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TwitterWhat is Informed Athlete?
December 28, 2009 by Rick Allen
Filed under Latest News
Informed Athlete LLC provides guidance and answers questions that high school and college athletes, parents, and coaches have about college athletic recruiting, eligibility, transfers, and scholarships.
Rick & Julie Allen founded Informed Athlete in 2008 to help families of student athletes who have the athletic skills to compete at the collegiate level, but often struggle through the recruiting or transfer process and make mistakes that cost a lot of money or result in an athlete quitting their sport before they have reached their full potential.
Informed Athlete is NOT a recruting service – our prime concern is the family we work with. We also offer assistance following college enrollment, for example in situations involving a transfer from one college to another. We deliver our services in several ways including our website: InformedAthlete.com, monthly newsletters, teleseminars, live presentations and individual consultations/coaching sessions with the student-athlete and his/her family.
Rick Allen is uniquely qualified in this field. He has worked on college campuses since 1980, and has over 20 years experience working directly with the NCAA compliance rules and procedures on two college campuses: the University of Illinois and Oklahoma State University. In addition, he also understands what it’s like to be in the parents’ shoes as his son went through the recruiting process and signed to play baseball at University of Missouri 4 years ago.
Transfer Issues Related to "Walk-ons" in College Athletics
April 19, 2009 by Rick Allen
Filed under College Athletes, Transfer Issues
Question: My daughter is participating on the volleyball team at a Division II college as a walk-on. The coaching staff did not recruit her. She now desires to transfer to a college closer to home that is in the same conference as her first college and join their volleyball team. Her current coach won’t give her permission to contact any school in the same conference. Does the coach have the right to do this? The coaches didn’t even recruit my daughter.
Answer: In many cases the coach does have the right to do this. If a student-athlete at one four-year college contacts another four-year college about the possibility of a transfer, the coach at the second college is not permitted to speak with the student-athlete until he/she has received written permission from an athletic administrator at the first college. In this case, however, the first college must provide your daughter with the opportunity for an appeal hearing with a campus committee. Allen Athletic Consulting provides assistance to athletes that find themselves in this situation. For more information, call 918-994-7271 or email rick@informedathlete.com.
Advice for College Athletes Regarding Transfer Situations
February 22, 2009 by Rick Allen
Filed under College Athletes, Transfer Issues
It’s the time of year when some college athletes are considering, or have already decided, to transfer to another school for the spring semester. Sometimes it is their choice, and sometimes they are encouraged to leave. (Some baseball athletes are being affected by the latter, as NCAA Division I coaches must cap their baseball roster at 35 players by the start of the season.)
If an athlete is planning to transfer to an NCAA Division I or II school, coaches cannot speak to the athlete about a transfer until they receive written permission from the athlete’s current institution. So, the first thing the athlete should do is talk to their coach and explain that they would like to request permission to speak with other schools. One of the things that upsets many coaches is when they receive a “permission to contact” form from another school and the student-athlete has not given them any indication that they are considering a transfer. The key to remember – coaches don’t like surprises.
It also can be helpful if the athlete and his/her parents are on the same page. A father once contacted school B to say that his son wanted to transfer from school A, and asked school B how to accomplish the transfer. B assumed that the athlete was interested in their school and sent a “permission to contact” form to school A. The compliance person at A contacted his counterpart at B and said that the athlete wanted to know why the form was sent because he had no interest in transferring. I told my counterpart at A that the athlete should talk to his Dad.
For more information on this and other relevant topics, please call 918-994-7271 or email rick@informedathlete.com.