Questions for college coach

[itsjustball]

DD is a 2017 that will start to make some visits this fall to schools. As we visit and hopefully get to chat with coaches, what are the most important questions to ask. we have already started a list but this will be our first experience with the recruiting process don't want to miss anything... any advice will be appreciated, even the obvious ones.

DD has a good GPA and is most likely DII or below recruit

[jonriv]

Does the team travel with a tutor
Do athletes get scheduling/class registration priority
What if a lab/class conflicts with practice
Does the coach have any pull/leeway in admissions
Is there free tutoring for athletes
Mandatory study periods
Team GPA
Team graduation rates
What are the majors of players on the team

[3'sDad]

IJB: JR's kid plays high level D III at an outstanding academic institution in New England. If your kid is looking for that experience, his suggestions are spot on.

Best of Luck.

[Blind Squirrel]

What is in place to address player injuries/ailments? Will the team have its own trainer? Does the trainer travel with the team? Where do the players receive treatment and what are the medical facilities like?

Players get nicked up all the time, college students get sick. Sometimes its minor, other times ... Will they be on their own or will the team have the resources to help them? At Rutgers, medical care/facilities for men's volleyball players was virtually nonexistent. Players taped their own ankles. When my son got seriously ill he had to have a friend drive him to the hospital. Rutgers did absolutely nothing. Oregon was at the other end of the spectrum. My daughter received better care at Eugene then we could provide her at home. If she wanted treatment of any kind she just had to show up at the facility. If she got hurt on the road there was a well equipped, well trained trainer to treat her.

That was important to me as a Dad. Very important since we were a plane flight away from both kids though I figured my son could handle most problems, assuming access to beer.

C. Everett Squirrel

[hit4power]

What is in place to address player injuries/ailments? Will the team have its own trainer? Does the trainer travel with the team? Where do the players receive treatment and what are the medical facilities like?

This is important especially at smaller programs, and I would add to ask about whether (if at all) the school offers secondary or supplementary insurance to cover the costs of treatment outside of school that your insurance may not fully pay. As Squirrel points out, and I can attest to, even if your kid has never been hurt, you can just about guarantee that she will get banged up somewhere along the way in college and that's the wrong moment to find out about trainers, treatment, and costs, if any.

Building on JR's question on class-sport conflicts, it's good to understand how many classes will be missed in the spring and how the player is expected to handle that.

At some smaller schools, parents are expected to help pay for equipment and/or travel - good to know what you might have to fork out. Also good to ask about any coach rules on working during either the fall or spring. I've heard of, but haven't experienced, situations where part of the aid is part time work only to have that nixed by the coach.

Also good to ask about the offseason schedule (there can be class conflicts here, too) and the expectations over the summer, if any.

[jonriv]

What positions are you looking for?

What kind and how much $$$$ is available?