For Parents
Focus on your academics - Believe it or not, the first thing coaches ask for when they are looking for a prospective athlete is GPA. It is really important to keep your grades up if you want a coach to seriously consider you.
Begin thinking about things that interest you for college. - Choosing the right college is a difficult proposition. Obviously looking for a school that has a sports program and coach that is a match for you is a priority but you need to spend at least as much time, if not more, researching the academic program related to the field of study you are interested in. If you are not happy there you won't be happy overall.
Start gathering your information for your resume - When you present yourself to a prospective coach you need to be prepared. This includes putting together a resume that tells about your grades, athletic highlights and stats and other pertinent information. The AMprospects website provides you with your own online web site to build this resume to share with coaches.
Join a travel team - The best athletes usually play outside of their High School team on travel teams and sports clubs. This gives you greater exposure to other athletes outside of your geographic league boundaries and shows coaches that you are serious about your sport. Many college coaches look to these organizations for the top talent.
Call a few college admissions sports programs - Ask what they look for in potential candidates for their school. This will give you an idea of what to prepare for.
Tasks for Sophomores
Continue to maintain good grades - Because coaches place so much emphasis on attracting athletes with higher GPAs and test scores you need to focus on this if you want to be a serious contender for a spot on any college team.
Prepare game film highlights for college coaches - Coaches want to see you in action, but what if they are in another state? You should have highlight tapes of your play ready to show to them to make their job easier.
Begin to narrow your list of colleges - Take time to visit prospective colleges, talk to the admissions office and get a tour, talk to alumni, and do anything you can to get a feel for the academic, athletic and social aspects of the school. This will allow you to make an informed decision on which colleges to seriously consider.
Keep your information in circulation for college coaches to have access - Keeping the most up to date information available for coaches can be invaluable. Keep your AMprospects profile page up to date to keep visible to coaches on your terms.
Work on speed strength and agility - Stay active and in shape all year round. That is the only way to condition your body to be the best it can possibly be. However good you think you are, there are other athletes out there that have just as much talent and only the ones who are always pushing themselves make it to the very top.
Involve yourself in extra curricular activities - Get involved in other things outside of school. Coaches and admissions offices also look for well rounded athletes with more interests than just sports.
Tasks for Juniors
Maintain Good Grades - Believe it or not, the first thing coaches ask for when they are looking for a prospective athlete is GPA. It is really important to keep your grades up if you want a coach to seriously consider you.
Prepare for the SAT or ACT test - Similar to keeping your grades up, scoring well on the SAT or ACT test can make a coaches decision to choose you over someone else with similar athletic abilities that much easier.
Update your athletic resume and game film - When you present yourself to a prospective coach you need to be prepared. This includes putting together a resume that tells about your grades, athletic highlights and stats and other pertinent information. By this time you be putting together game film that you can show as well. The AMprospects Online Athlete Profile provides you with your own online web site to build this resume to share with coaches. You even have the option of having video clips shown on your website.
Create a list of local colleges that you would consider attending and a few schools outside your area - Choosing the right college is a difficult proposition. Obviously looking for a school that has a sports program and coach that is a match for you is a priority but you need to spend at least as much time, if not more, researching the academic program related to the field of study you are interested in. If you are not happy there you won't be happy overall.
Prepare for your FAFSA - Getting your finances in order and filling out the FAFSA forms correctly can be a daunting task but an essential one unless you want to spend extra thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars on your college education.
Call a few coaches on your list - Let them know of your interest and BE PREPARED to talk intelligently to the coach about why you want to play for them.
Go to the schools athletic website in advance of the call and review the current roster and previous years record.
Compare your skill sets to players they are already working with and why you feel you would be the best candidate for them.
At this point be prepared that the coach may ask for more information about you. THIS IS A GOOD THING. Have this prepared in advance and send it to them and follow up to ensure that they have received it and reviewed it. The faster they get it the better.
Treat this like a job interview! Put your best foot forward.
Tasks for Seniors
Maintain Good Academics - If you have read through the other year's tasks you are probably tired of hearing this but we can not stress it enough. By far the first thing coaches ask us when they are looking for athletes is "I need an athlete with at least an X.XX GPA..."
Update your game film footage and resume - Coaches want to see you in action, but what if they are in another state? You should have highlight tapes of your play ready to show to them to make their job easier.
Determine your FAFSA score before January 1st and apply for it - This process takes a lot of preliminary work so you really should start a few months in advance. Remember, the first people to apply get the money and if you don't fill it out correctly or if you have not positioned your finances correctly you could end up paying much more for your education than you need to.
Narrow the list of colleges down - Narrow your list down to the schools that expressed interest in you and that meet your academic requirements.
Land the opportunity as soon as possible - The sooner you can sign with a school the better but remember, it is not a done deal until both you and the school have signed a formal letter of intent!