Rancho Bernardo (High) graduate Kristina Serhan landed a spot on the volleyball roster at UC Riverside with the help of a local recruiter.   So many high school athletes are after it, putting in extra hours on the playing field, in the weight room and in the classroom. After all, no grades means no scholarships no matter how far and accurate you can throw a football.  

Believe it or not, parents usually work just as hard as their child trying to help them obtain an athletic scholarship.  There are videos to make, coaches to call, emails to send and websites to design.  And even then — unless the athlete is a top NCAA Division I prospect — odds are college coaches will not even know the athlete exists or their choices will be limited.  There are millions of high school athletes, and college coaches are busy people. The ability to put information directly in the hands of coaches is crucial to have a fighting chance at a scholarship. 

And that’s why people like David Batzer, a 53-year-old local area scout for the National Scouting Report, exist.  National Scouting Report (NSR) has built a solid reputation with colleges and coaches across the nation over the past 30 years.  They have about a 95 percent success rate at obtaining a college scholarship for an athlete that qualifies to use their services, according to Batzer.“We (work with) kids from Point Loma Nazarene to Princeton and every school in between,” said Batzer, who has been scouting the San Diego area for over a year now. “Over the last 30 years, there is probably not a program or a coach we have not talked to or at least had some contact with.”

Batzer and NSR (are) not your typical scouting agency. They have no ties to a specific athletic program or coach. Instead, they work to gain exposure for the high school athlete by putting their information out in emails, videos and websites to every college in the country.   

Any athlete can request to have a scout from the NSR watch them play, but not all athletes will qualify to use their services.  Character, grades and athletic ability are among the things taken into account.

“The athlete can get right on our site and can fill out information and it gets directed directly to a local scout,” Batzer said. “That scout will always check up on them and make sure they are appropriate for us and then go out and watch them.”

Veronica Larsen, the mother of Poway High girls basketball player Jessica Larsen — a soon-to-be senior, felt overwhelmed when trying to figure out the college application and scholarship process.  The family also wants to relocate to the Boston area, and it is rare any coaches from the East leave to scout players on the West Coast. Larsen was approached by Batzer and decided to use NSR’s services.    

“We had no idea what to do,” said Veronica, who has been using (NSR) since the beginning of this year. “I like the fact they already have the contacts and know the coaches and know the colleges, and they have the ability to send out those mass emails, and they actually have a good reputation. We have gotten a good handful of responses saying, ‘hey, we saw your video and we are really excited about Jessica.’” 

Veronica and Jessica are planning to visit a few colleges in the Boston area before school starts. Veronica says it is definitely worth the money. 

“My husband travels a lot and I was working at the time,” she said. “There was just no way I could have been able to do this all by myself. All the emails and correspondence. It is money well spent as long as we can get some kind of scholarship, which is the end goal.” 

The NSR gets no money from the NCAA or colleges for submitting the information. Their only source of payment comes from the parents. 

“That’s why we have to charge the parents,” Batzer said. “We cannot charge the schools. It is against the NCAA regulations.” 

Batzer has helped place several athletes in the area, including Rancho Bernardo High graduate and volleyball star Kristina Serhan. She was placed at UC Riverside. Batzer is also working with Poway girls basketball player and soon-to-be junior Park Masterson and soon-to-be senior Poway volleyball player Sophia Blaszyk. 

“We like that they reach to so many different schools of all different sizes,” said Paul Masterson, Park’s father. “They already know the steps to take and know the NCAA rules and restrictions. That’s what really impressed us.”