SUNY Albany Runners at National Level

Small time maybe, but SUNY Albany did a lot to advance to the bigger time this year with several teams making NCAA tourneys (Men's hoop, men's lax, baseball, softball) and recently several track and field athletes faired well. Check it out in the Times Union.

Direct Link to SUNY Albany Sports Web Site.

You can see that most of the runners come from in-state. As always, most programs recruit locally for many reasons. Easier and less expensive to recruit and evaluate in person, in-state tuition at state schools will stretch the scholarship dollar and the majority of any college's student body is from with-in the state or region.

I recently read an article about SUNY looking to build a football stadium to attrack better athletes. At a school of this size, the field will be more than football - most likely soccer, field hockey and track and field. They have to be careful about spending too much money on the football program - it seems to be the formula around the nation- and not always successful.

Look at St Peters, a I-AA program that just dropped the sport. The $400,000 it cost to run the program will be reinvested in the athletic department.

Football Scholarship Frenzy - Summer Rock Star Tour

Even the legendary touring band The Grateful Dead would have a tough time keeping up with this Idaho HS QB's 10 Day recruiting and camp tour.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/sports/story/88084.html


Let's keep an eye out in February 2008 for what happens to Mr Dane Broadhead of Minico ID. Parents of freshmen and sophomores, see what you have to look forward to if you son is a ranked recruit? Bottom line is that these schools want to now see what he does during the season. Then depending on need and where he is ranked on the board, they will all dance around each other until the last possible moment. If Broadhead stays hopeful about the PAC-10 big time like he has, tiny NAIA Carroll College will wait in the wings and figure out a way to make things work late in the game if he falls from the top.

Siena College partners to upgrade poor fields

I had heard from a few prospective student athletes that Siena College was lacking in the facility category - especially baseball and softball. Apparently Siena felt the same way and came up with a great Town/Gown solution to fix the problem.

By partnering with the City of Albany NY, the Saints will take over city fields, give them an upgrade and allow the city to share use during off seasons, breaks, etc. Siena avoids land purchase costs and foots the bill for new grass and turf fields. Albany gets someone else to upgrade and maintain and exisiting park that has been neglected. Both get use. Sounds good to me.

Read article.

Good Rower+Good Grades = Scholarship Offers!

Good interview about a very talented student athlete from New Jersey. Gives you a clue about the value of being both a top student and athlete will do for you in the process of college athletic recruiting.

While this girl is #1 in her class, the schools she is considering are all the very best. You can still find this type of money for being a top tier student (not necessarily #1) at colleges with slightly lower rankings. It's all relative.

Read full article
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Track coaches apparently want athletes with stomaches made of steel in addition to lungs and legs. Asking a student to wait until the end of May on a scholarship offer is stretching it a bit far if you ask me - especially if they have other options like this athlete in Missouri.

Worth a read for you track and field athletes. Read Story.

ACC Scholarship Pipeline to tiny Rhode Island!

Good article in the Provindence Journal about a lacrosse player and cross-country runner who earned scholarships to Virgina and Duke respectively. One was a life long junkie of his sport and the other came late to his, even sacraficing his beloved basketball (in which he was recruited at the D-III level) to focus on the sport with Division I potential.

Worth a read for the scholarship minded.



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I like this one also. It mentions the actual odds of getting a scholarship. Not good! In fact, about 1/4 of NCAA athletes get money! Study and get good grades to open up the real pool of cash!

Also of note is the issue of height and prototype. A football player featured in the article was eventually turned down by the D-IAA guys because he was too short for their liking. But that was never the stated reason.



5'11 defensive tackles are not prototype, 6'3+ are. Unless you have another skill such as long snapper, or can

Read full article.

Nutrition Tips for Women with Amenorrhea

Nutrition Tips for Women with Amenorrhea

“I've been training so hard, I've stopped getting my menstrual period. Is that normal?”
“Should I take the birth control pill so I start menstruating again?”
“Is it OK to not have a period for several months?”

If you among the estimated 20% of active women who has missed three or more consecutive menstrual periods, you are experiencing amenorrhea. Although some women see amenorrhea as desirable because they no longer have to deal with the hassles and possible discomfort of monthly menstrual periods, others recognize absence of periods is linked with serious health problems: loss of calcium from the bones, almost a three times higher incidence of stress fractures, and long-term problems with early osteoporosis. Amenorrhea can also interfere with the ability to conceive easily should you want to start a family.

Read Full Article at athletesadvisor.com

Athletic Scholarships for Specialists - Face Off!

When a player quits baseball in 10th grade and picks up a lacrosse stick for the first time the next day, would you expect that player to earn a Division I lacrosse scholarship? It depends on the player I guess, but in this case of Chris Hall from perennial NYS Section II lacrosse power Niskayuna - he was a natural. Goal scorer? No. Defensive monster? Nodda. What then, made Hall worthy of an offer after just one year of varsity lacrosse?

