Playing College Sports

Information to help you find the program that best fits you

Richard Ng; Resource Coordinator

Sophomore Year HS• Start to look at schools that interest you or are

recruiting you• Start to look at NCAA / NAIA Resources

– NCAA eligibility Center http://web1.ncaa.org/ECWR2/NCAA_EMS/NCAA.html – NAIA eligibility Center http://www.playnaia.org/

• Junior College Programs– National Junior College Athletic Association NJCAA.org– California Community College Athletic Association

cccaasports.org

• Take the PSAT• Join a Club Team

Junior Year HS• Take the SAT’s/ACT by Spring• Keep up grades• Make sure you are taking NCAA core courses• Learn recruiting timeline – (especially for NCAA)• Start to Create Recruiting Profile

– Start to record statistics– Include video of summer club sports after Sophmore

year

• Contact or Start to Interact with Coaches– Coaches can not contact you

• Play in showcase games

Senior Year• SAT should be taken by December

• Make sure you are qualified– Must be qualified by February if Coaches are

looking at you for best scholarship chances

• You can call coaches as often as you like– Contact coaches of schools where you can

realistically play

• Do not go into a Senior slump and let your grades slip!

Create Recruiting Profile• Recruiting profile should include:

– Statistics – Athletic Awards– Video Highlights

• Video can be edited at home, school, or contact a local company and see if you can get a discount

What Program Fits You Best?

• Is the team looking for your position in your graduating class?

• Potential of playing time

• Analyze Scholarship Offer (Learn Scholarship breakdown)

Scholarship Breakdown (NCAA)Baseball

• NCAA DI Programs– Partial or Full Scholarships

• NCAA DII Programs– Full or Partial Scholarships; most often partial

or none

• NCAA DIII– No Athletic Scholarships; scholarships made

up from academic and financial based grants

Scholarship Breakdown (NAIA)

• NAIA Athletics do not offer full scholarships but often have blocks of money set aside from financial aid directed to athletics

• NAIA schools are often very generous with funding and financial aid

Scholarship Breakdown (JC)

• CA JC (CCCAA) do not offer athletic scholarships– Offer need based money only if school has non-state

based grants– Few have housing

• NJCAA (JC outside CA)– Full, Partial, or none– Many use WUE Exchange (Western Undergraduate

Exchange) cutting down on costs. Take cost of housing into consideration

Questions

• A lot of the information is available on the websites of the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, or CCCAA

• Get your parents and coaches involved. The more of pro-active you are the better chance of getting noticed by coaches.

• Contact us at First Contact Sports if you have questions. richard@firstcontactsports.com