Many high school athletes dream of playing their sport at the next level. What these athletes may not understand is that becoming a collegiate athlete is more than just being good at your sport. Here are some of the steps you can take to get recruited.

Let’s start with the most obvious: grades. Regardless of how good you are at whatever sport you may play, no college is going to want you if you can’t keep up with your grades. While you could slack off in high school and become a “redshirt freshman”, that is not what you should strive to be. Reach as high as you can, then reach even higher.

Next, you need to be proactive. You simply cannot sit back, relax, and wait for a college coach to come knocking on your door. It won’t happen. The first step you can take is to visit any given college’s athletics directory and find the list of coaches for your sport. From there, send them an email. Don’t be intimidated, college coaches are human, just like you. Introduce yourself. Let them know where you’re from, what position you play, your GPA, test scores, and why you’re interested in attending your school. If they don’t know that you exist, there’s no chance that you’re getting recruited. Don’t feel discouraged if they don’t respond, they have a lot on their plate already.

If you want to play NCAA Division I, II, or III, you must be signed up through the NCAA Eligibility Center. The same goes for if you want to play NAIA. Without signing up through either of the Eligibility Centers, you aren’t allowed to play collegiate sports. This is one of the most important steps in being recruited by college coaches.

Also, you need to be a presentable recruiting prospect. One thing you can do is clean up your social media accounts. If there is anything on your account that your grandmother wouldn’t appreciate seeing, it’s probably best for you to delete it. I have seen many instances where a recruiting prospect is on a full ride and they go on to lose it due to their immaturity on social media.

Finally, your work ethic is key. If college coaches see you as a player who works hard on the field but not in the classroom, chances are that they won’t take the risk of recruiting you, and vice versa. You must be a hard worker on and off the field if you expect to play at the next level.