Should athletes consider transferring high schools to be in a better position to be recruited?

The question of should an athlete consider transferring high schools has come up several times in conversations in the past couple of weeks, and I wanted to address it here.  The reason I think this question comes up is because parents may be concerned about how a poor athletic team, or playing with below-average talent may affect their own child's recruiting.

This concern that an athlete isn’t on the right team or at the right school for him or her is understandable. High school sports can be frustrating at times because you have players from different backgrounds, skill levels, and attitudes towards the game.  While there are a host of factors that one could consider, I above all would preach patience and reflection before making a decision of this magnitude for your child.

As a coach who has worked at every level of sports from youth to professional leagues, it’s my personal view that participating in high school athletics should be one of the greatest experiences of a young athlete’s life.  The friendships, the triumphs, and even the heartaches are all such formative experiences for young men and women, that I would hate for them to be overshadowed with the emphasis on recruiting rather than enjoying those few precious moments with high school friends.  Although the high school I attended may not have been the best in sports, I still to this day cherish those memories of competition with the guys I went to school with, and without question my sports experiences helped me develop as a young man.

“The Grass is not Always Greener”

There is a phrase constantly thrown around in college coaching when referring to looking at other jobs that ‘the grass is not always greener’.  Coaches seem to always be looking for the next job that is going to bring them the money or fame they desire, and that the next job will make everything right in their lives, or at the very least rid them of the problems and headaches at their current school.  

Oftentimes, it turns out they are simply trading one set of problems for another.

This same principle can be applied to college and high school athletes looking to transfer schools in hopes of finding a more ideal situation. Athletes may be worried that the talent around them at their current high school may not be adequate to generate recruiting interest from colleges, but an often overlooked aspect when you leave for a larger high school is that it also means better competition for each position on a team. It would truly be a tragedy for a young man or woman to leave their high school to improve their visibility for colleges, only to be beaten out or overshadowed at their next high school.

I believe the social aspect should be considered here as well.  An athlete is leaving a school where they have made friends and where they are likely comfortable.  Moving to a new school can be very difficult for some high school students, not just academically and athletically, but especially in a social aspect.  It means having to make new friends, getting used to new surroundings, and a new coaching staff for your sports teams. While some high schoolers may be fine with making new friends at a new school, others may not adjust as easily, and I think this aspect must be considered as well.

Bloom Where You're Planted

Although I had the privilege to live in some great places during my coaching career, not every stop was close to the beach.  My mother would always tell me to "bloom where you're planted. People will notice the work you do and it will lead to your next job". Now, although that may not have been what I wanted to hear at the time, she was right.  All my experiences lead me to the next stop on my journey, and I was a better coach for them because I focused on the work and not the next job.

For most high school athletes, I highly recommend staying in your current situation.  First off, if you are good enough, college coaches are going to find you.  That is there job.  So just because your team isn't competing for a State championship doesn't mean it gives you any less chance to be recruited.  Secondly, if you get hurt or don't get along with the coach, or have any one of a thousand things that can go wrong, you will always look back and think about what could have happened if you had stayed.  Don't even put yourself in that position.

Recruiting is Your Responsibility

For top players in the nation, recruiting is easy.  They are naturally gifted, oftentimes larger than most their age, and they absolutely dominate the sport they play and compete in.  All the top schools and recruiters are going to easily find these athletes when they are young, recruit them hard, and they will have many scholarship offers to show for it when the process is at its conclusion.  

For everyone else that isn’t a top national player, recruiting will not be as easy.

The reality of college athletics is there are so many high school athletes, sometimes it can be hard for coaches to find players that fit their program because of all the choices.  This is where the athletes must be assertive in getting their name out to college coaches to see where they fit.  Maybe you can't get a hold of a division 1 coach, or a Division 2 coach told you that they want to wait and see how you develop, but maybe when you talk to a Division 3 coach, you are invited on a campus tour.  A lot of this depends on the coach you speak to and where your skill and talent level falls into the big picture of your sport.

Don't give coaches too much credit either.  Coaches deal with the same problems as any other profession or industry where most feel like there are not enough hours in the day to do everything they want to do. Depending on the school or coach that is responsible for recruiting the area you attend high school, they may not have enough time to get out in your area and develop relationships with the high school coaches and collect information, they may be unaware of certain players, or they may be a young coach or simply not be a good recruiter.

Because of all these reasons, it is so important that athletes take ownership of their own recruiting.

I can tell you from personal experience that I have seen a number of players get offered scholarships or walk-on opportunities simply by being persistent and getting out in front of college coaches.  It was always easier for me as a coach to recruit someone who was already interested in my school.  So I think by taking ownership and being active in your own recruiting, you can negate the negativity associated with playing for a below-average high school team or in an area that is not often frequented by college recruiters.

Conclusion

In the end, every situation is different and needs to be carefully considered by both the athlete and the parents.  There may be a situation that arises with other students or coaches that cause someone to want to transfer.

Regardless of the situation, parents should realize how transferring schools looks to a coach. Some coaches may not care, but it can be perceived as a red flag in other cases because some coaches may think you handle situations by flight rather than fight.

Just remember that if you are good enough to play college athletics, there are going to be opportunities out there for you, you just have to find them. What your high school teams record was will probably never come up. At the end of the day, coaches are looking for college players and your high school teams success will provide you little more than small talk at the front end of your conversations.