So you are at the event along with 500 other players and you need to set yourself apart from the competition. How do you do that?
1. Most important: Have good grades (SAT/ACT/GPA): I can not stress this enough. The kids with the good grades get the most offers/scholastic aid. If a coach likes what he sees, he will look at his book and see what your grades are. If he can not get you into his school he will not recruit you. At this point you are worthless to him regardless of how great your athletic ability is. They don't care if you qualified for the NCAA Eligibility Center. You need a 20 ACT or a 1000 MV SAT to set yourself apart. The fact of the matter is that you need a 1100 (M/V) to get into 10-12 of the schools that participate every year.
2. Show some initiative: Apply to some of the schools before the event. Send emails to the coaches before the event introducing yourself. Have a 1 page resume available. Know where these schools are located. Have your FAFSA filled out already. Show them that you are a responsible student athlete.
3. Hustle: Hustle to stations. Move with a purpose. Look like you care. Do not hang out with your friends and goof off. Have a business like mentality.
4. No Parents: Don't have mommy call and ask about your college plans. There will be a time when coaches need to talk to parents. Today is not that day. Show them that you are a big boy and want to take care of business. You need to fill out your college applications. You need to fill out your scholarship paperwork. You need to email the coaches and discuss opportunities on their team.
5. Be ready to be move out of Texas: If you are willing to move out of Texas you need to explain your willingness to the coaches. Valley City State (North Dakota) takes 5-10 every year and most pay less then $1000 a year to go to college. Presentation College same thing. Wisconsin Lutheran took 4 in their first year at the event.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
Showcase Results
Here are some of the results from the past 6 years. All data collected from surveys of coaches and participants. We do not consider a participant on a college roster unless he is on their roster in the Fall.
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Students Registered | 230 | 525 | 726 | 741 | 758 | 771 |
| Participants | 190 | 350 | 390 | 416 | 412 | 402 |
| Offered a Scholarship | 108 | 220 | 237 | 316 | 349 | 353 |
| # of Colleges | 16 | 22 | 25 | 27 | 32 | 41 |
| # of High Schools | 127 | 139 | 151 | 159 | ||
| On a College Roster | 37 | 69 | 77 | 96 | 63 | 87 |
| Scholastic Aid Generated in Millions | 6.5 | 9.1 | 10.2 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 |
| Participants on Free Lunch % | 47% | 55% | 51% | |||
| African American Participant % | 60% | 64% | 67% | |||
| Caucasian Participant % | 20% | 20% | 22% | |||
| Hispanic Participant % | 12% | 14% | 13% | |||
| Other Participant % | 8% | 2% | 2% | |||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
| Average SAT Critical Reading Score | 440 | 451 | 462 | |||
| Average SAT Math Score | 480 | 488 | 491 | |||
| Average SAT Writing Score | 431 | 422 | 433 | |||
| ACT | 19 | 19.3 | 19.1 | |||
| GPA | 3.07 | 3.02 | 3.12 |
Colleges that typically attend the showcase
I get asked this a lot so now I can refer them to this Blog =).
The following is a list of schools that have attended in the
past. You should apply to at least 3 of
them before attending the event.
