“In the great mass of our people there are plenty individuals of intelligence from among whom leadership can be recruited.”

Raw and anxious I stepped into the Gold Crown Facilities in Lakewood, CO for my first solo recruiting trip. Over 60 teams and a plethora of college coaches riddled the gym. I had been on one recruiting trip before with Coach Dittman and Carrie out to Sioux Falls so I wasn't completely unaware of what was going on, but there's always that air of uncertainty. I got there for the first round of games and found a seat in the coaches section next to a lady with "Harvard" screen-printed on her shirt.

Now understand that coaching is all about networking. Even as a high school coach you made friends with as many other coaches as possible to get film or scouting reports on other teams, or just to trade ideas and thoughts. I made some great friends in the coaching world through high school, one who even gave me the secrets to his famed 1-3-1! Yet at the college level it is networking adds a whole new dynamic. When you are thinking about vertical job movement in coaching you have to know people, and they have to know you. Knowing coaches also helps you find and sometimes get recruits. Perhaps a DI or DII coach see's a kid that they don't think is quite their level or doesn’t fit their system, so what do they do? They pass that kids info along to you. While many see recruiting as solely cutthroat and competitive (which don't get me wrong, it's very competitive and cutthroat) there is also a sense of brotherhood, camaraderie, and a general desire to look out for the good of the game.

So there I was chatting it away with the assistant coach at Harvard. Sweet girl, great help. I found myself making contacts and getting advice with coaches from all over the spectrum: Harvard, Cornell, UCCS, Drake, North Dakota State. I learned a lot about recruiting and about the game too. Cornell will put together a list of 400 kids to contact in hopes of getting 3 of them! Gotta love this game. As I sat watching kids play ball and taking notes on skills and how they might fit our system I saw a lot of quality and was now more energized then ever to try and get these kids to come to our program at Hastings College....but that was just it...now that I have this big list of kids that I know should come play for us....how do I get them signed....

Till next time,

- Coach Kyle