SportsGist Rules!

RECRUITING CORRESPONDENCE

• Simply put-if you are not directly involved with a minimum of 100 schools; you are not giving yourself the best opportunity available.
• The most important thing for you to do is to make contact with as many schools as possible and get into their recruiting pools.
• It is vital that your return every questionnaire and any other materials requested by every school that contacts you.

The student-athlete often does not return questionnaires because of the tedious and repetitive task involved. The easiest and most efficient way is to simply staple your profile to the questionnaire and return it immediately upon request.

PHONE CONTACT

Once you have established an interest in a school, you need to find out how serious they are about you. This can be accomplished by asking a specific set of questions when phone contact is made.

1. Find out who are you speaking with?

Head Coach? Assistant Coach? Graduate/Volunteer Assistant?

2. Have they made a personal evaluation of the student-athlete?

3. Will you (Head Coach) be making a home visit?

4. Do you intend to invite my son/daughter for an official paid visit at this time?

5. Are you interested in having my son/daughter sign early?

THE HOME VISIT

The home visit is usually the first time an actual face-to-face meeting takes place. You finally get to meet the people you have been speaking with for the past several months. This is the perfect time to review and clarify any questions or answers from the phone contact. You should keep in mind that the coaches are evaluating you as much as you are evaluating them.

THE CAMPUS VISIT

The campus visit, without question, has the biggest influence on your final decision of where to attend college. This is an exciting time for the student-athlete and it is important to now the guidelines college coaches have to follow during a campus visit. Student-athlete are only allowed a total of five official paid visits. Remember to refer to your “Guides for the College-Bound Student-Athlete” to comply with these rules.

THE PARTIAL AND WALK-ON-PITCH

We find more and more collegiate coaches breaking up scholarships with partial offers and the so-called walk-on opportunity. It has even been stretched to the point where coaches will entice a student with the “preferred walk-on” status.

Student-athletes and families accept such offers for a variety of reasons, but do so primarily because they don’t have a lot of options.

The key is to get as many schools as possible interested in your academic and athletic talent to put yourself in the position to negotiate.

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Myth 1 // A DIVISION 1 SCHOLARSHIP IS THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE?

REALITY// Only 0.8% of High School Student-Athletes receive a fully funded Division 1 scholarship. These are hundreds of outstanding Division II and III colleges around the country that provide scholarships, grant money and an outstanding education.

Myth 2 // THE ONLY COLLEGE TO CONSIDER ARE BIG NAME SCHOOLS OR UNIVERSITIES?

REALITY// Don’t get caught up in the name game. According to US News and World Report, over 50% of the tip-rated college and universities do not have Division 1A football programs. This is about getting your education and going someplace where they care about your future…and believe in you.

Myth 3 // MY HIGH SCHOOL COACH WILL TAKE CARE OFMY RECRUITING RESPONSIBILITIES?

REALITY// They are a great resource for college recruiters, but it is your responsibility to market your talents and get your name front of college coaches. The average high school coach has personal relationships with less than 5% of the collegiate opportunities across the country.

Myth 4// ONCE A STUDENT – ATHLETE IS A SENION, IT’S PROBABLY TOO LATE TO BE RECRUITED?

REALITY// Other than the big time schools, a major portion of athletic recruitment takes place during your senior year. Eighty percent of college programs make their final recruiting decision after January 1^st of the student-athletes senior year.

Myth 5// PARENTS KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR THEIR OWN STUDENT-ATHLETE’S SCHOLARSHIP CHANCES AND, THEREFORE, MUST MAKE SURE THE COACH IS PROVIDING SUCH OPPORTUNITIES?

REALITY// High school sports are supposed to be fun. If parent meddle with their school coach and put pressure on their kids, the joy of competition will be lessened.

Myth 6// BETTER TO WALK-ON AT A NAME SCHOOL WHERE YOU MIGHT HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF PLAYING RATHER THAN A SMALLER COLLEGE WHERE YOU’RE SURE TO PLAY?

REALITY// One of the most important choices a student-athlete makes is finding the idea school, not just the biggest or most familiar. If you love your sport, you’ll want to play regardless of size or location.

Myth 7/ IF YOU RECEVIE A CALL FROM A COLLEGE COACH YOU ARE SURE TO BE A SCHOLARSHIP CANDIDATE?

REALITY// Just because you’re getting calls from college does not mean you are one of their top recruits. Ask the coach directly, “Are you offering an official paid visit, and will you be making a home visit?” Their answers will signal their true interest in you.

Myth 8// IF YOU RECEVIE A CALL FROM A COLLEGE COACH YOU ARE SURE TO BE A SCHOLARSHIP CANDIDATE?

