ATHLETIC RECRUITING AND COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP GUIDE

Introduction

Student athletes and their parents need a practical and developed strategy to secure college sports scholarships. "Athletic Recruiting and College Scholarship Guide" is a "self help" book that provides the prospective student athlete with advice and step by step guidelines for receiving a scholarship for their athletic talents while attending a college of his or her choice.

The book is designed primarily for talented athletes who aren't receiving (or perhaps aren't expecting to receive) the attention of large college athletic recruiters. It is intended to provide assistance to students interested in furthering their education, participating in athletics and at the same time receiving financial assistance or college scholarships.

Is there a scholarship for my kid?

It's very likely that there is a scholarship or other kind of financial aid available for the accomplished student athlete. Each year, thousands of dollars in scholarships, grants and financial aid are available to prospective student-athletes and their families.

"Athletic Recruiting and College Scholarship Guide" clearly describes the step-by-step process that can help the talented student athlete secure financial assistance from Division I schools through Junior Colleges. Author, Dr. Robert Scott, discovered through the experiences of his own two sons, that the student athlete can do much to enhance his or her own chances of receiving college scholarships by using a diligent, self-promotional approach.

This book is not for the highly acclaimed, "blue chip" student athlete who is already receiving letters, phone calls and visits from recruiting colleges. This book is for those talented athletes who believe they are blue chippers but who may be going unnoticed by college recruiters. It's for the good athlete who wants to continue playing sports while attending college and receive a scholarship or financial aid to help pay for his or her continuing education.

Athletes who don't reach that "national superstar" status many times get lost in the recruiting process unless they "market" themselves. Smaller, less competitive colleges frequently don't have the budget for high volume recruiting efforts. Unless they know that a talented student athlete exists who is interested in attending their school or university, they can't recruit them - expending their efforts on students in their local geographic areas. That's where Dr. Scott's book, "Athletic Recruiting and College Scholarship Guide" can help.

Table Of Contents

How Can This Book Help My Student Athlete

From grants and scholarships to loans and endowments, Dr. Scott's best-selling book guides the applicant through each step of the application process, cutting through the confusion of the financial aid system. Receive step-by-step instructions on how to:

• Select A College

  The first criteria should be based on academics. Determine an athlete's career objectives, admission requirements, travel factors, the school's reputation and conference status.

  Included in the book is an extensive college directory of more than 1,200 four-year colleges that compete in intercollegiate athletics at the Division I, II, and III levels as well as more than 580 two-year schools that participate in intercollegiate competition.

  Included in the college directory information is:

  • College Web Site Address (link directly to the college web site)
  • College Name and Address
  • Athletic Department Phone #
  • Association
  • Conference
  • Sports Offered by Each College (men & women)

College Directory Preview (partial information):

• Avoid Common Student Marketing Mistakes.
  
  
  1. Set realistic goals and expectations. Student athletes and their families tend to have an unrealistic opinion of a young athlete's abilities. This book provides guidelines for assessing a student athlete's capabilities. It also includes a chart of average heights and weights of major college football players at each position.
  2. Many parents and students wait until the senior year to begin the scholarship search. Begin the marketing process as early as the sophomore or junior year. The process needs to be nearly complete by the senior year. By the time a student athlete's senior season begins, the colleges have already decided which athletes they will watch and possibly recruit. Few players earn scholarships based on senior year season performances alone.
  3. They stay home and "wait for the phone to ring" - expecting a recruiter to be on the other end. "Athletic Recruiting and College Scholarship Guide" provides marketing tools to help the athlete get noticed by the school he or she's interested in. It gives a list of the proper questions to ask recruiters such as, "What type of medical service and insurance coverage does the school provide?".
     
     
• Create Letters of Introduction and Resume
  
  Learn how to attract the attention of the Head Coach in your letter of introduction. A sample letter is included in the book.
  
  Address letters to coaches by name. This new edition of the book gives the web-site addresses of the colleges so you can link right to the college web-site and get the coaches names. An envelope addressed to "Head Volleyball Coach" may be tossed away.
  
