How High School Athletes can “Get Noticed” by Colleges

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"Just as you prepare for competition you also have to prepare to be evaluated by college coaches," said Little, the former gymnastics coach at the University of Kentucky, now assisting high school athletes through iHigh.com, America's High School Sports Network.

"There are many places to play college sports and many scholarship opportunities," says Little. "However, you should not wait to have coaches knock on your door. That happens in only a fraction of cases and usually only to elite level athletes. College coaches typically start looking for prospective student-athletes in their freshman and sophomore years and continually monitor their progress. That's why you have to market yourself, and there is now a way to do that."

Little has five tips for students wanting to get noticed by college coaches and for schools wanting to assist in the process:

1. The student-athlete should have a parent or friend videotape all sporting events in which the athlete is participating.
2. The student-athlete - or parent - should create a highlight reel. Best performances should be highlighted for the final version that is sent to coaches. In some sports, including practice video that shows specific skills can also be beneficial.
3. The student-athlete should go to www.ihigh.com and create a student profile. On that page, the athlete should upload the highlight reel, plus photos, stats, grades, coach's info and other pertinent information that would interest a college coach. This service is free. The student-athlete should regularly update this profile page.
4. The student-athlete should encourage his/her school to register on iHigh.com and broadcast all games live through Web streaming. The Web streaming equipment and service is free to the school. This gives coaches and scouts the ability to watch you play and compete when they may not be able to travel to a game or competition, thus increasing your visibility. A schedule of live games is available at www/ihigh.com/broadcasts.html
5. Rather than create and send videos, DVDs and other information to prospective coaches, the student-athlete should direct the coach to his/her student profile page at the iHigh.com.

This new, simpler method of finding student athletes has received the attention of the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which has given iHigh the exclusive license to create and develop a system to match prospective student athletes with colleges. "By working through America's collegiate athletics directors, high school student-athletes can have an ‘in' with college coaches," adds Little. "A college coach can constantly monitor progress of the athlete; even see a live game or competition, all online. This will increase the athlete's visibility and the possibility of finding a good match."

To learn more about registering with iHigh.com, students and schools should go to iHigh.com and click on the "MYiHigh" icon at the top of the page.

About iHigh.com: iHigh.com, Inc. is a national high school sports network providing free Web services to high schools and high school student-athletes across the United States. iHigh.com provides free Web tools that allow high school sports teams, newspapers and other groups to post stories, photos, videos, schedules and other information to a page customized with a high school's colors and logos. For more information, go to iHigh.com.