|
Adams
State
|
Harding
University
|
Rhodes
College
|
||
|
Angelo
State University
|
Hardin-Simmons
|
Saint
Joseph's College
|
||
|
arkansas
baptist college
|
Henderson
State University
|
South
Dakota School of Mines & Technology
|
||
|
Augustana
College (IL)
|
Hendrix
College
|
Southwest
Baptist University
|
||
|
Austin
College
|
Howard
Payne University
|
Southwestern
College
|
||
|
AVILA
UNIVERSITY
|
John
Carroll University
|
Southwestern
University
|
||
|
Bacone
College
|
Kansas
Wesleyan University
|
Tabor
College
|
||
|
Baker
University
|
Lake
Forest College
|
Tarleton
State University
|
||
|
Belhaven
University
|
Lewis
& Clark
|
Texas
College
|
||
|
Belhaven
University
|
Lindenwood
University
|
Texas
Lutheran University
|
||
|
Beloit
College
|
Lon
Morris
|
Trine
University
|
||
|
Bethel
College
|
Louisiana
College
|
Trinity
International University
|
||
|
Cisco
College
|
Lyon
College
|
Trinity
University
|
||
|
Colorado
Mesa University
|
Marietta
College
|
University
of Mary
|
||
|
Concordia
University, NE
|
McMurry
University
|
University
of Mary Hardin Baylor
|
||
|
Cornell
College
|
mcpherson
college
|
University
of Saint Mary
|
||
|
Culver
Stockton College
|
Millsaps
College
|
Valley
City State University
|
||
|
Dordt
College
|
Minot
State University
|
Waldorf
College
|
||
|
East
Texas Baptist University
|
Missouri
Valley College
|
Wayland
Baptist University
|
||
|
Faulkner
University
|
Northwood
University
|
Westminster
College
|
||
|
Grand
View University
|
Oklahoma
Baptist University
|
William
Penn University
|
||
|
Greenville
College
|
Oklahoma
Panhandle State
|
The 3 G's of playing football (or any sport) in college
After the showcase each year we spend a lot of time surveying the participants and coaches. One of the areas we look at is why do you want to play football in college. After looking at the responses for 5 years I came up with the 3 G's of playing sports in college. They just happen to correlate with the same 3 G's of why the Spanish Conquistadors came to the new world.
Why do kids want to play sports in college?
Gold: Plenty of participants believe that the only way they are going to be able to afford to go to college is to play football. Their only real life experience with how to go to college seems to be the athletics route. These kids usually recognize that they need to get out of their situation and the best way to do that is by going to college. These kids usually end up staying at their school longer then the other categories. If kids do not end up playing football in college a lot of them are joining the military.
Leroy was one of those kids during the 1st Showcase. He was my student worker 1 class period so I really got to know him well. He was a slow, 5'6" 210lb DE. He is also in my top 10 favorite students of all time. His grades were good and he was going to be a full pell grant kid. When he did not get an offer from the showcase he was devastated. I asked him why he wanted to play he flat out said it was his only way out of his situation. I looked at him and said, " you have good grades I can get you into a college, and you can get your education and get most of it paid for".
The whole concept of him having the ability to go to college without playing football was absolutely foreign to him. He honestly believed it was his only way out. The only "college people" he had any first hand experience with were "athletes". To say that this revelation made me reevaluate some of my beliefs would be an understatement. Leroy did fine. He went to Lamar on academic and pell grant money, lived on campus, and is now a teacher.
God: These participants believe that without football they will not be able to be successful in life. They self select themselves as football players and do not know how to adjust to life without football. These kids have usually been playing football since they were 7 years old, and football has been a staple in their lives for the past 10 years.
When these participants do not have football in their lives they don't know what else to do with themselves. They have lost the majority of their time structure within their daily life without football. Then 6 months later when we ship them off to SFA or Texas Tech to go be a college student they loose their parents "structure" and fail out of school the first semester.
So let me get this straight... We remove the 2 forms of structure in an 18 year olds life, football and parents, then we send them to a new environment (college campus), then we are surprised that they spend all of their time partying and chasing girls, and we wonder why they fail out of school?
If they still have the structure of football in college they have other adults (coaches) looking in on them. They have to wake up and be somewhere at a certain time, they have to be at class, they are held accountable by someone else. So when they are off at a small college in Iowa they have that constant of football to provide that structure that most 18 year olds need to be successful.
Yes I realize that plenty of 18 year olds go off to college and are self disciplined enough to be successful. Should most 18 year olds be able to make that transition...yes. Do a lot of them suffer in college due to bad time management...absolutely.
Glory: These participants are used to being the Big Man on Campus. They believe they are the best there is, best there was, and best there ever will be. The only thing they know about "College Football" is that they want 50k people cheering for them at Kyle Field. They have never heard of Texas Lutheran University let alone Dordt College. They are used to getting things their way, and can not imagine why they are not going to a D1 school.
Most of the time their grades are horrible. What prevents them from going off to college besides ego is that they do not fill out the paperwork. Their friend just signed his name and he is going to Texas Tech to play football. What do you mean I have to apply/admission essays/ turn in paper work to get into college.
