Around this time every school year, student-athletes from around the country are receiving offers dealing with athletic scholarships from multiple schools. This holds true for AHS where student-athletes have already begun signing National Letters of Intent to continue playing a sport in college.

With this being said, there are steps that can be taken that will improve, not guarantee, one’s chances of earning an athletic scholarship by their senior year.

1 Dedication is key

It is important to participate in a sport throughout most if not all years of high school. Not only does this show dedication to a sport but it also improves a student-athletes skill set in the sport. Should they receive an offer from a college, they will be better prepared.

2 Join travel teams

High school sports are not always the most competitive when compared to more advanced travel teams. Joining a travel team for a sport will allow for different kinds of practices and more challenging games which results in greater skill improvement. A number of travel teams also attend scout tournaments.

3 Post recruiting highlight videos

Posting highlight videos from a sport online to a platform such as Hudl, or sending in individual highlights to college coaches is another to attempt to gain recognition among college scouts.

4 Attend college visits

An effective step to take towards earning an athletic scholarship is to attend college visits to those colleges of your interest. Depending on the school, coaches are typically present at visits which gives the opportunity for the student athlete to speak with coaches and ask questions about their sports program of interest at the school.

5 Work to keep your grades up

Aside from steps that can be taken in a sport to improve chances at an athletic scholarship, grades are just as important. When colleges make athletic scholarship offers to student athletes, grades get looked at and are factored in just as much as achievement in sports and athletic skill and capability. Grades could be the deciding factor when an athletic scholarship offer is to be made.