Getting to know Austin Doan a Junior Offensive tackle of Romeo High School.

How would you describe your playing style?
Hard, Aggressive, Ruthless and Intense

Who’s your favorite pro athletes?
Ndamukong Suh, Calvin Johnson, Jake Long and Ben Roethlisberger

What’s your favorite pre-game song to get hyped to?
ACDC – Thanderstruck

Who has been the biggest influence in your sports career and why?
My dad, because he is always helping me and supporting me know matter what the case is.

What are your long term football goals? (college, pro, coach, etc…)
College and Coach

What other sports did you play growing up?
Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey

What are your top 3 keys to success as a student-athlete?
(training, practice, film review, etc.)
Training, practice, and discipline

Check out Austin’s profile and video on SportsForce

The one and done rule is not working and parents need to be aware of this. The reality is that the one and done policy is more like a “child left behind” policy, than an NCAA rule.  I say this because many athletes leave school and don’t get the support of their university. So athletes are left to navigate the professional world on their own. Many athletes do not have the chance to succeed when they leave college because they aren’t ready for the demands of the professional lifestyle. It is so hard to avoid the temptation of leaving early because of the success of athletes like Derrick Rose. The reality is few athletes have the natural abilities to adjust early. College prepares athletes for a more professional lifestyle. In my opinion, the NCAA needs to stop wasting athletes’ time and either let them go pro from high school or focus on three years of education.

The one and done rule is important for prospective students and parents to understand because athletes often leave college before they are ready. College is a valuable development ground for athletes because it encourages important life concepts like teamwork, resiliency, and leadership. Before giving your athlete permission to leave, think about the implications of him or her leaving the team. Star athletes are usually a vital part of developing college programs and their departure immediately causes chemistry issues. The image of the school can also be hurt. Kentucky is a perfect example because their basketball program is known for its openness with the one and done policy. Many experts would say that Kentucky’s educational image takes a backseat because of their open acceptance of the policy. College is a valuable part of any person’s life experience, but is most important becausemany athletes don’t make it professionally.

STEP # 1 – Talk to Your Coach

The first thing we recommend is talking to your high school and/or club team coach.  Most often, these coaches have been involved in this process for a long time and have coached student-athletes that have been through the recruiting process before. Their experience will give them a good idea of what potential level you could play at in the future.

Parents and student-athletes need to ask their high school or club team coach what level they should look at for playing beyond high school.  Often, the coach will give you an idea of your skill set and abilities athletically and academically. You must use your high school and club team coach as a resource to get an assessment, advice and then a recommendation.  Remember, they’ve often already been through this same process with other athletes, and can be a good evaluator of your skill level because they have seen many other teams and players compete.

STEP # 2 – Watch

The next step in picking the right collegiate level of play is watching. Look at colleges from all levels of play (Division 1,2,3, or Junior College) and try to figure out when they’re going to be playing in your local area. If you can, go to a game and watch them in person. Try and scout college freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors to see how they’re playing and what their skill set is like physically. This will give you a good idea of where you fit in best. SportsForce recommends that student-athletes and parents attend a few local games to get an idea of their caliber of play.

If you can’t physically attend a local game you can also watch a number of games over the Internet. Again, it is important that you evaluate the caliber of play for each collegiate level. For example, if you’re watching a Division I football game, you can get a solid idea of how good the quarterback is at USC or how good the running back is at University of Alabama. Once you understand this you can ask yourself if you stack up with that level of size and athletic ability.

STEP # 3 – Research

It is also essential that you visit the websites of your potential colleges and look at their team roster. For example, go to a number of Division 1, 2, and 3 team websites and look at the size and background of their players. What do they look like physically? What kind of academic or athletic awards did they receive in high school? Try to match your physical traits and athletic and academic success with the right collegiate level of play.

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For more College Recruiting Tips and specific details on our proven Step-by-Step College Recruiting and Athletic Scholarship system contact one of our college recruiting experts at 858.350.5889 or visit www.sportsforceonline.com

TIP # 1 – Understand Their Circumstances

In order to best deal with recruiting coordinators you must try and understand their frame of mind. A college recruiting coordinator is typically in their late 20s or early 30s.  They are working 60 to 100 hours a week trying to manage the recruiting process and develop a successful team simultaneously. They travel 15 – 25 weeks a year and are juggling a lot of moving parts. It is important to realize that some recruiters get sometimes over 100 emails a day while receiving anywhere between 20 to 50 phone calls.

In simple terms, they are often overworked, underpaid, and constantly traveling, leaving them with a limited amount of time and attention span to interact with parents and student -athletes.

