College
Recruiting
Here is some (hopefully) helpful information about college recruiting and scholarships:
NCAA Information
The NCAA Eligibility Center provides details on NCAA guidelines and recruiting information, including the following important NCCA dates:
September 1st of your junior year – College coaches can now have written correspondence with you (email, facebook, letters, etc)
July 1st after your junior year – More contact! College Coaches can now call, talk face-to-face, and visit your home.
Senior Year (When High School Classes Begin) – You can now take an official visit to a school you are interested in (up to 5). Keep in mind first you must present your ACT/SAT test score and an official transcript.
How to be Recruited
HOW: Take the time to figure out what you are looking for in a school. Once you have narrowed down your search, go online and find the school’s track and field scholarship/walk-on standards. If your performances are a good fit for the school you are interested in, fill out a questionnaire on the track and field page. Here is the Auburn University Track and Field Questionnaire. If you have not yet met the requirements, check other schools to give yourself the greatest opportunity to compete at the collegiate level.
WHEN: Fill out an online questionnaire during your junior year of track and field. You may also fill out an online questionnaire if you have achieved a top 20 national ranking in your event. National rankings can be found on www.dyestat.com . If you fill out a questionnaire as a freshman or sophomore and your times/marks do not yet meet the school standards, you may need to fill out another questionnaire when your performances have improved.
WHAT: The more information the better. Fill out the online questionnaire completely. It may also help to send an email to the event coach with any information that helps you stand out. Coaches are often searching for the best athlete/student combination. Other sports, excellent grades, other activities all play a part in the coach’s ultimate decision of who to recruit.
College Scholarships
How good do you need to be to get a track and field scholarship?
Unlike other college sports, coaches aren’t watching hours of film and evaluating athletes at camps to know if they are going to be good enough for their team. Track and field is simple in the fact that either you can get the time or marks or you can’t. That being said, each program has different needs and philosophies when it comes to awarding scholarship money. Unlike other college sports ,most track coaches will be very upfront about what time or mark you will need to make their team and to get a scholarship. The best thing you can do is contact the coaches staff and ask them what it takes to make their team and possibly earn a scholarship at their program.