When Should I Start The Recruiting Process?
End Result!When should I start the recruiting process?
First Choice Athlete Recruiters help you assess collegiate sports programs and identify where your skills best fit. By partnering with FCA for evaluation and needs assessment, you'll gain greater control and understanding of the recruitment process over the long term.
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During your Freshman YearYou will want to meet with your high school counselor and come up with an academic game plan. Make sure you meet all the needs of the NCAA and NAIA in addition to the specific colleges that interest you. Look for summer camps that will help you develop as a student-athlete and gain you some valuable exposure to coaches as well.
During your Sophomore YearResearch programs you are interested in and contact coaches. The summer after your sophomore year you should consider attending the camps held by those teams.
Your Junior and Senior YearIt is the most important in the recruiting process. This is the year coaches will be looking at your statistics, and the admissions department will be looking at your academic achievements. Make sure you have already established a relationship with coaches so that when your senior year starts, they already know you are interested in their program. .
By the time you start your Senior year, you should have narrowed down your list of possible schools to five or six. If you have not already established a relationship with the coach, you should do it now.
How important are grades and test scores?
Getting good grades and having good test scores is just as important as having good statistics in your sport. A coach can only recruit you if you are academically eligible to compete at that specific school. Not only do you have to qualify for the academic requirements of the NCAA or NAIA but you will want to make sure you know what the academic requirements are for the school you are interested in attending.
Don’t believe the myth that a coach can get you into the school if he wants you bad enough.
A coach still must answer to the university and NCAA or NAIA on the GPA and graduation rates of their athletes. Most coaches won’t gamble on a student-athlete who hasn’t demonstrated he can handle the academic responsibilities of the school. Remember it’s called Student-Athlete. You need to perform in both.
Should I use a recruiting service?
A recruiting service can make sense for student-athletes who need maximum exposure. But just because you have help with the recruiting process doesn’t mean you have any less work to do. You need to be VERY active in your recruiting process whether you use a recruiting service or not.
What are my chances of playing college sports?
Research shows that 2% of High School athletes go on to play college sports.
But don’t let the numbers mislead you – The only statistics that matter are the numbers you put up in the sport you play.
Do your research on teams that interest you. See how you line up with their current players and don’t hesitate to contact the coach to see if he is interested in an athlete with your talents. Every team is looking for something a little different in their athletes. You have options: Be open to looking at NCAA Division 1, 2 & 3 programs as well as NAIA and Junior College Programs.
Even if you don’t have the skills a coach is looking for in a scholarship athlete there may be an opportunity to walk onto the team. At the very least a coach can advise you on what you should be doing to get closer to your goals.