What 'we help with recruiting' actually means
Decode the spectrum of club support and figure out how much recruiting work is actually yours
Tuesday’s piece explained the why: American clubs are built for recruiting, but not every coach sees helping you recruit as their job.
This piece is the how: How to figure out exactly which approach your club takes, what questions to ask, how to interpret the answers, and what to do if you’re already committed and realizing you got it wrong.
Club coaches fall somewhere on a spectrum. Understanding where your coach lands determines how much recruiting work falls on your shoulders.
The structured approach
These clubs have a clear system. They offer two levels of recruiting help:
One-to-Many support (usually included in membership): General recruiting information and timelines, group meetings and presentations about recruiting strategy, team-wide communications about recruiting, basic frameworks and resources available to all families.
One-to-One support (may require additional fees): Individual consultations about recruiting strategy, personalized guidance on building lists and email templates, direct advocacy or evaluations to specific college coaches, ongoing support through the recruiting process.
These clubs are transparent about what’s included and what costs extra. They have boundaries. They know that individual coaching is labor-intensive, so they price accordingly or limit it.
The ad hoc approach
These clubs don’t have a formal system. They’ll help if you ask, but it’s informal and unpredictable.
The problem: You don’t know how much help you’ll get. Some coaches focus their recruiting energy on top D1 prospects because it looks good for the club. Some help the families they know best. Others genuinely try to help anyone who asks - and often burn out because there’s no boundary.
This approach isn’t wrong - coaches have limited time. But families often don’t know this is the criteria until they realize they’re not getting help.
The hands-off approach
A coach says it plainly: “My job is to make you a better field hockey player. Recruiting is between you and the colleges. I’ll tell you if I think you’re college-level, but the rest is your responsibility.”
These coaches aren’t necessarily being unhelpful. They’ve just decided recruiting support isn’t part of their job description. And they’re honest about it.
