Football Scholarships - Do You Have What It Takes?

Are you interested in football scholarships? There are literally thousands of high school football players each and every year who are hoping and dreaming of playing football at the next level.

The NFL is now the most popular professional sport and it's popularity has translated to football being played more than ever at the grass roots level of high school. For every scholarship available at the college level, there is a huge amount of competition.

If you want to step out from your competition and get on the radar of college coaches, you need to know what college coaches are really looking for when they recruit high school football players for scholarships. Understanding what coaches are really looking for in the athletes they recruit can give you a huge advantage over your high school competition.

Here is a list of six key things coaches are looking for in the players they are recruiting:

1) Skills And Talent

To play at the next level of foo tball, you simply can't be an average high school player. It doesn't mean you have to be a blue chip or elite level player that has been recruited since coming out of diapers, but you must have above average skills and talent. Keep in mind there are college of all sizes and division levels across America. Just because you may not have the talent and skills to play at a school like Alabama, Florida or Oklahoma doesn't mean you can't play at some level of competition.

2) Physical Size

College football and basketball are probably the two most size sensitive sports. Coaches are going to look for players who have the physical height and or weight to compete at their division level. There are many players each year at the high school level who probably have the talent to play at some level of college football, but they simply lack the physical size required for the college game.

3) Strength

Football demands strength, there is no way around it. To play at the next level and to be considered for football scholarships you simply must have the strength to compete. Obviously, the strength requirement to play a wide receiver vs. playing a linebacker are totally different, but you need to have the strength to play the position you want to be recruited for. The good news is that strength is a factor you can work on and improve while you are still in high school.

4) Speed

The college game is much faster than the high sc hool game. Coaches will take a serious look at your speed based on the position they have in mind for you to play for them. Once again, speed is position specific but overall speed is a vital factor in the recruiting process.

5) Mental Toughness

Football is truly a demanding game. When you make it to the college level, the intensity of the practices, the weight lifting, the workouts, and the games all goes up a level. It takes mental toughness to take the grueling demands of being a college football player. Coaches will take a serious look at whether or not they believe you have what it takes to compete mentally.

6) Academics

If you can't stay qualified to play based on academics, then all the other factors we have already talked about just don't matter. Coaches recruit multiple players for every spot on their roster. Grades and the ability to stay qualified to play are a huge factor in determining who gets the scholarship offer.

Summary

T hese are six of the most vital factors college coaches will be looking at when or if they recruit you. If you need to work on any of these six areas, you need to spend the time trying to improve before you reach your senior season in high school. Some players wait too late in their careers to really work on these factors and their opportunity to play in college simply slips away.

For most players, being recruited for football scholarships does not happen overnight, it is a continuous work in progress. Each and every year some very good players fly under the radar of college coaches. If you find yourself in this situation, you need to take control of your recruitment and market and promote yourself to college coaches. If you have some or all of the six factors described above going for you, coaches will be thrilled to hear from you!

0

Why Football Scholarships Are A Big Deal

Football season is upon us at every level and with it high school student athletes start vying for college athletic scholarships. High school football players see the big college and pro games and they dream of playing for a big name university and then going on to the pros. Football scholarships are up for grabs they think, but it is a little more difficult to landone of these golden full ride scholarships than a typical high school football player would think.

They have been told that these valuable sports scholarships will pay them to continue playing football and they will also pay for their college tuition and other expenses. This can be true, but there are several different types of football scholarships.

Many times football student athletes and their parents get caught up in the whirlwind of college football and college recruiting without knowing what a college football scholarship really means. In fact, there are a couple of different reasons to accept a football scholarship, but the main reason should always be to get all or part of your college education paid for.

Many athletic scholarships are only partial scholarships and will pay only for a portion of your college expenses while others are full ride scholarships. These full ride football scholarships pay for all your expenses while you play football, however they typically go from year to year.

While right now you are excited about continuing to play football in college, the most important consideration of your college athletic scholarship should be that it will allow you to obtain a college degree, a higher education that will support both you and your family throughout your lifetime. It isn't just a way of prolonging your playing career, although it does offer that advantage.

A large percentage of student football players just focus on playing football in college, hoping they will get picked up by the pros. Do these lucky gentlemen make a ton of money? You bet! However, the proven fact is, most don't get to play pro ball.

So why not have best of both worlds? Train, condition and continue to play the game you love and at the same time get a college education. A college education will allow you to learn more about a particular field, which may be sports, or business, or medicine or who knows.

I am sure you have heard other people talk about the many advantages of a college education, but it you are like most young student football players, the tremendous advantages just haven't hit home yet.

One main advantage is that it allows you, with very few exceptions, to make more money over the course of your life than those who fail to get a college education. That is very significant; think what that could mean for you and your family.

Studies show that college graduates make more money, live in nicer homes, and enjoy more and longer vacations and more expensive vacations than their counterparts who have only completed high school.

If you play your cards right, you have a good chance of having your education paid for...interested? I am not saying that every single college graduate is more successful than a high school graduate; there are exceptions. I am just saying statistics say overall this is typically the case.

So, what can you do to get one of these coveted football scholarships? Find out the steps required to get a college athletic scholarship and then systematically follow those steps. Does that mean that everyone can get a Division I full ride football scholarship? Of course not, it does mean that there are thousands of football scholarships available every year in the US.

You just need to make the firm decision that you will take the steps needed to obtain one of these football scholarships. Then you have to give your all each step of the way. It is just like at the beginning of a Friday night ball game there is no guarantee your team will win, but you play the game to find out if you are the ultimate winner.

0