Do you want to get a football scholarship in the USA? For those who aren’t able to play professionally right away or don’t want to play professionally at this moment, whether a female or a male, it might be beneficial to get a football scholarship.
Today, with the help of Patrycja Jerzak, a football player in a US college we are going over how to get a football scholarship so that you don’t make the mistakes that others make.
Very Important to Get Someone to Record Your Games
“If you want to be able to get a scholarship to play football, firstly you will need to have your games recorded. Coaches and schools will need to be able to see you play, if you will abroad, that’s why it is important to have many games recorded.” – Patrycja Jerzak
Don’t have fancy equipment? Don’t worry. Today most phones will be enough. It is just essential that you can tell who you are on the field. Do you not have anyone who can record your games? Don’t worry! There are plenty of services that can do that for you if you pay a little. The best way is if you actually decide to hire an agency to help you get a scholarship, then they will be able to help you with that.
It’s important to both have highlight videos as well as full videos from games as depending on the coach, they might want to watch both.
Start Early
If you want to get a football scholarship, it’s crucial that you start taking action early. Even 2 years prior to going to college. The more time you have, the more chances of getting a football scholarship. Schools only have a certain amount of scholarships that they can give out so even if they like you, sometimes they won’t be able to get you a football scholarship.
Different Types of Strategies
There are 2 main strategies to take if you want to get a football scholarship in the USA.
- You do everything on your own, which is not the easiest but doable.
- You hire an agency to help you.
Why You Shouldn’t try to get a Football Scholarship by Yourself
The hard thing about this is that you will have to research everything on your own, contact coaches and schools on your own. That can be really though, if you have not much experience of how the process works.
There is a lot to do. For example, you need to take an SAT test, which is a college test that everyone does. You need to take a TOEFL (measures your English skills) test if you are not from an English speaking country. You need to get copies of your grades from elementary and high school, letters of recommendations, and a lot of other terrible boring information.
You still need to do a lot of what’s mentioned if you want to get a football scholarship, even with an agent, but it’s far easier to do if you have some guidance rather than you are on your own. That’s why most people who are looking to get a football scholarship in the USA reach out to an agency that specializes in that. CSUSA and Athleticademix are an example of such agencies.
Getting a Football Scholarship
“The pros of hiring an agency is that they will provide you with all the information you need and will solve any of the questions you might have. Most of these agencies also offer a free assessment which means that they will tell you your chances of getting a scholarship before you start the process, which can be a good thing so that you do not waste your time.” – Patrycja Jerzak
These agencies already have good contacts and partnerships with schools in the US, which means that it will be easier for you to be seen by many different schools. They will also help you pitch yourself to the coach, but most importantly, they will provide you with a checklist of things you need to do, and daily check in on you if you have gathered all the documents and so on. Which is super helpful, especially when you need to manage your own life at the same time.
If you decide to hire an agency, then they will ask you to collect documents and to send them to them. They will also ask you for a highlights video which the coaches will watch, and in some cases, to also have a great full-length game to show. If a school becomes interested in you, it is important that you set up a video call with them and answer the emails quickly because they might lose the interest otherwise.
That’s How to Get a Football Scholarship
If you want to get a football scholarship, videos and timing is crucial. After that, there’s a lot of non-football related paperwork needed to be done, that will also differ depending on where you are. And that’s most people such reach out to an agency. Especially since most will let you know if you have a chance of getting in, in the first place.
Think you need to improve before you try to get a football scholarship? On our blog, we cover topics such as how to become better at football by yourself that will help you out. We also dive into our Xampion insole tracker, that is able to provide you with data that will help you improve the aspects of the game that you need to work on, such as your weaker foot, or the speed (strength) of your shots.
Michael Smolski