Academic Games is one of many extra-curricular activities that students may join. Recruiting is a two-stage process.
- You must get students to attend the first meeting.
- You must get them to continue coming to practices.
Today’s youth have 70+ TV channels and thousands of Web sites to surf. If you don’t like what you see on one channel or site, move on to another. Many bring that same approach to deciding which activities to join in and out of school.
For players who have not played Academic Games before, this means the coach must make a good impression at the first meeting. Don’t just have a “normal” practice where you begin teaching the first game on the calendar. You may think that game is fascinating but potential recruits (and that’s all they are until they have persevered and played in at least one tournament) need to have fun and experience success immediately or they will “change the channel” and never return.