Getting A College Baseball Scholarship

If you are in your early years of highschool, then in the next few years you will have to make some tough decisions. Even those of you who are juniors and seniors. You will have to make decisions that effect not only baseball, but also decisions that effect your life and personal finances (or your parents finances). That's what makes this transition period so important to the rest of your life. If you could, wouldn't you want to have your education paid for by someone else? Well, there are a few things that you need to do to make this happen.

You should focus on:

1) Setting Realistic Goals
2) Educating yourself on the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA Rules and Regulations
3) Picking Colleges
4) Marketing Yourself To College Coaches and
5) Training Like a Professional

Setting Goals is good to do because it gives you something to shoot for. Goals are visions that need a plan to become a reality. By setting goals you are creating your vision that can only be achieved by implementing a plan that works toward them. Being realistic when setting your goals is important because you want to be able to achieve your goals. If you goals are set too high, you will never accomplish anything. Vice versa, if you set your goals too low, you are only cheating yourself.

Educating yourself on the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA rules and requirements of playing baseball in college and possibly recieving a scholarship is very important. Knowing and understanding these rules and regulations will enable you to be as prepared as possible so that if you do find a place to play that is offering you money, you will be prepared to accept immediately. Let's say there is one scholarship left for a school you want to go to and the coaches there like you too. But they also like another player. If that coach has to wait for either one of you to fulfill the requirements through the NCAA, NAIA, or NJCAA, then you're not getting the scholarship. The scholarship is going to go to the one who has all the requirements met and paper work filled out. The coach will do this for two reasons. One is because it's less work for him and two because it shows the coach that you are serious about playing baseball and going to college. It shows that you are responsible, ambitious, and eager to be a part of their program. This goes a long way with college coaches.

Picking your colleges is also an area where you need to be honest with yourself. Don't only apply to big D1 schools if you're not a D1 player. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply to any of them, I'm just saying be honest and focus your time where you have the best chances of recieving scholarship money.

Marketing yourself to college coaches is also very important. This is how you get your name out there and let the coaches know that you are interested in their program and why you would fit in well. It is also important because it gives you a wider range. What if there is a college across the country that doesn't recruit in your area? They may have never seen you or even know you exist. Does that mean they shouldn't know about you? No. The more coaches and scouts that hear your name and see what you are about, the better chance you have at getting a college scholarship. Just remember there is somewhere for everyone to play if you really want to bad enough. It just takes time and effort to market yourself and educate yourself on the process of getting a college baseball scholarship.

Training like a professional is essential to obtaining a college baseball scholarship. Even though you are just an amateur, you must think of baseball as your job. When you start recieving scholarship money, or are planning on recieving scholarship money, that means someone is giving you something to perform at a higher standard (paying you). By dedicating yourself and proving that you are a superior athlete that deservse scholarship money, you gain trust from others and confidence in yourself. Training like a professional will help you achieve your scholarship goals and also take you to a higher level of baseball if you push yourself far enough. Just remember that the main reason highschool players get college scholarships is because of their athletic ability. If you keep working and improving, you are only setting yourself up for a more successful transition.