Scholarship for Sports?

Hi Kevon,

Often times colleges directly recruit high school students their junior year and sign with your school of choice your senior year. If you are actively being recruited, I would suggest that you narrow down your schools by geographical location, school size, academic ranking, coaching staff, team culture and resources provided at the school. You get 5 official visits ( paid weekend visit at a university to check out the school), and usually coaches will determine scholarship offers during your visit. You can negotiate your scholarship by bringing up other school offers and emphasizing your growth potential. There's always the possibility of getting a scholarship increase while in school. Look into financial aid, academic scholarships as well.

If you are not being recruited, have your coach reach out to the colleges directly. If you're working with someone who's been coaching a while, there's a high chance that your coaches already established a relationship with some universities. Also, on university websites you're able to fill out interest forms so coaches can reach out to you directly. It's important to create a highlight video of you competing to send to the coaches when you have contact with the coaches. You can also attend sport camps at the university to work with the coaches and have the opportunity to get recruited by colleges.

Hope this helps!

Sports scholarships are hard to come by. First and foremost, most colleges recruit for athletics. That means they will most likely come find you. Only division one colleges are allowed to give out athletic scholarships, so it also depends on where you might be interested in studying. It always helps to have good grades on top of athletic ability. Colleges really look for that when recruiting. Lastly, if you want to try and get in touch with a coach, call the school. My guidance counselor in high school knew I was interested in trying to play hockey in college. One day, while meeting with him in his office, he picked up the phone and called a school I had applied to. Within minutes, he had gotten the head coach on the phone. 2 weeks later, I was invited down to watch the team practice, and even got a face to face meeting with the coach after the team got off the ice. I was given a tour of their facility, as well as summer workout programs and meal plans. My point is, reach out. You never know who you may get on the other end of a phone call, but you have to be aggressive and make something happen.

Checking the school's website or social feeds may give you more direct access to the individuals who you are trying to reach out to for a more information.

Don't be afraid to introduce yourself and state your intended purpose. Coaches and facilitators will appreciate your candor and willingness to step out.

Regardless of the sport you were interested in be sure and reach out to multiple schools and different coaching staffs. The more you reach out the more responses you're likely to receive and you can use all of this feedback to help shape your message for future correspondence.

Try practicing with your local Community College. These staffs may be more likely to respond given you're local prospect and potentially invite you to participate in other projects.