Some athletes get exposure without much marketing at all, but for most of us, if you have a son whose dream is to play major college football, you must be willing to dedicate the time and effort to assisting him. The football coaches can help, by telling college recruiters the things tape does not show, but they for the most part, do not have the time or the resources to truly market your son.
It is up to us as parents to assist our kids to see their dreams come true. Parents, first start early in their high school career. Make sure your son is on as many recruiting sites as possible. Some sites are Rivals, Scouts, and 247Sports. MaxPreps does not rate your son, but it is a great resource to get people to view video and see game and season stats. Most will setup a profile for anyone, but they do not post video or actually rate your son until he has attended one of their local combines. If your son tests well, then I recommend it, if he does not test well, as in the 40, shuttle, etc, then do not do a combine. Once it is out there, then anyone can see.
Second, start marketing him early, as long as he is on a varsity squad. Do not worry about JV stats or video. College recruiters do not consider those in evaluating your son. However, I still recommend posting video just to show his ability as he matures and competes against tougher competition. Post video on YouTube, and send the link to colleges/coaches in which your son is interested in. Remember, coaches get hundreds of film and emails daily, so follow-up regularly. If the schools are close, maybe plan a face to face visit with position coaches and deliver a DVD to them at that time. Our job as parents is to get as many coaches interested in him as possible as early as possible and then we can work with those schools who he truly is interested in.
Third, you may want to pay for a service to assist in marketing your son. Be aware of such services, as some do not focus on the location or region your athlete is most interested in. There are services that are just Internet based, where they just send out video or a profile to coaches and then some may be a combination of the Internet marketing and mail, but in either case do your homework, and make sure you understand what you are paying for and the services they provide. Some services are very expensive, and others cost very little.
There are many colleges/universities that have a football program. They range from NAIA, Junior College, DIII, DII, FCS, and FBS. Some schools offer only academic scholarships, such as DIII, and some offer partial scholarships, such as DII, but in all cases, if your son wants to play, and has talent you can find him an opportunity. Make sure your son focuses on academics, because if he cannot qualify to get into the school he wants to attend, then talent will not matter. Recruiters start with academics first and then talk talent.
Our kids should have the opportunity to pursue their dream of playing college football, but remember it is our responsibility to help them. DO NOT rely on the coaches to do all the work.
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