  
• Submit Video Tapes
  
  It's the video age and because of strict rules on recruiting, a videotape is the best way for a college coach to compare players. Learn what should and should not be included in the video tape for optimum effectiveness.
  
  
• Receive Assistance From Your Coach
  
  Most coaches are more than willing to help their students in the college recruitment process. But high schools have been the recipients of much unjustified criticism about their role in the recruiting and scholarship search. Of course we as parents all believe our own child is good enough to receive a scholarship. In reality, some are, many are not.
  
  The High School Coach is first of all a teacher and a coach. As a coach, he or she doesn't have much time for writing letters, making videos, gathering academic and athletic statistics, checking on test scores, etc. The scholarship search is a very time consuming process. When you consider the time involved in the process, as well as the fact that the coach may have five or six students besides yourself who are trying to get noticed, it almost becomes prohibitive from the coaches time standpoint.
  
  But the parent and/or student athlete can do much of the preliminary details and work. Then when a college becomes interested in a student athlete, it will contact the High School Coach and he or she can carry on from there. After all, if a parent won't take the time to do this for their son or daughter, how can they possibly blame the coach for not taking the time?
  
  
• Follow Through
  
  The book shows you how and when to follow up on your contacts - to insure that the college has received your information and has you on their list of possible recruits. It also describes how to keep your name fresh in their minds.
  
  
• Avoid Scholarship Scams
  
  As more than nine million students start college classes, tens of thousands of them will have been victimized by fraudulent companies that pose as legitimate foundations, scholarship sponsors and scholarship search services.
  
  There are now many on-line companies that offer for a fee to put your individual scholarship search on line so that college coaches can search through them to find the student athletes they want to recruit. Well, it doesn't work that way. First of all you have to supply those companies with the information about yourself and all they do is compile it so why not save the money and do it yourself? Secondly, college coaches do not search through the web looking for student athletes to offer scholarships to. Don't be fooled by these companies.
  
  Likewise, companies that charge a fee to put your scholarship search information together and then send to college coaches are not very successful at best.
  
  At a meeting of the American Baseball Coaches Association in 1998, the issue of recruiting services was addressed. The question was raised simply requesting feedback from Division I coaches on whether anyone used or is receptive to the need of the many profile recruiting groups emerging throughout the country. Only one coach in the meeting responded that he "occasionally" makes use of these profiles. As one member of the board pointed out: "Because each individual student athlete is charged for this service, they should know that this means for exposure is not the answer." The consensus to come out of the meeting was that too many parents are spending money on something that has 1) become overwhelming for coaches to handle, 2) somewhat misleading for what such services can accomplish and most of all, 3) little hope for a scholarship outcome. The coaches indicated that a letter or call of interest from the student athlete, and a letter or call from the high school coach, gets the priority follow-up from the college coach that one is looking for.
  
  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cautions, "Do your own homework to avoid scholarship rip-offs." For more information regarding scholarship scams and how to avoid them visit the Federal Trade Commission web site. (Sept. 5, 1996 News Releases)

About The Author

Dr. Robert Scott has been in education and athletics for 45 years as a participant, teacher, coach, school superintendent, college professor and father. His sons, Jud and Riley, were outstanding student athletes. He decided to write a book when his sons were in high school and based it on his family's experience with the recruiting process. Over all, Jud and Riley received 14 different scholarships, grants and financial awards during their college years.

Dr. Scott has tried to gather together everything prospective student athletes and their parents need to proceed with the college recruiting process. He updates the book every year or as rules change.

To contact the author for more information or ask about seminars or special pricing for multiple purchases and fund raising, please call 1-800-368-1098 or e-mail to: bobscott3@juno.com

Seminars by Dr. Scott

Dr. Scott is now offering special seminars that deal with all aspects of athletic recruiting and scholoarships. They are very popular with student-athletes, parents, coaches and counselors throughout the country.

To learn more about Dr. Scott's seminars and scheduling procedures, click here.

