how to persue college sports?

Hi Sophia,

College sports are competitive, but there are opportunities to get on teams. I would reach out to coaches during your application process and look to schedule appointments during college visits. If you are unable to join a team prior to attending a University, I would recommend checking to see if the team you are interested in has open try-outs (be aware for fall sports these can be during the summer).

If you do not make the team, do not be discouraged! Check to see if your college has club sports (which will be less of a time commitment) or intermural sports. There are also community teams that could be an option as well!

Sophia, First off, all the people above who tell you to take another route? There comments are a joke. You are asking for specific info to help you play a college sport. I assume you already do the AAU rounds.

Do not let anyone tell you to "give up" on a dream. Follow through and have no regrets. It may not work out but do not have any regrets.

I am in the same situation with my own kids. My oldest son should be playing at a high level D2 or small D1 College. The problem was him not putting the work in off of the basketball court. He's a very talented, hard working kid with an all around game. He just was too stressed to do the recruiting on his own. My Daughter is getting D1 offers for volleyball right now. She has done all of her homework on schools and keeps up with the recruiting and because of this she will find a College to play volleyball.

It is very stressful, but I know that coaches are looking for players who really "want it." A way to prove to any coach that you really want to play for them is to constantly keep calling, texting emailing and writing letters to make them listen. Do this with as many schools as possible. I personally know kids that are on scholarship in our area that are not half as talented as my son, but they put the time and work into making coaches know who they are.

There is so much more advice to give. I hope this helps a little. I am not sure what situation you are in but if I get more info I may be able to give you more advice.

Good luck to you,

Todd Williams

One of the best things you can do to attract scouts is find the best competition possible, train with them, and play against them. Training with the best only makes you better. Additionally, invest in a high quality camera so you can record yourself during competitions so you have a highlight tape if a scout or coach requests it. Lastly, get your name out there. Be risky. Attend showcase events even if they are local or for schools you aren’t interested in, because you never know, a coach that sees you at a prospect day may end up getting hired at one of your dream schools, and want to bring you in.

Now this may seem overwhelming, but take it one step at a time. Right now focus on being the best at your perspective sport you possibly can every-time you compete, and the attention from your community, and recruiters will come

Create an account with NCSA Sports. There, thousands of college coaches will have access and be notified to view your profile. Just make sure to be active with your profile and upload all that it recommends and more. Link is below

https://www.ncsasports.org

Playing football in high school and only have limited tape and experience, I was offered a try-out with a school I applied to by having my coach right a letter to the head coach. When I arrived on campus I was given an opportunity to walk on. Just like to add having any film sent is good as well, but the letter gives your coach an opportunity to highlight your qualities, winning attitude, abilities, etc. Had I considered this before might have used it to apply for other schools. Well, hope this helps and good luck out there!

Given that I played sports in Germany i never had any coaches visit to see me. That didn’t keep me from pursuing my dream to play NCAA division I though. What I did was compile my playing history listing tournaments and matched, rankings etc. I then had a friend help film me and make a recruiting video. I looked at schools that interested me and just addressed emails to the coaches telling my story and what I was looking for. I had a reference from my current coach and I just kept being persistent until I got offers. Location is really not something that should stop you from pursuing your dream.

Play on travel teams or AAU teams if they are available in your location. Attend summer camps at the schools you would like to attend. Put together a package consisting of video clips of your top moments and any articles or newspaper clippings and send them to the schools you would like to attend. If scouts are not coming to you, then you must go them and attend camps that will make you visible to them.

Write a personalized letter to a few schools of choice you would be interested in attending. Gage your skill-level and what factors in a school are important to you and reach out based on that criteria. You can supply any film you may have recorded of yourself playing your sport OR simply introduce yourself as a perspective student interested in a sports team.

I also attended a high school that was very rarely visited by scouts, the most important thing you can do is contact them and make a personal connection, take advantage of use of emails and phone calls and put yourself on their recruiting radar, I’m a head coach myself and I enjoy when athletes seek me out and tell me about themselves. Good luck, I wish you all the best in your future

Aloha, Sophia!