TIP # 2 – Keep it Simple

When you send an email, keep it short and to the point.  Be sure to provide a clear and compelling subject line (ex. Josh Smith – 2013 – QB – 3.8 GPA – All-League with 20 TD’s). You see how that subject line is like a HEADLINE of the player to grab the attention of the recruiter. We’ve created sample email templates of what college coaches prefer to maximize our families recruiting communication efforts.

If you send them a highlight video make sure it is between three to five minutes in length; make it to the point, easy to identify yourself and quality enough video. Also, remember to always provide them with all of your contact information at the bottom of your email. Their time is precious and they’re looking for efficiency and effectiveness. You need to make it easy for them to recruit you.

TIP # 3 – Keep Them Informed

Lastly, it is really important that you keep the recruiting coordinators informed. You need to tell them when and where you’re going to be playing. For example, if you are playing in an upcoming recruiting tournament or showcase that they’re going to be traveling to, make sure that you let them know what team you’re on, what your schedule is, what position you play and what jersey number you wear. Send them an email with all this information along with a quick update on your athletic and academic status. This will improve your chances of being evaluated by them at the tournament or showcase that they’re traveling to. Most coaches have a list of players they want to see but you can improve your chances of being added to that list of prospects to evaluate.

Another thing for parents to keep in mind is periodically updating them with their son or daughter’s athletic progress.  So, let’s say your child was recently named all country or all state.  It is a great idea to send an email to the college recruiting coordinator saying, “Hey, you know my son John was named all state and here’s his final season statistics.”  After this, provide them with a quick wrap up of some of the highlights from his season.

*For more College Recruiting Tips and specific details on our proven Step-by-Step College Recruiting and Athletic Scholarship system contact one of our college recruiting experts at 858.350.5889 or visit www.sportsforceonline.com

To get started today take advantage of our FREE 30 Day Trial.

What most student-athletes, parents and coaches don’t realize is that DI offers less than 20% of the college sports opportunities for most sponsored college sports. The reality is most DII, DIII and NAIA recruiting budgets are small and thus the student-athletes and parents have been even more proactive in the process of getting evaluated and recruited.

3 Quick Tips to handling the DII, DIII and NAIA recruiting process:

1. RESEARCH: Research which schools offer the academic and athletic fit you are looking for at the DII, DIII and NAIA. There are plenty of great college programs at these levels. Use these two websites to help:
   1. College Coaches Online – www.collegecoachesonline.com (Contact us about a discount to their membership)
   2. College Board – www.collegeboard.com
   3. NCAA Rules & Regulations – Click HERE
2. KNOW THEIR LIMITATIONS: Since smaller programs don’t have a large recruiting budget you have to make sure you provide them an opportunity to evaluate you. A highlight video is critical for them to evaluate you as well as potentially attending one of their camps. Also DIII does not offer any athletic scholarship money. However they can put together a great financial package using financial aid and academic scholarship money.
3. BE PROACTIVE: Create a list of target schools and market yourself to those schools. Be pleasantly persistent and make sure you provide them a completed resume and highlight video so the coaches can easily evaluate your skills. Your goal is to get evaluated and know where you stand with each school you are interested in.

To accelerate your education on the college sports preparation and recruiting process I recommend signing up for our FREE SportsForce College Sports Recruiting Guide.

* FREE Sign up click HERE

SportsForce premium members have an over 80% college sports success rate with an average of more than $50,000 in college scholarship & financial savings per family.

Click HERE to learn more about our programs.

Article courtesy of SportsForce, Home for professional and affordable College Sports Recruiting Tools, Tips, Online Profiles, Highlight Videos and Premium Services.

www.sportsforceonline.com

info@sportsforceonline.com

858.350.5889

As part of the SportsForce recruiting education, we often mention the difference between being actively recruited and receiving a blanket mailing from a coach or program. Below we have included an email from a coach to a potential college athlete, so you can see a great example of an athlete, in this case women’s soccer player, being actively recruited. We edited the email down a bit, and changed the athlete, coach and college name to protect those still involved in the recruiting process who shared this with us.  Enjoy and feel free to leave any questions in the comment section for us to answer!

I hope this email finds you well. My name is Coach, and I have been the Head Women’s Soccer Coach at State College for the last three and a half years. I saw you play at the Texas Shootout, and you can be a goalkeeper for a lot of teams in this country. Selfishly speaking, I hope potentially for State:-) You are one of the few goalkeepers who plays functional defense, meaning you play high when your team is defending in the middle third. You have great instincts when to come out, you have a quick feet and smooth hands. In short, you would be an impact goalkeeper for us starting your freshman year.

