Athletic Scholarships For Dummies

by Pat Britz, Alexandra Powe Allred

Overview

Get insider tips on navigating the recruitment process

Find the right school, the right program, the right coach, and the most money

You're prepared for challenges on the athletic field. But are you prepared for the challenges of winning an athletic scholarship? Let this friendly guide be your coach. It explains what kind of scholarships are out there, how to promote yourself and deal with recruiters, and how to survive possible snags after you've won your scholarship.

Discover how to
* Get yourself noticed and recruited
* Make the most of college visits
* Negotiate a contract and make a commitment
* Understand redshirting
* Know when and how to transfer schools

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780764598043
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	12/19/2005
Series:	For Dummies Books
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,120,392
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Patrick Britz: Pat Britz began his athletic career at a young age, playing youth league soccer. He continued to play soccer and earned a partial athletic scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Asheville. While there, he was a four-year starter and ended his playing career as the second all-time leading scorer in school history and the leading goal scorer since UNC Asheville went to Division I (1986). Britz has worked in the world of intercollegiate athletics for over 14 years, the majority of which he has been involved in NCAA rules and regulations. He began his professional career as the Assistant Commissioner for Championships and Compliance for the Southern Conference and then moved to East Tennessee State University as the Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance and Student Services. Britz spent five years working for the NCAA national office (1996–2001) and was primarily involved in the initialeligibility and recruiting process. From there he went on to Texas Tech University, where he was the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance and Administration. In August 2005, he followed his heart and never-ending passion for the game of soccer and accepted a position with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as the Director of Division I Intercollegiate Programs. Although this is his first book, he has seen the need for Athletic Scholarships For Dummies throughout his professional career. Today, Britz lives in Lubbock, Texas, with his newlywed wife, Kim, their dog, Josie, and their cat, Shortstop. Even though age and lack of talent forced him to quit playing soccer, Britz is an avid golfer and sports a handicap of 10.

Alexandra Allred: Alex Allred earned two karate black belts and was honored Athlete of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee in 1994 when she was named to the first ever women’s bobsled team. She went on to become a sports/adventure writer. Over the years, Allred has had a variety of unusual writing assignments. She test-drove and wrote about Volvo’s Gravity Car, played as a professional female football player for Sports Illustrated, competed as a fighter (kickboxing), and took a rigorous firefighter physical — all for a good story. But when coaches began talking to Allred about her own daughter’s soccer abilities, she began looking into athletic scholarships. As the author of over a dozen how-to and sports books, Allred saw the need for Athletic Scholarships For Dummies. Today, Allred lives in Midlothian, Texas, with her husband, Robb, their three children, and a variety of animals. Together, they try to balance soccer practices and games, horseback riding, tennis camps, karate, running, and volleyball.

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Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I: The World of College Sports 7

Chapter 1: Getting the Basics: Athletic Scholarships 101 9

Chapter 2: Defining a College Athletic Scholarship 19

Chapter 3: College Alphabet Soup: NCAA, NJCAA, NAIA 35

Chapter 4: Clearing the Clearinghouse 47

Part II: Getting Recruited 71

Chapter 5: Knowing What Colleges Are Looking For 73

Chapter 6: The Game Begins: Getting Noticed 83

Chapter 7: The Full-Court Press: Calls, Letters, and E-Mails from Coaches 105

Chapter 8: What to Do If You Don’t Get Noticed 125

Chapter 9: Recognizing College Recruiting Violations 139

Part III: Making College Visits 149

Chapter 10: The Play-by-Play of College Visits 151

Chapter 11: Taking Your Turn to Recruit 171

Chapter 12: Preparing for and Evaluating Each Visit 185

Part IV: Committing to a School 195

Chapter 13: Negotiating a Financial-Aid Agreement 197

Chapter 14: Making the Verbal Commitment 209

Chapter 15: Understanding the National Letter of Intent 219

Part V: When You’re in the Big Leagues: For Existing College Students 229

Chapter 16: Maintaining Your Eligibility 231

Chapter 17: Redshirting 249

Chapter 18: Transferring 259

Part VI: The Part of Tens 271

Chapter 19: Ten Things Not to Do during the Recruiting Process 273

Chapter 20: Ten Considerations When Choosing a School 279

Appendix A: College Scholarship Web Sites and Resources 287

Appendix B: Resources for College Recruiting and Selecting Colleges and Coaches 291

Index 299