Over the years, I have personally witnessed the change in the high school recruiting process. It’s hard to believe that it’s been thirty years since I myself was a highly recruited athlete out of one of the top programs in Southern California, Servite High School.

Back then, college coaches and scouts would come looking for talent themselves focusing on more local and regional talent. Unfortunately, the good ole days of waiting for coach to show up and discover you on talent alone are gone.

Today, the  majority of the recruiting process is done online.  Now more then ever it is critical to have a game plan that takes advantage of the technology available. The competition is greater then ever in today’s high school athletics, competing for the coveted college athletic scholarship. Today college coaches are inundated with emails, videos, calls and, in order to stand out in a crowd there are a few things that are essential to the success of achieving your dream, of playing your sport at the next level.

The number of participants in high school sports increased for the 25th consecutive year in 2013-14 with a record total of almost 7.8 million, according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations

More than 460,000 compete as NCAA athletes, and just a select few within each sport move on to compete at the professional or Olympic level.

Here are Ten Tips to help you get in front of college coaches.

1. Do not sit and wait for the phone to ring or a coach to show up at practice or a game. Be proactive and reach out to schools that you are interested in. Put in the time now so that you are not left with out a scholarship in hand at the end of your senior year.
2. Register  with NCAA Eligibility Center–  In order to play college football you must register for the NCAA Eligibility Center which ensures student athletes have take the CORE classes required and have the academics in order to play. www.eligibilitycenter.org
3.  Video is King- Many student athletes make the mistake of sending youtube links to college coaches or even hudl links without spot shadow, highlights or sequencing that makes you stand out. If a coach can’t see who you are you may be getting your best friend a scholarship. It’s critical that your highlight video has the best plays up front. If a college coach doesn’t like what he sees in the first few plays they are moving on to the next athlete.
4.  Target the right Schools- Today kids spend a lot of time going after schools that they may not have the grades, size or athletic ability to compete. In order to save time and money, target the right schools that are both a fit for you and the school.
5. Verified Third Party- Coaches today want to make sure athletes are verified and that the stats, grades and character are verified and evaluated first. Companies like Max Preps, Rivals and NCSA are third party verifiers of information. Remember that before a college coach invests time and money into an athlete, the college coach has to be sure the student athlete is committed and ready to step on the field and be eligible. NCSA evaluates student athletes and gets them exposure to the largest search network in the world for college coaches. 
6. Don’t rely on high school coaches to do the work for you. Far to many kids think that there high school coach is going to help them get a scholarship. Although some coaches have relationships with college coaches and would like to help, the fact is that most coaches are judged by wins and losses and are focused on the team and season. Most coaches have a full roster of athletes, teaching classes, and a family life so time is limited. It is the student athletes role to do the work and get the scholarship.
7. Start early! You don’t study for an exam the night before the test. Many kids wait tell there Junior year to start thinking about college sports. By that time it may be to late. College Coaches are identifying talent as early as your freshman year and working on filling out their scholarships by identifying kids early in the process.
8. Urgency- Without a sense of urgency it’s common for kids and families to wait, thinking they have time and before they know it the student athlete has no scholarship and is playing catch up in the recruiting process. 
9. Competition- The fact is your competition is doing everything they can to make an impression on college coaches. With so many student athletes competing for the same athletic scholarship, it is imperative to start early and have a game plan so that you are targeting the right schools.
10. Make a commitment to yourself to be the best athlete on and off the field and do to everything you can in the classroom to be the best student athlete around. Unless you are fully committed to doing everything you can both academically and athletically to be the best athlete chances are you will fall short of your dream of playing college ball.

***Interested in taking your game beyond the high school level? Let me help you get a college scholarship! Contact me at chris@coachchris99.com, Head Scout for NCSA. National Collegiate Scouting Association® ~Chris Burget

(NCSA) was founded in 2000 to help student athletes and their families navigate the cutthroat, competitive, and often confusing world of college recruiting. Our team of former college athletes, coaches and scouts, our network of 99% of American college coaches, and our custom technology and tools give you the edge you need in the most important game of your life.