College recruiting seminar coming in September

LIHUE — A college recruiting seminar will be coming to Waimea High School on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. before heading to Kapaa High School on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. and Kauai High School on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.

 The seminar will be conducted by Athletic Quest, a group of current and former college coaches. The seminar is free and designed to educate parents, student athletes and the public on the realities of college recruiting and what must be done to have opportunities at the college level states a release.

The seminar will be conducted by Chad Kartchner, who is a 6’11” former division I basketball player who attended Charleston Southern University. Kartchner is also the Chief Operating Officer of Athletic Quest.

Kartchner said one of the reasons he hosts the seminars is when he was playing high school basketball he was on the number one ranked team in the entire state of Utah. Despite having success not one player on the team, including Kartchner got recruited to play in college.

“I had no idea about the college recruiting process at that time,” Kartchner said. “I got lucky and played at a junior college before going on to play division I basketball, but I got lucky. I want to educate student athletes on how to get proactive, and not sit back and hope the right coach finds them — it just makes such a difference to be able to see these kids and watch them realize their dreams when I almost didn’t. It is just a phenomenal opportunity for us to do that.”

Athletic Quest has helped send athletes from Hawaii and Kauai to colleges in the past and it is something that Kartchner sees ultimate value in.

“College coaches average recruiting budget is only about $2,000 a year,” Kartchner said. “They don’t have the money to come clear over to Hawaii. These kids need every chance they can get to just raise their hand and let these coaches know they are here, and once they do that’s half the battle.”