One of the most common questions we hear at Gymnastics Plus is when should my gymnast start the college recruiting process? The truth might surprise you and it’s very different from what most families are told…
Understanding when to start college gymnastics recruiting can be the difference honestly gives you peace of mind more than anything. As a parent or gymnast you ever want to feel like you’re scrambling to get things done or behind.
Even worse there are advisors telling people to wait to reach out then telling them they aren’t good enough for a certain level of team and now they become paralyzed to the entire process.
On deciding when to start college gymnastics recruiting is poor advice for most families.
The Advice Most Families Get Is Wrong about When To Start College Gymnastics Recruiting
Many families wait too long and they assume recruiting is something you figure out at Level 10, maybe junior year of high school. This is just silly to wait this long as programs have already been building out roster spots and now you feel like you’re rushing and scrambling to get things done.
I even had a parent email me recently, asking about when to start college gymnastics recruiting, saying everything she read about recruiting in terms of reaching out was to wait to send anything until after first semester of Freshman year…
Needless to say I informed her why it was ok for her 8th grade gymnast to start reaching out now and more specifically college coaches have told me they want to leg up on other programs to be able to spot a kid early!
The truth about when to start college gymnastics recruiting is that the window opens much earlier.
At Gymnastics Plus, we operate from the perspective that you can and should begin in middle school, even at Level 7 or 8. What you need at this stage is one thing: exposure. Again when making a decision on when to start college gymnastics recruiting know what you actually want and that’s their attention.
It’s About Getting on Their Radar
In the early stages of recruiting,your goal isn’t to sign a Letter of Intent. Your goal is to start showing up, being seen and getting coaches to start noticing you and your talent skills and abilities. Coaches wanna know your name, recognize your face and follow your journey.
Gymnastics Plus is built around this idea. College coaches on the platform have their own dedicated recruiting board, where they can add athletes to a personal “watchlist.”
Every time a coach logs in, your profile card is right there in front of them. You become top of mind early!
This is what you want, you want them to be able to see you as frequently as possible!
A Platform That Works for You Every Day
This is where Gymnastics Plus separates itself. Your gymnast isn’t just sitting in a coach’s inbox hoping an email gets opened or that the meta algorithm dropped your video into their feed.
Not just a post on Instagram that a coach might scroll past. She is in front of that coach every single day while they are active and/or searching inside the platform for specific events or graduation years.
When a coach visits a competition or stops by a gym, they can pull up your profile and add notes directly to your card. When they’re building their watchlist your name is already there and your information is right there.
This is the power of understanding when to start college gymnastics recruiting and acting on it.
College recruiting in gymnastics is relationship-driven. Coaches recruit athletes they know, trust, and have watched develop over time. Starting early at Level 7 or 8 gives your gymnast years to build that familiarity.
The question of when to start college gymnastics recruiting is really a question of when you want to start building those relationships. Starting at Level 7 means a coach watches your growth story and they may not just you on their watch list yet but the following year when you thrive in level 8 they start to wonder huh who the heck is this kid.
Remember it’s all about ATTENTION, that’s the game thats being played here and how Gymnastics Plus was set up to give you best opportunity to grab a coaches attention a lot and keep it.
Don’t Wait Until You’re Scrambling
The beauty of the Gymnastics Plus platform is that the earlier you’re on it, the more it works in your favor. Coaches are actively recruiting through it and your profile becomes a living document of your journey updated, visible, and always in front of the RIGHT people.
Not 3 billion random people scrolling through instagram.
So if you’re asking when to start college gymnastics recruiting the answer might be right now for you. Not when she’s a Level 10 or not when junior year arrives. Now, while there’s time to capture their attention.
So when to start your college gymnastics recruiting journey? You can and should begin early and on Gymnastics Plus, we set up the platform to help you have it seamless as possible all while making sure you’re getting in front of the right people.
Create your FREE Profile and start contacting NCAA Gymnastics coaches today at gymnasticsplus.org/exclusive and start building the profile that gets you seen.
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