Many people think college recruiting is only about performance, scholarship, and now NIL. But after more than 20 years recruiting NCAA Division I athletes, I look at it differently.

The recruiting process is often a high school student-athlete’s first experience:
➡️ navigating a complex system,
➡️ advocating for themselves,
➡️ and making major life decisions

In other words – a powerful LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT experience.

For swimmers 🏊🏾‍♂️ in the Class of 2028, the recruiting journey is just beginning.

For swimming recruits, these THREE early steps help increase the opportunity to develop the skills to communicate effectively and improve confidence during the recruiting process:
💦 Create a SwimCloud profile (swimming database) – this initiates the advocacy process. Coaches use this database to easily view performance data and obtain contact information. It is imperative for recruits to check email, snail mail, and be responsive to coaches.
💦 Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center – This must be completed for official visits, and to be eligible to participate in the NCAA. Recruits must be self-reliant to remember to continuously updated their account throughout high school.
💦 Discuss financial budget with parents – some parents would rather not have this conversation with their child, but that decision can hurt the recruit as they move through the process.

When prospective recruits have a good handle of these initial items, they develop something far more valuable to college coaches than just a roster spot. They exhibit self-advocacy, reliability, and awareness.

✨ These are the same leadership qualities need for high school athletes to successfully transition to college smoothly, and allow them to thrive throughout life.
✨ Helping young athletes recognize and develop these skills is one of the most meaningful parts of my work.

👉🏾 In my keynote, I present these leadership tenets to high-performing females, like female athletes, and their stakeholders to encourage self-understanding to lead with grace and self-trust through life’s transitions and challenges.
👉🏾 And, during my Confident Leadership ™️ Workshop, we dig deeper into each tenet to allow full self-understanding.