Incoming Junior July. Navigating the Path to College Sports: A Junior Athlete’s Guide
As an incoming junior, there is a lot to consider when it comes to planning your college recruiting efforts. With showcase camps and events in full swing, it’s essential to take advantage of your downtime in July to refine your college preferences and stay organized with your recruiting process. In this article, we’ll provide you with a guide of tasks to accomplish during this critical month, so you can make the most out of your recruiting journey. So, let’s dive into the essential things you should do as you prepare for your junior year.
Start Taking Physical College Tours
If you want to refine your college preferences, there’s no better way than visiting potential colleges in person. While virtual tours and online research can be helpful, getting a feel for the actual campus environment, facilities, and student-life experience is critical. As a high school student-athlete, you can complement your event calendar (showcase camps, etc.) with some time on the front or back-end of the event to visit colleges in or around that area. By doing so, you can maximize your time and resources to explore numerous colleges without incurring extra costs.
Update Your Athletic and Academic Profile
Your athletic and academic profiles are essential components of your college recruiting efforts. As always, regularly update your online or personal profile to reflect your latest achievements, interests, and academic transcript updates. Doing so will help recruiters get a better sense of your abilities, skills, and potential fit with their program.
Stay Organized and Track Coach Activity
Keeping track of all coach activity can be cumbersome, but it’s essential to stay organized. Create a Coach Activity folder, note-book, or online tool. Update it constantly when you have information (any information) for each school on your list. Tracking coach activity will help you gauge your level of interest, prioritizes your efforts, and showcase your potential to the recruiters.
Create a List and Anticipate Upcoming Expenses
As we all know, attending showcase events, visiting colleges, and other recruiting efforts can be expensive. Saving money and budgeting for them should be a top priority for you as a student-athlete. Make a list of upcoming expenses and plan for them accordingly. For instance, you have events to attend, schools to visit, and other associated costs that can pile up quickly. By budgeting and planning, you’ll maximize your college recruiting efforts and potentially even save money.
Conclusion:
As an incoming junior year student-athlete, there is so much to consider when it comes to planning your college recruiting journey. From refining your college preferences, updating your athletic and academic profile, staying organized, tracking coach activity, and anticipating upcoming expenses – these are some of the critical areas to focus on this July. By following these proactive steps, you’ll have a level of clarity and organization that should set you up for success in the college recruiting process. Remember, preparation and organization are essential to showcasing your potential to recruiters. So, go out there, stay proactive, and maximize your college recruiting efforts!