Despite the fact that most scholarships don't fully cover tuition, athletic scholarships are a great way to get a foot in the door if you're interested in having a job in sports.
Did you know there are around 138,000 athletic scholarships that are offered at the Division I and Division II level in the United States? It is a popular misconception that only the best athletes end up getting a sports scholarship to attend school and become a student-athlete. The reality is that if you are a good athlete,
you are good at your sport, and you've got reasonably good academics, you have a strong chance at earning the sports scholarship you may want or need for college. What do you need to know about getting one for yourself?
Most Athletic Scholarships Aren't Actually a Full Scholarship
There are only four sports that offer full academic scholarships to their athletes: football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball. Outside of these four sports, the average scholarship is less than $9,000 per year. With the rising prices of college tuition, this means that there will likely be leftover costs that will need to be paid at your chosen institution.
Athletics Are a Great Springboard To Jobs in Sports
Despite the fact that most scholarships don't fully cover tuition, athletic scholarships are a great way to get a foot in the door if you're interested in having a job in sports. Athletic careers often require some sort of athletic experience, so even if you can't get a full scholarship, the experience of major college athletics can be a resume building item later on in life. Whether that is administrative work or coaching, for some student-athletes, though the sport is fun, the emphasis in on a career in sports later on in life.
Don't Wait To Be Discovered!
In order to get the sports scholarship you want, you need to be discovered by college coaches. Many student-athletes wait until they are discovered and they end up waiting for nothing. A better method is to be proactive about the recruitment process:
Contact the coaching staff at each college you're interested in attending.
Utilize agencies, such as
United Sports USA, to evaluate where you could make improvements.
Use social media and video websites to promote videos of your athletic abilities.
Be willing to accept scholarships from lower tiered schools.
If you are willing to attend a Division III school or even a private institution, many of these colleges will offer merit awards for academics in addition to their sports scholarships. This can often make it cost less overall to go to a private institution than if you attend a higher tiered college on just a sports scholarship.
Are You Looking To Get a Sports Scholarship?
Whether you are looking to play volleyball on a scholarship or you want your choice of football jobs when you graduate, it can all begin when you're awarded a sports scholarship. Be professionally evaluated so that you can shore up any deficiencies. Study hard to have good grades. Attend practice every day. Be proactive. When you work hard, you have a much better chance at achieving your goals, and that's how a coach might just be convinced to award you with the sports scholarship you want!
