The college recruiting process starts earlier than most people think. From what I understand there are certain sports where coaches are identifying prospects as early as 7th and 8th grade.

Here are a few things you MUST do:

Keep your grades up - the better you do academically, the more opportunities you'll have.

Understand what college coaches are looking for in those sports and make sure you work toward being at that level. Again, the earlier you start, the more likely you are to get there.

Be proactive - don't just sit back and wait for coaches to come to you. As soon as you get to high school, start researching schools, think about where you want to go, what you want to study, what type of area you want to live in, what type of classroom/campus environment you prefer, etc, etc, etc. Start contacting different programs to let them know you're interested.

Download and print out and read the NCAA's Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete (it's free).

If you ever want additional help from people who work with high school student-athletes and their families every day, you may want to check out http://tr.im/collegerecruiting

I also have some free resources on college recruiting at
http://allaboutfastpitch.com/freeresources.html

Wishing you the best! Playing sports in college is so much fun!

Hi paige,

Stacie has some good ideas. You should also talk to your high school guidance counselor and try to identify colleges that are good match for you. You should also articulate your goals to your High School Coach, you never know what contacts he or she has.

About 15 years ago there was a very popular film documentary called "hoop dreams" which documented to Chicago area High School basketball players (boys), that attended the same High School as Isaac Thomas. If I remember correctly one went to Jr. College and was a college transfer to Arkansas and Won a NCAA championship. If you can find a copy or this DVD it may give you some good ideas.

Good Luck! Mark

Recruiting videos are an important part of the recruiting process. Check out www.recruitsights.com