Most families start recruiting two years too late — not because they don't care, but because nobody hands you the calendar. Here it is, grad class by grad class.
8th Grade & Freshman Year
College coaches cannot contact her yet (NCAA D1 contact opens September 1 of junior year for most communication), but they are already watching databases and showcase results. This is the year to get her baseline verified: metrics, video, and a profile that updates as she grows. Coaches recruit trajectories, not snapshots — and a trajectory needs a starting point.
Sophomore Year
Build the target list: 20–30 schools across at least three levels (dream, match, safety — and yes, D2, NAIA, D3, and JUCO belong on almost everyone's list). Attend events where her numbers get verified, not just seen. Start attending camps at target schools — camp contact is permitted even when other contact isn't.
Junior Year — The Big One
September 1: D1 coaches can call, text, email, and DM. If her verified data, video, and eval are ready on that date, she's in the conversation. If she starts building them on that date, she's behind it. Unofficial and official visits ramp up. Most serious D1 recruiting happens in this window.
Senior Year
D1 boards are largely set early, but D2, NAIA, and JUCO recruit hard all year — and many great fits are found in spring of senior year. Signing periods open in November. Keep her metrics current: a senior-year velocity jump has flipped more than one board.
The through-line: every stage runs on the same fuel — current, verified numbers. That's what FPA events exist to give her.