Not many high school students are 100 percent sure what their major will be in college, but most at least have an idea what subjects interest them . If an athlete is a female lacrosse player, and she is interested in majoring in sports management, her options for college that offers both that major and that sport could be narrow. Does the school have a diversity of majors available? Remember that college is a time of exploration and discovery. Students should not limit themselves to majors and careers they have heard about in high school. They are sure to find out about majors and careers they never knew existed and one of those may be the perfect fit.

Student athletes should consider the following questions:

Does the school have a diversity of majors that interest me?

Is the academic level at this college too demanding? Will I be in over my head, or will I be bored because it is not challenging enough?

Are the admissions requirements the same or more rigorous than the NCAA minimum for elgibility?

Will I want or need tutoring , and if so is there tutoring available for athletes?

What is the school’s graduation rate for scholarship athletes in my sport?

Do former student-athletes have interesting careers and good jobs? Are they successful?

Are there many internships avalible?

Jim Goranson was a successfully recruited student – athlete who found out the hard way about the pitfalls of choosing the wrong college. Jim started out with a full footballs scholarships to a big ten university. He graduated high school with a 23 ACT and 3.2 GPA.

Even though Goranson played on a team that went to a sugar bowl he was quickly disillusioned with the “businesses side” of being on such a high-profile team.

“My school wanted me to focus on football” said Goranson “No matter what the sugarcoating was, I was playing at a high level, and my football team was a business with a bunch of money involved. The coaches were paid to have results on the football field, so they discouraged anything that might compromise this. I wanted to take a psychology class, but counselors told me not to because it would hurt my GPA, which might make me ineligible for the team.”

If athletes want to succeed at a high level, they have to be okay dealing with the business side of the sport. Some players are, especially those who want professional careers but Goranson was not one of those athletes. Goranson wanted an academic education and when a coach told him that he should put more effort into football and less into classroom activities, he knew it was time to change. He sough help from recruiting service and transferred to a college that placed a higher emphasis on academics.

Jim went on to graduate in 2005 with a degree in English, a concentration in journalism and a minor in history. And he stresses, “I was able to write a book of poetry. I acted in plays. I had my own television show while I was there. I know I would have never been able to do that at my former college .”

Fast Fact: The average student changes majors four times and will change jobs twenty-five times throughout life, which is why a good education support staff at a student’s college

My Athletes Wanted Story

Callie Hemming

DePaul University

Soccer

NCSA Social Media Intern

My high school recruiting experience was different from most athletes in high school. However it was still full of highs and lows, and at times feelings of frustration and defeat.  I was fairly proactive in my process starting freshman year of high school I began to seriously consider what I could do to be recruited for college soccer. My sophomore year was when the recruiting process became more serious.

I was lucky enough to be a part of a club team who attended a college showcase nearly every weekend, giving me the opportunity to be seen by hundreds of college coaches. Before each tournament, I would find the list of college coaches coming to the tournament, and send out personal emails to every coach, giving them my recruiting profile and also attaching my schedule for the weekend. I wanted to make sure these coaches knew who I was before they came to the tournament with hundreds of other soccer players.

Around this time, I went on many college visits to schools with successful athletic programs, such as NC-Chapel Hill, Duke, Big 10 Schools, etc. It was here that I thought I would be able to go to these schools, where I would eventually learn was not going to happen. After receiving scholarship offers from many DI schools from the MAC, Big East, and Big 12, I learned to broaden my college search a bit. I ended up eventually verbally committing to a DI school in Georgia by the end of my junior year in High School.

I had gone on my unofficial and official visit to this school and thought the recruiting process was over for me and felt a huge sigh of relief. However, as the signing date got closer and closer, I realized I was not ready to leave the Midwest and decided to de-commit.

Here I was, in my senior year, back at square one. Learning that most DI programs were done with their 2007 recruits, I began to think my dreams of playing college soccer were over. For some reason I had convinced myself not to walk-on somewhere. Deciding that I was not ready to give up on my dream to play D1 college soccer I decided to reach out to a few more schools.

