How to De-stress College Recruiting for Student Athletes
The college athletic recruiting process can be stressful and daunting for everyone involved. The student-athlete, the parents, and the college coach all have different roles to play in the process, but sometimes there is a disconnect between them all that can have adverse effects on the student.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what the parents or coach want. If the student-athlete isn't happy on their college team, they won't last. In many cases, an athletic scholarship might be the only ticket they have to attend college, so it's critical that the student-athlete and the college team are a good fit.
In the video conversation above, Live Free Mindfully's Phyllis Smith talks with Barb Smith, Founder of Find My Team, and Willette White, Founder of Next Step with Passion and Purpose. Both work together to help the student-athlete mindfully navigate the recruiting process from pre-teen through the college years.
Here's a little glimpse into the conversation...
[BARB] I think that's what's to be the most holistic approach to the recruiting process and the transition. We really take it on as and we're passionate about walking these young females through the process to get there and then also walking them through that first year which is the most challenging in the most you know in the best sense of the word it's the most challenging year, and that's when most people you know want to jump off the ship and leave. So we really want to prepare them for the full thing so that they can stay there and then work on what comes next instead of fretting about what they're doing every day.
[WILLETTE] Yeah and I would I'll add to that real quick, Phyllis I apologize, it can be so chaotic and you had mentioned in one of your questions that sometimes that first year many kids kind of fall off the wagon so to speak. They're deciding they don't want to play their college sport it's just too challenging too overwhelming. There's social pressures and those peer pressures that can have an effect on an individual's mental health. So many times there are women that transfer but there are also women who decide they don't want to play the sport anymore.
Author, Phyllis Smith, is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Live Free Mindfully (LFM). Phyllis is a certified Yoga Instructor (RYT-200) and children's Yoga Instructor (RCYT-95), as well as a trained mindfulness teacher serving both youth and adults in mindfulness-based programs since the company was founded in 2016. She has been key in the growth and expansion of the mission of Live Free that now includes mindfulness and movement programs for youth, professional development for educators, and training and support for school staff, communities, and businesses. In her life before LFM, Phyllis spent 35+ years in the TV/Radio broadcast news business and corporate media. Her positions included TV producer
on the Today Show in New York, CBS radio show host, producer and reporter, and Content Producer at eWomenNetwork.
[Photo by Kathy Tran]
