Recruiting Mistakes

• Waiting for the phone calls from college coaches. Especially at too high a level.
• Depending on everyone else to find you an athletic scholarship.
• Thinking that chain letters or questionnaires from college coaches are serious recruiting contacts.
• Not knowing enough about the recruiting process.

Avoid these common mistakes and sign up today with Intense Athletic Marketing!

Talking with College Coaches

It can be every high school athlete's dream. A college coach calls. He starts talking about a scholarship. He's asking a lot of questions. The stakes are high: He holds the key to your academic and athletic future in his hands. This is the time of year when thousands of high school athletes are sitting at home hoping that this scenario plays out on their telephone. The problem, I find, is that most high school athletes are either too intimidated or don't have enough knowledge about the questions they need to ask about the recruiting process, the school, the program, and the details of the scholarship offer. The result? Often, the coach gets frustrated and doesn't pursue an athlete. Or, the athlete winds up in a situation that makes them miserable.
When we work with high school athletes at our organization, we give some general outlines as to the questions they are responsible for asking and how to "sell" themselves on a program that is right for them. These ideas are based on input from college coaches, athletes and the NCAA. Follow the plan if you hope to make the recruiting process work for you.
Don't be shy!You have to realize that the coach on the other end of the line is just like you, in many respects. He is searching for the best recruit for his team, and needs information from you to determine if you are someone who he'll want to pursue. What is he or she looking for? Enthusiasm about the opportunity (even if the school he is calling from isn't your first choice), honesty about your abilities and goals, and your athletic ability. You need to give the coach a chance to tell you why his school would be best for you. I have worked with lots of athletes who end up at a school that wasn't at the top of their list until the talked with the coach. And, they loved it!
Ask questions!This is the next four to five years of your life. A college coach is very involved on a day-to-day basis with the athletes. Is this the coach that you want to be around on a daily basis? Ask the coach how you are going to fit into his team. What are the playing opportunities? What is the school like? Are academics stressed on the team? What is the graduation rate of your players? The thing to remember is that you need to be aggressive in your questioning. If you are, a coach will view you as interested enough to pursue you. They want you to feel like the situation is a good fit for both parties.
Pursue the coach! Once you've talked with a coach, make it a mission to contact him or her once a week until they make a decision. In effect, turn the tables on them. You become the recruiter! "I like kids that take the initiative and pursue opportunities on their own," says Charlie Craig, a college track and field coach and 1996 assistant track coach for the U.S. Olympic team. "It can sometimes tell me about their competitive spirit." Bottom line: Today's high school athletes need to be taking control of this part of the recruiting process.
Keep all your options open! Don't be rude or uninterested during a call from a coach at a school that is at the bottom of your list. You never know, this may the perfect fit for you….or, it could be the only school that makes an offer. The time to tell coaches "no" is after you have already told another school "yes" to their scholarship offer. When you talk with a coach, always be respectful and appreciative of the interest.
Talking with college coaches can be intimidating, there's no doubt about it. Just remember that recruiting is one of their least favorite things about college coaching. Make their call to you memorable for them in a positive way. Who knows. The result could be a great athletic and academic future at the school of your dreams!

Senior Athletes Looking for Last Minute Scholarships

For some high school senior athletes, Spring is a time to enjoy the last few days of school before continuing their athletic career in college. For the majority of athletes that have been hoping to land one of those coveted athletic college scholarships, Spring is a time to panic. The phone calls from college coaches have stopped. Maybe they never started. And suddenly, the end of an athletic career is staring you in the face.

So, what's a senior athlete to do? Is all hope lost? The answer is no. However, the time for action on your part is now. And, to win one of the quickly dwindling number of athletic scholarships available for 2007-2008, you may need to re-adjust your focus and your goals as you search for a program that is still searching for incoming college sports prospects.

Start calling college coaches now!Because you are dealing with a limited amount of time, you need to get very aggressive in searching out possible opportunities at colleges. Develop a "top ten list" of some colleges in your region of the country that offer your sport. You then need to contact the coach at the schools, explain that you feel you are a qualified athlete who could benefit their program, and ask what you need to do to be considered for admission to their school and the sports program in question. Remember, there are lots of coaches around the country that are under the same pressure to find eligible, talented recruits before the school year ends. Plenty of coaches are still looking!

Broaden your search!I deal with lots of athletes who are hoping to win an athletic scholarship to a major Division I school. However, these schools have probably already finished their search for incoming athletes (most Division I schools know one year ahead of time who they will be recruiting for a particular year). If you are interested in finding the most coaches with the biggest needs, try contacting Division II, Division III or NAIA schools. Some offer many of the same benefits that bigger Division I schools offer, many with comparable athletic talent to Division I schools. Give those schools a chance to show you why they might be an excellent choice for a college athletic career.

Get your coach to help!You could have an important ally in your search for a college scholarship: Your high school or club coach. If you haven't done so already, talk with them about contacts they might have at the college sports level. Many of these coaches are former college athletes themselves, and would be happy to assist you with finding an opportunity to play collegiate athletics.

Make sure you've done your homework!That is, make sure you have registered for the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse (Division I and Division II only), taken the right classes, and taken the SAT or ACT tests. This is an area that many athletes overlook. They still assume that just because they can sink a three pointer form NBA range, or run the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds that the academic requirements will just take care of themselves. Wrong! You need to meet NCAA and/or university requirements for admission and athletic participation. Doing your homework means taking care of the paperwork behind the scenes.

Be ready to be flexible!What if a college you have contacted is interested in having you play sports, but doesn't have a scholarship available this year? Are you willing to be a walk-on athlete and wait for a scholarship? Or, if nothing is offered, would you go to a junior college to play sports and transfer to a four year school in two years as an athlete? Get ready to face these possible questions. They may be viable alternatives compared with giving-up your athletic career altogether.

The bottom line is this: Time is running out quickly. You, and only you, have the motivation and the desire that it will take to clear this final hurdle on your way to a college athletic career.