It is parental nature for most to look for a positive scenario when it comes to their children and their future. So it is only natural for those parents to think that, with their coaches’ help, they can beat the odds and win a college scholarship.

It is my hope by the end of this article you will have a better understanding of the advantages and even some disadvantages of using a recruiting service. The opinions in this article are mine and any information given refers to Recruit Collegiate Sports Scouting practices of business.

Football, believe it or not, is the "easiest" sport in terms of attaining a college scholarship. Did you know 1 in 17 high school football players or 5.8% go on to earn a college scholarship? What most people do not understand is that there are approximately 700 colleges that offer football and not all of them have athletic scholarship money. The odds of a high school soccer player attaining a scholarship are almost identical to football, while 1 in 8 of male high school hockey players, or 12.9% go on to play in college. Baseball is slightly tougher in terms of attaining a college scholarship 1 in 19, or 5.6%, can do so. The chance of getting drafted to the pros is better than either football or soccer, with a whopping 1 in 200, or 0.5%, being drafted out of high school.

Most surprising is the sport of basketball which is the toughest of all. This is not just for boys and their chances of a college scholarship, but also for girls. Of all the girls who participate in high school basketball, only 1 in 34, or 3.1%, attains a college basketball scholarship the odds of a male basketball player making it to college hoops is even longer. Only 1 in 35 or 2.9% goes on from high school to play in college. In team terms, only 1 young man out of every 7 high school starting fives will receive a college basketball scholarship.

Parents, its not the coaches  job to get your son or daughter recruited. Recruit did a poll where we asked 4148 students if their high school coach was helpful in getting them recruited by colleges. 56.9% of those polled stated that their coach was not helping at all, where 23.1% said the coach was somewhat helpful and an astonishing 20% said the coach was helpful. A coaches job is to put your son or daughter in a position to succeed as an athlete and further their athletic knowledge. Depending solely on the coach to do the job could leave you severely behind others while seeking athletic scholarships. Parents ask us all the time how do I get my son or daughter exposure to colleges across the country. There are several steps you can take to improve your athlete’s chances of gaining a scholarship.

You can sit and wait to be discovered: There are over 5 million high school athletes each year and approximately 1400 four- year universities. Not all athletes want to compete in college but the majorities that do are all looking for scholarships.

You can ask your high school coach for assistance: This is the one most parents rely on. Some questions parents and athletes should ask themselves are: How many athletes are on my team? Am I the top athlete on my team? What is my relationship with the coach? Does my coach have a relationship with all four year universities? Will my coach send any information that a college requests to them immediately? Does my coach have the time and knowledge to help myself and my parents understand the entire recruiting process?

You can contact the colleges on your own. This option, while most think is easy once they get into the process they find it to be frustrating and expensive. It takes a great deal of time to research schools and put together a comprehensive sports profile to send to the coach. In most cases athletes and parents do not know all of the proper information needed for coaches to evaluate them. Recruit currently has 3,200 colleges registered for its database. Not all of the colleges registered use Recruit on an everyday basis but they do have access if needed. If you mail out one letter to each college that we deal with you will spend a total of $1,230.00 on postage alone. This figure does not include your time researching all of the addresses or any other costs such as ink, paper, etc.

You can enroll with a recruiting service: Depending on who you talk to this is either the best thing you can do or it’s the exact opposite. There are many high school coaches who believe recruiting services prey on athletes and their parents. Like any other industry there are some less then reputable scouting services, but there are  also some good ones which provide a valuable service to the prospective student-athlete and to the college coach who needs legitimate scouting information. After reading many articles and listening to coaches tell me the reasons they feel recruiting services are bad thing I wanted to take a moment to dispel some of these rumors.  Below you will find the rumors and why these people are grossly misinformed.

If you’re good enough you will get noticed: This is the most misleading statement we hear. Just because a college knows who you are, doesn't mean they are going to ask you to be a part of their program. Colleges are looking at hundreds of athletes in your area and thousands across the country. Did the colleges know about all the good players that graduated from your school last year? Did all these players get scholarships? And what kind of offers did they receive? Even if they do know of you, do they have your stats, grades, and highlight video right in front of them? Name recognition is only a small step in the recruiting process.

If you have to pay for the service it’s a scam: In some cases I would agree with this assessment. When Recruit was established back in 1993 it charged the colleges for its services. As the recruiting industry changed, the NCAA stopped colleges from compensating scouting services. This new rule forced Recruit to start charging the athletes families. One of the reasons Recruit exposure packages start at $100.00 is to make sure each and every family that qualifies athletically and academically has and opportunity to get exposure if they choose. If Recruit was trying to scam anyone out of money our prices would not be one time and they would be more expensive then $100.00.

Scouting companies will take anyone who is willing to pay the fee: I can not speak for all scouting services on this issue but I can assure you this is not the case. I am sure there are some that will be more then happy to take anyone’s money that is willing to give it to them. Recruit has strict athlete requirements that must be met before anyone is allowed to enter any exposure program. Recruit looks for well rounded student-athletes to participate in the program. Before entering into the program the local scout in your area must meet the family and the athlete to conduct an in depth evaluation interview. At the end of that interview the scout will make a determination on whether they feel Recruit can help and which program would best get the result your family seeks.

Scouting companies list the best and most heavily recruit athletes in the nation to their service for free: If you look at our web site you will see several of the athletes that got scholarships in the program. There are too many to list all of them but we try and rotate them as much as possible. Recruit understands that if you are a top athlete you may not feel a need to use a recruiting service. If used will it help you? Sure, as it will exposure you to colleges that do not have the budget or resources to find you or athletes like yourself. Do you need the service? If you are happy with the offers and colleges that are recruiting you then, no you do need a recruiting service.

Recruiting companies purposely avoid high school coaches, because they lack credibility with them: This is one of the most common and outlandish rumors about recruiting companies. The truth is, most high school coaches do not give scouting companies an opportunity to meet with them. Maybe they are afraid it will damage their reputation in the coaching community. Recruit would welcome the opportunity to show any high school coach our program and how it can not only benefit their student-athlete but make the job they do much easier.

Scouting companies use the paper to find athletes and solicit students via a sales packet through the mail care of the high school: There are many reasons why Recruit sends the letter to the athlete care of the high school. The biggest reason Recruit sends the letters to the high school is cost. Once an athlete us spotted by a scout it uses more company resources to find the athletes home address then sending the letter to the high school. By cutting out unnecessary spending Recruit is able to offer lower prices.

There is no crystal ball when it comes to recruiting; athletes need to market themselves to as many college coaches as they can. Athletes need to look at it like a job interview. Just because you get letters from your favorite colleges, doesn't mean you have a scholarship. If you feel like your being overlooked, Recruit can assist you in gaining the exposure to college coaches across the country.

It's just like stabbing a line drive, driving the lane or running a crossing pattern through the secondary. You have to have the courage to go for it.