A documented internal process for U.S. university sport recruitment — implemented by your staff, owned by your school.
CAPS gives schools the tools, timelines, and coordination structure to manage the full recruitment pathway internally — without relying on individual staff knowledge or external agents.
Structured across all four years of secondary school.
Student-athlete profile established. Academic baseline mapped to NCAA eligibility requirements. Family awareness introduced at the appropriate stage.
Target university list developed. Highlight footage produced and reviewed. Athlete profile constructed. For students in sports with earlier recruiting windows, coach correspondence may begin during this phase.
Coach outreach is underway for most students — pace and volume depend on each student's sport and target Division. Compliance documentation prepared. Campus visit planning initiated. All correspondence managed through school-coordinated channels.
Offer management and evaluation. Application oversight. Commitment and transition support. Cohort outcome review for institutional records.
Recruiting timelines vary significantly by sport and Division level — earlier-recruiting sports such as swimming, tennis, and golf may see active coach contact begin in Year 10; others may not reach that stage until Year 11 or Year 12. The framework accommodates this variation. All timelines are calibrated to each school's academic calendar and sport mix during implementation. Pathways exist for NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, and NJCAA programmes.
Everything the school needs to run the process internally.
- Year 9–12 recruiting timeline — mapped to your academic calendar
- Cross-sport athlete tracking across year levels
- Defined staff roles and coordination workflow
- School-specific implementation playbook
- Coach outreach templates and correspondence guidance
- NCAA and NAIA reference guide for school staff
- Standardised testing and eligibility planning guidance
- Parent and student pathway guides
- Staff handoff protocols — so the process survives transitions
- Annual review and refinement framework
- Cohort documentation and outcome records
- Ongoing self-assessment guidance
All materials are school-owned from the point of implementation. CAPS does not retain access or involvement beyond the agreed engagement period.
A single operational workspace for managing the entire pathway.
Every school that implements CAPS receives a structured coordination environment for tracking students, managing timelines, and maintaining institutional records — accessible to all relevant staff, across cohorts and transitions.
The school's internal coordination workspace — managed by the nominated Pathway Coordinator. All data is held by the school. CAPS does not retain access after implementation.
The process is operated by school staff — not managed by CAPS.
CAPS is designed so that school staff own and operate the process. Three roles form the coordination structure at most schools.
The nominated staff member responsible for day-to-day management of the coordination workspace, student tracking, and correspondence oversight. Typically a Head of Sport, Athletic Director, or senior counsellor.
The counselling staff member who connects academic planning with sport recruitment timelines — ensuring students pursuing U.S. pathways are supported across both dimensions simultaneously.
Individual coaches contribute footage assessment, athlete readiness input, and sport-specific context. The framework defines their involvement so it's consistent across programmes — not dependent on individual coach initiative.
All roles, responsibilities, and handoff protocols are documented during implementation. When staff change, the process remains — the incoming person inherits a functioning structure, not institutional memory.
What the pathway looks like from the student's perspective.
The following illustrates how a student in a CAPS-implemented school moves through the pathway from identification to commitment.
The student is identified through the school's athlete tracking process. Academic baseline is recorded and mapped to NCAA core course requirements. Family receives an introductory pathway overview — no action required yet.
The student works with the Pathway Coordinator to identify target universities across Division levels. Highlight footage is recorded and reviewed. An initial athlete profile is constructed. Depending on the student's sport and target programmes, coach contact may begin during this phase.
For most students, active coach correspondence is underway through school-coordinated channels by this stage. Compliance documentation is prepared. Campus visit planning begins where appropriate. Families are kept informed through the school process.
Offers are evaluated against academic and sport fit criteria. Application oversight is coordinated between counselling and the Pathway Coordinator. Upon commitment, transition support is provided. The outcome is recorded in the school's cohort documentation.