NCSA- Running Track Field Cross Country

[Anonymous]

We have an 8th grade child interested in running with great stats. We reached out to the NCSA at the encouragement of another family and were surprised to learn the price of the program. To me, it seems if you're good, you're good, and paying that much money up front for a sport you hope to still be excelling in by college is somewhat of a practical versus hopeful issue.

Any feedback on college recruiting and tracking starting in the 8th grade? Any feedback on the NCSA?

[Anonymous]

you can't do anything in the 8th grade.

Plus track is really straightforward- you either have the standard or you don't so it is not subjective like soccer or basketball.

What do you hope to accomplish in middle school?

[Anonymous]

Don’t pay them anything.

[Anonymous]

OP here. We were told by the "recruiter", who wants to be paid around $5k up front, that we are already "behind", we need to get on it, that coaches are already looking at the Class of 2029. They promise to provide meal plans, nutrition advice, sports psychology, and virtual coaching....

I am skeptical for a number of reasons. The age seems young, what do kids who can't afford this amount of money do to get college scholarships, so many things can change between 8th grade to first year of college, and so forth.

[Anonymous]

NCSA is a money grab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We were told by the "recruiter", who wants to be paid around $5k up front, that we are already "behind", we need to get on it, that coaches are already looking at the Class of 2029. They promise to provide meal plans, nutrition advice, sports psychology, and virtual coaching....

I am skeptical for a number of reasons. The age seems young, what do kids who can't afford this amount of money do to get college scholarships, so many things can change between 8th grade to first year of college, and so forth.

Do NOT listen to these people.

Keep your kid healthy, happy, and with good academic work habits.

When the time comes (around 10th grade), your child can reach out to coaches. Times do most of the talking. NCSA is not exactly a scam, but it is a ripoff.

[Anonymous]

what do you consider great stats?

And even with great stats- nothing is happening in 8th grade

[Anonymous]

Top 5 in the State

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top 5 in the State

That’s interesting but a lot of kids don’t run XC or track until high school. Plus puberty comes into effect. If they stay on the top 5 as a sophomore- then recruiting gets serious. And depending on the state- national rankings are important.

If this is track- run at new balance nationals to have good competition.

[Anonymous]

I had a membership to a different (cheaper) service that was bought by NCSA, and was grandfathered in to all of their services. NCSA is a money grab. My child is now a senior in high school and a D1 recruited athlete at a Big 10 school. This had nothing to do with NCSA. You would do better by joining the "Educating Parents of HS Athletes On The College Recruiting Process" group on Facebook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top 5 in the State

That’s interesting but a lot of kids don’t run XC or track until high school. Plus puberty comes into effect. If they stay on the top 5 as a sophomore- then recruiting gets serious. And depending on the state- national rankings are important.

If this is track- run at new balance nationals to have good competition.

This. So many kids burn out before college or get injured or go through puberty, which changes their times. 10th and 11th are big years for running good times for recruiting. Put another way, coaches don’t care how well a child ran in 8th grade if their times went up or plateaued through 11th. And college recruiting is straightforward - you give the coach a list of times for distances and when you ran them. Stop stressing. There is so much time. The best kids usually come over from soccer in 9th or 10th anyway.

[Anonymous]

You don’t need NCSA. If your kid has the times the coaches will contact them.

[Anonymous]

I ran in high school in the 70's. Very informal - just sign up and run on the team. My twin was even better than I was. We had talent, but our significant accomplishment was to avoid drinking and pot. Sounds silly, but in practice it works.

Ran a 9:20 2 mile as a 9th grader and a 4:06 mile in 12th grade. No formal programs, no getting a jump by spending money - just consistent modest training without too much mileage. My mother was a poor single mother, so no fancy stuff in our lives. Have to be willing to really put it out there in racing - some really intense speed in practice but not high volume. Can't race your workouts. The ability to put one's self out there in a race really matters, as obvious as it sounds (girls should read Lauren Fleshman's book, a multiple All American from Stanford). Most at the high school level don't benefit in the long run from high school mileage.

My brother and I were state champions and won a few of the national championship races after the season. The next year my younger teammate earned this honor. We all went to competitive Power 4 schools on scholarship. My younger teammate (a 4:08 mile guy) didn't run his 9th grade year but played football. He was a good football player and kudos to our state champion football coach for persuading him to run after seeing him complete a 4:40 mile in high top Converse shoes in 9th grade during a football time trial.

[Anonymous]

NCSA just wants your $

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ran in high school in the 70's. Very informal - just sign up and run on the team. My twin was even better than I was. We had talent, but our significant accomplishment was to avoid drinking and pot. Sounds silly, but in practice it works.

Ran a 9:20 2 mile as a 9th grader and a 4:06 mile in 12th grade. No formal programs, no getting a jump by spending money - just consistent modest training without too much mileage. My mother was a poor single mother, so no fancy stuff in our lives. Have to be willing to really put it out there in racing - some really intense speed in practice but not high volume. Can't race your workouts. The ability to put one's self out there in a race really matters, as obvious as it sounds (girls should read Lauren Fleshman's book, a multiple All American from Stanford). Most at the high school level don't benefit in the long run from high school mileage.

My brother and I were state champions and won a few of the national championship races after the season. The next year my younger teammate earned this honor. We all went to competitive Power 4 schools on scholarship. My younger teammate (a 4:08 mile guy) didn't run his 9th grade year but played football. He was a good football player and kudos to our state champion football coach for persuading him to run after seeing him complete a 4:40 mile in high top Converse shoes in 9th grade during a football time trial.

Did you use ncsa? I am not sure what your point- we all know you were a legend in the 70s