By Dan Tudor
02/18/2003
Being a student-athlete at a small high school can have a lot of benefits. There’s a
better chance to earn a starting spot on your team, assuming leadership roles on your
team, and get personal attention from your coaches and teachers.
But what about when it comes to getting recruited to play college sports? Does going to
a small school hamper your chances of getting attention of college coaches?
The most important thing to remember is that college coaches don’t care about the size of
your high school, nor are they all that concerned with how well your high school team did
in recent seasons.
College coaches are looking for one thing, and one thing only: Talented athletes.
That being said, there are some challenges that small-school athletes might be presented
with when it comes to recruiting, but the solutions to these problems are fairly easy.
Don’t count on a lot of scouts coming through your town or school and taking a look at
you in practice or at a game. There are a lot of budget restrictions and time restrictions
on coaches, so if they are going to go scout somewhere, it will most likely be at a large
school in a large town. If that’s the case, be prepared to get videotape of you in action.
Actual uncut game tapes are the best. If a coach contacts you, it will be beneficial to
you to have a tape ready to send a coach.
The most important thing to realize is that college scouts don't usually care that much
about the size of your school. In addition, they may not even be that concerned with the
overall talent level of the teams or individuals you play against. You are probably very
aware of how you compare to other teams and players in your area that attend schools that
are larger or more prestigious than yours. However, college scouts don't have that same
knowledge. They are just looking for talented athletes. In fact, from their perspective,
ALL high school teams are at a lower competitive level than they are used to at college.
If you go to a small school, but are a good student-athlete, don’t worry. If you do the
right things to get a coach’s attention, they’ll recruit you just as actively as they
would an athlete from a big school.
Reprinted From:
Recruit Zone
