Improving Your Chances of Playing Collegiate Sports
Start the Process Early: Coaches have said that in order to measure an athlete’s true potential, it is important to follow them over the course of a few years. As soon as you have stats from your first season, you should start contacting coaches. By the time you reach your senior year, you will have been in contact with these coaches for more than 3 years. They will know who you are. This is the type of commitment and responsibility coaches want to see and it sets you apart from other athletes. Don’t worry if coaches don’t respond to your e-mails when you send them your resume as a freshman or sophomore. It’s just the first step to gaining name recognition.
Create a sports resume: A sports resume is designed to highlight your sports-related accomplishments and responsibilities in a professional way. Include your athletic participation, including: sport, years played, accomplishments, time devoted to training, academic honors/awards. If you received a full athletic scholarship you may choose to include that as one of your accomplishments.
How to Create a College Recruiting Resume
https://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/How_to_Create_a_College_Recruiting_Resume_E-Book.pdf
Be Proactive: DON’T BE SHY & PUT YOURSELF ON COACHES RADAR! Introduce yourself to college coaches through email, social media, and sports camps. Don’t wait around for coaches to reach out to you! Being an active participant in the recruiting process will provide you a greater chance of finding the right school. Research schools that offer athletic scholarships, which are typically Division I, Division II, and NAIA schools. Look up coach contact information on the athletic staff directories of the schools you are researching and send out an introductory letter and emails. Make sure to respond to all coaches that email you back. You will likely also receive questionnaires or camp invites from coaches interested in you so make sure to reply promptly.
Practice Talking With College Coaches: When speaking to a coach on the phone, remember to use proper grammar, and have a clear understanding of exactly what you want the coach to know about you. When writing e-mails, use spell check, and format your e-mails correctly. An e-mail is NOT a text message; you must address the coach properly and sign your name on the bottom. Talk to coaches as if you were interviewing for a job!
Be enthusiastic when communicating with a coach and study up on their program. Have something to offer to the conversation! How well you communicate with a coach will determine whether or not you will be able to earn the scholarship you want.
Have a Great Video to Share: Coaches won’t scout you if your video doesn’t impress them. Coaches look for specific elements in a video, and there are ways to make your video stand out.
Videos are only important for the following sports: baseball, basketball, football, golf, field hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, hockey, soccer, softball, tennis, wrestling, fencing, equestrian, gymnastics, and water polo.
Here are some suggestions for making a great recruiting video:
A dynamic video will keep the coach watching until the end.
Do not have music, especially not music with explicit language.
Use a high quality video.
Keep the video under seven minutes.
Coaches may request actual game footage if they are interested.
Put the video online so that coaches can see it easily – do NOT mail DVDs to coaches unless they request it.
Have a new video for every season.
Visit School as Many Schools as You Can: If you are already speaking with a coach, ask that coach if you can visit the campus and meet with him. Taking this step shows maturity and a strong desire to attend that specific school. You won’t fully know if you like a school or a coach until you visit the campus. If a coach agrees to meet with you, take advantage of this opportunity to impress them in person.
Research the Schools You Want to Attend: Nothing impresses a coach more than a prospective student-athlete who is self-aware. You should have an idea of the type of school you want to attend (location, size, environment, etc.), the major you want to study, and the type of team you want to be a part of. You will be perceived as a mature and responsible candidate if you are able to describe what you want in a school. If you have no preferences whatsoever, coaches will see you as someone without goals or aspirations.
Improve Your Grades: Having a stellar academic background is a huge advantage in the recruiting process. Athletes who meet the minimum qualifications are eligible to receive an academic scholarship that does not count against the athletic budget of the coach. Meeting the following requirements only makes you eligible for academic scholarship money; it does not guarantee that you will receive it. To receive a scholarship from the academic department, incoming freshman need to have a 3.5 GPA, be in the top 20% of their class, and have either an 1140 combined Math & Reading SAT score or have a 100 ACT composite score.
In many cases, having an impressive academic background can also help place you on a team that is above your athletic skill level. Coaches looking for a GPA boost are always willing to take on less than stellar athletes who are guaranteed to help raise their team GPA.
Provide Multiple References: Have multiple coaches or teachers serve as references. Coaches will want to speak with people who can testify to your abilities both as an athlete and student. Not having both athletic and academic references will signal to coaches that you are not someone who authority figures want to speak up for.
Don’t Miss Deadlines: Applying to schools and getting a scholarship are two separate processes. You need to fill out an application and get accepted to a school you are interested in attending. Find out when the application deadlines are during your senior year and plan ahead to make sure you are submitting your application on time.
Also know what the recruiting deadlines are – there are specific signing periods for each sport, and once these signing periods end, you will no longer be able to receive a scholarship.
It is also important to register AND be cleared by the NCAA and NAIA Eligibility Centers so that coaches know you are academically eligible.
Make Yourself Into a College Recruit
College coaches will always want to hear from qualified student athletes who want to play for their team. However, unless they have all of the information they need to quickly evaluate you, your e-mail and phone calls might never get answered. College recruiting can be done by you for free, but the recruiting process is not free. You should be spending time each week actively communicating with coaches to ensure you are remaining high on their recruiting boards.
Maintain A Professional Social Media Presence: Your interactions on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites are publicly visible. You want to make sure that your online persona represents your character and values as a student-athlete. If you are a high ranking prospect, your online presence will be under the microscope of many colleges and recruiters. Protect your brand image as an athlete by avoiding derogatory and offensive discussions online . How you brand yourself on your online platforms does matter so keep this in mind when you are using social media on a daily basis.
Work To Be the Best: To stand out from other athletes you have to perform at an exceptional level. Being an elite player takes work so you have to be ready to commit to improving your game. Work on your game in the off-season and in your free time as much as possible to become a better player. Develop your skills, condition your body, and spend time perfecting your fundamentals. The jump in talent from high school to college is sizeable so you want to make sure you are ready. Spend time working with your coaches to figure out what you can improve on. Athletic scholarships are hard to come by so you have to be willing to work harder and longer than everyone else.
Broaden Your Horizons: Identify more than one potential sport you could compete in at the next level. Track & Field, Rowing, Ice Hockey
Join the Club: If you haven’t already, join a club team for your main sport to increase your potential for recruitment.
Cross the Line: The state-line, that is. Look for out-of-state schools with tuition reciprocity or tuition discount programs for out-of-state students.