The French Open starts this weekend. As the only Major Tennis tournament on clay, it’s a time when we get to see the excitement of the tennis world and intense 1 on 1 matchups (or doubles match ups if you prefer). This tournament held in Paris, France is one of the most exciting, with the allure of the clay courts and the excitement as these athletes skid and slide across the court as they make play after play. So in anticipation of this event I would like to go through some of the 5 best finishes to the French Open, or Roland Garros, tournament. For this instance we will look at the Men’s Singles events.
5. Gaston Guadio vs Guillermo Coria – 2004
It was the year before Rafael Nadal asserted his dominance of this event when these two Argentines battled it out as Guadio battled back won in 5 sets despite being crushed 6-0 in the first. It was a clash of two athletes of the same Nationality with an incredible finish.
4. Roger Federer vs Robin Soderling – 2009
This was historic as one of the greatest Tennis players that have graced the game, in a year where Rafael Nadal was not able to defend his four straight French Open titles, finally won the one Tennis Major that had been eluding him after being edged out in the finals the previous 3 years.
3. Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer – 2006
Never have I seen a match between these two that wasn’t fun to watch. And this back and forth final that saw Nadal win in the fourth set, taking it 7-6, is no exception. There will never be any top 5 tennis match list without something from these two players in it.
2. Jim Courier vs Andre Agassi – 1991
A historic match of two American heavyweights in the tennis world, this match featured heavy blows as the two went back and forth each taking turns winning sets. This all lead up to the fifth set where Courier dismantled Agassi on the way to the first of his back to back French Open titles.
1. Andre Agassi vs Andrei Medvedev – 1999
A year where the underdog Medvedev made his way to the finals as a 100 seed, and a match that cemented Agassi’s place in tennis history. In this match the underdog Medvedev was up two sets to none, which led us to an incredible rally from Agassi as he stormed back and won three straight sets to win his first French Open, when he had not been back to the finals of the major in almost 10 years.
Are you ready for some clay court action yet? The matches begin on the 27th and run through June 10th. So check out the bracket and be sure to watch your favorite players make their way through as you can be certain there will be some extremely exciting play.
Snapshot of Nicolette (Nikki) Bond, basketball player
from Vancouver, Washington
Committed to Corban University
Click here to View Nikki Bond's beRecruited profile
While in high school, what other teams and/or sports were you playing? Did you know all along you wanted to play your sport in college?
I played softball, soccer, and volleyball before high school started – but I was playing up with a couple of AAU teams and loving year round basketball. I realized that it kept me in shape all year long and was going to prepare me for high school – and college! There was no second thinking with that goal!
When did you start getting interest from college coaches? Were they knocking down your door, or were you reaching out to them? If so, how?
I started emailing coaches just prior to my freshman year and joined up with BERECRUITED.COM, letting them know to keep an eye out for me! I’d send stats and pictures as the season went on, and any articles in the newspaper. I let them know about the torn ACL from the summer prior my Sophomore year, and my comeback the following spring ball. I reached out to as many colleges as I could that seemed like a good fit. Sept 1st, of my junior year (the first day coaches were allowed to mail me) the mailbox at home was full of letters from D1, D2, D3, and NAIA schools saying I was on their recruiting list and to call them! I had a service academy come watch me play - as well as Ivy League and big name D1 schools! When the time came, I had phone calls from coaches all across the country – and 2 of them were from the sweet 16 teams that had made the playoffs! But you know, what it all boiled down to was the coach, location, and the academics offered. Like any player, I had dreams of going to a big named school, playing on TV, and being recognized. But as the offers came in, I realized I wanted to play ball in my own backyard. I chose my college because of the location, and the fact that I had a great relationship with the coach who came to watch me play in some awesome games – and some games where my shot was off. But he always let me know it’s my averages, my attitude, and my heart that made him want me at his school!
How did beRecruited help you make the connection with your committed college?