Unfortunately, a lot of kids fall into this category. They are not aware of the opportunities at smaller colleges and they usually suffer for that.
Thanks For Reading
Cobyrhoden@gmail.com
@srfbshowcase
Why do kids want to play sports in college?
Gold: Plenty of participants believe that the only way they are going to be able to afford to go to college is to play football. Their only real life experience with how to go to college seems to be the athletics route. These kids usually recognize that they need to get out of their situation and the best way to do that is by going to college. These kids usually end up staying at their school longer then the other categories. If kids do not end up playing football in college a lot of them are joining the military.
Leroy was one of those kids during the 1st Showcase. He was my student worker 1 class period so I really got to know him well. He was a slow, 5'6" 210lb DE. He is also in my top 10 favorite students of all time. His grades were good and he was going to be a full pell grant kid. When he did not get an offer from the showcase he was devastated. I asked him why he wanted to play he flat out said it was his only way out of his situation. I looked at him and said, " you have good grades I can get you into a college, and you can get your education and get most of it paid for".
The whole concept of him having the ability to go to college without playing football was absolutely foreign to him. He honestly believed it was his only way out. The only "college people" he had any first hand experience with were "athletes". To say that this revelation made me reevaluate some of my beliefs would be an understatement. Leroy did fine. He went to Lamar on academic and pell grant money, lived on campus, and is now a teacher.
God: These participants believe that without football they will not be able to be successful in life. They self select themselves as football players and do not know how to adjust to life without football. These kids have usually been playing football since they were 7 years old, and football has been a staple in their lives for the past 10 years.
When these participants do not have football in their lives they don't know what else to do with themselves. They have lost the majority of their time structure within their daily life without football. Then 6 months later when we ship them off to SFA or Texas Tech to go be a college student they loose their parents "structure" and fail out of school the first semester.
So let me get this straight... We remove the 2 forms of structure in an 18 year olds life, football and parents, then we send them to a new environment (college campus), then we are surprised that they spend all of their time partying and chasing girls, and we wonder why they fail out of school?
If they still have the structure of football in college they have other adults (coaches) looking in on them. They have to wake up and be somewhere at a certain time, they have to be at class, they are held accountable by someone else. So when they are off at a small college in Iowa they have that constant of football to provide that structure that most 18 year olds need to be successful.
Yes I realize that plenty of 18 year olds go off to college and are self disciplined enough to be successful. Should most 18 year olds be able to make that transition...yes. Do a lot of them suffer in college due to bad time management...absolutely.
Glory: These participants are used to being the Big Man on Campus. They believe they are the best there is, best there was, and best there ever will be. The only thing they know about "College Football" is that they want 50k people cheering for them at Kyle Field. They have never heard of Texas Lutheran University let alone Dordt College. They are used to getting things their way, and can not imagine why they are not going to a D1 school.
Most of the time their grades are horrible. What prevents them from going off to college besides ego is that they do not fill out the paperwork. Their friend just signed his name and he is going to Texas Tech to play football. What do you mean I have to apply/admission essays/ turn in paper work to get into college.
Unfortunately, a lot of kids fall into this category. They are not aware of the opportunities at smaller colleges and they usually suffer for that.
Thanks For Reading
Cobyrhoden@gmail.com
@srfbshowcase
Showcase Videos and media coverage
Here are some videos of the event:
www.tinyurl.com/2011fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/2012fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/2013fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/2014fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/showcasepodcast
Best interview about showcase I have ever done
Articles
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2012/02/rain-didnt-put-a-damper-on-the-houston-senior-showcase/#3221101=0
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Justice-Football-Showcase-reminder-of-what-it-s-1539126.php
I am sure I am missing some so if there are additional links please post.
www.tinyurl.com/2011fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/2012fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/2013fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/2014fbshowcase
www.tinyurl.com/showcasepodcast
Best interview about showcase I have ever done
Articles
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2012/02/rain-didnt-put-a-damper-on-the-houston-senior-showcase/#3221101=0
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Justice-Football-Showcase-reminder-of-what-it-s-1539126.php
I am sure I am missing some so if there are additional links please post.
