RecruitPKB: Merry Christmas
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. May you have a wonderful holiday filled with many blessings and wonderful memories shared together. From RecruitPKB College Consultant Brandi Jackson
RecruitPKB: Advice for 2025s
Listen up 2025 recruits... First, let me start by saying that it is very competitive and there are a lot of really good players. Plus there are a lot of really good academic girls. That's a great thing! Really good academic female golfers are not the exception, they are typically the rule. Again, that's a great thing! I know that may not ease the stress you’re feeling but it is just to state some truths which is what you have to at least accept first. Then you can face things head on knowing what you are up against and where you fit with the timing for the process. There are currently 251 girls in the 2025 recruiting class with a scoring differential below 1 on JGS. This group of players (plus some international recruits) has been the majority of the focus for coaches as they try to get [...]
RecruitPKB: Why Won’t The Coach Reply?
First, we are going to assume the NCAA rules allow the coach to respond (current 2024 and 2025 recruits). Once that is established there are several reasons why you may not get responses with the most common usually being that you aren’t being realistic with the strength of the golf program. But here are a few reasons why the coach may not be responding to your attempts to contact them: 1. The golf program isn’t realistic for your resume 2. Your academics aren’t strong enough for the school 3. It was a poorly written intro email 4. Your resume doesn’t have all the necessary info 5. They are done with your recruiting class 6. They are busy and just not focused on recruiting 7. They just simply aren’t interested or not seeking out new prospects I know it’s very frustrating to not receive responses back from [...]
RecruitPKB: What is the NLI
The official start of the NLI signing period will kick off on November 8, 2023, and will continue until August 1, 2024, for all current high school seniors. You can sign at any time during this period. When you sign the NLI you agree to attend the institution full-time for one academic year in exchange for athletic aid for that academic year. You do not have to re-sign the NLI each year, your institution will notify you if your scholarship is renewed after the first year. The NLI is a binding agreement between the student-athlete and the institution, whereas a verbal commitment is only between the student-athlete and the coach and is not legally binding. So once you’ve signed the NLI, if the coach were to leave, you’re still legally obligated to attend that institution. The NLI is ONLY signed by DI and DII student-athletes who are [...]
RecruitPKB: Starting the Process – Get an Evaluation
Last week I hosted a webinar about starting the college recruiting process. While these weren't specific steps I included in that webinar, I wanted to talk about the importance of getting started off on the right foot with direction and guidance specific to you, your goals, and your expectations. Through the RecruitPKB Platform, there are 3 ways you can do that so I wanted to go over those ways and why they are so important for the success of the process. Then over the next few weeks, I'll be tackling each of the main steps of the recruiting process that I feel are important for a recruit to follow. What is an Evaluation or Consultation and why is it so important? Yes, these are both free and paid services we provide through the RecruitPKB Platform as part of our partnership, but I include this as part of [...]
RecruitPKB: Starting the Process Webinar
Getting ready to start the college recruiting process? Check out the most recent PKBGT webinar for some insight on tackling those initial steps. Understand the NCAA Rules and Eligibility Insight Into Scholarships Scoring Average Standards for Playing in College Creating a Resume and Video Contacting Coaches WATCH HERE -Brandi Jackson, RecruitPKB College Consultant For questions or to schedule your free PKB 30 Minute Initial Consultation send an email to bjackson@pkbgt.org
RecruitPKB: What’s Next as a 2025 Recruit?
As a 2025 recruit, the next few months do get very specific to each individual recruit and their situation but I want to share a few thoughts to guide you. As you head into the start of junior year I'm sure you have some excitement as you wrap up the first summer of the recruiting process being active. For some of you, if you played really well this summer (as a general rule of thumb, you averaged under 75 in state and national tournaments), then you have potentially generated interest from the coaches who are actively recruiting 2025 recruits. If so you may be asked on some visits this fall and could even make your decision. Keep in mind, that it is a small percentage of all 2025 recruits who will make their decision this fall, so don't stress if you aren't in that phase of the [...]
RecruitPKB: Parent Tip #3
As your daughter gets older it is extremely important to give her the freedom and independence to manage herself at tournaments. Keep extra snacks and water for her. Carry extra rain/cold gear if needed. Help her prepare and provide reminders, but allow her to take ownership of her preparation, warm-up, and tournament round. Just a few ways to give her the responsibility and freedom…. Let her decide when she wants to arrive at the course - give her the responsibility of time management for her warmup Have her check in at registration if necessary - the more people and staff she can meet the more impressions she can make, and the more she has to speak for herself, the more confident she will be She can double-check her bag for what she needs - she’s been playing golf long enough to know what she needs for each [...]
RecruitPKB: Parent Tip #1
"Do not initiate communication with a college coach before your daughter does." This is such an important reminder. It’s ok to reach out to a coach, get to know them during the process, and discuss the financial and logistical aspects. After all, you are handing your daughter off to them for 4 years so a coach will expect you to have some questions as parents. But keep in mind, the initial and majority of communication MUST be directly from your daughter. She needs to be writing emails, making the phone calls, setting up the video chats, and carrying the conversations during the visits. Not only are you harming your daughter's chances to get recruited if you do everything for her but you are also preventing her from developing life-long skills that she will need.
RecruitPKB: Excellence over Perfection
"Perfection is motivated by fear. Excellence is motivated by love." One thing I've come to notice in the 14 years of consulting, evaluating, and watching female golfers, is their tendency to seek perfection in the game of golf. The girls have a mentality that makes them fear they are going to do something wrong or that if it's not perfect then it's not good enough. They expect every shot to be perfect. They worry a bad shot or missed putt means they made a mistake. They worry about what will happen if they miss a green. Or if they make a double bogey. Or if they hit it OB. They fear they are letting their coach or their parents down. They fear they won't get recruited to play college golf. Instead of seeking perfection on the golf course, focus on seeking excellence. Excellence is driven by [...]