The majority of my contacts were initiated with the BERECRUITED website. It gave me the initial contact names and made it easy to research schools. And with the opportunity to put pictures and my stats online – I became one of the most looked at players on the girls basketball website! I found that the more information I provided you – the more the coaches looked at my site. If they didn’t immediately contact me after viewing my site – I’d go ahead and contact them thanking them for visiting my site and to feel free to contact me or my coaches with any questions! It worked!
Who was pivotal in helping you through the recruiting process and why? (Parents, a coach, a hs counselor?
That’s easy an easy question,… BERECRUITED.COM! The only other person helping me was my dad who gave me advice on how to followup with the schools.
What role did you club coaches/hs coaches have in helping you get recruited? How active were your parents in the process?
Once I got into high school, I realized that my AAU and high school coaches didn’t have the contacts like I had made, and it would be up to me if I wanted to get noticed. These coaches could answer the questions college coaches asked – WHEN the college coaches called. How’d the college coaches get the phone numbers to call? Through me!
What was the most challenging part of the recruiting process, if any?
The most challenging part of the recruiting process is probably in how to handle phone calls. On the court I see nothing but ball and that’s the focus. When my parents would say, “there’s a coach on the phone for you”, initially, I was scared witless! Nothing prepares you for that, and if I had to do it all over again, I’d get used to talking to coaches on the phone – by calling them first!
To date, what do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment in your sport career?
Two things,… first, being that I signed with a college. Secondly, and most importantly was overcoming injuries and the devastation of tearing my ACL just prior to my junior year. And then, when I was finally cleared to play and was in a championship game my first game back, I was on the ground going for a loose ball when another player came down on my back – knee first, and broke the L2 on my spine! You wouldn’t believe the support I got from college coaches, urging me to focus on the future, and condition not only body – but the mind as well. Getting back on the court for the summer and my junior year was my biggest accomplishment – for that’s when the coaches really showed the interest!
What tips or advice do you have for student-athletes who want to continue their sport past high school?
Play AAU ball if you’re able. Play every game as if it’s your last. Have heart in every game you can - no matter the score. Be plugged in to the game – even when you’re resting on the bench. And most importantly, get your name in front of coaches thru persistence, perseverance, and BERECRUITED.COM!
It’s that time finally, time for the NBA playoffs. This is a time where there are so many good games to see and so many magical moments made. This is when you see two teams play each other in 7 game series and where comebacks are so much more exciting. So I wanted to take some time to go through some of my favorite NBA playoff moments. Let’s take a look at perhaps the top 5 NBA playoff moments.
5. Robert Horry (Big Shot Rob) hits the game winning 3 to beat the Kings in the 2002 Playoffs. This was one of those incredibly exciting and anticipating moments where you see Kobe miss a tough shot, Shaq miss a tough shot, and then the ball just rolls out to the man who made his name on shots like this.
4. Willis Reed inspires the Knicks to the win in game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Nobody expected Reed to play with a torn muscle in his thigh, but when he came out of the tunnel and played, hitting his first two shots, even if not an enormous amount willed his team and gave them enough to overcome the Lakers.
3. Larry Bird steals the ball and gets the assist for the game winner in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals to steal the game from Detroit. With 5 seconds left this is one of those moments you think the game is over and something miraculous happens.
2. In game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals Reggie Miller scored an incredible 8 points in 8.9 seconds to stun the Knicks and create one of the most memorable performances in history. You try scoring 8 points in 9 seconds on any level, this was an incredible thing to see and will very likely never be done again.
1. Because I have to, here is Michael Jordan winning the 1998 NBA Finals and doing what he does. Whenever you need to see video of some of the greatest basketball plays you need only search this man’s name. Big play after big play and it came down to his final shot. Did he push off? Maybe, but that shot was so smooth it doesn’t matter and will always be one of the most memorable NBA moments.
So get geared up for more memories to be made and a new champion crowned in this year’s NBA playoffs and be sure to let us know what YOU think some of the greatest moments in NBA playoff history were.
