# Collegiate Sports Recruiting (Division 1)



## Melensdad

I had my first exposure to serious big money college sports recruiting yesterday.

The university visited is not really relevant to the story.

BUT DAMN and WOWZA was it eye opening 

You all know I have a fencer named Dasha who is an elite athlete.  Took her for an official recruitment meeting with the #2 ranked women's fencing team in the US yesterday, spent 4 hours with the coaches.  Private meetings.  Team session, behind the scenes tour, etc.

The VARSITY athletic area is locked away from mere mortals, regular students and prying eyes.  And damn was it amazing.  As we were ushered through by the head fencing coach we got to see all general areas and fencing areas, but also poked our heads inside some of the other sports areas.


Private lounge area for relaxation for EACH varsity team
Dedicated scholastic advisor for EACH varsity team, sometimes multiple advisors if the team is large enough.  30 people on the varsity women's fencing team so there were 3 advisors
Preferential class schedules
Relaxed entrance standards _(yes the rumors are true!)_
Special cafeteria with free food
Snack and drink bars stocked with freebies
Free gear
Private workout areas, pools, weight rooms, etc
Customized workouts that are performance or injury recovery based and computer tracked by all sorts of metrics
Private athletic lounge area of all athletes (_in addition to the private team lounges_)
Private study area for all athletes
Special tutors dedicated to athletics
and the list goes on and on and on...

And the facilities are simply over-the top in terms of quality and quantity.  Touch screen walls for video review.  The newest of the new equipment.  Luxury seating and carpeting in lounge areas.  Etc Etc Etc

And everything is locked all the time so only special athletic pass cards get you into these "behind the locked door" areas of the buildings.  It was a whole new world of athletic pampering and sports luxury.  I can't imagine a pro team having more.

I was honestly afraid to photograph behind the closed doors


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## Bamby

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y"]Twilight Zone intro. - YouTube[/ame]


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

It's crazy big business.  Everyone's making money except the student athletes.

Crazy thought . . . imagine if that money just went to lowering tuition rates.  I know that's just not gonna happen.


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## Bamby

PBinWA said:


> It's crazy big business.  Everyone's making money except the student athletes.
> 
> Crazy thought . . . imagine if that money just went to lowering tuition rates.  I know that's just not gonna happen.



Reality thought just imagine how much cheaper tuition costs would be if all the students weren't being forced to subsidize the sports program.


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## bczoom

Bamby said:


> Reality thought just imagine how much cheaper tuition costs would be if all the students weren't being forced to subsidize the sports program.


As a parent of a kid that's currently at Penn State, I know the tuition pain all to well.


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Bamby said:


> Reality thought just imagine how much cheaper tuition costs would be if all the students weren't being forced to subsidize the sports program.




All to true at many schools.  Good point.


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## Melensdad

Bamby said:


> Reality thought just imagine how much cheaper tuition costs would be if all the students weren't being forced to subsidize the sports program.



*I was actually told the building was DONATED to the school. * And this building must have been at least $100 Million Dollars.  

I know that most big name Football and Basketball teams actually are a revenue source for universities.  Sports like swimming, soccer, fencing, baseball, field hockey, etc are money pits on the school sports programs.  

Honestly I believe that, at least at *major *universities, the athletic programs are not supported out-of-proportion by tuition payments.  Inter-mural and club activities, which can be expensive, are covered by tuition.  As are the club sports fields, practice gyms, etc.  Now when it comes to smaller schools with lesser teams, Div 2 or Div 3 schools, etc, I have no clue how much athletics eats  up from tuition.  I'd suspect it would be school dependent.  The college I went to is a Div 3 school, but also had the 2nd highest endowment (_per capita_) of any college in the nation (_at least it did in the late 70's_) and a tremendous level of donation support from Alums so I'm not sure that athletics were a drain on my particular tuition, but again, that is probably very dependent upon the school.


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## Bamby

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/05/07/ncaa-finances-subsidies/2142443/

A bit dated but it shows as to where the sports program gets progressively more expensive.


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## Melensdad

Happy to report that Dasha was accepted to Notre Dame ... that happened early last week.  Today she received her scholarship offer from Notre Dame.  And it’s a great offer.  It’s a mix of several scholarships because actual fencing scholarships are only offer fractional payment.  So she got a package that her mom is happy with so that is good.  

Still waiting to hear from other schools.  

But strong odds she will be at ND training with Olympians.


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## EastTexFrank

Congratulations to Dasha.    

As I understand it, Notre Dame is one of the very top fencing schools in the country.


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## Melensdad

EastTexFrank said:


> Congratulations to Dasha.
> 
> As I understand it, Notre Dame is one of the very top fencing schools in the [strike]country[/strike] *world*.



Fixed it for you!

ND has the world’s best saber coach.  They also have US Olympians training there.  

I hope she picks ND but the choice is obviously her’s and her mom’s.  I’m just an interested bystander who helped facilitate a few meetings with college coaches.


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## Melensdad

And it is now official.  

Papers were signed today.  Dasha is now a Notre Dame student


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## Jim_S RIP

Melensdad said:


> And it is now official.
> 
> Papers were signed today.  Dasha is now a Notre Dame student



That is wonderful news!


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## EastTexFrank

Excellent!  Totally excellent!


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## Melensdad

Dasha formally announced her college fencing choice by posting a couple photos.  It's a tradition for athletes to do this.  Here are a couple of the photos.  After posting them on her Insta account she sent them to us.  Not quite sure how we are going to do it with Covid, but she asked us to take her to Notre Dame for move in day.  

I know I already told you guys this, and it was official when I told you, but in the athletic world, it becomes real when the kids do this.


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