In my first three recruiting classes and for the incoming class this fall, we were able to recruit the first NSCAA High School All-American, the first Regional Team player and numerous players from the Top 20 club programs in the nation, including the # 1 club program at that time.  For this 2011 class we already have three verbal commitments. One player is from the Dallas Texans 93G Red team (she picked us over Penn State), the second player is from the D’Feeters 93 team (we were the only DIII team she looked at) and the third player is from the U17 Bethesda SC Dragons team (again, we were the only DIII team she looked at). All three players come from Top 10 nationally ranked club programs.

Our ultimate goal is to win a National Championship. We are very close to being a Top 20 program in the nation, and we received votes last year already, despite being a very young team. With 7-8 players starting for the last three years who were only freshmen and sophomores and finally a few strong juniors this past fall, we were able to beat and tie nationally ranked programs. This fall our goal is to be a nationally ranked program and to start competing for National Titles (all players this fall will be my recruits). We would love to have you help us with such a quest.

Having listed a few pros (there are many more), I am asking you to consider State as a college choice and to be part of something new and exciting in the quest of winning Conference Championships and even more exciting, a National Championship!

For all the above reasons I would like to start communicating with you about your possible interest in State and our Soccer Program. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to give you a better picture of State, about the potential of gaining a top education and being part of a successful soccer program.  We are a top ranked school academically in the country, and we are very close to matching that rank with soccer!
Sincerely,

Coach

Head Women’s Soccer Coach

State College

We here at SportsForce stress the importance of starting the recruiting process as early as possible. However, we know that sometimes you can lose track of time and enter your senior year with no options or offers. If you find yourself in this predicament, don’t worry, you still have a chance to be recruited. Below are some tips on how to get your recruiting process underway in a limited amount of time.

Have Realistic Expectations

Your chances of getting into a Division I school have diminished drastically by your senior year. There most likely are still some options, but you shouldn’t put all your hopes and efforts into that one DI school. Don’t worry though; there are still plenty of opportunities to play your sport at the college level. Most of these opportunities will be in the form of NAIA schools, NCAA Division II and III schools, and junior colleges. These options will still give you the experience of playing a college sport and will be sure to give you an enjoyable time.

Be Proactive

College coaches may not necessarily have their radars on high school seniors. This is because they figure all the good ones have already been recruited. That is why it is crucial for you to be the proactive one in the recruiting process. Be the one to make initial contact with the coaches, send your highlight videos out, and express your desire to play at that college. Using a tool like SportsForce to actively market yourself is the best way of doing all of these things.

Don’t Get Discouraged

Because of how late you are starting the recruiting process, you are more than likely to hear your fair share of “no’s.” Don’t let this discourage you. If you really want to play at the college level, keep contacting coaches and expressing just how much you want to play. You are bound to find the right fit for you if you stay positive and don’t give up.

The dates to sign a national letter of intent for the early period are coming upon us very quickly. If you are offered to sign a national letter of intent, it is important to know what exactly you are signing and all the rules that come along with signing it. For this reason, I have listed below some of the basics about national letters of intent.

What exactly is a National Letter of Intent?

A national letter of intent is a binding contract between a player and a school. Once you have signed a letter of intent, you must attend school there for at least one year. It is basically a way to establish that you are done being recruited and have chosen the program you want to be a part of.

Verbal Scholarships and National Letters of Intent are NOT the Same

It is important to not confuse national letters of intent with verbal scholarships. Unlike a letter of intent, verbal scholarships are not binding. With verbal scholarships, you can tell a school you are committing to them, but still be actively recruited by other schools. A verbal scholarship basically states that if you decide to enroll at the given school, the school will give you a scholarship to play there. Also unlike letters of intent, verbal scholarships can be agreed to at any time.

What if you have a Change of Heart?

One important thing to know about national letters of intent is the penalty you receive if you ultimately decide to opt out and attend a different school instead. When you sign a letter of intent, you are contractually obligated to attend the given school for one year. If you break this agreement, you are penalized by not being allowed to participate in any sports for one season. Also, you must attend at least one year at your new school, no exceptions. This is why it is so important that you are one hundred percent positive on what school you want to attend before signing a national letter of intent.

What Else you Need to Know

Other than these basic facts about letters of intent, there are still plenty of important features about them you need to know. Different sports have different signing dates. Some sports, like soccer and field hockey, give you a six-month period to sign a national letter of intent. Others, like basketball, give you as little as one week to sign. Also, letters of intent are only given out by NCAA division I and II schools. But, some schools, like the Ivy Leagues, cannot give these out. It’s important that you do your research on schools and sports you are interested in when it comes time to start committing to schools. See the table below for this year’s dates.