Click here to view Sam Hutchinson's beRecruited Profile
Earlier this spring, Sam Hutchinson, announced his commitment to play soccer in college. After he announced his commitment he shared some thoughts on his recruiting search to the beRecruited Team. Within the various beRecruited features available to help athletes and college coaches connect, Hutchinson felt, " The Deluxe version was especially helpful in knowing which coaches looked at my profile so that I could better reach out to the schools that had expressed interest in me." Included in this post is some additional feedback from Hutchinson.
While in high school, what other teams and/or sports were you playing? Did you know all along you wanted to play your sport in college?
Yes, I knew I wanted to try and play college soccer. I did do track for one season but it took too much time away from playing club soccer so I did not do it after my freshman year.
Why did you ultimately choose your college? How many other schools were you looking at? When did you start getting interest from college coaches? Were they knocking down your door, or were you reaching out to them? If so, how?
I ended up choosing the school I attended primarily due to location and cost. I had about a dozen or so schools that were recruiting me to varying degrees. I started reaching out heavily to college coaches between my freshman and sophomore years and made unofficial visits to schools all over the country all through my senior year. I always made a point to contact coaches prior to the event that were attending my tournaments and send them my game schedule. Also follow up after the event for feedback from the coach. I would also made heavy use of the blog section and post lots of pictures and links to youtube videos of me playing on my berecruited site.
Who was pivotal in helping you through the recruiting process and why? (Parents, a coach, a hs counselor?)
My dad was very instrumental in getting me started early in the college search and recruiting process.
What role did you club coaches/hs coaches have in helping you get recruited? How active were your parents in the process?
Club and high school coaches could were able to answer questions about my technical abilities if they happened to be asked by college coaches but it was all up to me and my dad in marketing myself to college coaches. My experience tells me there are way more athletes than there are college roster spots. Coaches like players being proactive and seeking them out given their limited recruiting budgets.
What was the most challenging part of the recruiting process, if any?
Remaining persistent and following through with correspondences with college coaches.
What tips or advice do you have for student-athletes who want to continue their sport past high school?
Start the recruiting process earlier the better. I found that attending the athletic camps of the top schools you are seriously considering attending to be a very good way to separate yourself from the potentially hundreds of potential recruits.
Your school season is over and summer is fast approaching, the offseason for all high school athletics. As you get ready for the sun and free time associated with having time off from school it’s also a good time to think about next year and what you can do to help prepare yourself for the increase in ability and responsibility on your team next year. As you hear many people say, the season is where teams are made but the offseason is where individuals improve. Here are a few of the ways that you can look at the offseason and get ready to take yourself to the next level.
1. Rest your body
Your body is the only one you have and you need to take care of it. While I am not saying that you should do nothing active at all, regular active activity is important, however you should take a short break from a rigorous athletic schedule to rest your body. Let your body and mind rejuvenate and get refreshed.
2. Pay attention to your nutrition
Especially when you are resting your body, it’s important to understand that your body weight is a function of calories taken in and calories expended. When you stop intense training and competing, your calories expended will drop significantly and you cannot continue to slow down on your intake to account for this. Know your body and your activity level to gauge what intake your body needs.
3. Work on your weaknesses
Sit down and make a list on your abilities, strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to know your game as well as your abilities. Now that you have this list made you can prioritize where you concentrate your efforts when you train. The offseason is incredibly important in helping make your weaknesses your strengths. And when you come in next season with less or no weaknesses you will be that much better and prepared for next season.
4. Play your sport
After your rest, you need to play your sport in some form. Leagues, club team, and team camps are all good ways to keep playing and competing in your sport. Continuing to play your sport is important so that you can stay in shape and keep the rust off of your team play while you are still training individual on skills. It’s also a good chance for you to practice these skills in a game environment.
5. Work on your Strength
The offseason is the perfect time to improve your strength as well. This is where you need to concentrate on not only a proper weight training regimen, but also a proper nutrition intake. To properly gain muscle you must intake more calories than you expend (generally around 500 more), a little extra protein is also important. Another incredibly important aspect of your strength training is knowing what exercises are right for your body and sport as well as practicing the proper technique when lifting. If you are using the improper technique when lifting you can end up injuring yourself unnecessarily, so knowing the proper techniques is an incredibly important part of your strength training. http://www.stack.com/ is a good place to start that will help you in learning proper training techniques for your sport. We also post a video every Wednesday highlighting videos from Stack for different sports.
