THE PROSPECTOR, July 2010 

THE PROSPECTOR                                    

Facebook Training Video is a Must-See

            We strongly recommend that you visit the Director’s Zone and view the new Facebook training video before venturing out on the social networking site and connecting with potential clients.

            Rob Davis has edited the Facebook presentation by Pittsburgh-area franchisee Martin Rock at the May training class.  Marty presented his successful usage of Facebook to find prospects and communicate with them before and after they became clients.  If you are not using Facebook, you need to begin by watching the video with Marty and precisely following his program.  We also have a related .pdf document in the Director’s Zone to show you what to e-mail a prospect when he or she becomes your Facebook friend.

            We cannot stress enough the importance of exactly following Marty’s Facebook plan step by step.  As Marty says in the video, he made critical mistakes in his early days using Facebook, and he can spare you doing the same if you follow his direction.

            Facebook is not the be-all-end-all of prospecting for potential clients – there is no single solution – but it should be a very important implement in your toolbox.  None of our franchisees is so client-rich that they can afford to dismiss any potential source for growing their business.  In Marty’s case, and that of a couple of other franchisees, Facebook has become their business’s best friend.  It could become yours too if you work at it properly!

            All of our active franchise owners and representatives should have the password to access the Director’s Zone, but if you do not have it, call the Corporate Office.

NAIA Now Has an Eligibility Center 

The NAIA has established an Eligibility Center similar to the NCAA’s. 

Unfortunately, it means many families will have to pony up more money and navigate another level of bureaucracy.  It’s disappointing but it’s a trend. 

The registration fee for the NAIA Eligibility Center is $60.00 for U. S. students and $85.00 USD for international students.  The NAIA Eligibility Center will begin registering students September 1.  Any athlete who wants to compete at an NAIA school beginning in the fall of 2011 must be certified by the Eligibility Center. 

            Here is more on the NAIA Eligibility Center from its new web site: www.playnaia.org:

 Who needs to register?

Every student interested in playing NAIA sports for the first time in 2011-12 or any year after that needs to register and be certified.  This applies to:

What happens when I register?

You'll create a personal profile with the basic facts about your academic history and sports participation to date.  You'll also have the opportunity to provide more in-depth information about your experience and accomplishments, plus the type of college you have in mind — size, location, areas of study, extracurricular activities.  Then, we’ll provide a list of NAIA institutions that match those interests. You can choose to have your profile sent directly to the schools – coaches and admissions offices – you choose.  It’s a personal connection, and you're in control!

What information will I need to provide?

You'll need your current contact information, previous residences and addresses, high schools attended and history of your sports participation during and after high school graduation.  When you register for the ACT or SAT, include the NAIA Eligibility Center (9876) on the list of places test scores should be sent.  Ask your high school counselors to send the NAIA Eligibility Center a final official transcript that verifies high school graduation, class rank and cumulative grade point average. 

Do I need to register if I'm registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center?

Yes. Certification of NAIA eligibility is separate from NCAA certification.  The NAIA and NCAA are two separate associations, with two different sets of certification processes. 

Is there an opportunity for a fee waiver?

Yes.  The registration fee will be waived for students with demonstrated need.  If you receive a fee waiver for the ACT or SAT test or qualify for the federal free or reduced-cost lunch program, contact your high school counselor, who can contact the Eligibility Center and verify a fee waiver.  Transfer students can qualify for a fee waiver based on receipt of Federal Pell Grant funds.

            The NAIA requires a student to graduate from high school and satisfy at least two of the following three requirements:  A score of 18 on the ACT or 860 on the SAT, a minimum GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale, or graduate in the top 50% of the student’s high school class. 

We don’t know how much pressure NAIA coaches will put on students to register.  Listen to the feedback from your clients on this subject and pass it along so we can advise others.  We’d like to advise families not to register immediately to save money.  The NAIA web site does not state that student’s must register before visiting NAIA schools so maybe mom and dad can defer registering until they’re fairly sure an NAIA school is under strong consideration?    

We suspect the first year of certifying students for NAIA schools will be stressful and challenging, although the NAIA’s rules for eligibility are far less complex than the NCAA’s so perhaps it won’t be a terrific strain?  Certainly the NAIA won’t be certifying nearly as many student-athletes as the NCAA does since there are fewer than 300 NAIA member schools. 

