaches on national teams and have international visibility, or have overseas connections, or simply decide to recruit overseas, have recruited a number of foreign swimmers and divers. There are some distinct advantages in following this path. First, many foreign countries follow an elite approach to education. Often athletes, by their country's standards, may be marginal students academically and find it difficult to attend an institution of higher learning. Given the emphasis on mass education in the United States, this same athlete may be well qualified to attend an American college or university. These students are enthusiastic recruits and if given the opportunity to go to college often prove to be excellent students as well as fine athletes.
Second, it is often cheaper to recruit foreign athletes. Overseas phone calls are less expensive than paying for transportation of U.S. athletes to visit the campus. Sometimes the coach meets the foreign athletes at an international meet and no other visit is required.
Third, foreign athletes may be used to build a competitive program quickly. In track and field, several programs have moved from obscurity to national prominence by recruiting foreign athletes. The same is true in hockey. Some swim programs also have improved their fortunes.
There also are some disadvantages. First, a team with a number of foreign athletes may get stereotyped as a program preferring foreigners to U.S. citizens. There is a feeling among some coaches that they should train US athletes in preparation for the next Olympics, not foreign athletes who will compete against the United States. Countries with ideologies and social policies that diverge from those of the United States sometimes are seen as "unacceptable" pools from which to recruit athletes (Lapchick 1986). Some commentators and coaches hold that it is inappropriate to use sport to subsidize "undesirable" social practices. Countries that use sport to promulgate their point of view should be forced to pay a price. If exacting that price means penalizing athletes, so be it. Other coaches believe that sport and politics should be separate. Which stance a coach takes on these issues probably depends on whether one sees sport as (1) entirely distinct from the pressures found in other spheres of daily life or (2) a mirror of other spheres of social life, but in microcosm.
Second, in some sections of the United States there is a feeling among many people that if the community or the state financially supports the institution, then the sports program should represent that constituency, not a bunch of foreigners.
The program that relies too heavily on foreigners often becomes a target for negative recruiting. Some odd stereotypes develop--a team with foreign athletes is accused of needing a bunch of interpreters to run practices. In actuality, if a student has attained an acceptable TOEFL score and adequate grades in core courses, then the command of English will be good enough not only to survive academically, but surely strong enough to get through practices.
One problem that sometimes occurs when a coach relies on foreign athletes is that competitions to qualify for their home country's national team may conflict with important collegiate or university dual meets or conference meets or possibly the NCAA championships. When top flight swimmers and divers suddenly leave at a critical point in the season the team's fortunes are dramatically altered.
Today coaches are expected to recruit from across the country if they want to build a nationally competitive program. There no longer is as much reluctance to recruit outside a state or region in building a competitive program as there once was.
Coaches who recruit heavily from the region served by the school are heavily dependent on the quality of the programs in the area. Where strong age-group programs are found, good collegiate programs can be constructed with enthusiastic recruiting. Where programs are weak, the coach should recognize that building a top-flight program is at best difficult.
Just as recruiting international swimmers works by establishing visibility, the same phenomenon works when recruiting within the region. Coaches should attend not only the NJOs, YMCA Nationals, and invitational meets, but should also send representatives to regional age-group meets and state high school championships.
Types of athlete desired.-Coaches differ in the kinds of athletes they recruit. Some coaches emphasize a fit in personalities. They will not tender an offer to an athlete unless rapport is easily established. Some coaches feel that recruits should be able to fit into the existing structure of the team. Sometimes the coach permits the team to "blackball" a recruit; or sometimes the coach merely takes the team's sentiment as one more piece of information in the process of evaluation. Other coaches do not care about the fit as much as they do the issue of talent. Can the athlete contribute to the program? If so, how? Weak spots in the team's roster by stroke and distance must be filled. Changes in scoring of championship meets and dual meets, as well as adding or dropping events from the list in meets, change strategies required in building a team. For example, a few years ago women's swimming had a number of 50 yard sprints for fly, back, breast and a 100 individual medley. When these were deleted from the meet program it was no longer a sound strategy to recruit short distance sprinters. Longer distances became important. More recently, the change in scoring from three places to six places placed far greater emphasis on team depth in dual competition. In fact, the emphasis placed on recruiting for depth was so great that coaches recently voted to allow coaches to agreed on which scoring method to use in dual meets.
Some coaches search for athletes rather than just a swimmer or diver, under the assumption that the all-around athlete has greater potential versatility. Along the same lines, some coaches recruit swimmers who are strong in a variety of events rather than specialists.
Some coaches look for swimmers who can blend into a structured program and do not demand individualized workouts. Often it is difficult to work with "free spirits" and "prima donnas." Such individuals may be fine athletes, but coaches often feel that the costs of keeping them happy are too great. Other coaches prefer working with the less regimented athlete. They like the challenge of exchanging ideas and hammering through to a mutually agreed upon understanding of what goals are and how to best achieve them.
