By Michael Clarke
It's every high school athlete's
dream: That someday all those endless practices, tiring scrimmages, overpriced
equipment and exhausting games might translate into a chance to play sports on
the collegiate level.
But with less than 10 percent of
all high school athletes playing their given sport at an NCAA-member
institution, and just a third of those receiving an athletic scholarship, it's
crucial that players and parents learn all they can about this confusing,
difficult and oftentimes frustrating process known as recruiting.
Long before college catalogs clog
mailboxes, and recruiting tapes are viewed, a student-athlete takes classes in
their freshman year of high school that directly affect their NCAA eligibility.
Because eligibility standards
continue to evolve--in 2008 the NCAA increased the number of English and math
courses required by one--it's an athlete's responsibility to make sure their
class schedule fulfills NCAA core course requirements.
The best way to make sure you meet
all requirements is to schedule an appointment with a high school guidance
counselor to ensure your course schedule is in-line with the approved high
school core course list. (It's a good idea to do this each year as high school
curriculums can change as often as NCAA
compliance standards.)
Quick Tip: Let your guidance counselor
"guide" you in your high school course selections--starting with your
freshman year and continuing throughout your high school career.
It used to be called the NCAA
clearinghouse, but now it's the NCAA Eligibility Center that students must
register with to validate their status as an amateur athlete. (This is to
ensure an athlete isn't secretly playing defensive back for the Denver Broncos
during their high school career.)
The process is relatively
pain-free; all you need is $50 and a Social Security number. But don't leave it
to the last minute. Every year a few student athletes miss out on the chance to
play collegiately, because they fail to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center.
Quick Tip: Register with the NCAA by your
junior year.
Before you compile a list of 200
schools you would just die to play for, remember the function of the list is to
help you focus your search going into your sophomore and junior year, not
overly complicate the process with unrealistic expectations.
"I tell athletes to make three
lists," says Michael Husted former NFL kicker, "One: a list of their dream schools, two: a list of schools
that they could realistically get into and three: a list of fallback schools in
case something happens at the last minute.” Now before you freak out about the
prospect of not attending your favorite university, Husted concedes "there
will be some overlap between the first two lists." But ideally your three
lists should total no more than 12 to 15 schools, with the bulk of the schools
residing in the "realistic" list.
Quick Tip: Make three lists--with four or
five schools per list--to focus your college search.
The recruiting video is one of the
most important ways an athlete can attract the attention of coaches at the
university level. Unfortunately, it's also where many athletes come up short,
with substandard video quality and unnecessary production components.
The structure and contents of your
video will depend on the sport being promoted. Play-by-play sports such as
volleyball, football and baseball generally work best with a collection of
15-25 highlight plays that illustrate an athlete's ability. Continuous play
sports such as soccer; basketball and lacrosse should have 10 to 15 highlight
plays-- with an additional game half included to show real-time ability.
So how do you make the video? Well,
like anything in life, quality does count. This doesn't mean you have to hire
Steven Spielberg to shoot your footage, but many people find hiring a
videographer a worthwhile expense.
For those on a tighter budget, it
is acceptable to shoot footage from the stands with a modest camcorder. Just
make sure to use a tripod, if possible, to avoid camera shake and practice
following the action numerous times to get the feel of filming a live sport.
(The general rule of film is to shoot five times more footage than you'll
actually need.)
Also, skip the heavy metal
soundtrack and colorful graphics. Coaches hate them!
Quick Tip: Keep your video short, simple and
as professional looking as possible.
This task used to be a lot more
difficult 10 years ago. But with the rise of the Internet there is a multitude
of recruiting information, both official and unofficial, about virtually any
college or university you're interested in.
For starters, check out the
school's website to find out the best coach or school official to contact. For
smaller schools, individual e-mail addresses for coaches can be found quite
easily, as they often view the website as a promotional tool for their
institution. Bigger schools may require a little detective work to find contact
information for specific coaches, but it is not impossible.
