Do you have the grades, ability, motivation and exposure needed to get an athletic scholarship for college?
College athletic scholarships are hard to come by.
Many high school athletes have aspirations to play sports on a national level, and some of them automatically assume they will get an athletic scholarship, for college. “It’s very common for everyone to watch Sports Center and want that to be them. The only problem is they [student athletes] fail to realize the lack of athletic scholarships available. Only about .5% of high school athletes get a full ride scholarship,” says Thomas Jefferson’s Varsity football Coach Matt Nicolo. A Lack of knowledge during senior year when applying for college can be a dangerous thing, especially for athletes.
There are many factors that can affect a high school athlete’s chances at an athletic scholarship. The first milestone high school athletes must check off their list is their grades. It doesn’t matter how talented the student athlete is, grades still matter. The purpose of an athletic scholarship is to get a reduced or free tuition for attending school while playing a sport. “If I were to give one piece of advice, it would be, have good grades’” says TJ athletic Director Lani Nobles.
Good grades should be every student’s main goal. “There are thousands of good basketball players, so why would they [college scouts] put up with one who has a GPA of 1.8 when they can just go get another one with a 3.5 GPA?” says Thomas Jefferson’s Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Grant Laman, who advises that colleges need to see that not only can the student perform on the field, but that also the athlete can show up in the classroom, as well.
Although a high school athlete can be the best player on his/her high school sports team, and get a lot of attention from his/her coaches and community, college recruiters can easily over look the athlete. Over the last 10 years, scouts have reduced their trips to high schools, and now they mainly attend club sports events. It is extremely important that the athlete is proactive and gets out there to contact the colleges for whom they would like to play.
What exactly is an athletic scholarship? An athletic scholarship is money given to a student athlete by the college team’s coaching staff which can be put towards education related expenses including tuition, room and board, books, etc. Not every level or sport is able to offer athletic scholarships due to budget limitations and divisional rules and regulations.
Approximately 3% of high school senior basketball players will play NCAA sponsored basketball. Excluding the glamour sports of football and basketball, the average N.C.A.A. athletic scholarship is nowhere near a full ride, amounting to $8,707 per year. In other sports such as baseball or track and field, the scholarship is only about $2,000 per year. Even with the football and basketball scholarships, the average is $10,409 that a student will receive for school. Costs for college including tuition and room and board for N.C.A.A. institutions can be between $20,000 and $50,000 per year. That means that student athletes should not, under any circumstances, rely heavily upon the chances of getting an athletic scholarship.
However, if a student athlete wants to try and get an athletic scholarship, there is a list of things to complete. To start off, the student athlete must be realistic about his or her athletic abilities. If the student athlete isn’t starting varsity on his/her high school team, then he or she should reconsider. Before the student athlete passes this step, he/she should make sure his/her grades and behavior are good. Next, the student must create a resume’, and prepare sample videos of his/her abilities with coaches and parents.
The student athlete should make sure everyone, including the school, coaches and parents, are all informed about the process, before approaching the last step. Now the student athlete must visit the N.C.A.A. Clearing House website to check his/her eligibility for athletic scholarships. Once the student athlete has the support of his/her advisors and has checked his/her eligibly, the student athlete must now contact the colleges for whom he/she would like to play. The student athlete needs to send a resume’, transcript and sample videos along with the college application. “I would like to get an athletic scholarship to college, but I know I have to make sure my grades and test scores are legit, then I have to stay focused after the season,” says senior Football Player Kevin Kumar.
The student athlete should keep a positive mind, and stay persistent and proactive. “For an athlete, being proactive is the key to getting an athletic scholarship,” says Nobles.