Paying attention to these suggestions can help you in your goal to improve this offseason and come back more ready than ever to show off what you have done to better yourself as well as your game. So get out there and have fun this offseason becoming a better player, and don’t forget to let us know how you have improved.
Hiett found beRecruited to be extremely helpful in her recruiting search, which yielded her an academic and athletic scholarship. Here are some additional thoughts from Hiett on her recruiting search.
While in high school, what other teams and/or sports were you playing? Did you know all along you wanted to play your sport in college?
I only played volleyball during high school. I knew all along that I wanted to keep playing after high school because I had so much passion for the game I couldn’t give it up.
Why did you ultimately choose your college? How many other schools were you looking at? When did you start getting interest from college coaches? Were they knocking down your door, or were you reaching out to them? If so, how?
I choose the college I attend now because they offered me the most money. I was looking at 2 other colleges but they didn’t offer me as much money. I started getting interest from coaches my junior year in high school. I started doing showcases and I was on a recognized club team. It was a little bit of both, I was vigorously pursuing college coaches and coaches were pursuing me. I would send out emails to different coaches everyday and the coaches could view my profile on beRecruited. Also coaches would see my profile and would email me.
How did beRecruited help you make the connection with your committed college?
beRecruited helped me pick the college I’m at because I got to pick the division of play I wanted to pursue and beRecruited would give me a list of schools that had a good program for the major I wanted.
Who was pivotal in helping you through the recruiting process and why? (Parents, a coach, a hs counselor?)
My parents were the driving force behind me playing college volleyball.
What role did you club coaches/hs coaches have in helping you get recruited? How active were your parents in the process?
My coaches were not much help in the recruiting process except for when a college coach needed a reference. My parents were very active in the recruiting process by helping me construct emails to send out the coaches and coming with me on visits.
What was the most challenging part of the recruiting process, if any?
The most challenging part of recruiting was, knowing if coaches were going to offer you a spot and if they were going to offer you money with it.
To date, what do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment in your sport career?
I would have to say September 2010 my junior year because that when I signed my commitment papers and I could finally relax from the stresses of the recruiting process.
What tips or advice do you have for student-athletes who want to continue their sport past high school?
The best advice I would give is to not to over look any schools and to take a look at all the schools that are interested in you. Also I would tell them to not wait for colleges to just talk to you, you have to do most of the recruiting work if you want to play.
As an athlete, you are constantly putting strain on your body. You no longer find yourself in a time of “no pain no gain” and it is important to take some precautions with your body as you constantly play competitive sports. It is, however, your only body and you should be taking care of it as much as you can. Here are just a few examples of how you can help maintain your body and keep it in better shape as you continue to train and compete.
1. Stay hydrated and eat healthy
It is not new news that hydration and proper nutrition can help keep your body strong and in turn help prevent injury. Especially when you know you are going to be working hard, it is important to know what you should be eating to keep your body at its strongest as well as drink more water to keep your body hydrated. To learn more check out some of our other blogs
Before competition or training, make sure that you properly warm your body up. This can help it get ready to perform at a high level and keep your muscles ready to support this action. Dynamic stretching can especially help prepare your muscles for activity.
Apart from dynamic warm ups, stretching regularly can help keep the body from getting stiff and keep it limber. Stretching regularly can help keep your flexibility up and help prevent many injuries. A good habit that you can get into is stretching at night before bed. This does not mean 10 second holds, but long and deep holds to really help keep the muscles loose.
4. Weak Muscles
Many times, unrealized by most, your muscles simply cannot handle a rigorous regimen and the demands of your sport. This can be why many will start off fine but then begin to develop small injuries. An ankle here, a hamstring there, lower back pains, your body might not be strong enough to cope with the increased training and competition demands of your sport and the body begins to break. You must couple training with strength and resistance training if you plan on keeping up a rigorous schedule. So remember to always work in strength training and make sure that you find a strength training routine that works best for you as well as your sport. Make sure to talk to a trainer or professional and research proper techniques for everything you do.