Simply find the e-mail address path
(Eg: first name.last name@university.com, first name.last
initial@university.com), usually found in the athletic department directory of
websites. Then plug in the name of the coach you want to contact and let them
know you're interested in attending the university.
In addition, Ronald Baum of Homerun
Softball camps believes a university's website can also save you time by
pinpointing which schools are recruiting your position.
"If you're a pitcher, you can
see that they've got four pitchers coming back next year. Chances are they're
not recruiting a pitcher for the following year and you should probably look
somewhere else."
Another great resource is to talk
to current and former players who've already been through the recruiting
process at that particular university. You can get player referrals directly
from the school, or perhaps do a search for athletes who've played at the
university on social networking sites such as myspace and facebook. Just let
them know you're interested in attending their alma mater and ask if they have
any tips or information about the program. Though the information you receive
may not be entirely reliable, it can be an invaluable way to peek inside a
program, warts and all.
Quick Tip: Check out a school's website. Find
out who's on their roster and collect contact information for relevant coaches.
Now it's time to place yourself on
a college's radar in an aggressive--but friendly--way. It used to be this could
wait until your junior year, but with the pace of youth sports increasing all
the time; it's probably a good idea to begin contacting coaches in the summer
before your sophomore year.
So what do you include in your
e-mail or letter to the coach? Well, some sort of introduction explaining who
you are and why you're contacting them. (Keep it short-- coaches are busy.) A
few paragraphs should do. A copy of your recruiting video or a link where they
can view your video--the latter quickly becoming a popular choice with
coaches--as well as a recruiting resume with details such as stats, honors,
academic data and contact information for your high school coaches should also
be included. Some people prefer to make contact with a coach by phone. This is
fine as long it is the athlete who's making contact, and not the athlete's mom
or dad claiming their kid is the next Reggie Bush. (Not only does it come off
as a unprofessional, but it also robs the coach of a chance to get to know the
athlete on a personal basis.)
Quick Tip: Check out a school's website. Find
out who's on their roster and let the coaches know you're interested.
Sports camps generally serve two
different functions: to help an athlete get better and to help an athlete get
noticed. Some sports camps, especially those at universities you've targeted,
can often do both at the same time. (Many coaches find camps a great way to
fill out their rosters.)
Unfortunately those hoping a few
days at a university camp will magically get an athlete recruited, without
having established rapport with that institution beforehand, are often
disappointed.
"At the big camps, less than
five percent of the kids who attend are actually on the radar of that specific
university," said Husted. "But that doesn't mean the experience is
wasted."
This is because the coaching
fraternity, despite the large number of colleges in the United States, is
actually quite small. Though you may not get an offer from Penn State simply by
attending one of their camps, this doesn't mean the coach running the camp
can't point you toward an opening at a different university.
Like any job, it's all about
networking and creating relationships. So be on your best behavior and be ready
to learn as much as possible. You might just get recruited, without even
realizing it.
Quick Tip: Attend a camp and be flexible; you
never know where that first impression might lead.
Ok. It's your senior year and,
hopefully, you have a few offers on the table. So what do you do? How do you
narrow it down to the one school that is right for you?
For most athletes, it will depend
on the financial package being offered by the school. Are they offering a
full-ride? A partial scholarship? If one school offers a significantly greater
financial award, it shouldn't be considered lightly. (Not just to avoid going
into major debt, but because it demonstrates their interest in you as an
athlete and a student.)
For others, it will be a question
of possible playing time on the next level. Do you have a good chance of
getting in the starting lineup by your sophomore and junior year? If you're a
third baseman, and they've already got two underclass third basemen in front of
you, there might be better places for you to pursue your higher education while
playing the hot corner.
Ultimately, though, most people
suggest basing your final decision on the university itself. Not just the
athletic department, but the overall collegiate experience a school has to
offer.
"My suggestion to athletes is
to narrow it down to their three top choices, " says Husted. "And
then think, 'if something happens to my athletic career which school would I be
happy at.' There are no givens when it comes to athletics. All you know for
sure is whether you'll feel comfortable at a certain university."
Quick Tip: Choose a university that offers you
the best environment for athletic, academic and personal development.