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GUEST EXPERT ARTICLE
Your 10th (and 11th grade if you are late getting started) years are very important in the recruiting process.
You may or may not be playing varsity by this point, either way you want to establish your presence in the larger recruiting world. We talked about "Becoming a Light Tower" in Part 2, and now is the time to start making that light shine even brighter. At the same time you must also start exploring and narrowing down your college preferences. This is a very important year and there is much to do, but don't panic, there is lots of help out there for you.
1. Get to know your school guidance counselor! As I have served as a Guidance Counselor for the last 30 years I know first hand that your counselor can be your best asset! Let your counselor know all your goals and dreams. Don't be modest, put it all out there. If he or she is any good they will encourage you as well as help you achieve them. discuss your thoughts on careers and learn as much as you can about career opportunities that might fit your needs and traits. Ask and learn about college admissions and plan your high school curriculum to make those admissions possible. Set up a time table for taking SAT and ACT tests and discuss with him/her on whether or not you may need a Test preparation course. Many schools offer those courses for free. Now is the time to take those courses if needed!
2. Get signed up for any free sites that enable you to promote yourself, completing your football profile as well as academic. There are a number of them out there that do not charge for their service. (FeelyAthletics.com, Kicking.com, BeRecruited.com to name a few)
3. Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. ) can be either your friend in this process or your worst enemy, depending on what you post.
Keeping your internet presence squeeky clean, free from any embarassing or damaging posts is critical. They will be checking you out on the social media outlets so if you post anything you would not want your parents or pastor to see, take it off now! You may want to consider starting over with a new social media accounts and then tailor it to your perfect athlete persona.
Social media can be helpful in communication with the coaches that are interested in you, as well as providing you with a platform for "blowing your own horn" when great things happen that you want them to know about" Having the right " Friends or followers" can help to spread the word about you, but having the wrong friends can spoil your chances of being thought highly of, so choose your "friends" wisely.
4. Choosing your "trainer or coach". I recently had one of my kicking students tell me that he had a conversation with one of my competitors who told him, "What sets me apart from all those other coaches ( like yours) is that I do it all for you. I will take care of everything for you need including all recruiting efforts. They, on the otherhand, will pass you off to someone else. "
Whenever you come across someone with this line, run! They want you to think that they have all the connections, and are best friends with all the college coaches.
They want you to put all your future in their hands alone. They are today's version of the old snake oil salesmen of the old west. They want you to believe that they are not only the best coach, but the best at everything else!
I have found that one of my greatest asset in assisting my students is the vast network of other fellow kicking coaches I have from all over the country. We all help eachother find colleges that are a good fit for our students. Each of us has our contacts and relationships with college coaches and the combined netwrok becomes a powerful tool.
The "snake oil salesman" coach will promise you everything but too often is unable to deliver. One of their tactics is to create their own ranking lists so that you have to attend multiple camps that they put on in order to move up that ranking list. Attending just one event will almost never get you ranked high no matter how well you perform.
5. Start your own video portfolio of your greatest performances and highlight plays. These can be actual game footage, or performances at camps.
If you should get in the news for a great performance, get the video of that newscast as well. These will be invaluable to you later on and can be effective ways to continue being the "Light Tower" adding the video to your social media and free profile accounts.
Learn more about Tom Feely >>> |
The Recruiting Labyrinth: Part 3, Making your Light Tower work for you.
Doug and Tommy's Frequently Asked Questions