For more important information about National Letters of Intent, including next year’s date, visit nationalletter.org

One of the biggest issues in college football that is not receiving enough attention is the over-signing of players. Every college football prospect should be concerned with over-signing because there is a chance it can happen to any player once they reach the college level. For this reason, I have listed below important information about over-signing and what you should know.

What is Over-Signing?

All NCAA college football programs are limited to having 85 scholarship players on their team per year. These 85 players include both returning players and new recruits. When a program signs more players than the allotted 85, this is over-signing.

In order to get back down to the 85 players they are allowed to give scholarships to, college football programs go about it a few ways. First, they usually wait to see which players, if any, become ineligible to play. Student-athletes can become ineligible by not making grades, getting in trouble with the law, etc. Then, programs will usually ask players to ‘gray shirt’ for a year. ‘Gray shirting’ is when you give up your scholarship benefits for a season so a peer can use them. Lastly, programs just start making cuts to reach the 85, which is obviously devastating to those student-athletes.

How to Overcome Over-Signing

While there are many college football programs in the nation that do contribute to the problem of over-signing, there are just as many who try at all costs to avoid this issue. These programs would rather sign a few less players than the allotted 85 so they do not have to make those upsetting cuts later on. This then gives the program freedom to sign a few walk-on players later on.

As a college football recruit, it may be in your best interest to research which programs do and do not over-sign when considering your options. By considering football programs that have a reputation of not over-signing, you may ultimately be saving yourself from heartbreak and hassle later on.

To find out more information about over-signing in college football, visit oversigning.com

Hopefully you had a chance to read Part I of this article, which highlighted two critical questions to ask yourself as a student-athlete.

1. What type of college experience are you looking for as a student-athlete?

2. What are your key college decision factors?

Here’s the link to Part I in case you missed it.

In Part II you will take steps to realistically evaluate yourself as a student-athlete.

Student-athletes:

Have you ever asked yourself what level of athletics is right for you?

Parents:

Have you ever wondered what level of athletics would be the right fit for your son or daughter? Have you said to yourself “my son / daughter is definitely a DI or DII / DIII athlete?”

Here are some simple ACTION ITEMS you can execute to get a realistic idea of what level of athletics and academics is appropriate for you or your student-athlete.

3. Student-athlete evaluation

A. Talk to your coaches: As a student-athlete, you need to talk to your high school and/or club team coach to express a desire to play college sports and also ask them for an HONEST evaluation of your potential to play at the college level. Also ask what areas need improvement to reach your full potential on and off the field.

B. Talk to your academic counselor: Ask them for an HONEST evaluation of your academic standing and make sure you are on track to play college sports. Also go over the academic guidelines that different colleges are looking for including GPA, SAT and ACT scores.

C. Get tested / evaluated: Attend a combine, camp, showcase or training facility where you will be objectively tested so you can compare your athletic ability and skill level with other athletes and get a clear understanding and measure of your current ability.

D. Get a highlight video: College coaches don’t have the time or budget to travel to many games and evaluate athletes in person. If you provide college coaches a 3 – 5 minute highlight video and resume with all of your athletic and academic information, they can evaluate you quickly and easily. We recommend getting your video and resume online so you can easily email coaches.

Visit the SportsForce website (www.sportsforceonline.com) to view some online profile and highlight video examples from more than 10 different sports including:

football, basketball, softball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, water polo, field hockey and more.

E. Evaluate & research college athletes / teams: Watch college athletes and teams compete in person, on TV, over the Internet. See first-hand what the caliber of play is at the DI, D2, D3, NAIA and junior college level. Visit college sports websites to see the biographies of the athletes and their high school sports statistics, awards and achievements (ex. High School statistics, height / weight, All-State, All-League, All-County).

F. Evaluate and compare yourself to other athletes: Try to realistically evaluate and compare yourself to other student-athletes who are older than you or your same grade level who are getting actively recruited by college recruiters or signed with a college. Ask yourself if you are as good as they are right now athletically and academically? If not, do I have the same potential to reach their ability?

GOAL = To get clear on where you are and what you should focus on to reach your college sports goals.

To accelerate your education on the college sports preparation and recruiting process I recommend signing up for our FREE SportsForce College Sports Recruiting Guide.

* FREE Sign up click HERE

To get access to more advanced college recruiting tips, strategies and advice visit our website and RESOURCES section.

The SportsForce team, which is comprised of former college and professional athletes and coaches, is relentlessly committed to providing an ongoing education to help you best navigate your journey as a student-athlete, parent or coach to reach your potential.

Article courtesy of SportsForce, Home for professional and affordable College Sports Recruiting Tools, Tips, Online Profiles, Highlight Videos and Premium Services.

www.sportsforceonline.com

info@sportsforceonline.com

858.350.5889