Fencing: NCAA Rules of Athlete Recruitment
INTRODUCTION
The following article has been reproduced with permission from Fencing Parents.
Getting recruited to a Division 1 NCAA college fencing team can seem like a daunting process to those unfamiliar with the rules. On top of the stress of figuring out which NCAA coaches would be open to considering your fencer for recruitment to the team, there are numerous do’s and don’ts to comply with, and a rigid calendar that governs when you can initiate conversations and when you can make “in person” contact with head coaches of the NCAA fencing teams that interest you.
It is important to remember that the majority of these strict rules and recruiting calendar apply specifically to colleges within Division 1.
During the recruiting process, all interactions with Division 1 head coaches are governed by strict NCAA rules. From initiating communication with the head coaches, to continuing the dialogue with the head coach on your fencing progress and expressing your strong interest in that college’s fencing team, to conversations during unofficial college visits, to official college visits, to receiving and responding to the National Letter of Interest, or “Likely” Letter , these interactions are governed by strict NCAA rules and a recruitment calendar.
These strict athlete recruitment rules enforced by the NCAA are designed to maintain a level playing field for all potential athlete recruits across all sports, so that no one involved in the process can create an unfair advantage for any one student or category of students, and no student athlete will feel pressurized to accept an offer prematurely.
While colleges in Division 2 must adhere to NCAA eligibility rules, the rules on contact and the calendar are substantially more relaxed.
The rules applicable to Division 3 colleges are even less stringent. There is no athlete recruitment per se since students are admitted largely on academic merit (frequently through Early Decision), not sporting achievement. It is common for Division 3 coaches to advise fencers to submit their ED application, accompanied by a “heads up” from the coach to the admissions office that the applicant has been identified for the fencing team. Eligibility is determined on campus by the individual colleges.
3 PARTS TO THE NCAA RULES OF ATHLETE RECRUITMENT FOR FENCERS
We break down the rules into 3 key areas:
Part 1 - Athlete Recruitment Calendar and Rules
Part 2 - How Do Colleges Commit to the Fencer? - Likely Letters, National Letters of Intent, Early Decision and Regular Decision Admission
Part 3 - Eligibility Rules
To produce this summary guide of the NCAA rules and calendar for fencer athlete recruitment, Fencing Parents conducted a thorough review of the guides, manuals, recruiting calendars and advisories available on the NCAA website , the NLI website, the Ivy League athlete recruitment website, and many other athlete recruitment and scholarship websites. We distilled the information down to the critical rules and information as they apply to the fencing athlete recruit. We reference the experiences of fencers and their parents, wherever possible, to give you a better sense of the rules in action.
DOWNLOAD THE PDF VERSION OF THE GUIDE HERE
PART 1 - RECRUITING CALENDAR AND RULES
The most important rules to know are the ones that control when you can approach and interact with the NCAA coaches about recruiting you to their fencing team. These rules include:
when you can initiate interactions with a head coach,
when head coaches can initiate interactions with you,
when and where you can have in-person contact with the head coach
the channel of interaction (phone, email, in-person)
the substance of the interaction (when can you talk specifically about recruitment)
the difference between “official” and “unofficial” visits
when are unofficial visits allowed
when are official visits allowed
when is contact disallowed during the recruitment cycle
The NCAA specifically defines when a “contact” happens as any time a college coach says more than “Hello” during a face-to-face meeting with you or your parents off the college’s campus. The rules governing “contact” are extremely strict. Many Division 1 NCAA coaches take the cautious approach, and literally will not engage with parents or fencers at NACs beyond the basic “hello” prior to Summer Nationals between the fencer’s junior and senior year.
The rules and calendar vary between Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 colleges, so please pay careful attention to which Division a college that you are interested in belongs.
You can download the Glossary of Athlete Recruitment Terms HERE
Division 1 Fencing Athlete Recruitment Rules and Calendar
GENERAL OVERVIEW
The NCAA rules and calendar governing athlete recruitment are the strictest in Division 1. These strict rules on timing, channel of communication and substance of the communications apply only to interactions between the fencer, his/her parents or guardians and the NCAA coaches.
These restrictions do not apply to third party interactions concerning the fencer. So even though you and your parents are restricted in your communications with the coach, there are no restrictions on your club coach’s ability to communicate with the NCAA coach, or your ability to communicate with the current members of the NCAA fencing team that interests you.
According to the rules, very limited interaction about athlete recruitment between fencer and NCAA coach is allowed prior to a fencer’s junior year in high school. The restrictive rules on interaction with the NCAA coach are lifted in junior year. Junior year is when the courtship really begins between coach and fencer.
Sustained interactions by telephone and electronic correspondence between a fencer and coach about athlete recruitment are allowed beginning in junior year. The restrictions on unofficial visits to the campus to discuss athlete recruitment are also lifted at the start of junior year (the details are laid out below).