5. Technique!
When you are doing anything in an athletic capacity, having the proper technique can save you from numerous injuries. One example is If you play baseball and never learn to throw properly you can do significant damage to your shoulder. The same especially goes in strength training and lifting, if you do not use proper technique you can severely injure yourself. So make sure to practice proper techniques and listen to coaches and trainers.
6. Listen to your body!
Listen to your body, rest is just as important as the training itself. If your body is sore, don’t train as hard that day. If something hurts, REST IT! There is no reason to risk a worse injury. Know what your body is trying to tell you and listen. When you rest, it gives your body a chance to recover and muscles a chance to rebuild. Don’t try to overdo it and take care of yourself.
So remember to listen to your body and properly prepare your body to perform at the best of its ability. This will help you out now, as well as in the long run. Best of luck out there!
While in high school, what other teams and/or sports were you playing? Did you know all along you wanted to play your sport in college?
I started high school playing soccer and volleyball, but quit playing soccer my sophomore year to focus more on volleyball and begin playing club volleyball. I didn’t know I wanted to play college volleyball until my junior year which was when I really started to understand the competitive nature of the sport and completely fell in love with it. If you would’ve told me even a year and a half ago that I would be playing volleyball in college, I never would’ve believed you.
Why did you ultimately choose your college? How many other schools were you looking at? When did you start getting interest from college coaches? Were they knocking down your door, or were you reaching out to them? If so, how?
I was looking at one other school seriously, that is I went on one other campus visit, but was communicating with many others coaches. I ultimately chose Bentley because it had everything I was looking for in a school: a beautiful campus, smaller amount of students, close to a big city, great athletic facilities, and when I was on campus I just had that feeling like this was where I should be. I started getting interest from college coaches in the spring of my junior but had started reaching out to coaches in the fall of my junior year. Coaches weren’t knocking down my doors, I definitely had to reach out to them. However, my senior year, I had a lot more interest and was receiving a lot more phone calls and emails from coaches that I had not originally reached out to. I reached out to coaches by sending an initial email to see if they were interested. If they didn’t respond, I pretty well figured that they were not interested and if it was a school I was really interested in, I would follow up with a phone call just to make sure.
How did beRecruited help you make the connection with your committed college?
I bought the [deluxe] package where I could see which coaches were looking at my profile and saw that Bentley had looked at my profile. I did some research on the school and thought it was a place that I could see myself so sent the coach an email. She replied saying she was interested and we kept talking from there.
Who was pivotal in helping you through the recruiting process and why? (Parents, a coach, a hs counselor?)
Honestly, I was the one that did most of the work to get recruited. My mom helped me by keeping me organized and telling me about new schools she thought I should look into, but she made sure that I was the one sending out all of the emails and being the one that kept in contact with the coaches. Out of everything, my online recruiting profiles helped me the most just by getting my name out there for coaches to see.
What role did you club coaches/hs coaches have in helping you get recruited? How active were your parents in the process?
My club coach helped me the fall of my senior year by getting me in contact with a recruiting counselor who knows a lot of coaches and sent my information out to a lot of new schools. He also helped me do a lot of research on what schools had my major and had volleyball programs that suited my level. My mom helped with researching and staying on track also.
What was the most challenging part of the recruiting process, if any?
The most challenging part was staying on top of all the emails and just trying to stay in communication with all of the coaches. Also, at the start of the process it was incredibly difficult researching all of the schools that I was interested in and sending out all of my initial emails. That probably took the longest.
To date, what do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment in your sport career?
My biggest accomplishment is just the growth that I have had in volleyball over the last year and a half. I began playing on a competitive club volleyball team by junior year and was incredibly awkward at the beginning of the season. I didn’t pick up a volleyball until my freshman year for my high school team and my coach wouldn’t let me play in the front row, even though I was 5’10”, until my junior year because I couldn’t hit a ball to save my life.
