If you are reading this page then more than likely you have a child who is in high school or are a student yourself. I will explain our philosophy of college planning and you will see why we are more effective than every other organization or program in the nation at helping student-athletes play their sport in college. Although it can be done, working the college recruiting process can be a full time job. Most parents and their student-athletes do not have the time, an understanding of the process, know-how, college coach relationships, or inside recruiting information to effectively generate legitimate opportunities. Fallon Sports has been assisting families and student-athletes with the college planning and recruiting process since 1996. We have built trusted relationships with colleges and universities, understand the recruiting process from the other side, and take it as our business to help you be successful. Look through our website and email us to see how you can become a part of the Fallon Sports network!
Our college planning program has been continuously improved since 1996, when we began assisting aspiring student-athletes achieve their goal of participating in collegiate athletics. Through the years, we have spoken to and consulted with many college coaches and recruiting coordinators to continue to develop the program to provide accurate, realistic, and complete information and guidance to our members.
We are still committed to the founding fundamentals of the the company: be honest with our student-athletes and do not promise what cannot be earned, be realistic in our approach with the student-athlete because it is what we ask of them, and provide a personal committed effort to assist our student-athletes in achieving their goals.
With our fundamentals and core belief in assisting student-athlete's to find the right school, we have successfully provided college opportunities to 97% of our members since 1996.
As you look through and evaluate our program, you will see that with every step of the recruiting and college admissions process, we have an answer. Whether it be the basics for student athletes of developing a plan, getting exposure or communicating with college coaches to assisting with SAT prep, college applications, essays, financial aid assistance, skills tapings, collegiate evaluations or whatever else comes about.
Our belief is that it's important that you find a trusting source/person/organization to help you get through this process. Someone who has the experience and ability to see you through to the end. We believe we are just that organization.
We Help To Create A Road Map
Lets face it, more than 99% of all high school student-athletes will not have the opportunity to play a professional sport. With those statistics more than likely you or your child is one of those who will not have that opportunity. Regardless, there are several key factors that we have learned from coaching the students in our program who have become professional and we think we can learn something from each of them. The dream of playing professional sports is usually a motivating factor for every student and instead of trying to extinguish that burning desire, we add fuel to it. We believe that without this drive and motivation students will be settling for something less than they deserve. If they shoot for the moon and we give them the tools and information to get to there but they end up soaring with the stars, then thats not such a bad place to be.
Other than having physical ability, each of the students who have come thorugh our program that made it to the professional ranks all have some very similar characteristics. Each of them were passionate about their sport, had an insatiable desire to get better and were all very competitive against themselves and didn't worry so much about what others were doing. We don't think that it is any coincidence that each of these students all have come from terrific, supportive and realistic families. It's obvious why this is important, but just think about all of those rides home from each game, tournament or event. As a parent, what do you say to your child? Are you saying the right things to them, are you gving them a chance to succeed with your words and your actions? Many times parents focus on the negative things that happened, like not enough playng time, why a coach made the decision he did and things like if your teammate made a certain play it may have changed the outcome. What are we doing as parents on these rides home. We feel like we must say something but the reality is that it is probably best to just say nothing at all. We tend to fill out childs head with negative thoughts and that becomes all they know. We are not suggesting that we have to sugar coat anything, we are just suggesting that kids are pretty impressionable and remember the old sayng, that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. We have an opportunity to help mold and make good impressions on our kids, lets take advantage of this opportunity, just as the parents of our professional alumni have.
For us that is one of the keys to find success in your college search. If you focus on yourself and what you need to do to get better and not worry about what other people are doing you have accomplished a very important part of this process. I see students and parents year after year focus on what other people are doing and not focus on what matters most ... themselves. If you do what YOU want and what is right for YOU, then you will find success in this search. Ths is the foundation where we begin to build your house or your roadmap to college. It's important to understand that these answers may come right away, they may take months or even years to discover. We try to begin to stir the pot so each student will begin with an end in mind and discover what makes them tick.
We Help You To Get On Recruiting Boards
Once you have an idea of the direction you would like to go it's time to make a connection with each of those college programs that offer the ideals you are seeking. Most students still will not have a concrete idea of what they are looking for, but they still have to get started and adjust as they move along. You have to get on the recruiting boards as soon as possible and understand that the college recruiting process has already started for you, so to think it's too early to start in your freshman year, you are terribly mistaken. At least 45% of all Division I student-athletes are identified in their sophomore years, so if you are a junior or senior and you're starting now, you are way behind the curve.
Think of it this way. Are you going to college? Do college admissions personnel look at your freshman/sophomore year grades? Do you think it's important to do your best work each year of high school? If you answered yes to each of those questions, then why wouldn't you start as a freshman? Imagine the motivation you'd have knowing they are always watching your progress. Imagine the relationships you can develop with college personnel (including college coaches) over four years as opposed to a few months. That's pretty important since this college will be the college you will be hanging your future on. This will be the college coach that you will play for! It's important to find the right college and realistically how can we make a good decision if we are only looking at the college and know the college coach for a few months.
We help you get on the recruiting boards that you should be on early enough so you can make a good decision.
We Provide A Third Party Evaluation
Going hand in hand with steps one and two is step three, getting an honest and verifiable third party evaluation. If you want to play shortstop for the best program in the country but really are not that good, all the exposure and guidance in the world just won't help you. We spend alot of time evaluating each student in our program on the field, in the classroom and even away from school. It's important for us to know each of our clients and relay honest information to the college coaches. At the same time, we are realistic with each student and family by keeping the colleges within each students college recruiting list balanced to have as many best bets and good bets as we do long shots. This is extremely important because in the end, each student will have an opportunity to play their sport in college assuming they follow the plan.
This is our business and why there is tremendous value in having our evaluation as opposed to a recruiting service, a high school coach or your private instructor. Our evaluation is going to be honest and provide realistic expectations. We gain nothing from you attending Harvard, Arizona State University or Coe College. For us, if you are happy and are able to fulfill your goals we have accomplished our mission for you. If after four years and your graduation from college, the college coach is happy with having you in their program then we have accomplished our mission for the college coach.
We Help You Get Exposure
Once you have the first three steps in place, its time for Exposure. We help you get realistic exposure whether its at a showcase, in a tournament or private workout. It might be steering the coaches to your high school games or even introducing you to new and creative ways to get in front of these coaches. Bottomline is that parents spend literally thousands of dollars on exposure, getting their kids in front of college coaches. The truth is probably 95% of the exposure (or dollars spent) was unnecessary. We help you to get in front of the right coaches at the right time. So many people go to showcases, camps and tournaments where there is a promise of exposure and unfortunately don't even know that by attending these showcases they may have gotten their name crossed off the list as opposed to gaining slots upward on the recruiting board. There is a time for everything and we help you with this and also help you to choose which type of exposure or event is in your best interest. Why would you spend money on a showcase unless you knew exactly who was going to be there? Why would you spend money on a showcase if the college coaches did not know you were going to be there? I think people really believe that college coaches spend money to attend these events with no recruiting list and expect to discover players. I know while I was coaching in college, I could not get approval to go to an event unless I could convince my athletic director that it would be well worth the investment. That means I had already identified players who can play at our school, can get in academically and have a sincere interest in our school. Having been involved in this process for the past 23 years, I know that has not changed one bit. In this recruiting process, never spend your money blindy or you are just throwing it out the window.
In addition, college coaches are not going to websites all over the internet to discover you. They will spend their time with trusted sources (like us) who have been around for decades to recruit and follow their prospects. Baseball coaches and scouts are creatures of habit and they don't have time to try something new unless they are extremely confident in the source. You will see hundreds of new ideas and new concepts and all it is a new person trying to make a new dollar on you. Be sure you are involved with trusted people who have been involved in the process for years!
We Help You Follow Up and Follow Through With Each College
One of the easiest points to not understand in this process is what we call step five, the follow up and follow through. Remember there are thousands of other students trying to do exactly what you are doing right now. This is a very important decision and this decision really matters! I think sometimes people just think ... well I will just go where I end up and things will work out as they may. This couldn't be more true, they will work out as they may and there is a very good chance they will NOT work out in your best interest.
We take pride in guiding you through this process and helping you communicate with each of the college coaches. When you can't seem to make a connection with a coach, we are there. When you aren't sure about the program we are there to help you evaluate every program you have questions about. Remember, if you are being recruited by University XYZ, there is a very good chance we have already had several students who have either played for that coach or have gone through the recruiting process with that coach. Experience is a good thing to have in your corner, especially when you only go through this one time.
If you know what you want and believe in your ability and your plan, then it should be very easy and natural to follow Step Five. Many times parents and students stop communicating with a college if they haven't heard from them in a while, assuming they no longer have interest. This is not good! Be sure to stay in communication with each college you are interested in. Remember if you are working with realistic schools then there is no risk. If you are not sure if your schools are realistic then you may want to re-visit step three.
By working with colleges that are realistic, now you don't have to worry about whether or not you can play there or whether thay are interested you can focus on more specifics details like playing time, climate, facilities, and of course coaching staff. You can use this time to really get to know the coaches who you might be playing for. This will really help you make a better decision and decide if you can see yourself playing for that coach or choosing another coach.
You are making the decision to go to college and this decision is not a four year decision, its a lifetime decision. Choose wisely!