10 Tips to get your recruiting off the process off the ground. By David Galehouse - Director of www.varsityedge.com - Student-athlete resource center for high school and college bound athletes and author of The Making of a Student-Athlete: Succeeding in the College Selection, Application, and Athletic Recruiting Process. The recruiting process is your responsibility - Many families assume college coaches will find them and their high school coach will handle the rest. In reality, the recruiting process is your responsibility and you need to take a proactive role in your school search, in your athletic development and most of all in contacting coaches on your own and expressing your interest in their program and desire to play athletics in college. Evaluate your own skill - Too many high school basketball players think they are going to get a full scholarship to Duke! Well, you have to be extremely talented to play for a school like that. In reality, there are many other levels of basketball that will probably be a better fit for your skills but until you can determine what your skills are, it will be very difficult to target the proper programs. Keep an open mind - Most kids like to go to schools they have heard of and see on TV. In reality there are hundreds of great schools out there that can and will offer you a tremendous athletic and academic opportunity if you only give them a chance. Increase your exposure - Unless you are one of the best players in your state, you need to expand your athletic participation in a number of venues. While college coaches attend high school games, they attend AAU tournaments, showcases, athletic camps, and travel tournaments as much if not more than high school games. If you are not playing in these additional venues, it will be harder to gain exposure and showcase your skills to college coaches that are at these events looking for players to recruit one day. Work on your weakness - most kids practice what they are good at, because practicing something you are bad at isn't that fun. In order to get better you need to practice your weaknesses like shooting with your left hand, free throws, boxing out, vertical leap, bounce passes or whatever it is you may lack. There is always room for improvement. Evaluate your strength and conditioning. There are many skilled players that have trouble competing at high levels because they are not as big, as strong, or as fast as other players. If you have a high degree of skill but lack speed, size, or conditioning, it may be time get involved in a strength and conditioning program. Youth strength and conditioning programs are growing in popularity and in numbers and represent an important aspect of your athletic training. Going to the gym and simply lifting weights like everyone else is, is not an effective strength and conditioning program and it's important that you learn the right way to train from someone qualified to teach you. Talk to your coach - It's important that your coach is aware that you would like to play at the next level and assists you in any way they can. While your coach may not know much about recruiting, they can play a valuable role in helping to promote you to college coaches. Some coaches do not want to help with this or do not know how and some families become discouraged and do very little. If you think your coach cannot help or does not want to help, you may want to consider finding another coach, perhaps an assistant or a coach from another league. Even having someone to talk to about the process can go a long way. Research programs - As we have stated, your responsibility is to contact coaches on your own, and part of this involves researching different programs and trying to find schools and programs that interest you. Simply calling coaches and giving them your name isn't enough. You need to find out what type of players they normally recruit, where their players come from, what players are young, what players are soon graduating. what teams they play, what academic programs the school offers and much more. Remember your academics - While athletic skill can assist your admission into more difficult schools, not only does the NCAA have minimum academic requirements, but individual schools usually have more stringent academic requirements. Many coaches will not begin to recruit you until they know whether or not you can be accepted at their school. It's important to work just as hard in the classroom as it is on the court or field. Financial Aid - Financial aid can play an important role in your ability to fund your college tuition and their are different types of financial aid. (1) Federal Financial Aid - Is applied through the federal government and everyone should be encouraged to apply despite their family income. See http://www.fafsa.ed.gov for more information (2) Institutional Financial Aid - Institutional aid is awarded directly from colleges. If you are very strong academically or talented in some manner (music, dance, art), a school may offer you money to enroll. The money comes from donations, grants, and other revenue channels that the school has. This can also be referred to as Merit Aid. (3) Student loans such as the Stafford, Perkins, or PLUS loans are low interest loans provided to students that need to be paid back at some point after graduation. For more information on any of these programs, visit www.varsityedge.com
		BBB Camps - PO Box 242 - Middletown DE, 19709