By Grey Joyner
Admission Consultant
If you have athletic talent and want to attend university in the United States, the athletics recruitment process could be beneficial – it could help you in the admissions process and/or result in an athletic scholarship at your dream university. If this intrigues you, there are five keys to athletics recruitment to be aware of.
1. Understand the different types of schools from an athletics recruitment perspective
The athletics recruitment process is different depending on the school you are considering. For those looking to attend a top academic institution, there are three main groupings of universities from an athletic recruiting standpoint:
Division I: these are the most athletically powerful universities, generally larger universities with a strong focus on sports. They often offer athletic scholarships (in exchange, recruits must sign a National Letter of Intent – NLI – to commit to that university once they receive an offer). The athletic bar is very high, while the academic bar varies (will be higher the more academically selective the school is in general). Some examples of top academic universities that have Division I sports are Stanford, Duke and Northwestern.
Ivy League: these universities, while technically a part of Division I, have a slightly different process. They are the most academically selective, and sports often are less important. They do not offer athletic scholarships (and thus recruits do not need to sign NLIs) but instead offer the same need-based scholarships that are available to all admitted students. The athletic bar is generally not as high as it is at other Division I schools, but the academic bar is very high.
Division III: these are generally smaller universities that prioritise academics over athletics. Similar to Ivy League schools, they do not offer athletic scholarships, and the athletic bar is lower. The academic bar varies by school, but some schools are quite competitive, for example Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin and Pomona.
2. Build your athletic resume
It is important that you have a strong athletic resume to catch the eye of coaches. This resume should contain your stats, achievements, results, measurements, position – anything relevant to your specific sport. You should also include some well-edited highlight reels – you can put these on Youtube or Vimeo, or create your own website.
It can help to start early on this, but you also want to get to a point where you are satisfied with your performance before widely sharing this resume.
It also helps to include your academic performance (specifically your grades/GPA/class rank and SAT or ACT score) as well as a brief overview of your extracurricular activities. This part of the resume should be short.
3. Identify realistic target schools
Once you are satisfied with your athletic performance and resume, you can compare your abilities with athletes at other schools. You can find details about their performance on the team website, on third-party college sports websites, on athletes’ LinkedIn pages, or through platforms like NCSA or FieldLevel.
If your performance is as good or close to the performance of athletes at a given school, then you likely have a shot at getting recruited there. If your performance is a ways off, then you either need to work on improving your performance or consider a less athletically rigorous school.
When identifying target schools, it is important to not only consider whether you are able to compete athletically, but also whether you have the academic chops to get in (more on that below) and whether the university is a good personal fit for you.
4. Be proactive in reaching out to coaches
In some cases, coaches will reach out to athletes that they are interested in, but most of the time you will need to be proactive. You can find contact details for coaches on the team’s website or on platforms like NCSA or FieldLevel. When you have a strong athletic resume, send it by email to coaches with a short (one-paragraph) email. If you do not hear back, you can try calling or even just show up to their office (if you are in the US).
Coaches will likely get back to you about setting up phone conversations to better understand your athletic and academic performance as well as your personal characteristics. These personal traits are quite important as well – coaches want athletes who are mature, hard-working, good team players and can balance athletics with academics, so make sure to highlight these qualities in all interactions with coaches.
In year 12, recruits may receive offers to attend official visits to universities. This is a chance to meet coaches in person as well as athletes and other students at the university. It also gives you a chance to experience the university and campus first hand. Universities will generally pay travel expenses, however they may not have the budget to do so for international athletes; if you are overseas, you may need to pay your own way or settle for video chats. Being overseas, though, does not disadvantage you – if a coach likes you, they will still look to recruit you.
5. Still prioritise academics
Ultimately, getting into one of these universities will be about more than just athletic performance. All universities will have an academic bar that recruits must meet. This bar will be highest for Ivy League universities and other academically selective colleges that do not offer sports scholarships, while the bar will be slightly lower at most large Division I colleges (although the athletic bar is higher).
At Ivy League universities, recruits are given an Academic Index (AI) score based on a combination of their grades and SAT/ACT score. Coaches must craft a team that has an average AI of a certain number (different for each school). This number is usually a bit lower than what it would be for the non-athletes, but not too far off. Coaches then try to find recruits that have a strong balance of AI and athletic performance – the better your athletic performance relative to team average, the more leeway you likely will have with your AI (however it still must always meet minimum benchmarks for that school). At Division III schools, the process is similar, although AI is not officially used.
The process is somewhat similar at Division I universities, where coaches are given a limited number of roster spots on their team, so they must pick which recruits to offer these spots to. At these universities, however, academics matter less as long as the recruit meets minimum standards. While the academic bar may be lower, these are usually sporting powerhouse schools, so competition for those athletic scholarships is quite high.
At all of these schools, if the coach wants you, he or she can officially support you through the admissions process, and you will be fast-tracked to a likely admittance. If the coach decides not to, he or she can still submit a letter of recommendation in your application, however you will still be considered alongside all other non-athlete applicants.
Conclusion
If you have athletic talent, it could potentially help you get into the school of your dreams and even possibly land you a scholarship. The athletics recruitment process can get a bit complicated, though, especially for international athletes. If you follow these five keys, you will be in a good position. If you want a more detailed understanding of the athletics recruitment process, timelines, and how you should personally strategize, then reach out to Elite Admission and we can help.
