It takes work to get recruited, and not just at your sport

As I pack the rest of my bags and get ready to head to college, I figured it would be a good time to discuss the course it takes to play a sport at the collegiate level ... mainly golf of course.

I knew nothing starting out and had to go to a seminar that Indiana Golf Foundation put on where they invited some coaches and collegiate players to tell us junior players the things we need to do to prepare ourselves for that level of competition as well as get our name out there.

It is always handy to build a resume for yourself with all of your accomplishments in the sport, as well as experience and where or how many years you have played. It is good to provide stats as and even contact information for any coach or personal trainer you have had to help you with the sport.

Not all coaches want a resume, but for a coach who has never heard your name before, they will want to know what kind of player is reaching out to them.

On that note, it is important that the player reaches out to the coach. So many more kids are getting serious with sports and coaches are looking all over the states as well as in other countries.

Finding contact information for coaches is extremely easy. You usually just have to go to the schools athletic website, find your sport and it will give either an email or phone number.

Some schools have a form a recruit must fill out that will be submitted to the coach who will then contact the athlete if he is interested.

Make sure to know the basic rules on keeping your eligibility in your sport. There is a very lengthy handbook that you can find online from NCAA which discusses all rules and restrictions, but it is very important to know rules when it comes to playing in events outside of high school and accepting prizes or money.

Find out what level of collegiate sports best fits you. Check out averages and the skill level needed to play in each division. Then compare that with the size of school you would like to attend and make sure they offer your intended major.

Take lots of visits. Take visits for a day, for a weekend, for a couple weekdays. Always make sure to do at least one overnight visit (I stayed for three nights total before making my final decision).

Go to some classes at a school if you are feeling like you are close in your decision ... if you don't like the way the academics are set up, this could be a problem since you are in fact a student-athlete.

Get to know the teams that you go and visit. You will want to go somewhere that you fit in well with the chemistry because your teammates will be your family away from home and they are who you will be spending the most time with.

Stay in touch with the coach. Make sure to keep in contact all the way up until you sign (and after of course). You want to make sure they know you are still interested.

Know your coach well, find out if you are going to get along with him/her ... if you don't want to be there, they aren't going to want you to be there.

My coach and team are actually two of the factors that made the most impact on my decision. I just didn't' seem to click with all of the other players at schools I visited and having people there for you when you're away from home will be important.

Start looking and contacting now. Coaches start looking at players even two years before they will graduate high school and plan on having verbal commitments for upcoming school years meaning they quickly run out of spots and money.

Last thing: practice more than you have ever practiced, work harder than you have ever worked, and want it more than you have ever wanted something in your entire life. It will pay off, I promise.