To Order "Athletic Recruiting and College Scholarship Guide"

Considering the amount of financial assistance that the information contained in this book can help to obtain, not to mention the avoidance of the high fees charged by recruiting services, this is a real bargain.

Testimonials

If you have read this far, you surely don't need any more convincing that this book is a great tool for the prospective college athlete. But if you are interested in what others who have used "Athletic Recruiting and College Scholarship Guide" have said about it, please read on.

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Telephone message received January 25, 2002:

"Hi, my name is Kathleen Sorensen and I'm going through all of my paperwork since we moved and I found your invoice and didn't know if you would still be at this telephone number. The reason I'm calling is because I believe back in 1994 I purchased your book for my son who was then in high school and to make a long story short, through your book we did everything you said to do. We got a Division I scholarship to Virginia Tech and by the grace of God he is now playing his rookie year for the ST. LOUIS RAMS. So I just thought I'd let you know how important you were for Nicholas' future. If it wasn't for you, Nicholas would not be where he is today. Thank you very, very much. I'm glad you're still in business. Bye Bye and God bless."

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"Our family has found that the principles and basic methods presented in Dr. Scott's book are: 1) practical, 2) easy to follow 3) result oriented. Prior to acquiring and using his book, our daughter was very scattered about her goals and what she was looking for in a college, as well as how to get those schools she liked interested in her.

Over the last six months following the series of steps he outlines, she has received information from sixty schools. She has also been invited to visit several campuses and receives a couple of telephone calls from coaches each week.

This time in your student-athlete's life can be a very positive and enriching experience. We recommend this book to all our friends and family members."
Mr. D.U. - Littleton, Colorado

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"I wanted to thank you personally for writing your book. During the summer after his sophomore year my son swam his first junior national time in the 100 butterfly. I was told that as a result he might be considered a candidate by college swimming recruiters. I was advised that his best shot for a scholarship would be division II, however my son informed me that he was committed to swimming at the division I level. I did not know where to start to investigate such a possibility until I found your book through the internet. After reading your book cover to cover, we developed a letter writing campaign and put together a videotape of his three best strokes. I personally delivered the videotapes to the swim coaches of my son's top four division I choices. To make a long story short, with five junior national times my son received recruiting trips from five division I colleges last month and the coach from one of his top four choices has offered him a full ride scholarship.

My son has worked very hard at swimming, as do many other kids who do not get the opportunity to swim at the division I level. But thanks to your guidance and tremendous good fortune, he will have the chance to pursue his dreams.

Thanks again for all your experience and suggestions,"
W.M. Chico, Ca.

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"My name is A______ R______, I'm 17 years old, 5'3" and a volleyball player, backrow specialist, from a small town in Caguas, Puerto Rico and come from a small school with a graduating class of 50 girls.

I had a dream to play volleyball in the NCAA Division One. That was quite a dream for me with my size, being far away and from a small school.

During my high school years, I came across your book, and my father ordered a copy of it. In my recruiting strategy, I used basically the procedures and format that you outlined in your book.

Last May 21st, I signed my letter of intent to play volley ball with a scholarship at _______ University.

So you can see that your book works. If it worked for me while fighting against all the odds as you have seen it can work for everyone. Thanking you for your help."
A.R. - Caguas, Puerto Rico

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"I read your guide on obtaining scholarship funds for student-athletes with great interest and regret. Great interest because my wife and I just went through the same trials and tribulations you so well described with one of our sons. With regret because we did not have your book to use as a guide as we went through the process.

I believe that had we had your written experiences to guide us, it would not have been necessary to spend substantial money on outside consultants. I believe your book should be on the desks of high school athletic directors and in the homes of parents with student-athletes."

H.R. - Woodbridge, New Jersey

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"For many years those of us in the education profession have been searching for a guidebook on the best and most efficient way to assist youngsters in procuring college assistance and finally we have found it! Your book provides parents, students, coaches and educators a map to follow in the yearly search for post secondary athletic scholarships."
J.B. Former Executive Director-Colorado High School Coaches Association