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College Search Advice For The Student AthleteThe college search process for the student athlete needs to include some important extra steps. On this page you will find many helpful tips and links to assist you in finding the right place for you to follow your passion for athletic competition. The four areas of information I believe to be critical in the for any student athlete are: 1. Academic eligibility guidelines 2. Athletic scholarship opportunities 3. Acceptable recruiting practices 4. Individual coaching philosophy I'll try and give you some insights into each of these areas.
Click here to see the Top 7 Questions A Student Athlete Should Ask In Their College Search.
Academic EligibilityThe most important aspect for you to consider is academic eligibility. There are very strict criteria that you have to meet or exceed in order to be able to play a sport at college in your first year. These criteria are different depending upon the level of competition for any invididual school.The first question you should ask of any school should be "what athletic division do you compete at?" Specifically, you want to know is the school NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA Division I or NAIA Division II. At each level there are different rules for academic eligibility, recruiting rules and athletic scholarship guidelines. The two major organizations that oversee collegiate sports are the NCAA (the largest and best known) and the NAIA (smaller but still respectable organization popular in the midwest). The biggest point in this category is that if you are hoping to play NCAA Division I or II, you will need to submit your personal academic history to the NCAA eligibility clearinghouse. There are very strict requirements that you will have to meet in order to be "cleared" to play right away. All other levels of schools do their own eligibility review so this step is not necessary at NCAA Division III or NAIA Division I or II institutions.
Athletic ScholarshipsThe second question you'll want to know about is if there is a possiblity that you might be considered for an athletic scholarship.NCAA Division III institutions CANNOT award athletic scholarships so save yourself from looking silly but not asking this question of any school in this division. (Note that ALL other divisions both NCAA and NAIA do award some level of athletic scholarship.) DO NOT ASSUME that because a school does award athletic scholarships that it means you might be able to have all of your college costs covered by your athletic participation. BY FAR THE VAST MAJORITY OF SCHOLARSHIPS ONLY COVER SOME OF THE COST.
Acceptable Recruiting PracticesYou can learn a ton about an individual sport at a specific school by the recruiting practices employed by the coaching staff. However, many young athletes have unrealistic expectations about what it means to "be recruited" by a college. Certainly, if you are a truly gifted athlete you will get lots of attention. The hard part is sifting through the awesome feeling of "being wanted" to find the best fit program for you.I would ask the coach to level with you about your chances for playing time, too. Most coaches will be right up front with you about your ability and how they see you fitting into their program. However, there are some that will promise the sun and moon so do be cautious in this area. (Usually those coaches are ones I would personally cross of my consideration list!)
Coaching PhilosophyA very important part of finding the right place for you that is often taken for granted by many athletes is that of trying to find out the coaching philosphy and style of the head coach.I can't stress enough how important this is! You may be spending A LOT of time over the next four years taking instruction from this person! Invest the time and ask questions about the style of play the head coach favors, how practices are run, the coach's expectations of players in and out of season, etc. You should also ask to see a practice and be looking for how a coach offers instruction and criticism. It's important to know this ahead of time so you can know now if that style will work for you or if it will absolutely drive you crazy!
Other ResourcesClick here to view the 2007-2008 NCAA Guide.Click here to go to the NCAA eligibility clearinghouse site. Click here to view the NAIA Student Athlete Guide.
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