REAL FACTS ABOUT PLAYING COLLEGE SPORTS
ATHLETIC FACTS:
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There are over 2,000 colleges with Athletic Sports Programs that offer 44 different sports!
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N.C.A.A. Division I sports that you see on T.V., hear on the radio and read about in the newspapers make up only 10% of all Colleges and Universities in the United States!
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< 2% of all College Student Athletes will have 100% of college paid for with Athletic Scholarship Money!
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40% of all 4-year NCAA college sports programs are Division III and do not offer Athletic Scholarships.
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33% of all colleges in the United States are Junior Colleges (JC’s).
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Numerous JC’s and NCAA Division III sports teams compete each year without filling all team roster spots!
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The NCAA is only 1 of 8 different College Governing bodies that offer college athletics.
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NCAA Division I, II & III make up only 50% of all College and University Sports Programs nationwide!
ACADEMIC FACTS:
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You do NOT need to have good grades to be admitted to and attend a Junior College.
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More than 60% of all Collegiate Student Athletes have some form of Academic Scholarship!
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With an Accumulative 3.75 GPA or higher you increase your college sports opportunities by up to 85%!
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You should begin taking SAT and ACT exams early in your junior year to get scores on the board and work at improving scores for future college opportunities. If you Score in the top 33% of SAT and ACT and earn scholarship monies!
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88% of all four-year colleges require either the SAT or the ACT, 3 out of 4 colleges will accept both! Take both tests!
FINANCIAL FACTS:
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The average cost of a four-year college education is projected to be $170,000.00 this year.
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Only 1 in 3 Student Athletes receive some form of Scholarship Funding for College. They start too late or don’t know how to look for them!
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There are millions of dollars in grant, scholarship and funding opportunities that go unused every year!
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Many colleges offer some form of Academic, Merit, Diversity, Achievement Scholarships or Grants!
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If you haven’t made decisions on a college and aren’t applying for scholarship funds by Jan. 2, you are losing money!
RECRUITING FACTS:
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90% of all recruiting (outside of NCAA Division I) occurs when Student Athletes contact College Coaches, NOT when College Coaches contact Student Athletes!
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THE AVERAGE RECRUITING BUDGET FOR COLLEGE COACHES TO FIND ATHLETES IS ONLY $500.00 PER YEAR.
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80% or more of all college team rosters are filled with athletes from that college’s geographic region. This is because College Coaches time and recruiting budgets are limited, very limited!
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You must register with the NCAA and NAIA ELIGIBILITY CENTERS to be considered by NCAA 1, NCAA 2 and NAIA Colleges.
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Most recruiting services have an average of only 2 employees and do not offer tangible tools (College Search Engines, E-books, videos, DVD’s, College Searches, Mentoring, websites and more) to assist athletes and parents with the college recruiting process.
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8 GREAT RECRUITING TIPS:
How to get Recruiting Opportunities
TIP #1 – IF YOU WAIT, YOU WILL BE TOO LATE.
This means you must work at being recruited regularly and consistently. The more effort you make the more results you will receive. This is not the movies. Depending on your sport it will only be the top 100-500 athletes in any high school / junior college sport in the entire country that receive the “privilege” of having coaches come to you. You must be Proactive. Start the process now!
TIP #2 - CONTACT, CONTACT, CONTACT.
Contact College Coaches to let them know you are out there! 90% of all colleges are NOT NCAA Division I and have very little athletic scholarship monies. That means they also have very little if any money for finding potential recruits, on average only $500 annually! That also means that 90% (or most college coaches) never actively recruit farther than 100 miles away from their campus! Use the website at www.COLLEGECOACHESCONNECTION.com to locate over 2,000 college sports programs.
TIP #3 - TRAVEL THE RECRUITING ROAD.
The Real Recruiting Road is a TWO-WAY STREET of COMMUNICATION. That means you have interest in that College / Coach and that College / Coach has interest in you. If only one side has interest, it is a ONE-WAY STREET and one-way streets will only lead to wasted time and dead ends.
TIP #4 - IF THEY ARE NOT CALLING, YOUR RECRUITING IS STALLING!
There are no magic wands. Do not sit back and wait for a particular college you have interest in you or for that matter any college to contact you. If you believe you can compete at their level (make sure you have the Statistics / Awards to prove it) then let them know you have interest. FAST FACT: Most College Coaches will never recruit out of their geographic region of the country. Why? Coaches believe student athletes tend to have loyalties to regional college sports programs, after all, those are the teams they grew up cheering for! Call them and then you’ll have a much better chance for them to call you!
TIP #5 - MAINTAIN TO GAIN.
Simple concept. Maintain contact with the college coach(s) you have interest in on a bi-monthly basis. Send them articles, a short e-mail, text message or even better, make a call. Keep YOU in the front of their mind. This will also help you to move UP the recruiting list on the coaches recruiting board. College coaches will recruit 4-5 athletes for one roster spot (the same spot) or playing position. All five athletes will have the ability to play at the school or they would not be recruited or be on the coaching staff’s recruiting board. The College Coaches will make the same speech and use the same lines to each recruit (It’s called a sales pitch or routine). Sometimes the difference between being in the back of the pack or at the top of the list is subtle, such as a little higher GPA, or making more effort to stay in touch with the coach. You have to make an effort to move to the front of the pack. Do not sit back and wait to be re-contacted by a college coach once they have indicated they have interest in you. They also want to see if you also have interest in them. PAY ATTENTION!
TIP #6 – “WALK ON” MEANS WALK OFF!
It does little or no good to “walk on” to a sports program if (1) they do not care, (2) they have no roster spots available. Find Colleges that are showing regular interest in you and assisting you in getting ready for school. If they are not, pack a warm coat because you will be out in the cold! Unless you are a “PREFERRED WALK ON” which means you have a guaranteed roster spot ahead of time, you will walk off empty.
TIP #7 - HOME COOKING – TAKE A BITE.
Numerous college coaches have made the statement that “If I can’t get a recruit to come to campus and pay a visit, I have very little chance of them coming to school.” SO PAY A VISIT. Besides, paying a visit to see where you are going to be calling home the next few years is a good idea! Would you buy a house without doing a walk through? So take a trip and get some home cookin’ to see if you like it or not! NOTE: Know the difference between OFFICIAL CAMPUS VISITS and UNOFFICIAL. You only get five (5) official visits total, choose wisely.
TIP #8 - BE A CLASS ACT, NOT AN ACT THAT IS CLASSLESS.
No Coach or College wants a side show for a Student Athlete. Remember two simple rules: (1) “People may notice how you look, but they will only remember how you play!” Sportism #22. (2) College Coaches want either NO MAINTANENCE or LOW MAINTENANCE Student Athletes. High Maintenance Athletes turn coaches into babysitters. Most veteran coaches won’t put up with it. Be clean, clean cut, and respectful. It will also make you appear more mature and intelligent and that is just plain smart!
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