Football -Junior -November

Junior Season Highlight Video

You should by now have a personal webpage developed and up, a recruiting profile developed and sent if you already have significant stats racked up.

It is never too early to get your information into the recruiting data base of the schools where you would like to play and it is never too early to make arrangements for this season’s football highlight video.

 The highlight video from your Junior football season is ultra important. Are you and your parents going to do it, do you have a friend lined up, has your high coach agreed to do it, or will you use a professional service?  DO NOT DEPEND ONLY ON YOUR HIGH SCHOOL COACH to do this  for you, have a back up plan.

 This is something that cannot be allowed to fall through the cracks. Unless you are one of the top 100 recruits in the nation, you will absolutely have to have one before college coaches will even consider you, and in addition, some coaches may also want to also see complete game tapes as well.

 This video should be posted online in as many places as you can find to post it. Your personal athleticl webpage, YouTube, Facebook and other sites where you can post it for free.

 If you decide to use a professional service, look at the examples provided on their site and make sure they have a reputation for producing high quality videos before you fork over your money.

 The higher the quality, the better the college coaches can see your talents. If you are not using a professional service, the same advice holds true; make sure to you get a high quality video regardless of whether you do it yourself, have a friend or your high school coach do it, or hire a professional service.

 In most cases, a poor quality tape will be trashed by the coaches, and your chances of a football scholarship will be trashed with the tape.

Here are some tips that will help get your video watched provided you have some solid talent:

• While your DVD does not have to be made by a professional, make it look as professional as possible.

• On the first screen, list your name, your team’s uniform color, your jersey number and your position.

• Include one or two full game tapes at the end of the highlight portion or make a separate DVD for them.  Be sure to highlight where you are on the field – use an arrow, draw a circle or square or make a light spotlight around your jersey. The idea is to make it easy for the coaches to identify you in the video.

• This may your only chance to make a good impression, put your best plays in the first few frames of the video right after the first screen with your information.  Many coaches will watch only the first few clips.

•  Use ONLY high quality film. No bad lighting or quality issues at all.

•  If you made a sensational play, just include one shot of it.

• Before making your highlight video, make sure that you have high quality full game tapes to choose from.  Good film allows you to make high quality highlight videos.

• Put the DVD in a neat attractive package and do not write on it with an ugly black magic marker.

• Make sure all the DVDs work prior to sending them out. Getting a bad video could easily eliminate you from the competition.

• Include your recruiting profile in the package.

• Include your contact information on the DVD including your home phone number, cell phone number, email address, and home address.

• Also include the following information on your DVD:  Jersey number, height, weight, bench press, 40 time, squat and anything else you think would draw attention to your video.

THINGS TO THIS MONTH:

  Continue sending out your Letter of Introduction and your Recruiting Profile to the schools where you are interested in attending. You’ll find samples of these in our Membership Resource Center. You should have generic versions of these ready so that all you have to do is edit them for each additional school you find.

  When your football season is over, send out updates to the schools that you have already sent initial contact letters to. Remember to keep the coaches informed of all your accomplishments and achievements whether in football, other sports, academic honors, community recognition, extracurricular activities, etc. The coach is looking for excellent football talent but he is also looking for a well-rounded student athlete; one that can handle himself well in all kinds of situations.

  Visit some campuses where you are interested in attending. While there, talk with athletes and students who are not athletes. Talk with professors in your major field of interest. Eat in the cafeteria and try to find out about dorm life. Visit large campuses and small ones. Where do you feel more at home?

  Keep up with your studies. A good GPA makes you more attractive to more coaches. If you have taken the ACT or SAT, request that your scores be sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center. All test scores must come directly from the testing center, high school transcripts showing scores are no longer acceptable. Use code 9999 printed on your ACT or SAT registration packet. You should have registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center. If not, you can register online HERE.

 If you plan to participate in Division I or II college sports, you should obtain a Student Release Form from your high school, complete it and send it to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Prepare your highlight video immediately after your season is over to be sent when coaches request it. Do NOT mass send your video. Instructions for video preparation can be found in our Membership Resource Center. Also, either include a full game tape at the end of your highlight video, or have one handy. Coaches that are really interested in you may want to view a full game tape.

In this section, we’ll not only be guiding you through the mainstream and traditional timelines and methods for paying your college expenses, but we’ll also be researching and including some alternative, unusual and yes even weird ways that you might never have considered.

