Athletic Scholarships

How To Earn An Athletic Scholarship

As you look for different options to fund your college education one choice might be to pursue an athletic scholarship. For high school students looking to continue their athletic career, finding the right athletic program along with the right college can be a difficult task. beRecruited.com provides a variety of tools that help make the recruiting process easier and increase your chances of earning an athletic scholarship.

What Are Athletic Scholarships?

An athletic scholarship is money given to a student athlete by the team's coaching staff which can be put towards education related expenses including tuition, room & board, books, etc. Not every level or sport is able to offer athletic scholarships due to budget limitations and divisional rules/regulations. The beRecruited.com Colleges section is a great resource to find out if the colleges you are interested in offer athletic scholarships in your sport. Even if you decide to attend a college that does not offer you an athletic scholarship speak with the college coach or the admission's department about receiving grants, academic scholarships or other financial aid.

Who Offers Athletic Scholarships?

College coaches are typically the final decision makers and individuals that offer you the scholarship at the completion of the evaluation process. Most divisions, including the NCAA Divisions I, II, and III require you to meet certain academic test scores, passing a variety of core subjects and maintaining a specific GPA in advance. It is important to ask the programs you are interested in what pre-requirements you should meet. As you hunt for different athletic scholarships be aware that there are a variety of services that charge hundreds of dollars as well as networks like beRecruited.com that provide a similar service at no-cost.

How Do You Get An Athletic Scholarship?

• Start Early! - The sooner you start the recruiting process the better. Once you have decided you are interested in playing collegiate sports, you need to start working to get your name in front of prospective coaches. Creating a profile with beRecruited.com will help you start researching different colleges that meet your wants and needs and help you increase your exposure to prospective coaches.
• Make A List - Create a list of colleges that you would be interested in attending. beRecruited.com allows you to not only research colleges, but build a list of your top schools that are a good fit both academically and athletically. You can then use this list to quickly connect with coaches from your target schools.
• Understand Admissions - Speak with coaches and the admission's department at any colleges you are interested in about their school's application process and additional requirements to be admitted. Your guidance counselor can also be a great resource since they have helped students through this process many times before.
• Make Contact - College coaches generally have irregular schedules not only during the season, but in the off-season as well. Be proactive in your recruiting search and don't get discouraged. If you haven't heard from the program you are interested in, send the coach an email, mail a highlight DVD and/or visit the college.
• Ask Questions - Don't be afraid to ask questions! Remember coaches have been through the recruiting process many times - they have heard practically everything.

Remember, this is YOUR future

It's your future so if you are truly interested in playing college sports it's important to be very proactive with your recruiting efforts. While being a solid athlete is of course an important part of earning an athletic scholarship it's also important to remember that academics and extra curricular activities play an import part of what schools will be interested in recruiting and admitting you as a student athlete. Working with your high school and club coaches, guidance counselor and maximizing your exposure through an online network like beRecruited.com.com will help you increase your changes of finding the right college where you can continue to compete and earn an athletic scholarship to help fund your education.