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Athletes, you are one of a kind; you are dedicated, you are hard-working and you are competitive. You understand that if you want something bad enough you have to work hard to achieve it- which is exactly what you should do when it comes to your recruitment. Be ready to take on your recruitment just as intensely as you have taken on your athletic and academic challenges.
Just like when you learn any new skill, it will take time to master- get ready to put your time in and practice.
Practice, practice, and practice
Start by creating a game plan; have an idea of what you want to accomplish each year, month, and day of your sports recruitment. The more time you dedicate to your recruitment, the better success rate you will have.
Your recruiting checklist:
Create a School List (Freshman Year)
Make a list of colleges you are interested in. This list should be long. You should have at least 20 target colleges you are eager to attend or at least learn more about. If you want to have the best college opportunity you need to be willing to reach a lot of coaches and play at any division level.
Fill out Recruiting Questionnaires (Freshman-Junior Year)
This task will take up a lot of your time, especially if you have a long college list. Taking time to fill out colleges’ recruiting questionnaires may seem boring and uneventful, but it will pay off. By filling out recruitment forms, coaches will have your name in their recruiting system- allowing them to email you important happenings and dates relevant to your recruitment class.
You don’t need to fill out all the forms at once; this is why prioritizing is important. Once you have your college list, start working down the list and fill out the forms for all the colleges you’re interested in- if you begin this task as a freshman you will have plenty of time later to spend building relationships with college coaches and focusing on more detailed parts of recruitment.
Sending out Your Sports Resume and Video (Sophomore- Senior Year)
Locating the best college opportunity will depend on many things; make sure you are doing your part by reaching out and contacting college coaches early. Contacting coaches can intimidate athletes, so before you try to get in touch with your top choices, practice! Begin your initial send outs to coaches at the bottom of your list. This will give you an idea of the types of questions they are going to want to know from you and will help you prepare for the coaches you really want to play for.
Calling Coaches (Senior Year)
Now that you have been working hard at getting your resume and video out to coaches, you need to continue to build those relationships and start calling coaches directly. You may think coaches should be the ones calling you, but when it gets down to crunch time (your senior year) you need to do all you can to stay on their radar.
If you have any other questions about keeping on top of your recruitment then leave your comment below and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!
Should a parent ever call a coach once the recruitment process has started
Its best to have the athlete do all communicating with the coach, this will show them how serious and mature the athlete is. You should definitely help your child with asking questions and learning more about the college and team, but unless the coach asks to speak to you, you can leave it all up to the athlete to take care of.
My daught is in a recruit system and my season is almost here and I have no way to contact my daughters recruit coach what shall I do
Hi Gabrielle, I am sorry to hear you can not contact your daughters recruiting coach. What year in school is your daughter? If she is going into her junior or senior year it will be a good idea for her to begin the process of reaching out to college coaches if she has not done so yet. We have found that families are more prepared for the process when they know what to expect so here is our guide on recruiting: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Preparing-for-the-Recruiting-Process-Guide.pdf This should help you and her understand what you should be doing as you get prepared. Please let us know if you have any other recruiting questions we will be able to assist you with- Good Luck!
I’m a junior but it’s only November so I haven’t taken my act yet so what should I put?
If you have dates in mind or a specific date of when you are going to take the ACT you can include that on your sports resume. Coaches are going to want to see that you are on top of your academic requirements even though you are still waiting to take the test. You will also be able to update the coaches once you have your scores. Have you started your sports resume and reaching out to coaches yet? Let me know and I can get you more information.
No I haven’t I’m just working on the questionnaires
As soon as you can get your resume out the better. Here is a guide to help you create your own: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/How_to_Create_a_College_Recruiting_ResumeE-Book.pdf Let me know if you need any more help.
hey i am in 7th grade i was doing the history on softball and i pick this site and i was thinking about trying to get a scholorship for softball i do play softball and can you give me advice please
Thanks for your question. Did you look at our softball scholarships page? Asa seventh grader the best things you can be doing now is thinking about the different schools you want to go to, learning about them and playing travel softball to get more experience. Are you playing for a travel team?
no i asked my dad and he said no because its to much money i really enjoy doing this it’s my favorite oh and the school i want to go to is Georgia Univerity sorry cant spell yes i did look at the page kinda
You will have plenty of opportunities in the recruiting process if you are starting in the 7th grade. Remember, the recruiting process doesn’t have to cost money but it will mean you will have to work a little harder; that is what our website is for! Make sure you and your dad stay on our free recruiting newsletter and we will send you updates with everything you should be doing in the recruiting process over the next few years.
it is kinda hard where is the recruiting process at on the webstite
The process isn’t on the site per say. The website is about the process. It involves maintaining academic eligibility, finding the schools you want to go to, contacting those coaches and making sure they get the chance to evaluate you. Those are all things you and your Dad can do on your won with our website. Right now, as a 7th grader the most important thing is to continue to play your sport and just try to get better. Once you are in high school it is then time to begin contacting coaches and stepping up in the recruiting process. Best of luck,
ok thank you for your help and your time
I am in the 9th grade and i am wanting to get recruited for football. I did not play this season which hurts i know but, i would of been on jv so i am not too worried. When I play next year for my sophomore year i will be on the jv team. Is there even a point of making video? (because don’t most college coaches want to see varsity and not jv?) Or should I just wait till my Junior year and get highlights. I come from a county where football brings high end recruits to top D1 Programs. Ex. Stefon Diggs. I’ve played football for 5 years and my 8th grade administrator came to my middle school games and he said i was good and if i kept at it that i could one day play division 1 football. But if i want to be serious I think i would probably be at the D2 or D1 AA program. Is it good that im being more realistic? I was thinking once I get good highlights after Junior season to email every D1 coach D1 AA and D2 and show them my highlights and describe my self a little. Is that a good idea? Should I tell them that im looking for a scholarship? or should i wait. And how good would you say you have to be to play D2 or D1 AA football? Also, Do you have to be the best on your team to be recruited? Thanks -im very serious to play college ball
It is great you have enthusiasm about playing college football, but my advice is to be patient. After next year once you have film (even though it will be JV) you will want to send it to D2 and NAIA programs. That summer you will want to plan on attending a couple combines and camps at schools you are most interested in. Another really important step is to talk with your high school coach as soon as possible and let them know what your goals are. They are going to be a very helpful resource in the recruiting process. Good luck!
so you want me to send my jv highlights to D2 and NAIA programs? Should I tell them im interested in scholarships? Also, I will be emailing ever single coach in the country in these divisions should i do private messages even though it will take longer? I am down with that? I am just wondering
I would only email schools you would want to play for. If you take the time to learn about every school, I am sure there are some schools you wouldn’t want to attend Think about the size of the school, what you want to study, where it is located. You want to start with a list of 30-40 schools. The most important part before any of that is to get in contact with your high school coaches and work with them to develop a pan for next year. Good luck.
Thank you. In the Division 2 level I am thinking about sending around 20 emails because I like all the schools in the PSAC and a couple in the northeast 10. And will probobly like a few in the Mountain East. And GVSU