I was able to get the DePaul University coach to come watch me play in one of my high school games. I ended up receiving a scholarship to play for DePaul, in one of the most competitive soccer conferences, the Big East, where I was a 4-year starter. DePaul ended up being the best academic and athletic fit for me. However getting through the recruiting process was not an easy as I thought it was going to be, giving up would have been easy but sticking with it was definitely worth it.

Last night Tom Lemming and NCSA held the Annual Tom Lemming All Area Banquet to honor Chicago Lands top football players of 2011. So who is Tom Lemming and why is he honoring these student athletes?

Tom Lemming remains one of the leading experts on college football recruiting and high school talent. Tom Lemming, a Chicago native, got his start as a stringer for suburban Chicago weeklies covering high school football games. In 1978, he began scouting football prospects, logging his findings in a newsletter he circulated to college coaches and fans alike. Tom Lemming was called “the mailman” as he delivered information about the best recruits to hundreds of college coaches and football fanatics by personally interviewing and scouting players from coast to coast.

The Chicago Sun-Times sponsored the all-area banquet honoring prep football standouts from the Chicago Land Area for two decades, however eventually chose to no longer sponsor this idea. Tom Lemming decided to step in to sponsor the event, since he was already a large part of selecting the student athletes.

The event was held at Galleria Marchetti who made a wonderful meal for the families to enjoy. The NCSA events team did a wonderful job organizing and coordinating the event and the night turned out to be a huge success. The 2011 banquets honored speaker last night was Notre Dame Football coach Brian Kelly.Brian Kelly Speech Below are the athletes who were honored at last night’s event, listed by name, grad year and high school. Special honorees include Athlete of the year Jordan Westerkamp a senior from Moniti, who lead his team to a state championship and has committed to the University Of Nebraska.  Coach Randall Townsel Hales Franciscan High was honored with the Ath-Lead-Er-Ship award for giving back to his community and empowering leaders through sportsRandall Townsel Speech. Lastly Coach John Ivlow from Bolingbrook high school was named Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 14-1 record and a state championship win.Coach of the Year Speech

Once again thank you to Tom Lemming for keeping this event an important part of Chicago, as well as to NCSA and founder Chris Krause for the sponsorship, to all of the athletes, coaches and their families.

The recruiting process can be very overwhelming and difficult for student athletes. On average a college coach only has 500 dollars to recruit for the entire year. With over 7.3 million high school athletes in the United States and countless others across the world it is important to make yourself stand out. However you do not want to make a coach remember you in a negative way, you want to present yourself as the best possible candidate to receive an athletic scholarship. Many of the things below seem like common sense but often athletes below forget these rules. Below are three places where I see student athletes falter the most often

Social Media

While Facebook and twitter should be a place where you can relax, post silly pictures and funny jokes on your friend’s walls and twitter feeds, the reality of the situation is that coach’s look at these sites to see “the character” of the athlete that they are recruiting. Even if you have your page set to private there are always ways to get around that, maybe your friends page that isn’t private has pictures of you or posts from you that do not put you in the best light. I always tell athletes to think before you post something on the internet, if you even hesitate for a second to post it… DON’T. If it is not something you would want your Grandmother to see then it should not be posted. Once something is online it is there forever even if you delete it, it can always be found. Simple things like having an inappropriate default of yourself “flicking off” the camera can turn coaches off from recruiting you. Even having an inappropriate twitter handle name with crude language could potentially show a coach that you do not have the correct reputation or character that he wants on his team.

Email

Just like your twitter handle you need to make sure that your email address is appropriate, it seems like a small thing but it could be the difference between a coach opening your email or deleting it. Your email address name is the first impression a coach will get from you.  A first impression is a lasting impression, and it is hard to overcome a bad first impression. Have a simple email address usually your first and last name is best and easy to identify. Furthermore you need to have proper grammar, English and punctuation when emailing. You need to speak clearly and specifically explain to the coach why you are contacting him.  Make sure you spell out all your words do not use “U” for you, or “da” for the, or “r” for are. A coach needs to know that you can handle yourself well and represent his program to the highest esteem as well that you are educated enough to write an email before he admits you to his university.