Add these tips to your Financial Aid Tips file. Remember, there’s plenty of money out there that has to go to someone. It may as well be you.

FINANCIAL AID TIPS:

 Continue financial aid research by exploring grants, scholarships and work-study programs with college financial aid offices and with your high school counselor. You can do a lot of this research online. The internet makes it easier than ever to find cash Free search engines on Fastweb.com and the College Board’s web site, for example, lets students match personal profiles against hundreds of thousands of scholarships.

 Do not pay a fee to see if you qualify for a scholarship. Scholarships are about giving away money, not charging for it. Review PSAT test results with you high school guidance counselor. Talk with your counselor about taking the ACT, SAT or the SAT Subject Tests. Find out which tests are required at your colleges of interest.

 Remember to obtain a Social Security Number. If you don’t already have one, visit the closest Social Security office. Ask your guidance counselor about your different options for paying for college. Having your academic and school records on hand, will enable your counselor to recommend scholarships that you’ll have a good chance to secure.

 What happens if you land a partial athletic scholarship?  Hopefully, by following the guidelines and recommendations outlined in this and the academic section, you’ll be able to secure and academic scholarship to go with it. But, what if when you add all the scholarships together, you’re still short on college funds? Actually, there are literally thousands of ways to find or make the funds to bridge the gap.

• Here are just a few alternative suggestions: check with the college where you will be attending to see if it will provide any financial assistance. Consider a part time or summer job when you’re not practicing. Check the banks for educational loans. Every bank has these types of loans even if you haven’t yet established credit. Shop around for the lowest interest rates.

GRADES GRADES GRADES… How are you doing in this important department?

 Remember by securing one or more academic scholarships, you will make yourself much more attractive to college coaches. If you come to the table with an academic scholarship, the coach may offer you a partial athletic scholarship.

 By combining the academic scholarship with the athletic scholarship, you will still have all your college costs covered and get to play your sport at the collegiate level. This is an important tactic to help you secure your athletic scholarship. Get more serious about your college search. A good place to start is with YOU.

 Make lists of your personal qualities, preferences and abilities. Also write down things you may want to study and do while you’re in college. You’ll be ahead in the game of college planning if you will start reading and researching about majors and careers now. You can use CollegeSearch.com to help you find colleges that have the right characteristics to meet your criteria.

 Start requesting admission and financial aid forms. Get familiar with the Common College Application. The Common Application, found online, covers several areas: personal data, educational data, standardized test information, family information, academic honors, extracurricular activities, work experience, a short answer essay, a personal essay and criminal history.

 Financial aid information needs to be handled on the FAFSA site.  As part of your application, you will be asked for letters of recommendation. Check the Membership Resource Section for guidelines that will help you know who and how to ask for letters.

Things To Do This Month:

Participate in your school’s or state’s career development activities.

Perfect Your Football Skills While Sitting in a Chair

• Mental training is equally as important to the athlete’s performance as physical training. Since your mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is visualized or imagined, mental imagery is an effective method for practicing while not on the practice field. It is a well-known scientific fact that your athletic skills can be perfected either physically or mentally.

• To get the most mileage from your visualization practice time, find yourself a quiet place with no distraction and sit in a relaxed position. Close your eyes and picture yourself performing a particular skill.

• Pretend that you are watching yourself perform this skill on a movie screen or on the practice field. Visualize yourself doing this particular skill step by step. Utilize all your senses (sight, touch, smell and hearing).

• The idea is to use as much detail as possible. For example, what is the weather like, what does the crowd sound like, how does the ball feel as your fingers close around it, or how does the grass on the field smell? If you’ve never tried mental imagery to improve your performance, it may be difficult to realize just how effective this type of training can be. However, if you can repeatedly and correctly visualize completing a skill and if you can believe it to be true, you’re much more likely to make it happen.

New Landmark and Historical Changes In NCAA rulings.

1.  The NCAA board adopted a proposal allows universities to boost their athletic scholarships by as up t o $2,000 to cover the full cost of attendance.  Each conference will be free to vote on whether to adopt the proposal.

2.  High school athletes to be eligible for college play will now be required to have a GPA of 2.3 or higher in their 16 core courses rather than the previous 2.0.  Junior college players will be required to have a GPA of 2.5 or better.  These tougher entrance requirements could force some incoming freshmen to spend their first year in college as an “academic redshirt”.  They would be allowed to practice but not compete.

3.  Multi-Year Athletic Scholarships have been approved though one-year grants are still the minimum.