As a single mother of a freshman student-athlete at Glenbrook South, Pam Theriault said she wants to get a headstart on her 10th and youngest child’s possible recruitment to play college sports.
That’s why Theriault and her son, Jordan Theriault, were at New Trier’s Cornog Auditorium on March 19 for the CSL’s recruiting seminar. Conferences officials estimated several hundred parents and students, grades 9-11, attended the free lecture.
Pam Theriault said the information offered by the three panelists was valuable to her and her son. Jordan Theriault runs cross country and track at Glenbrook South.
“He’s got some talent, and the dream for most is to go to a Division I school, but going to a Division III school might be the better experience and opportunity for him,” said Pam Theriault, who plans to put North Central College in Naperville high on her list of schools for her son.
That was the message from Maureen Harty, a former athletic administrator at Northwestern and now an associate director of academic and membership affairs for the NCAA. Harty, the first to speak, started the program by telling the student-athletes and parents that chasing after a full Division I scholarship can be a fool’s errand.
Even before the event, Denise Hamburger said she already was considering Division III as the best option for her son, Nick Hamburger, a junior tennis player at New Trier. Denise Hamburger came to the conference looking to make sense of the process of applying to schools.
“It’s complicated and figuring it all out can be tough,” she said. “It’s good to hear the voices of experience.”
One of the best insights Denise Hamburger gained from the program was to make sure the student-athlete selects a college he or she can be happy at if athletics doesn’t work out.
“A lot of things can happen with sports, and your life is long,” she said. “You want to pick the right place for the long term.”
Harty spoke about the NCAA’s regulations and qualifications as they relate to athletic participation. She spent a lot of time talking about which classes a student-athlete needs to take in high school to be eligible for college sports. During her presentation, Harty said if a student-athlete graduates high school after 2015, he or she needs a cumulative GPA of at least 2.3 in 16 core classes (English, math, science and social science).
Susie Thorngren, the coordinator of New Trier’s Career Development Program, talked about how counselors can assist student-athletes in identifying college majors. She, and others like her, also provide help with writing résumés and preparing for college and job interviews.
“Something we need to start doing is keeping track of his accolades and accomplishments,” Pam Theriault said. “It will be too hard to try and remember all of it by the time he’s applying to colleges.”
Jerry Pope, the evening’s final speaker, was the program’s most spirited. A longtime college admissions dean, Pope, now District 219’s national college advisor, urged student-athletes to promote themselves in a positive light, especially on social media.
“First impressions matter,” proclaimed Pope, who worked at both Illinois Wesleyan and St. Olaf (Minnesota) in admissions.
Pope talked about using common sense when it comes to social media, and he said that poor judgement on those platforms can cost student-athletes opportunities at the next level.
Unlike many teenagers these days, Jordan Theriault said he doesn’t have a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account. He also doesn’t have a smartphone.
“Those aren’t things he needs right now,” said Pam Theriault, who operates the family’s Facebook page.
Jordan Theriault said he was fine with his mother’s rules, and he was happy he came to New Trier that night.
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“Academics are going to be more important to me than anything else,” he said. “I also learned I probably need to get more involved. It was worthwhile for me to be there.”
Twitter: @harnesspreps