Phone Conversations/ Voice Mail

Talking on the phone can be awkward for student athletes at first but after 5-10 phone calls that athlete should begin to feel more comfortable. However even as the student athletes become comfortable they still need to be prepared for a coach’s call. Next to the phone should be a prepared list of answers to questions that coaches may ask you as well questions that you want to ask the coach about the school or the program. Talking with a coach should be a two-way street not only should a coach be getting a sense of who you are, you need to be getting to know the coach as well. It is important that you speak clearly so that the coach can understand you, just like when writing an email you need to be formal when speaking to a coach. You need to remember that you aren’t talking to your best friend. While it is important for the coach to get a sense of your personality, so do not be rigid and quiet but just remember that you need to be professional during these phone calls. Lastly make sure you have a voicemail script written out for when you call coaches. Often time’s kids will fumble their words when leaving a voicemail, by preparing a script ahead of time you will be able to leave a clear and concise voicemail.

My Athletes Wanted Story

Patrick Brown

University of Central Florida

Minnesota Vikings

NCSA Alumni

I have always had a love for sports, throughout my childhood I played soccer, baseball and basketball.  It wasn’t until middle school that I found my love for football; however I only played for my middle school team which was not very competitive. Everyone said I would be a great football player because of my height and quick feet as long as I could put a little weight on my frame. However I kept growing and never put any weight on my frame not to mention I couldn’t find that “aggression” that a lineman should have. When I was a freshman in high school I was 6’2 and barley made the freshmen B team. I played basketball in the off season, lifted weights, attended Don Beebe’s speed camps as well as college football camps. I worked hard throughout high school, and finally made varsity football my junior year. But beyond a few questioners and form letters I was receiving little to no attention from college coaches. I was not being recruited because I was undersized, and I did not know how to play the game of recruiting. I was not being proactive I believed that coaches would come find me. I thought it was my high school jobs coach to promote me in addition to going to camps I thought coaches would notice me. At the end of my junior year my father’s friend Tom Thayer suggested I join NCSA, they were very helpful. NCSA created a highlight video for me in addition they helped me send my information out to college coaches. By senior year I had received more attention but I was still not being heavily recruited, and by the end of my senior season I had not received any offers.

After another loss in the first round of the play offs I began to worry that maybe I was never going to live my dream of playing college football. That is when my highlight film ended up on the desk of three coaches who could see past the skinny lineman and see the potential of a future NFL player. University of Central Florida, Texas Christian University and Western Michigan, began calling my house a couple days a week and inviting me on official visits. My first visit was to UCF, who thrilled me with their brand new campus, top of the line dorm rooms, state of the art facilities and the beginning of a brand new on campus stadium that could seat 70,000. I left feeling like UCF was my school however upon my mother’s urging I chose to visit TCU as well. TCU was a school with a little more history, tradition, a nationally recognized academic reputation, and all around safer choice for me. While I liked Western Michigan at this point is was definitely between TCU and UCF. On the night of February 1^st I still had not made a decision, and I would be signing my NLI the next day. My phone was ringing off the hook from coaches calling to see if I had made any decisions, eventually we had to turn the phone off while I made my decision. I talked it over with my parents for a very long time, finally coming to the decision that I would be a Knight and play under Coach George O’Leary in sunny Orlando. The thrill of being apart of history, and building tradition instead of already being apart of it was too much to resist. I wanted to be a part of the team that would pull a school out of the longest losing streak in the nation to conference champions and bowl games. Which is exactly what we did my freshmen year.

Signing my National Letter of Intent was one of the greatest days of my life. I went on to start as a freshmen left tackle and broke the NCAA record of the most starts in college football. I played every game of my career with 51 starts, never becoming ineligible or injured. Coming out of college I was a free agent and played on several different teams before catching on with the Vikings. I have now played three seasons in the NFL and every day I cannot believe this dream that I am living.  Looking back on the boy who barely made his high school football team, a teenager who almost did not receive a college scholarship, it’s hard to imagine that I am playing at the highest level possible. The best advice I can give athletes is about the recruiting process. No one is going to get you recruited, it’s on your shoulders, if you want to play at the college level give the same amount of effort to the recruiting game as you are giving to your sport. College coaches will not come find you; you must find them and make them remember you. Lastly the best advice I could give to all aspiring athletes is never give up on your dreams, with hard work and persistence anything is possible.

