Chapter 1 - Questions The Student-Athlete Must Address Before They Decide To Play Intercollegiate Athletic - What Is It Like To Play College Athletics
Out of all the chapters in our publication, this chapter is probably the most important. Many student-athletes only want to attend college in order to play intercollegiate sports and hopefully go on to play professionally. Few students give much thought on what it is like to play college athletics and very few do not understand what it take in Time and Effort in order to be successful athletically as well as academically. Playing college sports is a whole different world than playing high school sports. This chapter will give the parents and student-athlete an inside view on what it will take to succeed in college while playing intercollegiate sports.
Chapter 2 - Understanding The College Coach
Getting the attention of the college coach is utmost importance. If the college coach does not know about the student-athlete, they cannot recruit the student. This chapter will give you information on how most college coaches think and how they conduct the recruiting process. By understanding the college coach’s responsibilities and how they recruit student-athletes will give you an advantage in getting an athletic scholarship. By knowing this information, it will help you position your student in the best possible position to get the coaches attention.
Chapter 3 - Understanding The Financial Aid System
According to many reports, only 10% of all student-athletes that are on scholarships receive a full athletic award and 90% are on a partial scholarship. Most of the full scholarships are given to athletes that are playing Revenue Sports. Revenue sports are normally football and basketball. Most student-athletes that are playing Non-Revenue Sports begin their athletic participation on a partial or no scholarship at all. Non-revenue sports could include, softball, track, cross country, volleyball, baseball, hockey, swimming, golf, field hockey, etc. However, if your student is a high quality athlete they could receive a full athletic scholarship while playing a non-revenue sport.
Prior to 1986, full athletic scholarships were guaranteed for four-years. However, at the present time, any athletic scholarship (full or partial) are given to student-athletes on a year-to-year basis. What this means is, just because the student-athlete receives a scholarship at the beginning of their college career, does not mean they will receive the scholarship throughout their college stay.
With this being understood, it is important to know what other financial support the student-athlete could qualify for. This chapter will give you some basic knowledge on other financial resources that are available through the financial aid system and will give you an idea of whether you will qualify for this aid.
Chapter 4 - Marketing The Student-Athlete - The Beginning
Normally in any planning process, there are certain steps that need to be accomplished in order to reach your ultimate goal. This chapter will outline the five basic steps of marketing your student athlete. These steps will be covered in more detail in Chapter 5 (The Six-Step Marketing Process).
Chapter 5 - The Six Step Marketing Process
Before a college coach can recruit the student-athlete, they need to know who the athlete is and some information on the athletic ability of the student-athlete. This chapter will give you a simple six-step process to get the needed information to the college coaches that the student-athlete is interested in playing for. The chapter will cover the importance of selecting the right colleges. It will contain samples letters, bio, and a simple tracking system to keep organized during the marketing process. The chapter will show the student-athlete how to keep college coaches up-to-date on their athletic and academic progress while in high school. Below is an outline of each step that will be covered:
- Step One - Picking the right colleges to contact
- Step Two - How to write a great cover letter
- Step Three - How to assemble the student-athlete’s bio
- Step Four - The importance of the athletic video
- Step Five - How to stay organized and track of all communications
- Step Six - The importance of keep the lines of communication open and keeping the college coaches up-to-date on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic progress while in high school
Chapter 6 - Signing The National Letter Of Intent
Many parents and student-athletes think that they must sign the National Letter of Intent in order to play intercollegiate athletics. However, signing this legal contract is totally voluntary. By signing a National Letter of Intent, a prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the designated college or university for one academic year.
Sometimes it is not to the advantage of the student-athlete to sign this document. This chapter will give you some important information in regards to signing or not signing this legal contract.
Chapter 7 - NCAA Clearing House
If the student athlete is interested in playing college sports at the NCAA Division I or Division II level, they must submit information to the NCAA Clearinghouse. This chapter will outline what the student-athlete needs to do. If the student-athlete only is interested in playing at the Division III or NAIA, registering with the NCAA Clearing House is not necessary.
Chapter 8 - Understanding How Athletic Scholarships Work
Most parents and student-athletes feel athletic scholarships are always tax-free and normally high schools and colleges define athletic scholarships as merit based aid. The truth is there are two types of athletic scholarships (1) Qualified Athletic Scholarships and (2) Nonqualified Athletic Scholarships. This chapter will tell you the difference between the two and by knowing the difference could put an additional $9,600 of additional dollars in the families budget that can be used to pay for college expenses.
Chapter 9 - How To Pay For A College Education If Your Student-Athlete Does Not Get A Full Athletic Scholarship
Any successful coach enters competition with more than one game plan. Therefore, the family of a student-athlete should also have a GAME PLAN B as a backup. In this chapter, parents and student-athletes will learn how to pay the remaining cost of a college education if the athlete does not receive a full athletic scholarship. Game Plan B is very important if the student-athlete were to lose their scholarship due to injury, fails academically, quits playing intercollegiate athletics, or only gets a partial offering. This chapter will show you have to offset most, if not all, of the educational costs.
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