American Coaches Federation

Mr. Rigney has been involved in athletics most of his life; as a player, scout, coach, and nationally recognized recruiting expert. In 1980 he started the very first high school athlete scouting company whose purpose was to provide college exposure to deserving prospective student-athletes. His company, Scouting Report, became well-known with college coaches throughout the college ranks. He retired in 2002 and that company, now called National Scouting Report, is headed by his son who has spent the last 20 years in the business. Mr. Rigney is presently the director of American Coaches Federation, a non-profit company he founded in 2000. Even though his family still owns and operates National Scouting Report, Mr. Rigney no longer has any ownership or management ties with that company.

College athletics are becoming more and more competitive every year and therefore so has the hunt for the better student-athletes become more competitive. It used to be true that just about any good high school athlete could find a spot on a college team somewhere. Oftentimes, the high school coach could just make a phone call to one of his college coach acquaintances, and through the coach’s recommendation, a scholarship would be offered to the prospect. This was back in the days when scholarships were more plentiful than they are today and good high school athletes, who could play at the college level, were scarcer. Of course, the Title 1X Gender Equity law that Congress passed has also had a tremendous effect on college recruiting. This opened up many athletic scholarship opportunities for female athletes while limiting the scholarships for some male athletes, and even eliminating some male sports programs. And, since high school athletes are becoming bigger, stronger, faster, and better trained, qualified college prospects are much more plentiful than they were in the past. No longer can a good high school player be assured of an opportunity to play college ball. And no longer can an athlete depend solely on his or her high school coach to get that coveted scholarship for them. Not only do colleges have to fight for the very best athletes available but also the individual athletes have to fight for one of the limited spots that are available on a college team. This competitive situation has opened up the doors for private scouting companies, who claim to be a catalyst between the college coach and the prospective student-athlete. It has caused the development of an industry that is becoming more and more a normal part of college recruiting. All the scouting companies claim to be able to help the college coaches find the best athletes to recruit, and they also claim to be instrumental in getting scholarships for the athletes that they promote. The first of these companies originated in 1980 in Alabama, and today there are dozens of scouting companies whose numbers are growing each year. Are they really an instrumental force in the college recruiting process, as they claim? And exactly what is their value to the college coaches and to the athletes that they represent? Which companies are good and worthwhile and which ones are not good and make false or misleading claims as a ploy to make money off young athletes and their families who have dreams of a college education through athletics? Let’s examine the real truth about these companies and the worth of the services that they perform.

Scouting Companies and Student-Athletes

If you are a good high school athlete who wants to participate in college athletics and who has the athletic ability and academic background to do so, chances are you will need to somehow make sure college coaches are aware of your potential. Even the so-called “blue chip” prospects in the major sports are no longer guaranteed the good scholarship offers. Oftentimes, people are misled about recruiting because of some of the things they read about in the newspapers and recruiting magazines. Some of these articles portray prospects as having the option to choose just about any college that they want to attend, and that all these colleges are more than eager to sign them to a scholarship. Therefore, an average prospect might get the impression that colleges will be falling all over themselves to offer them a scholarship too when the time comes. The truth is, however, that an extremely small percentage of prospects will fit into this “high profile, - can’t miss” recruiting category. The rest will have to “sell” themselves to the recruiters in hopes of being chosen over all the other equally qualified prospects. Some will still depend on their high school coach to get them offers. Others will believe the old-fashion idea that “if you’re good enough to play college ball the colleges will know it and you will get your opportunity without doing anything extra”. This, of course, is dangerous thinking for an aspiring athlete. It’s like walking down the middle of the highway and believing – “If fate meant for me to get run over and killed by a truck then that’s what’s going to happen, but if it’s not my time to go, I will be safe here in the middle of this highway”. The new and smart way of thinking, for most modern day college prospects, is to make sure the college coaches know who they are and what they can do. They can’t take the chance of colleges automatically knowing about them because, if they’re wrong, it will be too late to do anything about it. In order to do this, many prospective college athletes are turning to a competent private scouting company to do the job for them. It’s like hiring a professional employment agency to find you the best job offers rather than just hoping potential employers will find you. This need for professional scouting services has generated an industry that is having an increasingly important impact on college recruiting. But before you spend your money enrolling with one of these private scouting companies you need to understand how they operate and what effect, if any, they will have on your chances of landing a college scholarship. Here are some important facts that you should know: