IS IT YOUR GOAL TO PLAY COLLEGE ATHLETICS?

"Being a Proactive Athlete will give you the best chance to participate in College Athletics."

By
Rick Anteau II

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I find that many high school athletes have the goal to play college athletics, however, many athletes do not take a proactive role in their own recruiting. If you want to be a good high school athlete you must practice and prepare appropriately. The same goes for recruiting. The biggest issue in recruiting is exposure. What college programs know about you and your accomplishments? How many college programs know about you and your accomplishments?

When should I start taking an active role in my recruiting?

Most college programs start tracking athletes during their freshmen and sophomore years. Taking charge of your own recruiting during your freshmen and sophomore years will strongly broaden your college opportunities! This does not mean that if you have waited until your junior or senior year it is to late. If you take a proactive role in your junior or senior year you will still give yourself a great opportunity to play collegiate athletics.

How do college programs find student athletes?

There are 4 ways that a college program can find out about you.

1. College programs attend and recruit from National, Regional, and State competitions.
2. College programs receive recommendations from high school coaches, club coaches and other college coaches.
3. College coaches attend camps and clinics.
4. College coaches recruit student athletes who have contacted their program.

Capitalize on what you can control!

Within the four ways college programs find out about student athletes, there is only one that you have absolute control over. That is contacting the programs yourself. By contacting a collegiate program, you are taking a proactive role in your own recruiting. You can do this by putting together a personalized package and sending it to a college coach.

Personalize your recruiting efforts.

Athletes all have different personalities, abilities, and financial needs. Make sure that you keep these differences in mind when contacting college coaches. It is best to target schools in which you can prosper at academically, athletically, and socially. Below, I will list some examples of criteria for each.

Academically:

Does the college offer the major that you have interest in?

Do you prefer to have smaller class sizes or do you prosper in a more hands off , large classroom environment?

What are the academic standards to be accepted into the college / university?

Do I need or desire an academic scholarship?

Does this program have a good history of graduating its athletes?

Athletically:

What position will I play?

Will I redshirt my freshmen year?

Do I want to play NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, or Junior College athletics?

Do I desire or need an athletic scholarship?

Socially:

How far away from my home city am I willing to attend college?

Do I want to attend a college in a larger city or do I prefer a smaller town atmosphere?

What are my housing options?

Exposure is key!

As spoken about previously, the #1 reason why high school student athletes do not participate in college athletics is lack of exposure. This is because recruiting budgets of colleges and universities do not afford recruiters to have the means to travel to every state and recruit extensively. Recruiters have many different strict guidelines to follow. However, it is perfectly legal to contact college programs on your own. Do what you have in your own power to give your self the very best chance to achieve your dream of playing college athletics!