LAXBUZZ: How did you come to create PrepChamps?
Dean Bundschu:
Almost every member of the PrepChamps team participated in some high school sport and several members played or coached at the collegiate level. Back in 2006 we began to look for a way to create a company the simplified the recruiting process. We actually thought of the idea when talking to a high school coach that mentioned how he was helping athletes by posting recruiting videos online.
At that point the light bulb went off and we began to think about how we could use technology to help high school athletes get recognized and recruited and college coaches find athletes that meet their programs needs. As we all know, social networking was being to really take off and at the same time, more and more college coaches were using technology to connect with athletes.
Thus we assembled a team of sports enthusiasts and technology experts to build a platform to help this dream become a reality. Recognizing the challenges that many high school student athletes face during the recruiting process, PrepChamps utilizes the power of the Internet to shift the focus toward “Social Recruiting”. PrepChamps is focused on providing high school student athletes with the tools they need to showcase their skills, enhance their exposure, and ultimately improve their chances of getting recognized and recruited.
LAXBUZZ: How many lacrosse student-athletes, boys and girls, would you say are members?
Dean Bundschu: We started by focusing heavily on football and basketball, but lacrosse is one area that we’ve definitely seen growth in. We have about 1000 lacrosse student-athletes on our site today. Some of our lacrosse student-athletes, such as Morgan Cain who committed to Seton Hill University, are getting recruited. (Total membership is over 66,000 members)
LAXBUZZ: How many college lacrosse coaches participate?
Dean Bundschu: We don’t force college coaches to specify which sport they coach so we can’t give you an exact number. But the feedback we get from coaches is that our site is useful in finding players and building their programs.
LAXBUZZ: Can you name a few Division 1, 2 and 3 schools?
Dean Bundschu: Lacrosse coaches from schools such as Lake Erie College, Florida Southern College, Trinity College, High Point University and McGill University have utilized our website.
LAXBUZZ: What are the 3 top things a lacrosse student-athlete and his or her family can do to best prepare for the recruiting process?
Dean Bundschu: Prepare all recruiting materials a college coach may need to evaluate the student-athlete for their program. (everything in your PrepChamps Profile)
Personal information (Name, mailing address, phone numbers, grade level, school attending, HC contact info, email address, jersey number, position, honors, etc.)
Educational information (GPA, SAT, ACT, if you have cleared the NCAA Clearing House, etc)
Athletic information (Game Highlight Video, stats, honors, etc)
Research
Sit down and discuss which programs best fit the student-athletes goals (Educationally, geographically, system of program, and once they take a visit…how they fit into the dynamic of the TEAM. Also, cover all levels)
Exposure
Do everything you can to get the student-athlete’s name out there!
Send their PrepChamps profile by email to every college that fits their criteria
Mail highlight DVDs to every college that fits their criteria
Attend as many college camps, tournaments, or showcases as possible!
http://www.prepchamps.com/
Freshman attackman Parker Brown has had a great fall with the Bears, and could put Northern California lacrosse on the map.
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