2009 Football Recruiting Checklist for athletes with recruiting interest

Where has the time gone?  It is now already August and football players throughout the country are in the midst of getting the season underway shortly.  Some states will be starting games sooner than others but the main theme here is the football season is FINALLY here.

My hope is that the off-season has been extremely productive for athletes and families.  Hopefully you have had an opportunity to take visits, speak with college coaches, and just get a better overall feel for the football recruiting process.  Regardless of where you are at, we have put together a football recruiting checklist for the upcoming season.  Find out what you should be finalizing before the first game kicks off.

I personally am a big fan of preparation.  I would rather have my tasks done early than scramble and try to do them late.  The reason is because it usually costs more and there is added stress.  That is why I am bringing readers this checklist before the season even gets underway.  Doing the work beforehand will save you a lot of hassle latter on.  Anyways, here are some things to make sure you focus on.

Game tapes for an eventual highlight video

When making a highlight tape, you can only do so much with the footage provided.  So before the season starts, you need to make sure that you can get your hands on game tapes early in the season.  I would also be confident about the quality of the tapes.  If the high school does the games but the quality is garbage, then your family needs to figure out another solution for this.  Dad, mom, or a sibling may need to take the camcorder out and shoot the game yourself.  It is worth it to make sure the quality is good as it will show on your eventual highlight video.  Your first step is to speak with the high school coach and get your hands on a tape from last year.  If the quality is good, talk to them about getting a copy of the first few game tapes this year because it is needed in a highlight video.  If you are a senior, get the first three games.  If you are younger, than wait until the end of the season to put together a highlight video.  Just make sure that you can get copies of the games and the quality is good enough to showcase your skills.

Have a highlight video option lined up

I have heard from many parents who at the end of the football season are behind and scrambling to get a football highlight video produced as soon as humanly possible.  That is why doing the work early on is something that will pay dividends down the road.  The first option is if any of the coaches on the team does a highlight video.  If they do, make sure to see a previous copy.  If it is good, ask about time it takes and make sure you know when to find another option.  If you can do it yourself, even better.  The other option is to speak with a variety of companies that do highlight videos.  I stress that it is important to work with someone who only does highlight videos and not weddings or graduations.  The reason is because you need someone who knows what college coaches are looking for (see www.highlight-videos.com for a company that we recommend).

Have you recruiting profile ready

If you are already being recruited, then you should already have your recruiting profile handy.  Now is the time to update the height and weight.  The fall is when you will be updating stats and sending it out to college coaches with new information.

Be ready for upcoming visits

If there are ten schools recruiting you, take a serious look at your recruiting notes and see which ones are showing you the most attention.  This should help you figure out which ones you will want to visit on Saturdays for their games.  Also speak with your coaches about if there will be Saturday practices because you want to be able to make it to a few college visits.  You don’t want to disobey your coach so just talk to them about it.

Do your research

Once again, take a look at the schools that are recruiting you and find out more about their academics and distance from home.  These are two major reasons why people transfer from colleges.  If they don’t have what you want to study, then I hate to say this, but you probably should cross them off the list (unless of course they have offered).  The reason is because you are going to college to get an education.  You hope that football will pay for it but you are preparing for the next forty years of your life by getting a degree.  And going into the field that you want to head into is important.

Prepare for a great season

Really there is only so much you can do about this but hopefully athletes have used the off-season to their advantage and added weight, strength, and speed.  Not much else to say here really.

Have fun

This could be your final year on the prep football field.  Enjoy yourself and focus on football.  If you do that and let your parents handle most of the recruiting attention, then things will likely go smoothly during the fall.  I have said it before but in most situations, the better your team does, the more opportunities athletes on the team will get.  So help the team win and college coaches will notice.

Recruiting-101 has written a 51-page E-Book that helps parents throughout the journey of the recruiting process. This includes an example recruiting profile, a step-by-step time line, and much more. It is currently available for sale for only $10.00.  Find out more about purchasing the e-book and what else is included by clicking here now!

Recruiting-101 has put together a 25-page e-book on how to Produce a Scholarship Worthy Highlight Video.  It breaks down the overall process of creating a Highlight Video and gives step by step instructions for football and basketball recruits.  Click here to learn more about the e-book now, which is currently on sale for only $7.50!

For position by position help throughout the football recruiting process, Recruiting-101 has put together a 28-page guide to help athletes get a better feel for what college coaches are looking for at each spot.  Click here to learn more about the e-book now, which is currently on sale for only $5.00!