Hickman wrote:Other than the basic do you have my major, and what is the cost. What are some other good questions an athlete can ask when on college campus tour?
Academic related questions;
Pole Vault/Coach related questions;
Well first off find out if they have your major and talk to an advisor about if they think it is possible to graduate in 4 years while doing a sport. Some schools are smaller and do not offer classes more than once a year so balancing it your schedule can be tough.
Talk pole vaulting with the coach. Find out their level of knowledge and what their theories and beliefs are about certain techniques and figure out how that fits in with how you are currently vaulting. Just because your ideas are different does not mean it would be a bad fit, but if you go to a college you need to go into it fully willing to listen and learn from your coach no matter what they say. But if you have come from a very Petrovish coach and you strongly believe in a swing and the coach is heart set on teaching all their vaulters tuck and shoot than it may not be the best match. One of the biggest problems college athletes have that keeps them from improving is that they do not agree with or trust their coach.
Ask what the coaches expectation of athletes are. And try and get an idea of what kind of work outs or practice schedule you will have to undergo. Some colleges are very intense and have two or three a days, and some people can not handle that. And some people want an intense program.
Ask them about the town, and you need to visit the town the college is in and figure out how you like it. Remember you are going to live there for 4 or more years. You will probably get more information on this from the current athletes if you talk to them, but I know a lot of people that went of to a college for the sports team and just hated living in the place because it was in the middle of no where and had nothing to do, or it rained or snowed all the time.
Also, a coaches main job with a recruit is to get them to come to the school if they want them bad enough, and in a lot of cases that means stretching the truth quite a bit. if you get to hang out with the athletes or stay, try and talk to them and ask the same things. College athletes are told by coaches to try and sell the program to recruits but they don't have quite as much practice as the coaches. Find out how they like everything and why. Also see how well it seems the athletes at the school bond. That is completely up to how you want your college experience, as some schools track is a sport and that is it, other schools the track team seems to be more like a family that does everything together.