Key Takeaways
- More than 60% of NJCAA teams already had a coach active on FieldLevel within the last 90 days, per the announcement.
- The deal names FieldLevel the Official Recruiting Network across an association of 500-plus member colleges in 44 states.
- FieldLevel has operated since 2008 and now covers 46 sports, connecting athletes, coaches, and teams for recruiting.
- NJCAA programs run 3,400 teams in 28 sports and send athletes on to four-year and professional opportunities.
The National Junior College Athletic Association has named FieldLevel its Official Recruiting Network, a partnership announced from Charlotte, North Carolina that extends recruiting and placement tools to more than 500 member colleges and over 60,000 student-athletes competing annually. According to the announcement, more than 60% of NJCAA teams already have a coach who has actively used FieldLevel in the last 90 days.
What the NJCAA FieldLevel Partnership Covers
The agreement is built around both directions of the two-year college pathway. FieldLevel will work with the NJCAA to help member programs recruit incoming student-athletes and to help those athletes gain visibility with four-year and professional programs once they are on campus.
FieldLevel operates as a network where athletes, coaches, and teams connect, evaluate talent, and share recruiting information. Per the company, the platform supports coaches in identifying prospects, managing recruiting needs, promoting current athletes, and expanding pathways to the next level.
“The NJCAA is committed to creating opportunities for student-athletes and providing our member colleges with resources that support their continued success,” said Dr. Christopher Parker, NJCAA President and CEO. “FieldLevel’s platform aligns with that mission by helping coaches and student-athletes build meaningful connections throughout the recruiting process.”
Why the 60% Adoption Number Matters Before Launch
Most category partnerships start from zero. This one does not. The 60% figure cited in the announcement means the majority of NJCAA teams already have a coach in the product, which changes what the partnership actually has to accomplish. Rather than driving first-time adoption across 3,400 teams, the work becomes formalizing and deepening usage that predates the deal.
That baseline also gives the NJCAA a distribution argument it can make to member colleges immediately, since the tool is already familiar inside a large share of coaching staffs.
Placement Carries as Much Weight as Recruiting
FieldLevel’s framing of the partnership centers on placement, the part of the junior college job that rarely gets counted in recruiting technology.
“Two-year programs do more than recruit student-athletes into their programs. They develop athletes, advocate for them, and help them move on to four-year and professional opportunities,” said Brenton Sullivan, Co-Founder and CEO of FieldLevel. Sullivan attributed the shape of the company’s product to a line from an NJCAA coach: “We spend 75% of our time placing players and 25% recruiting them.”
That ratio explains why a recruiting network sees value in the junior college tier specifically. A JUCO coach is a repeat user on both sides of the transaction, taking in athletes from high school programs and moving them out to four-year rosters, often within a two-year window. Each roster turns over faster than at a four-year institution, and the coach carries the outbound advocacy load personally.
A Governing Body Standardizes Its Recruiting Front Door
The NJCAA has served as the governing body for two-year collegiate athletics since 1938 and describes itself as the second-largest national intercollegiate athletic organization in the United States. It sponsors 57 national championships and invitationals each year across 28 sports, with member schools spread over 44 states.
FieldLevel, founded in 2008, says it has worked with millions of athletes and coaches across 46 sports. The company positions itself around trusted recruiting relationships rather than raw exposure, a distinction that matters in a recruiting services market crowded with paid profile and highlight-reel products aimed directly at families.
The Pipeline Now Has a Named Operator
Junior college athletics has long functioned as an informal clearinghouse, moving athletes between high school programs and four-year rosters largely through coach-to-coach relationships. Naming an official recruiting network puts association-level infrastructure behind connections that previously ran on individual networks and phone calls.
The open question is what the partnership produces beyond the coaches already using the platform. With 60% of teams accounted for at signing, the remaining 40% is the number worth watching.
Source: NJCAA, Press Release
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How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
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Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
