When it comes to college athletic scholarships, there are a lot of rumors, half-truths and generally bad advice given to high school athletes every year.  As an athlete beginning your athletic recruiting process you need to be educated on what really matters, what works, and separate fact from fiction so you are able reach the top and earn a sports scholarship.

1. You got a letter from a coach, so they must be recruiting you. This is not necessarily true in the beginning of the recruiting process. Colleges send out thousands of letters from mailing lists compiled from high school athletic rosters. What you do after you get the letter matters most.
2. The high school coach will take care of my recruiting.  High school coaches often do not have the time, the resources or the contacts to make your recruiting successful. Only you can control where you play and how much athletic scholarship aid you receive. You need to take control and do it yourself. 
3. I made All-State so coaches will be calling me.  Coaches also have limited resources and if you don’t let them know that you want to play in college and get a scholarship, they can’t recruit you. The athlete who contacts coaches first and takes control of their recruiting is the one who will get the phone calls.
4. Athletes who don’t believe they are good enough.  How do you know if you are good enough if you don’t get out there and try?  Getting an athletic scholarship comes down to determination and desire.
5. Believing bad grades won’t matter if your talent is good enough.  This used to be true but now if you don’t have a 3.0 GPA or higher, over 50% of NCAA DI programs won’t be able to get you past the admissions office. Grades are becoming the single most important factor in recruiting. Admissions and administration offices are putting more pressure on athletic departments to recruit athletes that succeed once they get into school.

Having a successful recruiting search starts with being educated about what is true and what is isn’t. Spend time researching and developing a game plan that will help you get recruited and enable you to beat out the competition.