Growing up playing sports at a high level of competition the goal for a kid is to take their game to the top level, for many that’s playing college ball, for others that is becoming a professional athlete getting paid to play a sport they love.

Being the best athlete in your school, city or even state sometimes won’t get you recruited as you may think. Outside of playing the sport, becoming eligible to play sports in college whether it is the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) or the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes) takes more than just a ball and some talent.

One of the most important steps in becoming eligible is receiving the appropriate grades in the classroom. As you move to the higher level of competition such as playing a Division 1 sport, the academic responsibilities are higher than they are for levels such as Division 2 and Division 3.

Aside from receiving the grades needed to participate in collegiate sports, students need to enroll in and pass specific high school courses. The best way to be sure that you are on the right path to receive all of the required credits is to set up an appointment with your guidance counselor and have them help you choose the classes you will need to take in high school.

TIP: Be sure to contact your guidance counselor as soon as possible because even taking one wrong class as a freshman could endanger your eligibility to play college sports.

Next it is very important that you find some colleges you are interested in attending. Making a list will allow you to keep it very organized what your options are for college. Figuring out if your college school choices are realistic early on is smart because it will allow you to see if it’s time to move on and find another school that fits your playing style better.

TIP: When deciding on a college you are interested in, make sure it is a place you could see yourself at for four years with or without the sport. Accidents happen and at any time you could get injured and be unable to play anymore, so choose a school you like not only because of athletics, education comes first.

Lastly it comes down to making connections with people who can help you get where you want.  Coaches receive email after email throughout the day and the chance of them seeing yours out of the hundreds is actually not very likely. In recruiting if you can match your face to the name that keeps popping up on the screen it goes miles further than just having over the phone conversations and never seeing one another in person. The best way to be able to see your aspired college coach is by attending games or trying to set up a visit to the campus.

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