Ask Crystal Smith, a high school track and field athlete from Wisconsin,
about the benefits of athletics, and she will tell you that college would have
been unaffordable were it not for her ability to throw the discus.
“I could have never afforded the $40,000-a-year tuition to Wagner
College,” confirmed Smith’s mother, Cindy. A single mother dedicated to
her daughter’s future, Cindy said that her daughter’s ability to attend college
was entirely a result of her participation in track and field.

According to the Department of Education’s National
Center for Education Statistics, the average student loan
debt among college seniors was a little over $19,000 in
2004. Today, 42 percent of college students graduate more
than $25,000 in debt, according to the Center for American
Progress, and graduate school students have nearly
$46,000 in debt. Adding to the financial stress, one-third of
graduates have more than $5,000 in credit card debt by the
time they graduate. Crystal admitted that she rarely thought of college while in high
school.

“Little focus was put on college, so I never realized how important
furthering my education could be,” she said.

Because Crystal excelled in discus, she earned a full scholarship to
Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. Smith is now a senior with
hopes of graduating on the horizon. After earning her bachelor’s degree in
chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry and minors in math and
biology, Crystal intends to earn a PhD in pharmacological sciences.

How many people in her hometown have a PhD in pharmacological
studies? She will be the first.

While undoubtedly inspiring, Smith’s story is certainly not unique.
Athletes who compete in Division I revenue sports like men’s basketball
also have been unsure of their path to getting an education. Jay Straight
grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes in the South Side of Chicago. During
this time, almost 100 percent of the housing development’s residents were
unemployed, and 40 percent of households were occupied by singlemothers
earning less than $5,000 each year.

Originally intended for eleven
thousand people, the homes’ number of occupants had expanded to nearly
three times that capacity. Gang violence and drug use were commonplace.
Fortunately, Straight was raised by his grandmother, who saw sports as
a way out of the impoverished life. From the time Straight was a young child,
his grandmother found opportunities for him to play, teaching him to ride
the bus across town to attend different basketball practices and clubs on his
own.

By the time Straight graduated from high school, he was among the
best scorers in the country. Recruited by Notre Dame, Marquette, Boston
College, Iowa State, and St. Louis, Straight chose to attend the University of
Wyoming, graduating from college in three and one-half years.
Today, Straight is a professional basketball player who had a seat in the
EuroCup. He has played for teams in Israel, Croatia, Ukraine, France, and
Poland.

“Not bad for a kid from the Robert Taylor Homes,” said Straight.

For kids like Smith and Straight, attending college is becoming more
and more of an obstacle, unless tuition costs are lessened by scholarships
and aid. The College Board, a non-profit membership association composed
of fifty-four hundred schools, colleges, universities, and educational organizations,
reports that despite an increase in tuition prices, federal student
aid is decreasing, making college seem out of reach for even children of
middleclass families.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the average sticker price for a
typical four-year university is about $16,400 a year—which includes room
and board, tuition, books, and ancillaries. The year-to-year increase in
college tuition and fees is outpacing the general inflation rate.

Aggravating matters, the normal public university student now takes more than six
years to graduate, which means the average public college degree is close
to $100,000. But when compared to the student-athlete average scholarship/grantsin-
aid package of $12,850 per year for those who attend public schools and
$21,266 for student-athletes attending private colleges and universities,
these tuition prices become within reach.

Young athletes learn to be team players and manage
conflict.
I would be lying if I said sports are not accompanied by conflict.
Young athletes get hurt, they fight with their teammates,
and they feel overlooked by their coaches. But with proper parenting,
these athletes work through adolescence and become
mature adults, confident to handle and manage conflict, which
they accept as a part of life. Because they had parents, a team,
and a coach supporting them, they aren’t paralyzed when
conflict rears its head. After all, they have likely dealt with
something very similar in the past.
A child who has experienced teamwork enters adulthood
much more equipped, said Coach Chmiel.
“So many things a person experiences while a member of
a team are seamless to the workplace: the ability to get along
with others, the ability to move forward in a group setting,
hard work, and dedication.