If you are past June 15 of sophomore year or Sept 1 of Junior year you can usually contact the coaches directly. I would check to see if your coach is connected and willing to help you reach out to other schools? Sometimes this connection can help. If so, have your coach help you put together a highlights video of you from past games or skills work. If they cannot help, ask for past footage and make it yourself. I agree with the above advice and to write a letter to prospective coaches to send with your footage. I was going to play DI, but a DIII coach invited me to come for an overnight based on my footage and I ended up changing my decision last minute. Sometimes it is hard to see the opportunities when you are in high school, but know they are there, you just have to start looking or them. Secondly, are you planning on visiting any schools? I realize you are in Hawaii and this may not be possible. And I know this is hard! I am actually half Hawaiian and my mother moved back while I was in High school. If you are visiting any colleges contact the coach and do an overnight with a team member. This will tell you a lot about the school and team. Another part of being visible is attending camps and training programs. For my sports, field hockey and lacrosse, there are national festivals that invite coaches to attend to see prospective players from around the country. Check to see if your sport has opportunities like this. You may have to join a team you don't know very well, but its worth the visibility and gives you insight and experience into what it will be like to play with college bound athletes.

Just know there are opportunities out there! May not seem like it at first, but each step you take puts you closer to your goals. Start to get uncomfortable and ask for what you want. You may just get it:)

Hope this Helps!

Anne

Hello, I agree with others opinions.

I also encourage to talk with a professor or doctor such as in Kinesiology at collage you are interested in as they potentially have a connection with people who recruit an athlete. Being an athlete on campus is not the only way t get sponshopship. If you believe in yourself, put effort on your development, and people notice you, you could potentially get sponsorship even from outside of campus.

I am not in Kinesiology major at collage, but I was hired as a coach and became a competitive athlete memeber in one of the sports clubs on campus as I reached out to professors in Kinesiology department as well as undergrad and grad students.

I hope it helps you and give you a hope to persue your passion for sports.

Raphaela and Kista gave great advice and I would follow their wise words.

I’m guessing you are a young woman. Title IX affords our female athletes a great opportunity for an equal number of scholarships as our male athletes.

What may help you to narrow your focus, is to create a list of your Top 10 Division I schools you’d like to attend. I would look at Division I schools with football programs and look at all the women sports they offer.

Then identify what sport is your sport and two other sports that you would also enjoy playing.

Basketball may be your primary sport but if the college of your choice has a scholarship for the golf team, go for the golf scholarship.

I live in Seattle, WA near the University of Washington and they offer 11 Women’s Sports. That’s a lot of scholarships. Control what you can control and be open to possibility.

So sadly I was not able to play in college due to an injury. But I can help. Look at the colleges that you are applying too and see what sports they hold. If they have the sport you are interested in playing, contact the coach of the team and ask how you can try out or when try outs are held, being that you do not have access to a recruiter. When meeting the coach of the team, have your high school stats readily available in a printed form within the folder to give to the coach. If you have highlight tapes it would be great to transfer those to a USB and have that in the folder as well! Make sure the USB file has your name encrypted, your stats file and a sports profile picture of your self so they know and remember who they are reviewing. In addition stats in a resume form with your high school GPA and any other outstanding achievement should be included within the paper.

Hi Sophia!

My best advice for your situation is: if they can't come to you, you go to them.!College recruiting is a difficult process - I've learned that from experience. I am currently a senior on Temple University's Men's Soccer team after joining the as an unrecruited transfer walk-on in 2017, so it was a long, but worthwhile journey.

In high school, I played soccer for 4 years on the varsity team while competing at a high level with my state club team. I was a decent player playing at a high level so I was sure that I would be heavily recruited. Well, that was not entirely the case. I received a few Division II/III offers, but my intention coming out of high school was to play Division I soccer at a college with a great education. I expected a plethora of offers, but in reality, I only received one Division I offer to attend Bucknell University. Due to the location and other personal factors, I was not convinced this was the best offer for me. So, 6 months before I was supposed to attend college, I was left with zero offers and no idea what to do next. That's when I received great advice from my coaches and parents to start reaching out to coaches and introduce myself, my desire to play at their university, and the possibility to set up a visit/in-person meeting. 

I took their advice and decided, in the end, to take an unorthodox route to college athletics. I committed to a school (James Madison University) that I was comfortable living at, could receive an education in a major I was interested in, and did my best to stay in contact with those coaches. Long story short, my persistence and desire to play earned me a trial with the JMU team and eventually an offer to play for the team in the upcoming season. After a great year at JMU, I decided to reach out to the coaches at Temple and transfer to a school that was a better fit for me.

So, Sophia, how do you make yourself visible? How do you get on to a college sports team?

(This is my personal guide so please decide if this works for you. If not, explore other options and find out what you are comfortable doing).

