It seems that when talking to different recruits, there are two different camps that the athletes sit in. The first is those that are fully aware of what college programs have been recruiting them. They know what level these schools are at, which ones they have visited, and which schools that they seem to like the most.
The second group varies differently from the first group. These are the athletes who don't really have much recruiting interest so when the question is asked, they do as much as they can to avoid it and not answer it. They will say things like "a bunch of Division II and III schools are recruiting me but none are serious" or "there haven't been any major offers yet so I am just waiting." The reason that they use these answers is because they think that over time, the recruiting attention will just come. The problem with that is if you don't take control of the athletic recruiting process, you are going to be waiting a very long time before that interest comes.
So why am I not being recruited? I decided to put together a list of excuses from athletes over time. The more I hear these, the more annoying that it gets. Anyways, onto the excuses.
I am waiting for my senior season
This one is completely ridiculous. The longer you wait for the recruiting process to come to you, the worse your college choices will be when making a final decision. The old adage goes that if you are good enough, they will find you. But they are Division III schools that will cost you thousands of dollars in loans.
I was hurt
While there is a valid point to this, do you have tape of your junior or senior year? Unless you were hurt both years (than you can use this excuse and it may actually time to retire from the sport you keep getting hurt in), then there still should be footage and stats to send to college coaches. Being hurt does make things harder but it is honestly not a realistic excuse.
I need a professional video?
You do need some video clips that show you skills as clearly as possible. But these do not need to be any Walt Disney production. Just take some clips of you in action on a practice field. Then, film you games and when you have some good clips in those games, edit them, save and add them to your profile.
I didn't have the money to go to camps
Camps are great but putting together a recruiting profile and emailing college coaches is basically free. You can do these things easily even if you don't have the cash laying around to attend the summer camps.
My team wasn't very good
There are a lot of bad teams out there. And even with teams that I have seen go winless, players from those teams have received multiple Division I scholarship offers. It is what you do as an individual, not as a team, that will help you garner scholarship offers.
My coach doesn't help me during the recruiting process
This is a common problem that occurs all the time. You are relying on your travel coach to take care of the recruiting process for you. I have always stressed and will continue to stress that you and your family must take care of the recruiting process yourself. Handing it off to a coach or a service will likely leave you disappointed in the end.
I had bad tape to make a highlight video
If you were smart and looked ahead in the recruiting process to see how bad the footage would be, then you could have taken steps to find other means of getting video. Don't use this as an excuse if you are trying to get the recruiting process started late. This is something that you need to do your leg work beforehand.
I was playing a different position than I was being recruited at
This does make it tough at times for college coaches but these coaches also can see the athleticism on tape. If you are playing third base and they want you an outfielder, then you better show some great athleticism. Making that move to another position is not always easy but not a good excuse.
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