Myth #1: College coaches usually make first contact.
Unless an athlete has already gained widespread state or national recognition, college coaches rarely make the first move.
This is, in part, an issue of time and logistics: Except for big-time football and basketball programs, most college coaches lack the manpower and resources to scour the nation in search of every potential recruit who could contribute to their teams.
In other words, recruiting is up to you. Despite what most people assume, it’s the job of the enterprising student-athlete to proactively recruit the college coach, not the other way around.
You can start by signing up for highprofile sports camps, club teams and individual competitions that help you show up on the radar of college coaches. It’s also never too early to start writing letters or emails to introduce yourself.
The students who figure this out and act on it earlier in the process—sophomore year in high school or earlier is ideal—have a huge advantage over everyone else.
Myth #2: Most sports scholarships are “full ride” awards.
Contrary to popular belief, most athletic grants are, in fact, partial scholarships that cover only a portion of a student-athlete’s tuition, fees, room, board and books.
To understand why this is so, put yourself in the position of a college coach: If you had a monetary allotment of, say, five full-ride scholarships at your disposal, would you rather just award the five scholarships or would it be better to divide these funds into 10 to 20 scholarships of varying size? Many college coaches believe that they can field a better overall team with greater numbers of recruits receiving smaller award amounts.
The major exceptions to this rule are in sports in which only full scholarships can be awarded (football) and sports in which teams rarely carry more players than the number of scholarships available (basketball).
The bottom line is that it’s unlikely you’ll cover 100 percent of your college costs with your athletic skills. But this doesn’t mean you can’t leverage your success on the playing field or court to make a significant dent in your overall financial burden.
Myth #3: Receiving a letter means you are being recruited.
College coaches often send out hundreds or even thousands of introductory letters to potential college athletes. Although it’s nice to be included on such mailing lists, don’t make the mistake of assuming that these coaches have any first-hand familiarity with your athletic ability. If you don’t take action to follow up, you probably won’t hear again from many of these schools.
The vast majority of student-athletes who land sports scholarships are those who initiate and sustain contact with multiple colleges, market themselves well through written materials and highlight videos and regularly update prospective coaches on their progress throughout the year.