First, create a list of ALL colleges that you could see yourself going to. Begin to narrow down your list to 5-10 schools that speak your interest based on location, education, level of competition, social life, etc. - whatever is most important to you. For me, the location and diversity were the biggest factors so I selected my schools based on those characteristics. 

Next, look up the coaches' contact info (email) for your sport and write a personal letter that shows you desire to play for their school. College coaches have a lot on the plate at all times so it's best to make your email genuine and honest so the coach opens, reads, and considers your proposal. Email the head coach of your sport and copy all of the assistants in the email as well. This will maximize your chances of your email being seen and read. Include your most current game schedule with times and locations on the chance one of those coaches are going to be in that area. You never know what could happen. Remember the biggest goal when trying to get recruited is to maximize your chances to be seen. In your situation, it is quite difficult to do so, so take advantage of every other technique to make sure your talents are on full display.

Do your best to assemble a professional highlight video of you playing GAMES (real competition) your sport to attach in the email. You don't have to pay hundreds of dollars to get a videographer, but make sure the video is properly edited, high quality, and you can be seen and identified clearly throughout the video. If you can afford a professional sports videographer to film some of your games then even better. Having a video is one of the best ways for coaches who can't come see you play to get a glimpse of your ability on the field.

After assembling the video and writing the email, do your best to research the school and its sports program. Educate yourself! Hopefully one of the coaches emails you back and at that point, you should be ready to reply as soon as possible. Don't be discouraged if it takes a while to hear back from the coaches, because as I said before, they're very busy with getting ready for their next season. When I was transferring, it took me 5 months after reaching out to the Temple coaches to hear back from them. From there I was persistent and consistent with my communication until I was presented with an offer to try out for the team.

But by reaching out first and selling yourself, coaches will more than likely be appreciative of your efforts and invite you to continue communication. By reaching out you just made their job a whole lot easier. If they like what they saw in the video they WILL make an effort to see you play again whether that's coming to your area to watch a live game or inviting you to an Identification (ID) camp. Although unlikely, they may even invite you for an official visit, which would be ideal, but based on a video alone it is unlikely. Possible, but unlikely. 

Overall, your goal when trying to play college sports is to make your best self seen. The hardest part of being recruited is being noticed. Unless you are a top player in (which I was not) in a top team (which I was not), in a top league, in a popular area, most college-bound players actively contacted coaches at their desired schools to make an opportunity happen for themselves, and open the door to more possibilities. I was not a high-rated recruit or a highly desired player coming out of high school, but I really really really wanted to play Division I soccer in college and nothing was going to stop me from doing so. Even though it was hard for me to be noticed, I found a way to make something happen even if it didn't happen as smoothly as I would have liked. The process, though, made me smarter and more aware of the challenges that come with being recruited to a college athletic team. I wish I would have known what I have shared with you in high school, but the fact that you already know that you want to play in college is the first and biggest step. You've already decided, now just focus, be consistent, and find a way to show your best self. The right opportunity will come to you, I promise.

Hope you found this helpful, Sophia. Best wishes! :)

The best piece of advice I have is to reach out to those teams at Universities you are considering and ask about how you can make the team. Your email can be as simple as “Hi, I am a graduating senior at ______ High School in ________, ___. At the current moment, I am a _______ athlete and am driven to continuing playing ______ through college. However, due to the location of my high school, no scouts have come out to my area. Where can I find out more about trying out for the team and how can I stay in the loop to ensure I do not miss any opportunities to walk on?”

Anextdotally, I am a 21x National Champion in the US for the olympic sport Flatwater Sprint Canoe. I have had the opportunity to race for the US Junior and Under23 National Team for 5 years now. That being said, there are no US colleges that have any scholarships/programs to support canoeing collegiately. As a result, I have had to train alone during the school year for the last 4 years, battling the recovery of a major surgery I underwent early freshman year. Needless to say, continue to work hard right off the bat and have that goal of making the team at the forefront of your vision every day. You can do a lot training alone. It all comes down to if you really want it and if you’re willing to put in the work to make that goal. Train your a** off and train smart.

Start early, Seek out what it is the coaches are looking for. Don't be afraid to call or email coaches. Most schools have a prospective athlete form section on their athletics site. Also, don't be afraid to seek smaller schools, or Junior colleges. Lastly let your current coach aware that you would like to participate at the collegiate level.

When I went to college I sought out the coaches, they didn't have the resources to come scout and were looking for athletes.

You should always strive to succeed and try your best even if no one is watching. The most important thing is to be hungry to succeed. But then you never know who is watching!!