Athletic Events Offer Authentic Opportunities to Expand a School’s Admissions Pipeline

The competition for new students at independent schools around the US appears to be intensifying on an annual basis. After a brief COVID-driven boom, schools are finding it more arduous to attract mission-appropriate prospective families and are looking for new ways to build their admissions pipeline. Many schools are facing unprecedented challenges in the face of an impending demographic cliff and increasing financial pressures on prospective families. Current strategies to combat these issues which include enhanced efforts on social media, new marketing campaigns, and increased options for campus tours, may be missing an opportunity that is already embedded in their current campus programming.

No matter how well-developed admissions calendars may be, they will never attract as many outside families to campus as the school’s athletic department. Therefore, every home athletic event should be treated as an “open house” opportunity. Home basketball games and volleyball matches attract visitors who might never respond to traditional marketing efforts, and they should be managed as if each one is a chance to attract new families. While activity in the admissions office may fluctuate, the admissions season never truly ends for a school’s athletic department.

Every aspect of a home sporting event – from ticketing to concessions to security and even a halftime show – is an opportunity not only to engage your own school community for retention efforts but also to attract new families. Positive experiences can generate significant goodwill among new families, while negative experiences can make the job of an admissions staff much more difficult. The athletic director may have varying levels of involvement in the admissions process at an independent school, but that does not mean that every home contest should not be seen as a tool to shape families’ perceptions of the school positively.

The following is just a sample of variables that should be considered for home events through the eyes of a visiting team and its fans:

• Parking
• Campus wayfinding
• Team uniforms and branding
• Home fan behavior and halftime music
• Facility appearance and cleanliness
• Spectator ingress and egress

An enjoyable experience with the items listed above does not guarantee an applicant, but a negative one certainly may prevent it. I have heard directly from numerous families in the past that they would never consider School A or School B for their child, and the root cause of their decision came from an unpleasant experience at an athletic event as a visitor.  I have also heard from admissions staff who have specifically instructed families to attend athletic events at schools where they have an interest to see how they may feel as a part of that community. In the crowd of any home athletic event may be families that have been told to use athletics as a way to get a real snapshot of a school community without the artificial feeling that may come with a curated admissions event. 

In many parts of the country, private schools are criticized for their recruiting efforts and their “hard sell” behaviors to attract new students. The term “recruiting” carries an inordinate amount of baggage for schools that may appear to bend or break established rules to pad the rosters of their athletic teams. Home athletic events provide almost daily opportunities for a softer approach. Rather than focusing on outreach efforts to families that may push the boundaries of existing rules from state high school associations, schools can prioritize existing events that are already taking place on campus. These efforts can help cultivate environments that make fans want to learn more about the school. On any given day, there may be hundreds or even thousands of visitors in the stands who could be high-quality admissions targets.

Taking it a step further, when admissions and athletic departments collaborate, there could be additional benefits to increase visitor interest. Can the admissions department share zip codes with the athletic department that are important for their efforts? Can some of the school’s athletic teams work to schedule games with schools in those areas to attract those families to campus? While varsity high school events might draw the largest crowds, middle school or even elementary school events could have a greater impact on parental and applicant preferences. 

This is not to say that athletics is the most important part of a school for admissions. However, there is little doubt that athletic events may bring more outside families to a school campus than all other school events combined. This fact alone should change the way that schools view these opportunities. Some athletic events will provide occasions to impress visitors that are from peer schools where families share academic and socio-economic similarities. Others may open doors to engage with families that would not otherwise be in the school’s traditional demographic, which would allow the school to enhance the diversity of its applicant pool. No matter how the school publicizes itself, athletic events will always have the potential for greater reach than a school’s traditional marketing efforts. A few well-placed QR codes or publications placed next to the concession stand could allow visitors to learn more about the school and initiate an admissions inquiry. 

Athletic administrators need to be familiar with the school’s admissions policies and procedures, but they must also view their own events from the perspective of prospective families. The conventional way to assess athletic events focuses most resources on the school’s own community, and those concerns certainly are still valid. However, it is just as valuable to see athletic events through the lens of the opposition and the potential to pick up additional victories off the field. A positive experience may generate an admissions inquiry all on its own. It could also generate goodwill through word of mouth or give cause for a positive review on someone’s personal social media account creating a more authentic appraisal of the school that reaches a prospective family that was not even present for the original event. With the competition in the admissions office often being just as fierce as on the playing fields, schools cannot afford to ignore this potential. There's no denying that any home event can serve as an admissions open house in disguise.

Jay Watts is the Director of Athletics at Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga, TN. While Assistant Director of Athletics at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, GA, Westminster was named the winner of the MaxPreps Cup, an award given annually to the best high school athletic program in the nation. Jay has coached varsity girls lacrosse, middle school cross country, middle school football, and both varsity boys and girls basketball. He has been inducted into the Georgia Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Westminster Hall of Fame.