I had my first exposure to serious big money college sports recruiting yesterday.
The university visited is not really relevant to the story.
BUT DAMN and WOWZA was it eye opening
You all know I have a fencer named Dasha who is an elite athlete. Took her for an official recruitment meeting with the #2 ranked women's fencing team in the US yesterday, spent 4 hours with the coaches. Private meetings. Team session, behind the scenes tour, etc.
The VARSITY athletic area is locked away from mere mortals, regular students and prying eyes. And damn was it amazing. As we were ushered through by the head fencing coach we got to see all general areas and fencing areas, but also poked our heads inside some of the other sports areas.
And the facilities are simply over-the top in terms of quality and quantity. Touch screen walls for video review. The newest of the new equipment. Luxury seating and carpeting in lounge areas. Etc Etc Etc
And everything is locked all the time so only special athletic pass cards get you into these "behind the locked door" areas of the buildings. It was a whole new world of athletic pampering and sports luxury. I can't imagine a pro team having more.
I was honestly afraid to photograph behind the closed doors
The university visited is not really relevant to the story.
BUT DAMN and WOWZA was it eye opening
You all know I have a fencer named Dasha who is an elite athlete. Took her for an official recruitment meeting with the #2 ranked women's fencing team in the US yesterday, spent 4 hours with the coaches. Private meetings. Team session, behind the scenes tour, etc.
The VARSITY athletic area is locked away from mere mortals, regular students and prying eyes. And damn was it amazing. As we were ushered through by the head fencing coach we got to see all general areas and fencing areas, but also poked our heads inside some of the other sports areas.
- Private lounge area for relaxation for EACH varsity team
- Dedicated scholastic advisor for EACH varsity team, sometimes multiple advisors if the team is large enough. 30 people on the varsity women's fencing team so there were 3 advisors
- Preferential class schedules
- Relaxed entrance standards (yes the rumors are true!)
- Special cafeteria with free food
- Snack and drink bars stocked with freebies
- Free gear
- Private workout areas, pools, weight rooms, etc
- Customized workouts that are performance or injury recovery based and computer tracked by all sorts of metrics
- Private athletic lounge area of all athletes (in addition to the private team lounges)
- Private study area for all athletes
- Special tutors dedicated to athletics
- and the list goes on and on and on...
And the facilities are simply over-the top in terms of quality and quantity. Touch screen walls for video review. The newest of the new equipment. Luxury seating and carpeting in lounge areas. Etc Etc Etc
And everything is locked all the time so only special athletic pass cards get you into these "behind the locked door" areas of the buildings. It was a whole new world of athletic pampering and sports luxury. I can't imagine a pro team having more.
I was honestly afraid to photograph behind the closed doors