Recruiting - it’s not what you think.
Recruiting is not solely player acquisition, it is winning the hearts and minds of people and committing to going through the Human Component Wheel over and over and over again. This is especially true when students have matriculated. Coaches, administrators, sports medicine, etc - everyone has a role to play. Unfortunately, based on data we have collected from athletes - that recruiting process has stopped or never started, especially with those they would deem as allies.
When we re-frame the conversation around recruiting, just as we have around many things (to include character as not just being good people, but the repeatability of positive habits), it showcases the amount of work that actually needs to be done to recruit people every day.
To take this one step further - how are athletic coaches and the department as a whole recruiting each other every day? How are we recruiting admissions every day? Where is the breakdown in this cycle that causes the misalignment? What policies are in place that prevent this from being a part of every conversation - i.e., are admissions and financial aid decisions the root of policy that is outdated and formulaic without understanding the story behind the PSA's? Have we gone through the human component wheel enough times to know what advocacy looks like for each program, each athlete, each department? Have we successfully built a fruitful relationship with key stakeholders through our systems that allow us to have those conversations and for those conversations to not just be had, but resolved in a manner that elevates all parties?
When we reframe that conversation, there is a tremendous relevance to anyone and everyone in a department. The way the building staff operates is a direct result of working for and with the facilities manager or the ad. The way the intramural staff or club sports or fitness presents themselves and connects with the multitudes of athletes and non-athletes has a direct effect on the environment, or the water, that we are recruiting new students into and current students to stay (if we are recruiting them daily, that is). When we seek to silo non-coaching roles and departmental roles as separate from that process, it is like an exercise in privilege...are we asking how we can combine and pool resources or are we operating as if we don't have a vested interest in watching others be successful?
A rising tide lifts all boats - if your role has a direct affect on student-athletes & coach well-being...then you are involved in recruiting. And recruiting is not just a "before they get here" thing. It begins and ends with the Human Component (which is why we've built from individual stories to collective advocacy over these four sessions) and if that is not present, then we are not, as we would say in Essential Coaching, "Heating the Cheese." Story on that phrase to follow on Wednesday.
