Exciting news: beRecruited has launched the beRecruited Player Card - an embeddable widget that highlights your stats, photos and videos. Every beRecruited athlete has one and the Player Card can be embedded directly onto your MySpace profile, Facebook page, blog, or your favorite website.Placing your Player Card on blogs and websites is a proven way to increase traffic to your beRecruited profile and improve your chances of being recruited. The widget is just a few days old and has been seen nearly 1,000,000 times. Remarkable!You can customize your widgets size and color. Either login at beRecruited or visit http://profiles.berecruited.com, find your profile and grab the widget directly from that page. Here is an example (6 other colors are available):
One of the most popular ways to market yourself for potential coaches is to attend athletic showcases. These showcases have gained popularity in recent years, but aren’t without some negatives. Be sure to weigh the pros and cons before enrolling in one of these programs. Often times, your money is better spent in summer camps or other development programs. Also, remember that beRecruited offers you an opportunity to upload videotapes highlighting your skills to thousands of prospective coaches without shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars
Showcase Pros:
Good for athletes who might not get the visibility from their high school sports program
Good for athletes who were injured during their junior year, but are now given another opportunity to prove what they can do
Provide a measuring stick for how your skills match up against others on a regional or national level
Showcase Cons:
Expensive
Some are just “moneymakers” and don’t have success in getting athletes recruited
Tips for Athletic Showcases:
Invite prospective coaches to your showcase
Be sure to arrive early and be prepared
Dress well and carry yourself with professionalism
Wear a jersey that has your name on the back to facilitate identification
Show composure- don’t be a “hot head”
Show humility and be a good sport regardless of your performance
Network- introduce yourself to fellow players and coaches alike
The National Letter of Intent is a letter than you sign to commit to an institution for an academic year in return for an athletic scholarship or other financial aid. It marks the end of the recruiting process and prevents other schools from contacting you. Although these letters can be signed at any time during a signing period, many are finalized on National Signing day in February. Signing periods vary based on the sport. National Signing Day celebrates new recruits in many major collegiate sports, including: football, field hockey, soccer, and water polo.
Basic Information
The institution offering you the athletic scholarship will mail, email, or fax you two copies of the letter to be signed.
Sign both copies, sending one back to the institution and keep the other for your records.
If you verbally committed to one institution, you are allowed to sign a letter of intent with a different school.
You only sign a letter of intent once, although it is renewed annually.
If you are under the age of 21, you need a parent to sign the letter of intent to make it legally binding.
Your potential coach may not be present during the signing of your letter in accordance with NCAA rules.
You may sign the letter even if you have yet to qualify with the NCAA Clearinghouse. If you are not cleared, the letter is nullified.
Your letter is also nullified if you fail to be accepted to the institution academically.
Signing your letter of intent is usually a happy time. It marks the end of the recruiting process. Pending acceptance to the university, you can rest easy knowing where you are going to school next year. It is important to understand that simply signing with a team does not guarantee playing time. You still have a lot of hard work ahead of you both in the classroom and on the field to earn playing time. Athletic scholarships are the result of a lot of hard work. When you sign your Letter of Intent, you should be proud of how far you’ve come and excited about where you are going!
Earning an athletic scholarship is not an exact science. Therefore, there are common mistakes that are made by many prospective athletes. Avoid these pitfalls and you will increase your chances of earning an athletic scholarship to the school of your dreams.
1) Taking the recruiting process for granted
One of the most common pitfalls is taking the process for granted because you think that schools are going to aggressively recruit you. Many athletes receive letters from schools, but that doesn’t mean that they are recruiting you. You need to follow up with these coaches and express a mutual interest. Only a select few athletes actually get personal visits from coaches. It is simply too expensive and time consuming for coaches in most sports. Don’t take anything for granted and market yourself aggressively.
2) Underestimating your chances of getting an athletic scholarship
You don’t need to be the best athlete on your team or in your league in order to earn an athletic scholarship. Of course, you need to be skilled at your sport, but not necessarily the star. Many athletes don’t even attempt to get a scholarship, despite thousands of scholarships being at their fingertips. Talk to your coach to assess your chances and get some advice on how to proceed with the recruiting process. Register with beRecruited, and get your name out there to hundreds of prospective coaches in your sport.
3) Making poor decisions off the field
You can severely damage your chances of earning an athletic scholarship by getting trouble with the law and abusing drugs and alcohol. Although everybody makes mistakes when they are young, these decisions reflect your true character to a prospective school. If you don’t exercise discipline and good decision-making off the field, you probably aren’t going to on the field. Drugs and alcohol also dramatically affect the body’s recovery time and double the chances of injury.
