By Alyssa Sobolik, SportsForce
www.sportsforceonline.com

School is out for the summer! Now it is time to redirect your focus to life beyond high school. But for athletes who are aspiring to play a sport in college, summer is no snooze. It is time to work hard, get seen and see schools. So what do you need to do and when do you need to do it?

So you just survived your first and second year of high school (phew) and the thoughts of college are beginning to creep into your head. Where do I want to go? What do I want to study? What classes do I need to get into certain schools? As all of this can be somewhat overwhelming, let’s just focus on one aspect at a time.

Freshman/Sophomore/Junior Summer
This is the best time to really get around and see campuses. Loving the school you go to, regardless of sports, is very important. So if you are traveling around to play in tournaments, going on vacation, or visiting family and friends, take advantage of the travels to go see the local colleges to check out the campus and area. While there you can take a campus tour and if you have given a heads up to the coach of your sport, you can even go in and meet with them.

Remember, they cannot call you or contact you in any way, but you can call or email coaches whenever you want. Introducing yourself and making contact with coaches is a great way to increase your exposure to coaches and learn more about programs.

Unofficial Visits:
Try to set up a time to meet with coaches and they might even take you around the campus themselves! Don’t just pop in on a coach without giving them a heads up via email and/or a phone call. Be respectful and they will likely take a little time to meet with you.

This elimination period will be helpful as you enter your junior summer as that is the time when you need to really narrow down your schools and begin to target your goals. By seeing the campuses alone, you will be able to eliminate many schools, thus leaving you with a more reasonable list to deal with.

Benefits of Summer Camps
• Train and work on sports specific skills with highly qualified coaches
• Interact with college coaches and maximize exposure
• Get the experience of living and rooming on a college campus
• Narrow down your list of potential college programs

Summer camps are also very important. While all of your friends are going to Camp Nowhere for fun and kayaking, you need to be going to sports camps for a school that you are strongly interested in. Not only will the camp help improve your skills, but it will give you the most intimate interaction with the college coaches and some of the current players, as they tend to work camps. You will live on campus, interact with and be trained by the coaches, as well as be a part of high intensity competition. It is not only a great way to get to know their style of coaching, but for them to get to know you as a player and whether you will fit in with their program, and vice versa. Select a few college camps that would be great potential all-around college choices for you.

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The SportsForce team, which is comprised of former college and professional athletes and coaches, is relentlessly committed to providing an ongoing education to help you best navigate your journey as a student-athlete, parent or coach to reach your potential.

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