ODFC “welcomes” a new partner in our mission to create a developmental pathway for all our athletes. Athlete Match, a highly credible and reliable college recruiting organization will now assist our players get noticed by colleges across the country.

ODFC understands that the recruiting and decision-making process can be overwhelming for student-athletes in particular with so many colleges to choose from. Unfortunately, many student-athletes focus only on the athletic component to drive their evaluation process, asking questions such as “which division should I be aiming for?” and “what team am I good enough to play for?” and forming an initial college list based on these types of athletic questions. If you talk to the majority of college recruiting companies this is what they will tell you: just focus primarily on athletic factors when deciding which colleges to pursue for your son or daughter.

ODFC, after researching and evaluating many recruiting organizations over the past year, has realized that most (if not all) place little emphasis on critical “non-athletic” factors. As a matter of fact, and unlike Athlete Match, their technology platform is limited with the amount (and quality) of non-athletic college information for families to evaluate.

Our “new” partners at Athlete Match have learned from 30 years of working with colleges and college coaches that this type of athletic-centric approach is actually harmful to our student-athletes, greatly increasing the potential for a poor college experience and outcome.

The fact is selecting and being recruited by the proper school is HARD WORK and our kids need the proper tools to make solid, well-informed decisions.

“Athlete Match advocates a different approach to evaluating and selecting schools: finding schools that are a good fit both on and off the field. Less than 2% of college athletes go on to play professionally, while most see their college education shape their career and the rest of their lives. This highlights the importance of the non-athletic component of the college experience. Student-athletes spend the majority of their time in the classroom and within the campus environment and culture. If their college selection is based solely on athletics and fails to consider major, geography and other non-athletic factors, they are much more likely to have a negative college experience. This negative experience often leads to poor grades, transferring colleges or dropping out of college. With every additional year of college costing an average of $60,000, not to mention the potential long-term effects of a poor college experience, making the correct college decision becomes even more important.”

We are extremely excited with what AM can do for our player’s as they plan their future!