Excerpt
From “How To Win a Sports Scholarship”:
Chapter 6: The Process Begins

Planning
Checklist
We have provided a Planning Checklist
to help you visualize and keep track of what is necessary
for winning a sports scholarship. Some of the items listed
are ongoing, and some you have already completed at this
point. The Planning Checklist and Planning Timeline (see
Figure 2) will help you reach your goals, which are three-fold:

  • To
    gain acceptance to a college that can provide you the
    best education possible
  • To
    participate in your sport at the collegiate level
  • To
    win a sports scholarship

As
we said earlier, the recruiting process is ongoing. You
will work on many of the items listed more than once, and
you will often be focusing on several at a time. For instance,
you will continue to save your awards, create and compile
new statistics, continually strive to play at the highest
levels possible, and have yourself videotaped in competition
on a continuing basis. You will find that as you become
interested in colleges, you will be requesting information
at various times throughout the process and speaking with
coaches at certain colleges before others. Therefore, at
any given time you will be at different stages of the recruiting
process with each school.

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© 1999 First Base Sports, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Planning Checklist
Junior Year or Earlier

Academic

  • Obtain the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete.
  • Take the SAT and/or ACT. Be sure and forward your scores to the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse.
  • Calculate your current GPA and determine your class rank, if possible.
  • Retake the Academic Self-Assessment Quiz in Chapter 5 to ensure that you are meeting your academic goals and to set new ones.
  • Look through college academic guides and pick a maximum of 30 schools that interest you and adhere to your general academic criteria.
  • Request general information about these schools and their admissions offices.
  • If you have not done so already, create a filing system for organization.
  • Save articles about your academic achievements.

Athletic

  • Register with the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse (Junior Year).
  • Retake the Athletic Self-Assessment Quiz in Chapter 4 to ensure that you are still on the right path.
  • Look in college athletic program guides (see the Resources list in Appendix A) and identify college programs that offer scholarships in your sport. Cross-check these with the schools you selected according to general academic criteria. Make a list of the schools that satisfy both your academic and athletic requirements.
  • Narrow down the number of schools on your list to only those schools whose athletic level is near your own, e.g., Division I, II, III.
  • Send initial contact letters to the coaches at schools from which you want more information.
  • Fill out and promptly return all player profile sheets you receive from college coaches.
  • Continue to save articles about your athletic achievements.
  • Ask individuals knowledgeable about your athletic talent to write letters of recommendation.
  • Assemble your Sports Resume KitTM.
  • Send your Sports Resume KitTM to coaches at schools which interest you.
  • Follow-up on your Sports Resume KitTM with a phone call to the coach (about 2 weeks later) to answer any questions.
  • Send videotapes of yourself to coaches, if applicable.
  • Attend summer sports camps, if possible.
  • Continue to compete at the highest levels possible for maximum exposure, such as on all-star teams and in high-profile athletic contests.