4) Letting your grades slip
As any coach will tell you, schools are looking for a complete package in their recruits. Of course they want excellent athletes, but they also desire recruits that perform in the classroom. Do not assume that your athletic prowess trumps your academics. Do your best in the classroom until you graduate.
5) Getting bad advice
You will find that everyone has advice for you during your recruiting process. Some of it will be good advice, but not all of it. Consider your sources carefully, and be sure to evaluate their expertise before following their advice.
6) Over/under reliance on your coach
Your coach is one of your biggest assets in the college recruiting process. Often times, coaches have connections that can help you in your search. Experienced coaches are also good judges of talent and may be able to give you an idea of your level of competition. Don’t forget to use them as a resource. However, don’t assume that they know everything, or that they will do anything for you. You need to ask for their help, and you will need to follow up with them. Remember that they have a lot going on in their lives besides you. Few coaches will aggressively market you to colleges. Consider your coach as being a crucial part of your recruiting process, but not your only resource.
One the most important factors in the recruiting process is finding the right coach. A coach is more than someone who gives you an athletic scholarship; he or she serves as a mentor and as a motivator. No matter how skilled you may be, a good coach should be able to teach you new skills while perfecting your existing ones. The process of finding the right coach involves asking the right questions and evaluating the most critical aspects of your prospective coach’s philosophy, communication style, and personality.
The following is a list of some questions that will help you decide whether a coach is a good fit for you. While you listen to his or her answers, try to determine how comfortable you are with them and their personality. If you choose this school, you will most likely have a close relationship with this person for four years- choose wisely!
What is a typical day in the life of one of your players?
How can you and your school help me balance my academics with my athletics?
What is your graduation rate?
What are the characteristics of a good program in your mind?
What characteristics to you value in your players?
How would you describe your personality both during games and during practice?
Where do you see me fitting in with the team?
How is playing time determined?
Have you ever had any NCAA rules infractions?
Undoubtedly, choosing the right coach also requires a great deal of soul searching for you, the athlete. In order for you to evaluate the answers to these questions, you need to have a good understanding of your own personality and what motivates you. Do you respond better to discipline and structure, or do you respond better to someone who is more sensitive and nurturing? If you have an open personality, will you feel comfortable sharing your feelings with the coach? Can you handle being criticized in front of your teammates? Once you determine your compatibility with a prospective coach, you will have a better understanding of whether a particular program might be a good match
Choosing the right coach is just one of many important factors in choosing your school. Don’t let the coach be the sole determining factor in your school choice. You are going to college to get an education. You need to ensure that you are going to a school that meets your academic, social, and athletics needs. Consider the coach as being just one piece of the puzzle.
“Any act committed against someone joining or becoming a member or maintaining membership in any organization that is humiliating, intimidating or demeaning, or endangers the health and safety of the person. Hazing includes active or passive participation in such acts and occurs regardless of the willingness to participate in the activities. Hazing creates an environment/climate in which dignity and respect are absent.”
Hazing is a subject that can cause anxiety for many prospective athletes. Many athletes have already experienced or witnessed forms of hazing at the high school level and worry that it is even worse at the college level. Upperclassman have experienced hazing and feel that it is now their time to push around the underclassman. Many see it as a rite of passage and a way to build respect for those who came before them.
Fortunately, numerous anti-hazing measures have been put in place over the past few years to help deter athletes from hazing. Hazing is now a crime in 41 states. Most schools also have a zero tolerance policy against hazing by their students. Participants in hazing can be suspended, expelled, or even criminally prosecuted for their actions. Although well-intentioned, it isn’t clear how effective these measures have been since hazing is underreported by both athletes and coaches.
In February 2008, the NCAA issued a 58-page handbook, Hazing Prevention in College Athletics, to college administrators to help eliminate hazing. The handbook highlights the risks of hazing as well as increasing hazing awareness. Some of the strategies outlined in the handbook include the following:
Conducting educational sessions for student-athletes during orientation and in team meetings.
Scheduling speakers to discuss the topic with coaches.
Including hazing prevention on the agenda of student-athlete advisory committees.
Involving student-athletes in anti-hazing policy and program development.
Cooperation with broader campus hazing prevention efforts.
Hazing is certainly a negative aspect of our collegiate sports environment. Hazing causes more mental distress than actual physical harm-something that is hard to quantify. Fortunately, these recent steps to outlaw hazing by the NCAA, state governments, and the schools themselves look to have a profound effect on building teams through empowerment and dignity and not degradation and humiliation.
The most exciting news we get from our users is when one of our users commits to attend a university…that is the “ultimate connection” for beRecruited, and the reason that we come to work every day.
