STEELE SPORTS

As the fall sports season winds down, athletes across Steele County will undoubtedly begin sorting out the future of their athletic careers.
While National Signing Day is not until February, athletes will begin making verbal commitments to universities in hopes of signing letters on intent on National Signing Day.
For those unfamiliar with the recruiting process, I’ll provide an in-depth look into how colleges recruit athletes based on my personal knowledge and experience.
As a former football player at the University of St. Thomas – formerly an NCAA Division III school - my recruiting process may seem different from the glamour of Division I recruiting.
My recruitment began when I was a sophomore in high school.
As a junior varsity athlete for two years, I did not garner much attention from colleges initially.
To catch coaches’ attention, I knew that I had to use a common resource for athletes: camps.
Camps are easily the biggest showcase events for high school athletes to get noticed, aside from highlight tapes from school seasons.
If you are serious about your recruitment, you may go to camps starting your freshman year of high school.
Most every college and university will have camps set up for the summer where they get athletes to come to them, offering them the convenience of being able to evaluate talent right in their backyard.
If you catch the eye of any coaches, you may be fortunate enough to begin receiving emails or phone calls from the coaching staffs.
This is where it all begins.
Once you are in contact with coaches, a whole new realm of opportunity emerges.
From that point, you may have the opportunity to visit the school and attend events such as junior days or game days.
All events for recruits are usually compensated by the university, aside from travel and sometimes board.
Personally, I did five visits across the country to different schools.
I remember my first  visit to St. Thomas, where I met all of the coaches and toured the facilities before going to a game.
The excitement of being pursued by a coaching staff and getting a glimpse into what life could look like as a college athlete are memories I will carry with me the rest of my life.
After visits, athletes can expect regular phone calls, texts and emails, as coaches try to keep up to date on the status of your decision.
I even remember taking a call during one of my high school classes because a college coach wanted to ask me when I was going to be back on campus for another visit.
After taking visits, it’s common for athlete’s to make lists of schools that they wish to pursue to let coaches know who they are most interested in.
It is at this point when athletes start making verbal commitments to schools.
Verbal commitments are not binding, and an athlete can pull out of their commitment at any time up until National Signing Day.
Making a commitment is exhilarating. It takes all of the stress out of the decision process.
Finally, on National Signing Day, athletes ink their letters of intent and officially earn themselves a spot on their school’s roster.