Many young high school athletes out there aspire to become athletes at the collegiate level. Some dream of playing for a major school in the top conference in the country, while others simply wish to continue to play their sport at a competitive level. Still, others have hopes of being able to fund their college degree through an athletic scholarship.
The fact of the matter is, though, that places on college teams, especially at the top universities, are coveted and difficult to earn. Moreover, each team only has so much scholarship money that they can award, meaning that there is also fierce competition for such funding.
If you are looking to make yourself the best candidate possible for a spot on a university sports team, you will need to consider the things that college coaches are looking for in their recruits. Here are four such things to help you on your path to becoming a college athlete.
1. Skill and Talent
First and foremost, you will not be able to gain much attention from college coaches unless you are able to demonstrate proficiency in your sport. Coaches want to be able to tell that you have a solid athletic foundation with room to grow and develop. You will need to spend a great deal of time practicing and competing in order to show college coaches that you have what it takes to make it in college athletics.
It can help to have a profile of your athletic accomplishments created for you that coaches can reference with ease. You can look into how to create such a profile at asmscholarships.com.
2. Good Grades
Strong athletic ability is not the only thing you will have to develop during your high school years. College coaches want student-athletes who are dedicated to their studies as well. The NCAA has rules in place for its athletes, and you will not be eligible to play in college unless you maintain a certain GPA.
Coaches are not likely to take a gamble on a student who has poor grades as they might feel that doing so is giving a spot to an athlete who won’t be able to compete. Work on your grades as much as your athletics so that coaches know you are serious about playing.
3. Sportsmanship
When you play college sports, even if you play an individual sport like tennis or golf, you are going to become part of a team. Coaches want to recruit athletes who are team players and are able to get along and help promote one another. Being able to get along with your teammates is a must, so make sure that you are able to demonstrate positive sportsmanship whenever you go on your college visits.
4. Maturity
Student-athletes have to abide by a code of conduct set in place both by the NCAA and their particular university. This means that they will need to be able to act maturely and responsibly in order to play. Take care to be responsible in your high school years to not send up red flags to coaches and recruiters.