And let us not forgot one of the
greatest byproducts: You cannot compete in athletics in this
day and age if you are not color blind,” he said.
Coach Chmiel uses the football huddle as an analogy for

business.  “In a huddle, orders given are unequivocally followed, and
if one person does not carry out his assignment, there is immediate
failure,” Coach Chmiel said. “An athlete cannot look to
the left and challenge someone because of her socioeconomic
status. An athlete cannot look to the right and challenge someone
because of his race. An athlete cannot go to committee
with the play, and there is no room for discussion. An athlete
has thirty-five seconds to listen to the instructions, and then
he must take them and carry them out.”
Does this teach a kid to be a team player? Absolutely, and
this is a big triumph down the line when it comes time to
apply for a job. In fact, almost all of the skills a student-athlete
learns—time management, leadership, team work, commitment,
goal-

Young athletes learn how to lose gracefully and win
graciously.
When I was in the seventh grade, I played on a basketball team
that was undefeated. We were on top of the world, a world we
thought was owned by our seventh-grade basketball team. No
one could beat us. I vividly remember my parents telling me
that they wished we would lose a game. At the time, I did not
understand.

Now I do. Eventually, we lost a game, ending the season
with a 39-1 record. Over the course of my life as an athlete, I
would go on to lose many, many more games. I learned that a
team can work and work and work and still lose in the end. I

learned that a seventh-grade basketball team doesn’t own the
world. I learned to take it one game at a time—that just as easily,
a winning team can become a losing team. I also learned to
respect my competitors, recognizing that regardless of a team’s
record, every competitor has his strengths and weaknesses.
No purer analogy for life’s victories and spills exists than
this.

1. Athletics help a child learn to deal with authority.
Imagine that a young college graduate enters the workforce.
Because academia was always his focus, this is his first experience
as a subordinate.

Though he is well schooled and
competent, he has questions about how to best fulfill the
responsibilities associated with the job. Fresh on the job, he
is not comfortable approaching his boss and admitting his
uncertainties. He has a brilliant idea about running the office
more efficiently, but he is worried about stepping on toes.
Should he approach his boss, or just toe the line?
Now imagine that “the dragon lady” hires the young man.
She runs a tight ship, demands much, and pays little. She is
quick to snap and unwilling to forgive. By the end of his first
week, the young graduate feels a tight knot in his stomach
each time he steps foot into the door. He wonders whether he
should confront his boss or toe the line.

Regardless of a student’s career choices, one thing is for
certain: At some point or another, an athlete will need to contend
with an authority figure without the safety net of Mom
and Dad. Joining sports presents an opportunity for students
to begin learning to take direction and to communicate with
all different types of authority figures. Similar to bosses,
coaches come in every size and shape. Some are intense and
direct; others believe in positive reinforcement. Some are fair
and righteous; others make mistakes often.
“Participating in sports allows a child an opportunity
to approach an adult and express himself,” said Venturi-
Veenema, the athletic director of Regina Dominican High
School in Wilmette, Illinois. “It’s hard for a child to approach
an adult and say, ‘I have a problem,’ but sooner or later, every
child is going to have a problem that needs to be addressed.
Why not allow him to do this in the safest environment? Let
him stumble in the double safety net of parents and a school
system so that later, when Mom

A student-athlete should have a list of questions, as well as a script,
to work from when calling the coaches. The script should include the
following components:

An introduction that

1. Includes the child’s name, city, and high

school.

2. If applicable, acknowledgment that the student received

material from the coach.

3. A request to ask the coach a few questions. Remember

that the coach is a busy person. If he doesn’t have time, the

student should ask when he can call the coach back. If an

athlete calls a Division I or II coach before July 1 or June 15

of his junior year (depending on sport and excluding football

or basketball), the coach is not allowed to return the student’s

call, so if the coach is unavailable, the student-athlete should

ask his assistant when he can reach the coach.

4. A list of questions to ask the coach. Regardless of whether

the student is a freshman or junior, or whether this is the first

or fifth call with the coach, an athlete should always ask two

questions:

• What else would I need to do to have a chance to compete

for your program and earn a scholarship?

• What is the next step I should take with you?

Some students don’t feel comfortable being this direct.

Rest assured that coaches want to connect with qualified

student-athletes as much as student-athletes want to connect

with coaches.