The task that Students Athletes take on their way to College can be overwhelming it’s a confusing process riddled with fast talking people, hundreds of programs promising the world and parents trying to do the right thing with little to no experience. Let us show you how to successfully work through all the smoke and mirrors by taking control of the process. We will give you advice from caring professionals who have experienced the horror stories; they have been there either as Athletes, Coaches, College Admissions Reps, Counselors or Parents

#1 MARKETING YOURSELF

If you truly want to continue in sports at the college level on a scholarship program then you must adopt a focused mindset: from your freshman year on your part time job will be creating a marketing program for yourself. Yes, you are an athlete and a student. But until you become accepted into the college of your dreams you will also be a marketing firm and your company is YOU.

Life Decision

• Student Athletes have the opportunity to set themselves up for life by getting an education and while having a great time playing the sport they love. What they do today will affect them in their retirement because they can use athletics to get start a career.  There is more to life than sports.

Start the Process Early

• College recruiting begins in your freshman year. Thus, it is important to start marketing yourself as soon as possible. This includes building an online profile, collecting and editing video footage, news articles, and references and reaching out to recruiters, sponsors and college coaches.

Rarely do Coaches Discover Athletes

• Spend as much effort on marketing yourself as you do on conditioning your body. Receive better opportunities through a better advertising package.
• Do everything you can to win over your high school, travel team and club/showcase coaches in order to receive better recommendations and get you to better colleges.

Make It Easy, Digital and Credible
PIXORIAL.COM is the Official Video Sharing Platform of Varsity Mentoring

• The easier you make it for a college coach to view your talents the better your chance of being recruited. So put your edited reel and profile online and on an easy to navigate DVD. Only after they have looked at your video will they decide to see you live. Pixorial.com will rip and store your videos for you and produce very high quality DVDs to send to coaches.
  College coaches evaluate student athletes on video (tape, DVD or online) that they have received from credible sources. In other words, they are not spending their energy going to games or viewing unexpected video. You must have your network refer you to the college coaches in addition to sending video.
• Most students dream of playing for the biggest schools in the country not realizing that almost 2000 schools offer scholarships. If you are not in the top1% of student athletes then you should spread your wings and apply to schools that realistically meet your education and athletic abilities.  The key is getting a quality education with sports as the conduit.

Manage Your Opportunity

• You should solicit help from your school, club coaches and travel team mentors. Collect as many written references as possible and exploit your coach’s network (with their blessing). It doesn’t hurt to ask and you will need as many credible references as you can find.
• Realize that it is you, the student athlete, and your family who are going to acquire the scholarship, and not your coach. The harder you work and the more you prepare the luckier you will be.

Play Matchmaker

• Qualifying your potential schools is the best way to up your batting average. By “qualifying your schools” we mean ones that have athletic programs you are best suited, in parts of the country you want to live and with a campus whose educational system interests you (remember, you are not always participating in sports). Additionally, you should consider the social aspects and city vs. rural conditions of the each potential school.
• In regards to athletics, through researching, speaking with your high school coaches and camp mentors- and being realistic with your abilities- you will be able to apply to the right programs that need your skills as the best fit.

This is the end of part 1 of the 3 part series.In Part 2 we will talk about Athlete Evauluations and Camps/Combines.

George Jefferson Founder of Varsity Mentoring and certified College Admissions and Career Counselor has been working with High School Students since 1994 helping them get into and pay for college.In 2008 he launched Varsity Mentoring for the opportunity to help more young adults reach their goals and full potential and create a clearinghouse of products and services for the College-Bound Student-Athlete.

“Our primary goal is to empower the student athlete and help them identify careers and find colleges/schools where they can showcase their skills/talents.We hope to get our students the best education at the best possible price, while allowing them to continue to participate in a sport they love.”
Whether you are a student-athlete,parent or coach feel free to use the resources on our website
If you need more assistance call us at 877-245-5885 Mon-Sat 8AM -8PM EST our visit the website www.varsitymentoring.com