What tips or advice do you have for student-athletes who want to continue their sport past high school?
I would recommend starting to research what schools you are interested in your sophomore year, if possible. You don’t need to act on anything, but I just felt really behind my junior year when I had no idea what I was looking for in a college and needed to start sending out some emails to coaches. As much as possible you want to get a lot of work done your sophomore and junior year because your senior year is incredibly busy and it becomes really stressful trying to manage it all.
As your junior year of school year kicks off, you should continue your work towards raising your potential as a future collegiate student athlete.
You should continue developing your athletic abilities, concentrating on academics and building your overall character, but there are specific steps and goals to take for these pivotal final two years of high school.Now is the time when you want to show improvement and work ethic to the schools and coaches that are considering you for their teams and classes.It is important your junior year to work hard at promoting yourself and making sure that the colleges you might be interested know your name and your interest.
Junior Year If you’re interested in playing sports in college, it’s extremely important to begin the process no later than the beginning of your junior year. There are a number of elements in the process, from achieving academic and athletic success to beginning to understand the elements of choosing the college setting that is right for you. Below are some items to keep on your radar during your junior year.
To-Do List for Juniors:
Train hard and continue to perform successfully as an athlete. Remember to ask for help if you need it.Also make sure to concentrate on your weaknesses in workouts and practice.
Do well in school, and start noticing which academic areas interest you. Though you aspire to be a collegiate athlete, you’re a student first. Colleges look at your academics as closely as they look at your athletic stats.
Top Three Areas of Interest that May Become My College Major
Make sure you are taking tough courses – colleges prefer students who challenge themselves.
You should take the SAT’s and/or ACT’s in the spring, especially if you’re applying early. Remember, many colleges have SAT II requirements as well so research the entrance requirements for the schools you’re interested in.
Evaluate the colleges you’re considering from both the athletic and academic perspectives.Research team and conference results to see where you’d fit in. Don’t be afraid of contacting coaches to get information about their programs. Emailing a coach is a great way of both learning about and showing interest in a particular program. On the academic side, consider what area of study you want to pursue, the size of the institution and the type of education you’d like to receive. Now you can use an online recruiting tool like beRecruited.com to store stats, upload video, showcase academic performance and find schools that match your academic interests.It's so much easier and quicker than it was even just a few years ago.
Many schools offer camps specifically for high school students to participate in and show off their athletic ability. If you know which schools you’re interested in attending, research their athletic programs to find out if they offer camps, showcases and/or tournaments. Take advantage of these opportunities.
Getting a(n) job/internship is an excellent way to build your resume. It’s also a great way to make money that can be put towards your college education.
If meeting the NCAA eligibility standards seems daunting, try taking summer classes to raise your grades and/or ease next year’s schedule.
Make unofficial visits to schools in which you are interested. Try to plan these trips after July 1 or June 15, depending on the school’s division, so that you can meet with the coaching staff. Keep a journal with notes about what you like or dislike about each college. Also, ask for a workout to do while visiting.
Start thinking about where you would like to go to school. Make a list of 5-15 colleges that interest you. Consult with your parents, friends and counselors to get their input on schools.
Your final year of high school is an exciting time, but it also can be nerve-racking as you are making one of the biggest decisions of your life, which college to attend. Make sure to stay organized and knowledgeable about key deadlines, dates and opportunities. To-Do List for Seniors:
Develop a calendar or timeline for you and your family, highlighting key recruiting dates and deadlines, college application deadlines and testing dates. Remember to stay on top of deadlines as they can approach very quickly.
If you have not taken your SAT’s and/or ACT’s, make sure to do so. Remember, many colleges have SAT II requirements. If you are not content with your SAT II scores from junior year, retaking them cannot hurt.
Continue work on your time management.Make sure that you not only have time for your studies and workouts, but for rest as well.Making sure that you are getting enough rest will is extremely important to your physical and mental health.
In the classroom, do not enter senior slump! You have to maintain a challenging schedule as well as good grades. Colleges look very closely, particularly at first semester grades from senior year.