This is another hoop for families to jump through and for that we’re sorry, but registration is a revenue stream and the NAIA has been missing the boat on that for a long time.

Committed 2010 Clients Now Online

            From the blue scroll box on the home page at www.cpoa.com or from the CPOA Hot Links bar at the top of the same page, you will find a link to the list of clients from the class of 2010 who have committed to schools. 

            You can help us add to the list by letting us know when any of your clients makes a final decision.  It’s important to show these results to families you meet with as it demonstrates how CPOA’s program helps them achieve the desired results.  

The list will be available on the home page until September.  At that time, due to NCAA rules, we will move it from the public page to the CPOA Director’s Zone.  You can view the 2009 commitments in the Director’s Zone now.

Early Scholarship Offers May Be On Way Out 

No more offering football scholarships to quarterbacks in the 8^th grade?  Perhaps. 

An NCAA committee has proposed legislation to stop early verbal offers of financial aid to prospects in all sports.  As written, it would prohibit verbal offers of athletically related financial aid prior to July 1^st before a prospect’s senior year in high school.  

Though most of the media attention surrounding early offers of aid has focused on basketball and football, coaches in other sports are not immune to the issue.  In 2008, the Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association was instrumental in introducing legislation that would have accomplished the same thing in their sport only. Though that proposal was defeated, it may have paved the way for the entire recruiting model to be examined.  

The committee also sponsored a proposal that would provide more flexibility to coaches calling prospects during a specific time period, essentially applying a rule that currently exists in men’s basketball to all sports except football.  The proposal would allow institutions to make one telephone call per month to a prospect, parent or legal guardian on or after June 15 after the prospect’s sophomore year in high school through July 31 after the junior year in high school.  Beginning August 1 before the senior year, an institution is permitted to make two telephone calls to an individual prospect or parent or guardian per week.  The proposal would also permit institutions to make one call per week to a two-year or four-year college prospect. 

            If this legislation is approved as propsed, habits will have to change.  In late June, Ohio State football announced their first commitment for the class of 2012!  He committed while attending the OSU football camp.  This reminds us of Bill Conley’s warning that for kids who think they are a top recruit and who attend a team camp, if they aren’t offered at the camp, the school doesn’t consider them a big prize.  That’s a shock for the prospect but it’s reality.  That practice could change, depending on the version of the legislation that is ultimately approved. 

            Also being considered, legislation that would:  

*Prohibit prospects from making official visits to the institution in which the prospect has signed a National Letter of Intent or accepted a written offer of admission and/or financial aid; 

*Remove all restrictions on the forms and frequency of communication with a prospect the calendar day after the prospect has either signed an NLI or accepted a written offer of admission and/or financial aid. 

Many of these proposals received overwhelming support in a survey of the membership, but the changes represent only the beginning of what the cabinet expects to be a comprehensive process to unite most sports under similar recruiting rules. 

July 1 Phone Period Is Here  

            As you meet with families, especially with those who have male or female athletes entering their senior year of high school this fall, you must ask this question right off the bat:        

            "Are college coaches calling you?"  

            If the boy you are meeting with is a football player who is on recruiting lists, he should have received calls earlier this spring (after April 15) from Division I coaches.  The next call from a football coach cannot come until September 1.              

            Phone calls are even more liberal for basketball players.  Boys can receive calls once a month in June prior to their junior year from Division I coaches; girls can take calls beginning in April of their junior year. 

            In Division I, college coaches in sports other than football and basketball may begin calling rising seniors once a week beginning July 1.  June 15 is the start date for coaches in all sports in Division II.  In Division III, since there are no athletic scholarships, calls may be made by institutional approval anytime.                                                

            Phone calls are an excellent indicator of early recruiting interest.  If the athlete is eligible to receive calls and the phone isn’t ringing, it’s safe to say he or she isn’t on enough school’s recruiting lists.  And unless the family does something to change that, the athlete never will be.  It is important families understand coaches are reducing their recruiting lists for seniors-to-be at this point.  Most parents think football coaches will be coming out in droves this fall to begin recruiting players.  We know that’s wrong, but we need to do a better job correcting that misinformation.  This is one of the most common recruiting myths out there.  Recruiting just does not happen that way! 

