If you want to play sports in college, you must invest in yourself to achieve your goal. Some investments require money and others require a time commitment, but these investments are in you and for you. Actually, it is a combination of the two that will produce the best results. As a high school student-athlete, you need to invest in your athletic, academic, and promotional activities.
Earning a spot on the freshman roster and a scholarship is extremely difficult at the best of times. Athletes and their families who understand what it takes to play sports in college invest heavily in the student early in the process and are rewarded with better offers at the end.
Investing in academics is a commitment of time rather than a commitment of money. Invest time to get the best grades possible and be rewarded with acceptance to more schools, better scholarship offers, and fewer loans. Consider signing up for SAT/ACT prep courses to help bolster those scores. Take extra time to get as high a GPA as possible. Take honors and AP classes to earn a higher weighted GPA.
Investing in athletics is also a time commitment; time spent in practices and games, time spent in the weight room, time spent training in the off-season, time spent traveling to and from games. There is also a cost involved if you play in an AAU, Club or Premier Team. There are club fees, tournament fees, travel and food fees, and fees for your family members accompanying you to these tournaments. But this is part of the price you pay if you want to play at the next level.
Investing in your own promotion is the other major expense. Now that you have become a competitive student-athlete, it is time for the coaches to know that you are a good student and a good athlete; and they want you on their team. Self-promotion takes time if you choose to do it on your own or there is a financial commitment if you hire a company to help you. In the end, you will probably get what you put in. You have to assume that coaches won’t find you in the local papers and they won’t find your stats on a free website with thousands of other athletes.
Again, you must invest in yourself to separate yourself from the rest. Once you get your spot on the freshman roster, all of your expenses are gone. The school pays for everything (except maybe the shoes). Costs in high school may seem high, but they are usually relatively small because the rewards in the form of a scholarship are huge.
If you want to play college-level sports, don’t leave it to chance. Remember, you only get one chance to be recruited, don’t waste it!