Keep in contact with your college guidance counselor. Make sure he/she knows your feelings about each school on your preliminary list. Ask him/her your honest chances of getting into each college so you can make realistic decisions.
Narrow your list of schools down to about 3-5 (not including safeties) with your parents and counselor. If there is one school that is your clear favorite, consider applying for early decision. Here’s a guide to help you keep track of your top colleges:
My Top List of Colleges
College 1:____________________________________________________________
Make sure you have applications for each school in which you are interested. Begin working on the applications as early as possible. Applying to college is a time-consuming task that should not be left for one weekend.
College
Application Deadline
Status
Inquire at the schools you’re most interested in to see if they offer official visits (or recruiting trips). An official visit is an expenses-paid visit for recruits and programs to learn more about each other. If they don’t, speak with your parents about making family visits to your top schools.
Don’t forget to fill out a free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form for additional federal aid. Also, make sure to apply for additional scholarships that may be offered to graduates within your community, utilizing services like Zinch or Cappex to find scholarships or speak with the your committed college’s regarding other merit aid that may be available.
Enjoy your last year in high school!
At the end
Your time in high school is a huge building block in your dreams to being recruited to play at the next level.It takes hard work and dedication to achieve any goal in life and collegiate athletics is no different.I wish you the best of luck in your work in the recruiting process and beyond.
As the school year kicks off, you should have your head in the college recruiting game and be committed to raising your potential as a future collegiate athlete.
Developing your athletic abilities, concentrating on academics and building your overall character should be a focus throughout your high school career, but there are specific steps to take and goals to meet each year of high school.
Below is part 1 of our college recruiting checklist broken down by high school year. Read it, make a mental note, share it with a friend and be on your way to being recruited to play sports in college.
Freshmen Year
The transition from middle school to high school is a big adjustment. During your freshman year, focus on getting acclimated to the new and exciting surroundings. It is important to get off to a good start, both academically and athletically and your freshman year is a very important time. This is the time where you will need to learn how to best manage your time to be successful. It is during this time where as a student and an athlete you need to get comfortable with your new surroundings and start building positive relationships (especially with your new coaches and teachers).
To-Do List for Freshmen
•Feel out the new school. Don’t be afraid to ask your new teachers for help if you need it when adjusting to your new course material and workload.
•Try to find school clubs/organizations or local volunteer opportunities that interest you.
•Get to know your new teammates, coaches and peers. Now would also be a great time to talk to your new coach about what your goals for the upcoming season might be.
•If your high school doesn’t have your sport, consider joining a club or city league.
•Meet your guidance counselor.
•Express your interest to play athletics in college with your coaches and counselors.
Sophomore Year
As a sophomore, you should be acclimated to the high school environment and the responsibilities that come along with being a student athlete. It’s never too early to think about college, and what you’ll need to accomplish financially, athletically and academically in the next couple years.
To-Do List for Sophomores
•Train hard and continue to perform successfully as an athlete.
•Focus on academics and maintaining a high GPA.
•Compare your current GPA to the NCAA, NAIA requirements.
•Take the PSAT and evaluate your score, comparing it to NCAA, NAIA and university requirements. Also, between now and when you start taking the ACT and/or SAT you can find free practice tests on the Internet or sign-up to take classes that will assist with preparing for these tests. One suggestion would be Kaplan.
•Research and evaluate different recruiting options (scouts, online services – like beRecruited.com, your high school/club coach, your counselor, etc.).
•Share your findings with your parents or guardian and develop a college recruiting action plan.
Some more things to remember
As your high school career progresses and you grow as a student, athlete, and person, always remember to develop and keep a positive attitude in all that you do. This is something that all coaches and teachers revere at all levels. Remember to keep a good relationship with your teachers and coaches as they are there at all times to help you succeed and never be afraid to ask them for help. Keep working in the offseason, this is the best time to improve yourself and your game. Ask your coach what you might work on and what you can do to better yourself and continue to improve, as well as where you want to be next season and what goals you might want to accomplish.
