7. Let your child make decisions... This is one of their first opportunities to make adult choices, and they must live with the ramifications. Don't push your child to your favorite schools or to seek a golf scholarship if their priorities don't match yours.
... And communicate with coaches. Coaches want to hear from the player because that's who will be in the classroom and on the team. Encourage your child to initiate the contact, write the "Dear Coach" letters, answer questionnaires and field calls from coaches. If you accompany your child on a campus visit let her or him answer most of the questions.
8. Make time for campus visits. Nothing influences where a college stands on your child's priority list more than campus visits. Schedule vacations and/or weekends for them during your child's sophomore and junior years.
There are two types of visits: unofficial and official.
Unofficial: Your family pays all expenses. You can make them at any time and stay as long as you wish -- an hour or a day. There's value in making them during the school year, while students are in class, but that's not always possible. Regardless of timing, don't go unannounced. Let the coach and admissions department know when you'll arrive. Someone can provide a campus tour and give you a chance to look at the dorms and classrooms, sample dorm food, meet someone in a specific academic department and tour the athletic facilities.
Official: These can be taken starting on the first day of classes for your child's senior year of high school. Recruited student-athletes are allowed five official visits. They are strictly regulated by NCAA rules and cannot extend beyond 48 hours. Only the student's expenses are paid. Most schools tightly program official visits. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of athletic departments don't have the funds to pay these costs so you might have to pay for all visits. It's money well spent.
9. Can the sales pitch. Numbers will influence a coach at first: GPAs and test or tournament scores. As they come to know your daughter or son each coach will make a wider assessment of your child. Bragging or a sales pitch from a parent can be a turnoff to a coach -- especially if it is not supported by what the coach sees or by the numbers.
10. Encourage and follow-up. These are key themes for parents. Your child may think you are nagging them about whether they have responded to e-mail or mailed an important document, but you can do it a way that is supporting and not degrading. In the end your child or children will appreciate the role you played in helping them select and attend the best college for them.
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