While off campus, in-person contact with the coach is allowed starting at Summer Nationals the year the fencer completes his/her junior year, many recruit-able fencers have already conducted their unofficial college visits during their junior year to meet the NCAA coaches long before Summer Nationals.
To put the operation of the NCAA rules in perspective, here are a few generally accepted practices in fencer athlete recruitment:
Ranking on the Junior National Points List (JNPL) after the age-out post Junior Olympics is by far the best indicator of recruit-ability to an NCAA Division 1 fencing team at an elite college.
For the very elite fencers who rank within the top 32 to 50 on the JNPL at the start of their junior year, the courtship begins early in the year, and continues through to Summer Nationals at the end of junior year.
If a fencer did not start his/her junior year in high school in the top ranks of the JNPL, there is time through junior year to improve fencing performance and climb the ranks of the JNPL.
It is important to remember that competitiveness as an athlete recruit is dependent on 3 factors:
Ranking on the JNPL, and
Position on the JNPL relative to high school graduation year peers being recruited for the same academic year.
For example, a fencer ranked 30 on the JNPL may be the 7th highest ranked fencer on the JNPL among his/her high school graduation year peers. The chances of that fencer being recruited are very good!
The number of open positions available on the NCAA college’s fencing roster for your high school graduation year
Those fencers who maintain or attain relatively strong positions on the JNPL post the Junior Olympics age-out in junior year will be the most desirable recruits for the NCAA coaches, provided they meet the academic criteria for admission. Many of these fencers will receive verbal offers of recruitment at or before Summer Nationals at the end of their junior year in high school.
For this elite group, once an academic read (preliminary academic assessment) has been done and the feedback shared with the fencer, then all that’s left to do is complete the application, write the essay, and submit the application for admission as an athlete recruit.
For many other fencers, the conversations with the coaches continue through Summer Nationals into Fall of senior year. The opportunity to be recruited to the NCAA fencing team is still alive through Early Decision and Regular admissions.
The key to being successfully recruited is to stay well informed about where the potential open slots are within the NCAA teams, and to then pursue them with patience and perseverance.
RULES GOVERNING SOPHOMORE YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL - DIVISION 1
During a fencer’s sophomore year, the following actions are allowed:
Recruitment Materials - You may receive brochures for camps, questionnaires, NCAA materials and non-athletics recruiting publications.
Telephone Calls - (NEW) You may make phone calls to the head coach at your expense starting from June 15 at the end of sophomore year. The head coach may also call you about potential recruitment starting from June 15 at the end of sophomore year.
See: Recent Changes to NCAA Division Rules of Recruiting Effective May 1, 2019
In practical terms, though, unless you belong in the very top ranks of the JNPL in sophomore year, it is too early for serious discussions about athlete recruitment - the academic performance picture is incomplete, and there is a still a year to year and a half of fencing progress from both you and your graduation year fencing peers to be taken into account.
Electronic Correspondence (email, text message, instant messenger) - (NEW) Effective June 15 after sophomore year, all forms of electronic correspondence are allowed between you (the fencer) and the coach throughout the year including during dead periods. However, all correspondence must be private between you and the coach until you provide a written commitment to the NCAA college.
Fencing Camp or Clinic - You may attend fencing camps and clinics organized by the college coach, but you may not discuss athlete recruitment.
Off Campus Contact - (NEW) Effective August 1 after sophomore year, off-campus contact is allowed between you and the coach
Official Visit - (NEW) Effective August 1 after sophomore year, the coach can arrange for you and your family to visit the campus at the college’s expense to discuss recruitment.
Unofficial Visit - (NEW) Effective August 1 after your sophomore year, you may visit the campus at your own expense to discuss athlete recruitment with the head coach. Prior to August 1, you may visit campuses as part of their college tours with admissions offices, and they can stop by to say ‘hello” to the coach, but you cannot discuss athlete recruitment specifically.
Fencing Division 1 Athlete Recruitment Timeline Chart
Fencing Division 1 Athlete Recruitment Timeline
RULES GOVERNING JUNIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL - DIVISION 1
During a fencer’s junior year, the following actions are allowed:
Electronic Correspondence (email, text message, instant messenger) - (NEW) From June 15 after sophomore year, all forms of electronic correspondence are allowed between you (the fencer) and the coach throughout the year including during dead periods. However, all correspondence must be private between you and the coach until you provide a written commitment to the NCAA college.
You can now email your fencing resume and your grades (and test scores, if any) to the NCAA coach. Those already recruited advise that you should be very pro-active in following up with updates on your fencing and academic progress throughout your junior year.
