A Glimpse Into High School Football Recruiting

By Coleen Cote


The world of high school football recruiting is very serious business. Colleges compete fiercely against each other to get the best players to come to their college. Fans an experts are also keenly interested in the process. Everyone wants to know where the top players are going so that they can determine which teams will remain at the top. The athletes are offered scholarships to complete a degree and join the colleges football team.

Getting some of the best athletes is extremely important. Colleges realize that coaching players can only improve his level of play so far the athletes must have raw talent and be of a particular size to begin with. The colleges who get the best players have the greatest chances of being the top contenders to win the national college football championships. This helps the institution to maintain the reputation of its sports program. The strongest teams attract the best players.

Recruiters must also consider the athletes academic ability and his physical stature. The athletes academic record must be sufficient to gain admission to the college. This will be determined by his GPA (grade point average)and SAT scores. Recruiters prefer athletes to have already attained a certain height depending on the position they will be playing.

Identifying the players the colleges want is the first order of business for the recruiters. This task is almost always initiated on the internet. Websites that contain profiles of the high school athletes are utilized. The websites are a great tool that can be used to compare the players and identify who they want to target from all over the country. Recruiters also get out to games and watch the players in action. Athletes themselves will sometimes seek out the programs that they would like to be apart of and contact the relevant recruiters.

The recruiting process is governed by strict rules laid down by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) the body that regulates college football. If the NCAA rules are not followed colleges they may face fines or punishment for illegal recruiting practices. These rules serve to protect the student athletes who are young and vulnerable.

Colleges start to court the athletes early so that they may become familiar with the colleges program and develop a preference for it. According to the NCAA recruiting rules college camp brochures and questionnaires may be given to freshmen and sophomore high school players. Junior players can get recruiting materials by mail starting September 1 of that school year and one phone call from the recruiter between April 15 and May 31.

The recruiting process really intensifies in the senior year. Starting September 1 college recruiters may call the senior year athletes weekly. They can make formal appointments to the school after the players classes begin. The rules also allow off campus contact between July 1 and when the season begins.

National Signing Day is usually the first Wednesday in February. This is the first day that a senior may sign a National Letter of Intent for college football. This means he has signed a binding agreement to attend that college and that college will give him a scholarship. The player may no longer be courted by other colleges. Players may commit to a college of their choice at any time but they can still be courted by other colleges and change their minds until they have signed a National Letter of Intent on or after National signing Day.This is the culmination of high school football recruiting.




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