Rumor #1: You have to be the best on your team to get an athletic scholarship
The ability to obtain a college athletic scholarship depends on many factors surrounding one’s recruiting. The first one to consider is the uniqueness of all student-athletes: Athletes all have different strengths, weaknesses, and attributes. Experienced college coaches are searching for particular players who will excel at their sport throughout their college career. Coaches who have been at the recruiting game for a long time know players sometimes develop later in their athletic career, therefore, they are not always on the hunt for the best player on the team; they are in search of an all-around athlete who meets athletic, academic and character attributes in-line with the team.
Remember, there are different levels of college sports and each college team will have different requirements for the type of players they are look for. Ultimately, it is up to student-athletes to be proactive and to make a point to get in contact with college coaches who represent programs they want to be a part of.
Rumor #2: You have to be on a winning high school team to get recruited
This is something that often gets high school seniors in a panic. They believe they need to have a great season, with a stand-out year to make waves in their recruiting process. This of course is not always the case. College coaches know that seasons can go up and down, which is why they want to get to know potential players and to see what they are capable of. Athletes who are in the position of playing on a losing team will need to adapt, and coaches want to see how young players are able to deal with strenuous situations.
Recently a high school in San Diego, California reported nineteen seniors were awarded athletic scholarship. Five of the nineteen student-athletes were from the high school baseball team which ended their season 7-22. Obviously, not too great of a season, but players were still able to obtain baseball scholarships.
Rumor #3: Your high school coach will do your recruiting for you.
This is one of the biggest recruiting misconceptions out there. Just so we are clear; your high school coach will not be the one getting you recruited. The earlier recruits and families understand this, the better off they will be when it comes time to learn the recruiting process.
Recruiting takes time and energy, in most cases high school coaches want to help out as much as they can, but because of limited resources, time, and the amount of players they coach, they are not always able to make recruiting a top priority.
If you are serious about getting recruited to play at the college level, than we are here to help. If you have recruiting questions or want to share other recruiting myths you are aware of than leave a comment below or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to start learning about recruitment.