I’m not going to sugar coat it. Recruiting is hard. There are a couple re-occuring mistakes I see many high school athletes making and they all take the form of excuses.
Here is the hard truth:
The “I’m not graduating for a couple years so I don’t need to start yet” excuse
If playing in the NCAA is your target, leaving your recruiting to the last minute is probably not the best idea. There are many articles online about athletes that have verbally committed to a university early: this one, this one, or this one to name a few, there are others across a broad spectrum of sports, but this is just an example.
Now, I’m not saying that by 13 years old you should know where you want to play, and what school you want to study at. But I am saying that you are in competition with hundreds of high school athletes from all over the world for a select few roster spots at your target school.
What does this mean? Well, this means that in order to be on your coaches recruiting radar, you need to introduce yourself to them early in your high school career, and continue to stay in contact so that they can track your progress and development leading up to graduation. Those athletes that leave the recruiting until their grade 12 year will have a hard time finding available roster spots, will have less scholarship dollars available, and will most likely end up making a decision on which school to attend based on who has space, instead of what school they identified as their top choice.
The “I’m Too Busy” excuse
I know you are busy, coaches know you are busy. This is a given. You have school, projects, tests, practice for 1, 2 maybe even 3 teams, games, travel, homework. You are BUSY! We get it. The thing is, you are not the only one. Your schedule does not get any easier when you leave high school and head to university ESPECIALLY if you plan on playing a varsity sport. SO it is not acceptable to use your busy schedule as an excuse to not do the leg work necessary to find the BEST university for yourself as a Student-Athlete.
Coaches are interested in recruiting student athletes that will rise above the pressures of the classroom and team commitments and will take the time to cultivate solid relationships, advocate for themselves and work hard for their own future! If you can do it now, there’s a good chance you will be able to succeed under stressful conditions in university as well.
The “I’m good, so I don’t need to have a plan” excuse
Maybe you’re the best player on your team. Maybe that team traveled to a showcase where there were many coaches out searching for their team’s ‘next big thing’ BUT just because you played well, scored lots of goals, were the most vocal on the field…yadda yadda yadda….DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL BE RECRUITED!
One of the worst mistakes is to assume because you are good, that coaches will come to you. It may be true that a coach will notice standout players on a field, but why leave your future to chance? take the time to contact your target schools and invite them to come and watch you!
Under no circumstances should you ever make a decision on which college to go to simply because the coach recruited you. I have seen too many athletes move away to school, and then return because the school wasn’t what they expected, the team dynamic wasn’t what they expected, the coaching style did not fit their personality, the climate was too hot/too cold, it was too far away from home etc. It is important to set out your recruiting plan, identify your target schools and chase down the opportunities that YOU want and need as a student-athlete.
Don’t let yourself make these mistakes! It is important to be in the drivers seat of your own recruiting process. Allow us here at access-sport, to help you along the journey! Sign up now for your online recruiting profile and get our monthly recruiting bulletins!