Lots of athletes assume an sports scholarship will cover
all fees and the duration will be a full ride, however
this is not the case. It is important to understand what
your scholarship covers.
You probably are a great golfer, soccer player or
football player and you have won many awards, known
in your local community and have the ability to go
pro one day. You might be an average athlete that
turns up to practices on time and has a great work
ethic. With either of these in mind you probably
feel as though you are a sure thing to receive a
scholarship, not necessarily.
Athletes USA distinguishes this as the biggest
mistake among sports athletes with college
aspirations. Although being a good athlete is
important most coaches are more concerned with
academics. Athletes need to understand that in order
play you must have a steady academic standing and be
able to pass their schools classes.
Universities are four year institutions providing
education in a number of different fields including,
business, law, sciences, psychology, and media to
name a few. After four years as an undergraduate a
student may wish to continue his or her education in
a graduate program.
Not all colleges participate at the same level and
are placed into various divisions based on the
overall ability of school’s athletic department. The
vast majority of schools compete at the NCAA
(National Collegiate Athletic Association). The NCAA
is divided up in three divisions, I, II, and III.
The top division is division I, anyone who is
familiar with college athletics will be most
familiar with division I since most of the televised
college sports are from the division I level.
Division I athletics is not for everyone and may be
better suited to division II or III depending on
your athletic needs. It should also be noted that if
you are looking to participate in more than one
sport, division III can provide you with this
opportunity, however most division III institutions
do not provide athletic scholarships to students. I
final option for athletes is NAIA (National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), this
division of college athletics is made up of smaller
private schools throughout the US.
Junior college or community college offer students a
two year alternative from four year institutions.
Two year institutions give students the opportunity
to complete an associate’s degree while still
playing college athletics. Normally
students will attend junior college for the
following reasons.
-
Improve grades to become eligible for NCAA
institutes
-
Were not excepted to a NCAA program (after
graduating from junior colleges student-athletes have
the opportunity to transfer to four year institutions
Playing on a winning team or winning individual
tournaments will not guarantee you a sports
scholarship, nor will interest from outside
recruiters. There is plenty of attention required by
the individual to ensure that they are correctly
accepted in to an athletics program.
Being prepared for any situation is vital when going
through the recruiting process. Athletes may face a
situation where everything is seemingly a done deal
and at the last moment lose their scholarship for
one reason or another. When faced with a problem
like this it is important to have information at
your disposal so that you can rectify the problem as
quickly as possible and find another institution.
Some points to consider:
- What do I want to
achieve from my sports scholarship?
- Do I have ambitions of
taking my game to the next level after college?
- Do I value academics
over athletics or vice versa?
Finding the answers to these three simple
questions should help you create a short list of
schools when making your final decision.
Working with Athletes USA - Sports
Scholarship Agency
Athletes USA is an awarding winning sports
scholarship agency known for gaining many 100%
sports scholarships. We assess many great
athletes who aspire to join our programs. Our
top college recruitment program is The Exclusive
Program, its hard to be excepted onto mainly due
to the fact we only except the best sports
athletes. College coaches know that athletes on
our Exclusive Program have been put through
there paces and will be able to make an impact
on the college team.
