Apr 22, 2015
NCSA College Recruiting Response
11yThank you for taking the time to share the pros and cons you experienced at NCSA. We are constantly growing and evolving as a company, and we genuinely appreciate your feedback. We also have great news to share about your comments, particularly in regard to some of the successes we’ve had helping student-athletes and their families in the last year or so since you’ve left the company:
-Since 2000, we’ve helped over 60,000 student-athletes realize their dream of playing sports in college. For the Class of 2014 alone, we helped over 18,000 student-athletes across all divisions of NCAA, NAIA and junior college play.
-While we want to help athletes find playing opportunities that match their academic pursuits and athletic skill set, we never want to enroll unqualified athletes. For example, in the Class of 2014, we helped approximately 4,300 student-athletes find walk-on and roster spots just in NCAA Division I. Every scout and head scout has college coach-driven guidelines for each sport, which outline their school’s minimum athletic and academic qualifications. Neither I, nor anyone in the executive or management teams, have ever coached or encouraged scouts or head scouts to enroll anyone failing to meet those standards into our Network. In the rare occasion where an athlete's information does not meet those standards, we have flagging systems in place to identify the athlete, refund the family’s money in entirety, and ensure we provide them an honest assessment of our decision.
-Our scouting force does strive to help as many qualified families as possible, and helps more than 2,000 athletes connect with our network every day. On average, a scout might make 30 calls. More importantly, however, we evaluate our scouts based on their ability to connect with families and educate them on options ahead of them—with or without NCSA’s assistance—to make sure that they don’t miss out on any opportunities. Our scouts are charged to work with an all-in attitude, all-out work ethic, and make their mark by helping as many families as possible in their time at work.
-I am saddened to hear of families reaching out to you, and hope that more families will connect with us in the future about their concerns so we can address their concerns and deliver the best service to them. I’m happy to report that customer satisfaction in the first quarter of 2015 was 18% higher than prior year, and in the last six months we have steadily seen even more improvement in customer satisfaction scores. That satisfaction extends to Pro-Match, for which families rated us the highest customer satisfaction rating in 2014 across all of our possible membership options.
-We take pride in our technology, and are rolling out new profile features and add-ons to both free and premium members in our network constantly, including a complete profile redesign in the coming weeks. In the month of February alone, there were 300,000 coach views of student-athlete profiles. We are dedicated to making a product and platform that will help student-athletes and coaches connect with each other.
-I am most worried that in your review you expressed a concern that employees who have critical feedback or opinions about the company’s strategic direction are afraid to speak their opinion. In 2014 and 2015, we have increased avenues for employees to share their feedback in anonymous and town hall settings. The executive team and I review all of the questions, comments and concerns we receive with open minds, and strive to respond with ultimate candor.
We take your feedback very seriously. Again, thank you for taking the time to address your experience at NCSA. We wish you all the best with your current endeavors. If you would like to discuss any of the above or further clarify your concerns as a college coach, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at (312) 624-7449 or by email at lstrasman@ncsasports.org.
Sincerely,
Lisa Strasman
President and COO, NCSA Athletic Recruiting