According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, there were 7.34 million high school varsity athletes nationwide in the 2006-07 school year. The National Collegiate Athletic Association limits the number of full scholarships that college teams can dole out in each sport. The NCAA estimates that only 2 percent of high school athletes, or about 147,000 students, receive an athletic scholarship to play on a Division I or Division II team each year.
(From Long Island Business News Article) Parents who believe their child has a chance at obtaining an athletic scholarship often invest heavily in development programs. “They’re hiring strength coaches and pitching coaches,” Collins said, “all for the possibility of getting a scholarship.”
College athletic coaches determine how to distribute scholarship funds, said Jackie Nealon, vice president of enrollment services at the New York Institute of Technology, whose main campus is in Old Westbury. “Awards can range from a couple of thousand dollars up to a full scholarship,” including room and board, especially important in this economy where attending college may be unaffordable otherwise.
NYIT is in the NCAA’s Division I for baseball and Division II for other sports, which include lacrosse, volleyball, soccer, and track and field. For the 2008-09 school year, NYIT allotted $2 million of its overall $30 million financial aid budget to athletic scholarships. There are 184 students that receive athletic scholarships.
To boost their child’s chances of snagging a scholarship, some parents turn to online sports recruiting services. Mike Lancaster, owner and manager of Athletic Scholarships Sports Recruiting Services, based in Monterey, Calif., said his company works with 1,000 schools and 500 athletes per year. The firm helps the family prepare student profiles and package applications, which can be submitted to every head coach in the student-athlete’s sport. Lancaster said 85 percent of the students who use the service receive an athletic scholarship of some denomination.
Applications often include a link to a Web site where coaches can view videos of the player. “We encourage our clients to upload their videos to YouTube,” Lancaster said.
However, there are fewer scholarships in a sport like lacrosse than for football, which generates revenue for universities. In Division I men’s lacrosse, for instance, a maximum of 12.69 full scholarships are allowed per school, vs. 85 for football.
Collins said his school sometimes takes advantage of recruiting services to find students in remote states and other countries, since it’s often more affordable than traveling.
To receive an athletic scholarship, students must be “special athletes, or, especially for a Division II school, be able to package themselves as strong at both academics and sports,” Collins said. “A strong academic student is attractive to coaches, because the coach doesn’t have to offer as much money out of the athletic funds, since the student will probably get a partial academic scholarship as well.”
In Division II programs, sports are just one slice in the overall pie.
“For us, it’s not about getting a sponsorship from Coca-Cola,” Nealon said. “It’s about creating a robust student life experience for all our students.”
http://libn.com/blog/2009/08/04/sports-scholarships-hard-to-score/
laxbuzz
Hello I am looking for scholarships that could possibly send my son to college in the next few years. He has been playing lacrosse since middle school. He enjoys playing at his school and for the inner city recreation which offers a great team. Please contact me on email
This is Vera williams coming back to recieve scholarship information for my son his school is NAF-National Academy Foundation school his coach name is Coach Hines. The school number is 1 443-984-1593. His team are hard players and they play well. They do not get recognized for the hard work they do. My sidney williams jr. is a good team player.