Earlier in Chapter 5 it was noted in passing that the coach should be sensitive to his/her mode of decision-making as well as how compatible and comfortable an athlete will be working with a particular kind of program. A coach who is autocratic and a dominant force in interpersonal interaction may overwhelm an athlete with a personality that seeks autonomy and flexibility. Conversely, a coach who is consultative and participative in style may be perceived as weak or incompetent by an athlete with a personality needing a lot of structure. If a mismatch occurs, there is the chance that the coach will make a "recruiting mistake." The athlete's performance may suffer due to frustration and unhappiness with the coach, the program, and personal performance.(4)
To be successful the program does not require that each and every swimmer be highly compatible with the head coach. A coach can recruit athletes with a range of personality types. All that is required is that the athletes feel comfortable with the coach and the coaching staff (Lanning 1979: 262-267).
In adding staff, head coaches should be sensitive to the mix of personalities between assistants and the head coach. The head coach sets the tone of the program in the mode of decision-making, in the rules that are explicitly stated and implicitly understood, and in the appropriate ways to accomplish individual and team goals. The head coach should try to hire staff members who have personality characteristics and teaching behaviors that not only compliment those of the head coach, but also provide a wider range of styles. By providing a mix of personalities, swimmers may identify which individual among the coaching staff that they feel comfortable with and feel free to engage in acts of self-disclosure--talking about personal problems beyond the tasks associated with swimming. If the head coach hires a staff with personalities identical to that of the head coach, then swimmers must get along with that personality type or leave. Some head coaches who are sensitive to this issue will select assistant coaches to play out certain roles during the year. One assistant will be the "good guy" (easy to talk too, supportive, and positive reinforcer of appropriate behaviors). Another assistant will be the task-master, a surrogate disciplinarian assigned to malingerers, hard cases, or the "criminal element" on the team. By providing choices of personality style among the assistant coaches, attention is drawn away from the head coach when swimmers have personal problems. The head coach can act as a confessor or arbiter with detachment and relatively low risk of embroilment in the daily round of hassles between assistants and swimmers.
Summary
--Recruiting is the lifeblood on the program. The basic steps involve ascertaining who is available and how good they are. To do this organizational sources and informal networks are used to generate a list of potential athletes. This list is screened to determine who is eligible academically and athletically. Student-athletes are contacted; those who are interested are contacted regularly by mail, newsletter, and phone. Top athletes are asked to visit the campus. When the signing date arrives, coaches try to get athletes to sign contracts on scholarships tendered.
--Strategies of recruiting used by coaches vary. Some believe that its is best to sell the athlete on the school and program. Some coaches assume that it is best to sell the family instead of the athlete. Others contend that it is best to let the program sell itself.
--Coaches differ as to the types of athletes recruited. Some try and recruit students first, athletes second, to reduce potential problems of grades, ineligibility, and high attrition. Others go after top-flight athletes and do not worry over grades. Some coaches recruit foreigners, others recruit nationally or regionally.
--Regardless of the type of athlete sought, compatibility between coach and athlete as well as between athletes and coaching staff are paramount for a program to be stable and successful.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Identify the steps involved in the recruiting process.
2. Assume that you are responsible for organizing the recruitment process at your school. Assess the overall stature of your athletic and academic programs (review issues identified in Chapter 3), then outline the steps you would take to complete the task. As part of this exercise develop a questionnaire to send to swimmers and divers, write sample letters for contacting coaches and recruits, identify those individuals on campus that recruits will need to meet, organize the file structure for storing records on recruits, and write sample newsletters.
3. Which strategy of recruiting would you use--sell the athlete, sell the family, or let the program speak for itself? Defend your choice.
4. In recruiting your team would you emphasize scholarship or athletic ability? Provide a justification for your position.
5. Would you recruit internationally, nationally, or locally?
NOTES
1. It is important to identify the number of swimmers and divers who will not return. Among those not returning, those with and without scholarships must be counted. This information is needed in calculating budgets costs associated with recruiting, travel for athletes visiting the school, as well as junkets for coaches to visit and scout. Those athletes who leave create gaps in the lineup that must be filled. Knowing the number of positions open gives the coach a rough idea of how much time and energy will be needed to build a large enough pool of recruits to ensure a solid roster for next year.
2. The analogy of the wedding cake is taken from criminology. It was originally set forth by Friedman and Percival (1981).
3. In some cases the expenses for supporting a swimmer or diver with fees for training facilities, clinics, summer camps, lessons, equipment, entry fees, travel, and other various and sundry items cost more than the total scholarship package for four years. It is not surprising that parents are interested.
4. One strategy to follow to improve the chance of a fit between athlete, school, and swimming program is to prepare a set of answers to questions posed by Wadley (1986). Bill Wadley identifies key questions athletes should ask of a college swimming program when searching for a school to attend. Not only would the answers be useful to the athlete and parents, but preparing the answers would cause the coach to reflect on those aspects of the program often taken for granted.
TITLE PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW AND KEY CONCEPTS
CHAPTER 2 THE ASSISTANT COACHES
CHAPTER 3 HIRING THE HEAD COACH
CHAPTER 4 THE HEAD COACH'S ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMMUNICATION ROLES
CHAPTER 5 THE PROBLEM OF CONTROL AND TURNOVER
CHAPTER 6 RECRUITING: STEPS AND STRATEGIES
CHAPTER 7 HEAD COACH AND KEY PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS INSIDE THE SPORTS COMMUNITY
CHAPTER 8 SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF THE SPLIT APPOINTMENT & CHAPTER 9 SUMMARY
REFERENCES
Academic Resume