The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!
THE COLLEGE SEARCH PROCESS
As a tennis parent, the long term development and direction of your athlete is a natural concern. The serious tennis players will likely set their sights on playing college ball. So it is not surprising that week in and week out, one of the most frequent question parents ask me, is how to go about obtaining a college sports scholarship for their child?
First of all, college sports are not recreational activities to dabble in while attending college. College athletics is a business and the school expects their college team to win.
There’s a major difference between participating in your preferred sport as a hobbyist versus training for college athletics (pursuing a college scholarship). The question athletes should ask themselves is, “Do I want to be a hobbyist athlete or do I want to be an elite athlete?” The truth of the matter is…you’ll have to pick one, because you can’t be both.
“Top college recruits are former National orITF Junior standouts.”
Serious competitors are nurtured differently than social competitors. College athletics requires more than seasonal participation in high school ball. The following list three pillars that separate the college scholarship players from the hobbyist:
1) Junior champions are born into inspiring and supportive environments.
Parental support is essential for athletic excellence. Becoming educated in the process is your job. Great coaches and trainers are there to assist you in your mission to raise a champion. Examples of extremely lucky athletes who were born into the right FAMILY environment include: Mcllroy, Woods, Phelps, Evert, Agassi, Chang, Sampras, Hingis, Roddick, Williams, Murray, Nadal, Federer, Sharapova, Wosniacki, Djokovic and Bryans just to name a few.
2) The love for the game is encouraged and nurtured early and consistently.
Athletic royalty becomes royalty with the help of loving and supportive parents and coaches that guide and oversee their athlete’s passion from an early age. Achieving greatness comes with great sacrifice from parents, coaches and the athlete. As they all laugh and learn throughout the incredible journey.
3) Champions strive to improve.
Elite athletes continually improve each essential component. There are other athletes in every corner of the globe training harder and smarter each day. Champions know they cannot be complacent with their game. Weekly improvement is part of the champions’ mindset. Congratulations! By purchasing this book, it is obvious that you are taking the right steps toward improvement.
College Athletics:
If college athletics is your child’s goal, it is in your best interest to begin preparing early. Putting off serious training until your child is in high school is most often too late.
“The ultimate goal for a high school age athlete is to be in the “Buyer’s Market.”
The Buyers’ Market versus the Sellers’ Market:
The buyers’ market means your child has focused on developing their skills and achieving athletic royalty (Top National or ITF ranking) and the top college coaches are not only aware of them, they are heavily recruit them in a bidding war.
It is important to understand that if you and your child have waited to get serious about their sport until high school age, you will most likely be in the “Seller’s Market.” In essence, as a parent, your job will be to “sell” your child’s possible value to the coach. Your child is now one of thousands of talented but unproven athletes vying for the leftover scraps of scholarship funds. If you think the task of “selling” your child’s skills is tough, wait until you have to write those dreaded big checks for their education. If you build a champion the coaches will come to you!
“Get ahead of the crowd early by applying a deliberate, customized development plan. Successful college athletic careers are preceded by years
and years of successful preparation.”
Preparing for college early will not only brings the college scholarship offers to you, it may even help you open a door that may have otherwise been closed. For example, Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships but your child’s tennis may give them the admittance edge over other students with similar or even higher academic profiles.
For more details regarding the college search process, please visit my dedicated eBook: How to Attract a College Athletic Scholarship.
It has everything you didn’t even know…you needed to know! www.maximizingtennispotential.com