Face off genius! Read the entire article in the Albany Times Union.

Apparently Hall is off the field shortly after he face offs as he is not an "all round" player. Winning face offs allows teams to dictate pace and time of possession. Obviously this skill is important enough to bring in a one dimensional player at the college level.

A few posts back I wrote about the long snapper skill being such a skill that might earn someone a scholarship. Apparently Hall studies film and has made the face off is mission. In short he is focused. How many athletes accept limited roles and master them as opposed to those that might sulk because they are not playing more, or playing the position they want. Team players are valued and respected by coaches. Be one, master your role and you will be successful.

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How do you get an athletic scholarship? Read the Making of a Student Athlete

Want to play baseball at Florida State? Go to their camp

Mike Martin, Florida State's baseball coach, said his recruiting budget does not allow his coaches to travel all over the country.
"We have very few guys from New Jersey," Martin said. "We have very few guys from out of state unless we have seen them in camp. That's where we have a chance to evaluate them."

Read full article in The Pittsburgh Tribune Review,

Truth be told, a camp like FSU's is a money machine for the coaches, many of who make the bulk of their income from these events. As much as FSU will evaluate talent at their camp, very few players who are not already known by the staff will show up as an unknown and be offered a scholarship. It can happen, but it is not likely.
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Want a college baseball scholarship? Read all about it in College Bound: The Official Guide to Playing College Baseball

Syracuse Drowns Swimmers - Freezes Pool for Ice Hockey

Syracuse University Cuts Its Swim Program

Syracuse University has decided to cut its swim program and ad women's ice hockey. Here is the address if you would like to help the team with a petition to save the sport.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/850963259

Once again, players left on hook by coach - Donovan a case in point

At the top schools, such as Florida, player choose programs for reasons that include "what coach is going to give me the best shot at being a pro player?" You can learn accounting, business, education, etc anywhere, but far less schools give you the best chance to be drafted. SHould players be given a short window to sign with another school if the coach who recruits them resigns? What if the coach is fired for some reason, or tragically has to resign due to health or family issues. Then what? I can't see the NCAA changing their rules very quickly. It happens every year.

By Jeff Schultz Friday, June 1, 2007, 06:27 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz

On Tuesday, Billy Donovan said he was close to a new contract at Florida.
On Wednesday, Billy Donovan said he was still close to a new contract at Florida and, no, he hadn’t spoken to the Orlando Magic.
On Thursday, Billy Donovan finally agreed to a new contract. With the Orlando Magic. Negotiations presumably took only 18 seconds, or were conducted via Ouija board through Donovan’s spiritual adviser, Pinocchio.
So coaches lie. That’s no revelation. Let’s move on. Read Full Article

SEC will vote on football recruiting change

DESTIN, Fla. - The Southeastern Conference will vote today whether to submit NCAA legislation that would change football's spring evaluation period to a contact period.

The proposal, initiated by Florida, says it is increasingly difficult for head coaches to avoid contact with recruits while walking in a school while classes are in session.

The NCAA limits coaches to "exchange of a greeting" with recruits between April 15 and May 31. The rule generated attention recently when Alabama coach Nick Saban was accused of offering more than a greeting to recruits. Saban denied the reports.

Read the rest of the article in The Birmingham News.

The Advisor at the Freihofer's 5K in Albany with his Daugther

Never too early to expose your children to the fun of health and fitness. The Freihofer's run had a huge number of 15 U runners. This photo gallery in the Time Union will show you many of them.

Fast Girls Run in Albany!

I watched the Freihofer's Run for Women 5K with my 17 month old daughter and pregant wife (a runner who was none too plesased to be watching). Having run 15+ races of various distances and watched several more over the years, I was amazed at the number of runners 15 and under. In fact the largest age group entered was U15.

The winner, Benita Johnson, ran a 15:22 in 80+ degree weather with high humidty. Several runners in the Top 100 who by age appeared to be in high school, were from Saratoga NY. The same town that has produced Nicole Blood one of thje top runners in the US last year. While names escape me, she is not the first elite runner out of the area.

I hope the presence of so many young runners is a sign that this generation is as interested in health and fitness as they are in the internet, hollywood gossip and text messaging!

Fastpitch Softball Players Can't Hit!

There were two no hitters in the Softball College World Series yesterday. Locally here in Albany, there was an 11 inning game that produced 6 hits and 26 strikeouts. When I see that there are young women cabable of hitting 20 HR's+ at the college level, I refuse to believe the old story of softball being harder to hit than baseball. My opinion is that coaches have not adapted and started to teach their better athletes to drive the ball. Instead they slap and bunt their way to 1 or 2 runs, if lucky enough to get that.

In baseball or softball, good pitching is hard to beat. But a baseball at 95 MPH is no easier to hit than a softabll at 65-70 from a short distance. The argument that softball hitters has less time is defeated with simple math and logic.