L.I. college coaches offer words of wisdom on getting recruited

To the many sports parents who dream of sending their star athletes to college on full athletic scholarships, think again, says Seth Tierney, head men’s lacrosse coach at Hofstra University in Hempstead.

Full rides, as they’re often called, “are few and far between,” Tierney said during a panel discussion titled “Does Your Child Dream of Playing Sports in College,” which the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, Community Parent Center and Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg hosted at the Brookside School in North Merrick on Thursday.

More than 250 parents and students attended the talk, which, in addition to Tierney, included Danny Longo, head men’s and women’s soccer coach at Molloy College in Rockville Centre; Susan Cassidy-Lyke, the Molloy athletic director; Rod Stephan, head baseball coach at SUNY Old Westbury; and Craig Papach, athletic coordinator at Kennedy High School in Bellmore.

Calhoun High School Assistant Principal Nicole Hollings moderated the event, which Saul Lerner, the Central District’s athletic director, and Wendy Tepfer, the Parent Center’s executive director, arranged.

Show me the money

Athletic scholarships were a key part of the discussion. As a Division I coach, Tierney has more scholarship money than coaches in Divisions II and III. He can offer up to 12.6 scholarships on any given year. He noted, however, that he carries 45 players on his roster. If scholarships are evenly divided among the athletes, each player has a little less than a third of his college expenses covered by an athletic scholarship. Tierney said he doesn’t currently have a player on a full scholarship. Hofstra’s tuition, room and board, books and fees run more than $47,000 a year. The .28 athletic scholarship that many Hofstra lacrosse players receive covers a little over $13,000 of the total annual cost of attendance.

As a Division II school, Molloy has fewer scholarships to offer. Longo has up to nine for the men’s soccer team and 9.9 for the women’s squad. The men’s team carries 27 players on its roster, and the women’s team, 23. The cost of attending Molloy, including room and board, is roughly $37,000 a year.