REALITY// The more options you have available, the better your chances to not only find the best financial package, but also the right college for you. Put yourself in a position to negotiate by being involved with as many schools as possible.

Myth 9// UTILIZING A RECRUITING SERVICE IS THE BEST WAY TO GET A COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP?

REALITY// College coaches rarely use recruiting services. However, most college coaches do use collegiate scouting organizations. We would only recommend an organization that has established coach relationships, works with qualified student-athletes and offers a money back guarantee.

Myth 10// THE BEST WAY TO GET DISCOVERED IS TO GO TO THE COLLEGE CAMPS OR PARTICIPATE IN CLUB SPORTS BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE A STUDENT-ATHLETE GAINS ?

REALITY// College coaches and/or pro scouts primarily attend to evaluate student-athletes already on their lists. Your high school coaches are knowledgeable are care about your future so take their recommendation when it comes to participating in these events.

Technorati Tags: 10 MYTHS, athletes, college, COLLEGE COACH, college recruiting, COLLEGIATE SCOUTING ORGANIZATIONS, dIVISION !a, Division 1, DIVISION II, DIVISION III, FOOTBALL PROGRAMS, game, GRANT MONEY, high school, HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES, HIGH SCHOOL COACH, JACK RENKINS, JANUARY 1 RECRUITING, MYTHS AND REALITIES, NEGOTIATE, OPPORTUNITIES, PARENTS, recruiting services, RESOURCES, scholarships, SCHOOLS, SPORT, sports, SportsGist, SportsGist.com, STUDENT-ATHLETES, talent, TOP RATED COLLEGE, TOP RATED UNIVERSITIES, WALK-ON

By Gus Ornstein

San Francisco 49er tight end Vernon Davis took the time to speak to SportsGist about many topics, including his recruiting experience coming out of Dunbar High School in Washington DC. Vernon was the third ranked TE coming out of high school by recruiting expert Tom Lemming and was besieged by colleges looking to garner his services. Listen to Vernon as he takes us through the overwhelming experience of the recruiting process and how he was able to sort it all out and make his choice to attend the University of Maryland.

Click to hear the entire interview with Vernon Davis

CLICK TO HEAR THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW

Technorati Tags: 49er, 49ers, Davis, DC, Dunbar, high school, Lemming, Maryland, Recruiting, San Fran, San Francisco 49ers, TE, tight end, Tom Lemming, university, University of Maryland, Vernon, Vernon Davis, Washington, Washington DC

It would be to your benefit to take advantage of the month you have off during your winter break to stay fit and ready to go for the spring season.  A great way to do this, is to stay active for at least 4-5 days a week for 40-90 minutes at a time.  These activities can vary from soccer drills to leisurely activities such as biking, swimming, running, or playing basketball.  If you have access to a gym, engaging in light weight activities can give you a competitive advantage, but if not, doing the body weight activities (listed below), you can remain in shape. 

An average week might consist of 2 days of weight training or body weight circuits/conditioning and the other 2 days longer aerobic activities with soccer sprints in between (interval running).

It is very important to run at least 3 times a week, whether it be to work on sprints (10’s to 100’s) or longer endurance runs (1.5 miles, 1 mile, 800’s, 400’s, 200’s)

Circuit:

Always conduct a warm up before beginning any workout and a cool down after.

Body Weight Squat- 20 times

Single Leg Squat- 15 times each leg

Pull Up/ Reverse Pull Up- 10/15 time

Walk Out Push Ups- 10 times

Dips- 10 times

Single Leg RDL (body weight)- 15 each leg

Sit Ups- 20

Alternate Arm to Alternate Straight Leg (Ab work)- 20

Sit Ups- 20

Body Weight Squat- 20

Reach Crunch- 20

Move through the circuit three times with a good tempo and correct form

Overall, the emphasis of the winter workout is not on what you specifically do, but making sure you are staying active 4-5 days.  By this point, you should know your body and know how to take care of it.  Make sure you allow the needed recovery time, but at the same time continuously push yourself to become a top notch Division 1 athlete.

 

*LIFT US TO GREATNESS, RUN TO GLORY!*

Technorati Tags: 2 days, ab work, abs, active, activities, Add new tag, aerobic, avantage, Basketball, biking, body weight circuits, coditioning, competition, cool down, D 1 athlete, dips, Division 1, drills, gym, interval running, leg squat, leisure, pull up, push ups, reverse pull up, running, sit up, Soccer, SportsGist, spring season, sprints, swimming, week, weight, weight training, winter break