You must convey the sense of urgency to those not receiving phone calls.  Want to give people reason to buy and buy NOW?  In our business, this is as good as it gets.

Better APR Numbers For Most Div. I Schools  

The annual report card for scholarship athletes was the best yet this year—but there's plenty of room for improvement.  This was the message that NCAA officials delivered last month in announcing their annual report on academic-progress rates (APR). 

The annual analysis of the academic performance of Division I athletes, now in its sixth year, demonstrated marked improvement in several sports, including men's basketball and football.  But challenges remain, particularly at institutions where resources are strained and in sports where athletes have traditionally struggled to make progress toward graduating. 

The academic-progress rate measures eligibility, retention rates, and graduation rates of each of the 6,400 or so teams in Division I.  Out of a total score of 1,000, a mark of 925 equates roughly to a 50-percent success rate in graduating players within six years.  Teams with academic-progress rates below 925 can lose scholarships, and scores below 900 can trigger more-severe sanctions, like restrictions on practice time and postseason play. But not all teams that post low scores are penalized: This year, only 137 of the 428 teams with scores lower than 925 received some kind of sanction. Last year, by comparison, 177 teams received penalties, and two years ago, 213 teams did.  And of the 10 teams this year with scores low enough to draw the harshest penalty, a ban on postseason competition, only one—the men's basketball team at Portland State University, with a four-year average of 865—received it. 

Among elite men's basketball and football programs at major conferences, only a dozen posted scores lower than 925. In basketball, they included Auburn, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, Maryland, Purdue, Southern California, and Syracuse; in football, they were Colorado, Mississippi, and Washington State. Of those squads, only three—the teams at Syracuse and Colorado—received penalties of scholarship reductions. 

NCAA officials were pleased on several fronts.  The three sports that have been under their watchful eye since the report's inception continue to post higher marks every year. Football's average academic-progress rate for the four-year period of 2005-6 to 2008-9 is 944, up five points from last year; men's basketball, meanwhile, increased by seven points, to a score of 940.  And women's sports continue to post very high academic-progress rates.  But it was the sport of baseball about which officials were most excited.  In the wake of new policies meant to address the sport's high transfer rates, officials are now seeing some results: Baseball's average academic-progress rate jumped eight points since last year, to 954. 

Schools with smaller budgets and fewer resources that rank in the bottom 10 percent of Division I in terms of spending per student continue to struggle with the academic performance of their athletes, as do historically black colleges.  Several of those institutions have at least one team scoring below the cutoff this year, with some having as many as eight or 10 teams failing to make the grade.  The NCAA typically gives many of those programs a public warning rather than stiffer sanctions.

New Athletic Calendars Available

       The Important Dates calendar for 2010-11 is being prepared and will be available for shipping later this month.  Our new franchise owners and representatives need to know the importance of the calendar.  It has ACT and SAT registration and test dates, National Letter of Intent signing dates and important reminders for financial aid, video production and the NCAA Eligibility Center.  It also lists the approximate number of schools that sponsor each sport to reinforce how many opportunities are available.  There is also a place to attach a business card with your local contact information.  

       The calendar comes in a package of 50.  This year we will have one standard calendar instead of a separate one for USA franchisees and internationals.  While supplies last, you can buy yours for $25 for 50 or $35 per 100 in quantities of 100.  Take advantage of the special pricing and order 100 or more!!

             Talk to athletic directors or guidance counselors at your high schools about displaying it on a bulletin board.  Many of our salespeople also give one to their clients and even to prospective buyers as a reminder that the clock is ticking.  Call the Corporate Office to order your calendars today!

Sports Sponsorships

            Cal State Bakersfield, which reclassified to NCAA Division II five years ago, is moving back to NCAA Division I and reinstating four sports effective this fall.  Wrestling, women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf will be self-supporting teams with fund raising continuing to ensure the teams’ survival.  The Roadrunners will compete in 17 varsity sports beginning in September.

Corporate Office Closed Monday July 5th

The CPOA Corporate Office will be closed in observance of the Independence Day holiday in the U. S. on Monday July 5^th.  

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