The Showcase is first and foremost a COLLEGE READINESS EVENT
Every year I get dozens of phone calls and emails from parents/coaches/participants that go something like this:
Parent: My son was 1st team all district Rb for XYZ high school and he needs to get into your showcase. He will be the best athlete there.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: He ran for 1200 yds, and runs a 4.5 40yd dash.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: His coaches dont like him and thats why he has not signed already. They are not promoting him.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: I don't know his SAT score. He is 5'10" and weighs 220lbs. He runs a 4.5 40 yd dash
Me: Well when you have his SAT score have him call back. Have a good evening.
(3 days later)
Parent: I called you a couple of days ago about my son getting into your showcase. He is an all district RB from XYZ high school. I have his SAT scores now.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: 910
Me: Is that his 3 part score or a 2 part score?
Parent: He got a 300 in CR, a 320 in Math, and a 290 in writing?
Me: He does not meet our minimum qualifications he can not participate.
Parent: Why not?
Me: There is not a single school that will be here that he can get into. It is a waste of time for him to come.
Parent: We no one ever told me that the SAT was important. He had a game the night before so he was tired.
Me: Has he registered again for another SAT?
Parent: No
Me: Well if he gets a new score before the event that qualifies he can register. Until then we do not have a spot for him. Have a good evening.
There are a couple of points to this story. Your SAT or ACT score is much more important than your 40 time or how many yards you rushed for. I have seen on numerous occasions a 3rd string player with good SAT and ACT scores get their college paid for and have a chance to play football in college as a result of this event.
Know your scores. The first question a coach will ask you is what is your SAT score and GPA. If you can not get into their school you are wasting their time.
Point 2: At this stage in the game it does not matter if they were 1st team all world. If they do not have a SAT or ACT score it does not matter.
This is an academic event. The majority of "scholarship money" that goes out is academic in nature.
A good website to check out if you can get into a school is Cappex.com. They will give you a scatter graph of SAT and GPA scores of current students. USE IT.
cobyrhoden@gmail.com
@srfbshowcase twitter
Parent: My son was 1st team all district Rb for XYZ high school and he needs to get into your showcase. He will be the best athlete there.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: He ran for 1200 yds, and runs a 4.5 40yd dash.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: His coaches dont like him and thats why he has not signed already. They are not promoting him.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: I don't know his SAT score. He is 5'10" and weighs 220lbs. He runs a 4.5 40 yd dash
Me: Well when you have his SAT score have him call back. Have a good evening.
(3 days later)
Parent: I called you a couple of days ago about my son getting into your showcase. He is an all district RB from XYZ high school. I have his SAT scores now.
Me: What is his SAT score?
Parent: 910
Me: Is that his 3 part score or a 2 part score?
Parent: He got a 300 in CR, a 320 in Math, and a 290 in writing?
Me: He does not meet our minimum qualifications he can not participate.
Parent: Why not?
Me: There is not a single school that will be here that he can get into. It is a waste of time for him to come.
Parent: We no one ever told me that the SAT was important. He had a game the night before so he was tired.
Me: Has he registered again for another SAT?
Parent: No
Me: Well if he gets a new score before the event that qualifies he can register. Until then we do not have a spot for him. Have a good evening.
There are a couple of points to this story. Your SAT or ACT score is much more important than your 40 time or how many yards you rushed for. I have seen on numerous occasions a 3rd string player with good SAT and ACT scores get their college paid for and have a chance to play football in college as a result of this event.
Know your scores. The first question a coach will ask you is what is your SAT score and GPA. If you can not get into their school you are wasting their time.
Point 2: At this stage in the game it does not matter if they were 1st team all world. If they do not have a SAT or ACT score it does not matter.
This is an academic event. The majority of "scholarship money" that goes out is academic in nature.
