Recruiting Essentials: Parents at Events

By Brandon Hall
North Carolina Director of Scouting

One year ago, everyone that met myself, or my wife, would ask one question and follow it up with one statement...

“When are you due?” followed by “It is the most rewarding and difficult experience of all time!”

Everyone was right.  We have a wonderful little girl crawling and walking around our house, making noise, eating everything, and still waking up way too early in the morning.  The first year is challenging but everyday something new happens that is a reward for all of the challenges.  Every night we go to bed exhausted, but we cannot wait to see what she has in store for us when she wakes up.

Without having a player of my own go through the recruiting experience, it is difficult to understand the feelings parents may go through while on the recruiting trail.  As parents, we want the best for our kids.  We want their hard work and dedication to pay off and it can be difficult to come to the realization that certain life goals are not attainable.

For the most part, coaches and scouts understand that being a parent can be hard work.  It can be tough to just sit back and watch other people have a say in a young player’s dreams based on one game, one practice, or one workout.  Coaches and scouts experience this same range of emotions with their players as they work for post-season play, work through the draft process, or have their career come to an end.

Having a young daughter, I can tell you that it is not my place to tell parents how to do their jobs.  I can offer advice on working through the recruiting process from the point of view of a coach or scout.  Today we will work through some common interactions with parents and evaluators.

Can We Talk

Are parents allowed to talk to coaches?  Are parents allowed to talk to scouts?  Should parents talk to coaches or scouts?  These are common questions when addressing parents and what their role at games and practices should be when around evaluators.  The quick answer is parents can talk to anyone they want to… If a college coach is not allowed, by NCAA rule, to talk to a parent the coach will politely say hello and just let the parent know that they are not allowed to talk but thank them for coming by.  Pro scouts do not have a set of rules and may talk to anyone, but may choose to avoid conversation as well.