Until recently, we did not have a way to display these success stories. We’ve now changed that and we’ve started to have athletes update their profile when they have made the important decision regarding where to attend college.
To see the latest beRecruited athletes who have committed, click here. In a very short time, we’ve had nearly 400 athletes tell us where they are going to school.
Updating is extremely easy to do. Here’s how:
Log into your account and go to “My Profile” > “Preferences” and change your account status to committed. It only takes a few seconds, and you can provide valuable feedback to beRecruited regarding our service.
Updating your account status will remove your profile from our prospect database, add you to our list of committed athletes, and give you an opportunity to be featured in your local newspaper’s sports section. It also helps us improve beRecruited so we can make it even better for future athletes.
beRecruited has become the No. 1 online network connecting high school athletes and college coaches on the basis of a free service. In the first 50 days of 2008, there have been more than 300,000 connections made directly through our service…an average of 6,000 connections per day.
While our users (coaches, athletes and parents) know that our service is free, we have seen increased interest in our deluxe athlete upgrade. That interest is driven by results. Profiles of athletes choosing the deluxe upgrade on average are viewed 3x more than athletes with standard profiles.
Deluxe Features:
See What Coaches View Your Profile-Gain instant access to all coaches that view your profile.
“The feature I thought was most helpful was the section where you could see which coaches/colleges viewed your profile. Being able to have access to that would let me know which colleges I should follow up with.” -Ashlei , successfully recruited softball player.
Letter-of-Interest Generator-Create customized letters to express interest in collegiate programs.
“The letters to the coaches gave me the opportunity to communicate with some schools and get my name out there. It was very helpful in getting the ball rolling in my personal recruiting process and made it a lot easier.” -Justin, successfully recruited lacrosse player.
Featured Athlete-Get additional exposure to coaches by being seen more. Deluxe athletes are showcased on beRecruited’s homepage and other high traffic areas throughout the website.
“Coaches that I wouldn’t have previously thought of to email were able to find me on their own and email me. It was very helpful in that aspect. I received many offers and emails from various college divisions and locations.” -Sarah, successfully recruited softball player.
Student Advantage Membership-The latest addition to the deluxe product, athletes who upgrade to deluxe accounts receive a one-year, complimentary membership to Student Advantage, the nation’s largest student discount program. Major discounts associated with the program include:
Foot Locker: $10 off purchases of $50 or more (some exclusions may apply)
Target.com: 10% off your purchases at Target.com
ALDO shoes: 10% off
AMC Theatres: Up to 40% off box office prices
Barnes & Noble.com: Save an additional 5% at Barnes & Noble.com
CHAMP Sports: $10 off purchases of $50 or more (some exclusions may apply)
So in addition to a higher level of exposure, as well as a higher degree of functionality, deluxe members now save money through this exclusive relationship with Student Advantage.
If you want to upgrade your account, click here to get started.
Don’t miss any college recruiting advice with the beRecruited Advice Widget. You can install this on your blog, My Space profile, Netvibes page, and so forth. It automatically updates when new articles are posted - so that you can stay ahead of the competition.
To get started, simply press the “Get Widget” button beneath the widget, choose the type of page you want to install it on, and then embed it!
Earlier, I wrote about how beRecruited Photos are proven ways to drive more traffic to your beRecruited Profile and connect with college coaches / recruiters.
Another terrific way to improve your recruiting and scholarships chances is by using beRecruited Video - another free, powerful tool!
Like photos, your videos are effective ways to communicate personality, goals, skills and technique.
Tip: the best way to drive traffic to your profile is by creating several videos that showcase various elements of your overall offering: personal, academic and athletic. Videos don’t need to be lengthy or professionally edited. My advice is to create and upload the following videos:
- Personal Introduction (introduce yourself, explain your goals and background)
- In-Game Showcases (upload in-game videos from different aspects of the game and different events)
- Training Showcases (upload videos of practice - whether it’s in the weight-room, on the track, or in the pool)
When you upload a video on beRecruited, give it a full title and accurate description (date, time, what to look for, etc).
When your video is uploaded, we then provide links to the video’s page (called a permalink) and the embed code (so that you can place it on your blog, MySpace, page, etc). Embedding your video on your other webpages drastically increases the amount of traffic you are able to drive!
Great example: Isaac Fisher
Here is a tremendous example of a beRecruited user who has used beRecruited Video effectively. He has numerous videos of different games, different lengths and showcasing different skills. His descriptions are thorough and meaningful - letting viewers know what to look for!
Embed Your beRecruited Player Card - Increase Your Traffic