A good website to check out if you can get into a school is Cappex.com. They will give you a scatter graph of SAT and GPA scores of current students. USE IT.
cobyrhoden@gmail.com
@srfbshowcase twitter
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Intro and The history of the Showcase
It all started in January of 2009 at Milby High School. I was the Play It Smart Coach at Milby and Phil Camp was the Head Football Coach and AD. Coach Camp came into my office and said, "Tabor College is going to be here on March 10th email your other PIS coaches across HISD and see if any of their kids would like to come over to tryout for them. If they have a 2.5 GPA, and a 900 M/V SAT score they can get most of their college paid for. So I send out a group email and at the end of the day we have 80 HISD kids that are showing up on March 10th to tryout for Tabor. I go and tell Coach Camp and his reply is classic Camp "Hell I know the coach at Baker lets invite him down also". So I start emailing all of the D3 and NAIA coaches I can find and Camp calls some of his buddies and we have NAIA Day (that was the original name).
That year we ended up with 15 colleges and 190 HISD kids looking for a shot to play football in college. Chris Vaughn had come on board to witness everything and help out where he could. I still remember talking to Chris that day and him saying "Wow if just 30 of these kids get Offers this will be a huge success". We ended up with over 150 kids getting offers that day. Maybe more I really had not created a mechanism to track the offers and that 150 number is based on what other PIS coaches had reported. Our final number was 60 kids ending up on a college roster from that event.
We were absolutely over our heads at this point. We knew we had an "Animal" on our hands. We also knew that this was absolutely a worthwhile event that Camp, Vaughn, and I have truly turned into our life's work. It goes beyond scholastic aid and putting kids into college, and into changing lives and improving society.
Fast Forward to today as we are planning on the 7th Showcase. Our results speak for themselves. With a yearly budget of $5,000-$8,000 we have generated over 60 million dollars is scholastic aid to students in Greater Houston. We have had over 3000 students come thru the showcase for a last chance to play football in college. We have over 500 participants on a college roster from a participating school. Last years event had 41 colleges in attendance. We also established similar events in El Paso TX and Orange County California.
So why this Blog now?
1. The story needs to be told
2. I get a lot of emails and now I can say go read the blog I have answered that question on the blog which will save me a lot of time in the long run.
3. Hopefully we can provide information to a student that will change their lives for the better.
I am going to touch on a lot of topics in this Blog mostly around playing sports in college, getting ready to go to college, and the admissions process of getting into college. All of my data that I will be citing is from follow up surveys to participants and college coaches. If you have any questions please email me cobyrhoden@gmail.com.
That year we ended up with 15 colleges and 190 HISD kids looking for a shot to play football in college. Chris Vaughn had come on board to witness everything and help out where he could. I still remember talking to Chris that day and him saying "Wow if just 30 of these kids get Offers this will be a huge success". We ended up with over 150 kids getting offers that day. Maybe more I really had not created a mechanism to track the offers and that 150 number is based on what other PIS coaches had reported. Our final number was 60 kids ending up on a college roster from that event.
We were absolutely over our heads at this point. We knew we had an "Animal" on our hands. We also knew that this was absolutely a worthwhile event that Camp, Vaughn, and I have truly turned into our life's work. It goes beyond scholastic aid and putting kids into college, and into changing lives and improving society.
Fast Forward to today as we are planning on the 7th Showcase. Our results speak for themselves. With a yearly budget of $5,000-$8,000 we have generated over 60 million dollars is scholastic aid to students in Greater Houston. We have had over 3000 students come thru the showcase for a last chance to play football in college. We have over 500 participants on a college roster from a participating school. Last years event had 41 colleges in attendance. We also established similar events in El Paso TX and Orange County California.
So why this Blog now?
1. The story needs to be told
2. I get a lot of emails and now I can say go read the blog I have answered that question on the blog which will save me a lot of time in the long run.
3. Hopefully we can provide information to a student that will change their lives for the better.
I am going to touch on a lot of topics in this Blog mostly around playing sports in college, getting ready to go to college, and the admissions process of getting into college. All of my data that I will be citing is from follow up surveys to participants and college coaches. If you have any questions please email me cobyrhoden@gmail.com.
One of my best friends in the world Coach Gail running drills
College coaches
Participants
More Drills
The only picture of me from the event. Yes I am wearing camo shorts.
Coach Camp (Milby Football) and some Westside Coaches
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