How AAU provides a viable route to college recruiters
Sept. 15, 2017
Staff Writer Telegram & Gazette
Regarding Jennifer Toland’s two-part cover story (9/3-4), “The Recruiting Game,” AAU tournaments certainly serve as recruiting showcases, but just as important, AAU provides a viable alternative to mainstream high school athletic programs.
Not all potential college recruits get substantial playing time at their high schools, often finding themselves outside of a tight-knit community of parents who coach, own/operate facilities, or manage/administer local leagues or teams to ensure exposure for their kids. Accordingly, small-town competition can get downright ugly, often turning political and agenda-filled. While kids who develop early (displaying Div I talent) most assuredly play. Others who may be batting .400 across town for their AAU baseball team (for example) aren’t always handed a level playing field through high school programs.
AAU offers playing time to hone skills, accumulate statistics, secure sponsorship, and grow an athletic resume. Video, statistics, career highlights, grades, etc. can then be profiled on recruiting websites where on-line tools assure proper exposure at the next level. Looking for a business school within 100 miles, Div III, under 5,000 students? There’s the list. Complete with coaching staff contacts. A short letter of intro and link to your on-line profile later, and you’re hearing from college recruiters rounding out their rosters with an outfielder or shortstop.
College coaches recruit through AAU as well as high school, and for good reason. College prospects abound! And when a kid (whose parents don’t happen to be "connected") gets recruited this way, there’s the added satisfaction of succeeding on talent alone.
Richard Durland
Paxton