Is It Ok To Promote Yourself?
When you first step on to your college campus as a student your eligibility begins. Make sure to talk with you school guidance professional about GPA requirements and SAT - ACT test scores that may be necessary for your eligibility. As soon as you can, while in high school, go ahead and take the SAT and, or the ACT. There are many classes that will help your test scores. Take any that you can as they can help to boost your scores. Your counselor can also advise you on core classes versus non-core classes.
The NCAA looks at your GPA from your core classes, not your overall GPA. Then it is also mandatory that you complete all the necessary NCAA Clearinghouse paperwork on time. There have been many occasions where students have not done this part of the process and it MUST be done. You can find more information regarding this at the NCAA website. Work hard to pass your high school graduation qualifying exam on your first time. Get a core diploma or even better pass the most rigorous AP classes your high school offers.
ABILITY LEVEL
Know what you can do. Sometimes parents think that their child is the next greatest athlete of all time. You have to be honest with yourself and know what your abilities are. Don’t overestimate yourself because it will only cause problems and end up hurting you very quickly. If you are a 5’8” 165lb. defensive back, it would be very difficult to play at Tennessee, Florida, or South Carolina. There are only a small number of Division 1A players that are signed each year. There are more than enough awesome programs for players at every level. D1-AA, D2, D3 NAIA, JUCO are all great places to play college sports. Talk to your coach and know what you are setting your sights for. Be realistic. Your coach will most likely know about the recruiting process and will help you. The realization is that most schools do not give scholarships, but they will provide financial aid packages for you to go to school and play your sport.
LETTERS
The perception that most high school athletes get from a letter is that a college is pursuing them to offer a scholarship. This is not necessarily the case and doesn’t always mean that they are even interested in you. Division 1 schools will mail out letters to hundreds of prospective athletes. The reality is that at the first of February every D1 college will sign only 20-25 student-athletes. Now, most major colleges offer camps that you can attend and the schools try to attract as many athletes as they can to these camps. The reason…this is another way they are looking to see what talent is out there. The coaches can actually evaluate each athlete that attends. If you think you can make it to a camp, by all means go! You can only improve your chances. If you receive hand written letters, make sure that you respond as you should. If you have the opportunity to talk to anyone who has been recruited in the past, do so.
COMMUNICATING WITH COLLEGES
If you get a letter from a school do not ignore it because you think you can play at a higher level. You’ve heard the old saying, “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush”? Well, until you have a scholarship don’t pass on any opportunity to discuss your options with any school. Just because one school may pay a lot of attention to you and talk to you quite often, doesn’t mean that you are at the top of their priority list. You could be a ways down their wish list. They will keep talking to you like you are the best recruit available until they get a commitment from whoever is higher up on their list. You can always ask them where you stand on their priority list. There’s no reason why you cannot ask. Keep in mind, too, that if a school is interested in you or has even offered you a scholarship they do not have to take you after an injury. Therefore, stay in top shape, keep training and stay healthy!
PROMOTE…OR NOT
Now, you will hear many different opinions about how to promote yourself or even if you should promote yourself at all. I believe that you should, but do your homework. I recommend that you do this yourself. It is a lot of work and it can be done and that is what I tell parents and student athletes to do. However, some choose to use a service. There are many recruiting services out there trying to take your money. Make sure that you research any company before committing. This is one of these most important decisions you’ll ever make. Take your time and search out only professionals. Find out how successful they have been. Talk to players that have used the services. Some services can be found be searching online, but be careful because not all of them are credible businesses. Again, talk to your coach and ask for his or her advice. You should think of this as a job interview and have prepared the best possible resume that you can afford. You can have a highlight tape prepared as well as written accolades. As mentioned earlier, a lot of Colleges are offering camps that can be very beneficial for your exposure. At the larger camps there will be many coaches from many other schools there evaluating the talent.
As of late, the recruiting process has been enhanced by combines. These combines are sponsored events by companies like Nike, Reebok, and Scout.com. At the combine you are measured, weighed, timed, and tested in many aspects and agilities. As long as you are at the top of your game and are healthy these combines can be a great resource for you. Do not attend if you are not healthy or you are suffering from an injury. The tests could actually hurt you in the eyes of the evaluators. But as I mentioned, make sure that you are at 100% because a bad showing could potentially ruin your chance at an offer.
Visiting a college is another way to promote yourself. You can call the coaches you want to meet and schedule an appointment to visit. You can visit a school at your own expense as many times as you want. Make sure that when you do visit that you take whatever highlight tape and bio information that you have prepared with you. When you visit make sure that you search out all parts of the school and not just the athletic department. You are going to be a student before you are an athlete, so you need to make sure that you will fit with the academics as well. Coaches can change. Athletic programs can change, even while you are on the team. Make sure that you will be comfortable with the school in getting your education.
FINANCIAL AID
No matter what level you are being recruited at make sure that you complete any and all financial aid paperwork that is possible. Talk with your counselor to make sure that you don’t miss any of the filing deadlines for both state and federal dollars. Most deadlines fall in the middle of the school year. It has happened too many times that an athlete has assumed that he or she was getting a scholarship and didn’t complete financial aid packages and the scholarship doesn’t come through and they lose all money that was available. Remember, most athletes will not be going to a Division 1 school. Most non-Division 1 schools such as D2, and NAIA schools will package academic, athletic and grant money to make it affordable for you to attend their respective school. Make sure that once again you do your homework on all available financial aid. You can search the college’s website as well as get information from the guidance offices. Don’t get left out by not completing the necessary forms.
COLLEGE OF CHOICE
Make sure you get to know the college as well as you possibly can. This will be a lot of fun as you visit the campus and learn where everything is located and meet new people. Of course you’ll want to get to know the coaches and the players, but remember you are a student. Get to know the academics! Make sure that the reason you are choosing the school is because you feel comfortable with it. Not because someone else you know is attending. This has to be a choice for YOU. Make time to sit down with your parents, coaches, or anyone else that you can confide in and discuss your options. This is a life decision. Just like when you are playing your sport, make sure you give it your best effort.
Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle of it. At the top of the left side of the page write “Positives”. At the top of the right side write “Negatives”. Now write down everything that applies to your choice in whichever column it should fall under. List items such as, distance from home, does the school offer your major, religious affiliation, sports program (where do I fit?), family or friends, social life. When you get done read back over your list. This should help you in making this decision and any decision you should face down the road.
Leon Spencer has been publishing high school sports publications in the Southeast since 2001 and helps guide parents and student athletes in the recruiting process. To learn more, and to receive Leon’s free recruiting newsletter, please visit http://www.TheRecruitingGame.net
Tags: Athletic Recruiting, Athletic Scholarships, College Recruiting, recruiting, Student Athletes