If the coach doesn’t respond to your initial email, you should use your discretion whether to continue to send updates. The coach may not have responded for a variety of reasons - you are not a good academic fit, the roster is full, the coach wants someone higher ranked than you, the coach is already considering someone else… Sometimes, the candidate that the coach was considering picks another NCAA college, or your performance and ranking improves and you then rise into contention. You may need to do some sleuthing to stay on top of the situation, and remember that it’s not over till it’s over. Persistence and patience may yet pay off for you.
Even if the coach responds with a “no”, you can still check-in occasionally to see if anything has changed.
When making your target list of colleges to approach for athlete recruitment, make sure that you are not too big of an academic stretch for the college in question. Some NCAA coaches have more influence to stretch the academic limits than others, but even then, the final admission decision lies with the admissions office not the NCAA coach. The coach will have a good idea of what academic scores are within range of acceptability for the admissions office.
Recruiting Materials - From September 1 of your junior year, you can start receiving athlete recruitment material.
Telephone Calls - (NEW) From June 15 after sophomore year, the NCAA coach may make an unlimited number of phone calls to you about athlete recruitment. You may also make telephone calls to the coach at your expense. There are no restrictions on phone calls during dead periods.
Off Campus Contact - (NEW) Off campus in-person contact with the NCAA coach is allowed from August 1 after sophomore year
Official Visit - (NEW) You are allowed to make an official visit (at the college’s expense) from August 1 after your sophomore year to discuss athlete recruitment except during any dead period.
Unofficial Visit - (NEW) You are allowed to make unofficial visits to the college and NCAA coach at anytime from August 1 after your sophomore year to discuss athlete recruitment except during any dead period.
RULES GOVERNING SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL - DIVISION 1
During a fencer’s senior year, the following actions are allowed:
Electronic Correspondence (email, text message, instant messenger)- The freedom to engage the coach electronically since June 15 after sophomore year continues in senior year, including during dead periods. The same caveat that the correspondence must be private between you and the coach until you provide a written confirmation to the NCAA college still applies.
The Fall of a fencer’s senior year is still fully within recruiting season, and you should continue being pro-active in following-up with the coaches.
Recruiting Materials - You are allowed to receive all manner of recruiting materials
Telephone Calls - Both you and the coach are free to communicate by telephone throughout senior year, including dead periods.
Off Campus Contact - You and the coach can have in-person contact off-campus, including during NACs that take place during dead periods, although, the coach is limited to making contact with you no more than 3 times off campus.
However, once you provide a written commitment such as signing a National Letter of Interest, accepting a written offer of admission or financial aid, or the college receives a financial deposit from you, then the number of contacts and evaluation between you and the NCAA coach are unlimited.
Official Visit - You are allowed one official visit (paid by the college) per college up to a maximum of 5 colleges in Division 1.
Unofficial Visit - You can make an unlimited number of unofficial visits to colleges, except during the dead period where you may not visit.
Division 2 Fencing Athlete Recruitment Rules and Calendar
The rules governing timing, channel and substance of interactions between fencer and coach are much fewer and simpler in Division 2.
Recruiting Materials - You may receive brochures for camps, questionnaires, NCAA materials and non-athletics recruiting publications at any time. Beginning June 15 between sophomore and junior year, a coach may begin sending you printed recruiting materials
Telephone Calls - A fencer can make unlimited calls to the coach about athlete recruitment at any time, so long as the fencer pays for the calls. Beginning June 15 between sophomore and junior year, the coach can make unlimited calls to the fencer about athlete recruitment.
Off Campus Contact - Beginning June 15 between sophomore and junior year, the coach can have an unlimited number of contacts off campus with the fencer and his/her parents and guardians about athlete recruitment.
Official Visit - Beginning June 15 between sophomore and junior year, a fencer may make official visits to NCAA colleges without limit.
Unofficial Visit - Unofficial visits can be made at any time, without limits except during dead periods where no visits are allowed.
Download the Division 2 Rules and Calendar below:
NCAA Division 2 Recruiting Rules 2021/2022
Division 3 Fencing Athlete Recruitment Rules and Calendar
The rules and calendar are very simple. There are no dead periods.
Recruiting Materials - The fencer can receive all manner of printed materials about recruiting at any time
Telephone Calls - There are no limits on telephone calls between fencer and coach at any time to discuss athlete recruitment. The only condition is that the fencer pays for his/her calls.
Off Campus Contact - After completion of your sophomore year, a college coach can have unlimited contact with you and your parents or guardians at anytime.
Official Visit - Starting January 1 of your Junior year, you may make an unlimited number of official visits to a NCAA Division 3 campus.
Unofficial Visit - A fencer may make an unlimited number of unofficial visits to NCAA Division 3 colleges at anytime.
Fencing Division 2 & 3 Timeline Recruitment Chart
Fencing Division 2 & 3 Athlete Recruitment Timeline