Advice for parents

I recently spoke with a parent who has a son that is a very talented football player.  This linebacker/running back plays for one of the top teams in his state and is among a number of talented athletes on his team.  The father is/was confused about the recruiting process and in my opinion, the majority of parents are in the same boat.  They are unsure what to do so they decide to do nothing.  Since I am confident about what I told him (Including linking him to this website, which means he will probably read this), I thought it would be good advice for other parents out there who seem lost in the recruiting process. 

The first step, which he already has done, is put together a strong profile sheet on his son.  Click here to see that article, which was among the first that I actually wrote for this site (Really it was not all that long ago).  Clicking on that article will give parents advice who have not done this in the past and I actually plan to offer help in the future for those who are having trouble with this.  But anyways, make sure you have a strong profile that tells the coaches more about your son or daughter. 

The second step, and this is something that I have been linking a lot as of late, is to take a look THIS WEBSITE because it lists colleges across the country and includes what states that they are located in.  I have no affiliation to this website but a parent recently sent me the link to it and I can say that it really is amazing.  Anyways, talk to your son or daughter about what they want out of a college and where they want to go to college at.  This really should be a long process and something that allows users to learn more about what your kids want out of college.  If anything, do it with your son or daughter and it could actually be a good bonding experience.  One quick note is please do not use every link and send your profile to them.  What you need to do is be realistic about what level your child can play and look at those schools (Only a certain number of football players can go to USC and play there). 

After sending out the profiles, get responses back from coaches and get a feel for how serious they are.  This is the time when it is important to have a highlight video already made because coaches will be requesting it if they think that your child could be a serious option.  Going through that website and finding potential schools is a great way to broaden the recruiting scope as well as figure out about schools that you have never heard of.  For those without highlights tapes and in need of one, CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

This is a process that I have seen first hand work for a parent and their child.  Instead of taking the Division III route that would have happened, the parents were aggressive and did a nice job marketing your son.  With these simple steps, it is the same process that this family did and that ended with their son receiving a full ride at the college level (It included athletics and academics, which is a whole other story).  To do a good job, it is important to take your time in this process but it can be well worth it.  This is how an under recruited state can help open doors to colleges that normally would have never recruited that area in the past.