Our best advice for your first phone call with a college coach

Our best advice for your first phone call with a college coach

We talk a lot about the importance of phone or video calls that prospective student-athletes will have to have during the recruiting process. Those calls are crucial and can be one of the main reasons why a coach offers you a scholarship or not. As you probably already know, you should always aim to schedule such a call as soon as possible, so that coaches see you are interested and that you are on top of things. Now, once a call has been scheduled, what are some of the things that you should do in that call and what are some that you should avoid at all cost? Things you should do: Show the coach that you have done your research: Before starting your call with a coach, you should…
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Why doing your own research is so important

Why doing your own research is so important

The recruiting process can be very overwhelming for young student-athletes, and that could even be an understatement. Because let's face it, it is a very stressful time in a young person's life. Almost everybody will feel some sort of anxiety when it gets to the point where you are looking to pick your future college. Which school should you choose whenever you have narrowed down your search to maybe 3 or 4 colleges that all seem equally great? How do you know that your decision will be the right one? These are all questions that basically every aspiring college athlete faces at some point during the recruiting process, and even more so when you have reached the moment of making your final decision. However, this is totally normal and there…
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NCAA Division 1 roster limits – here is why everything is up in the air at the moment!

NCAA Division 1 roster limits – here is why everything is up in the air at the moment!

If you live in the United States, chances are you have heard about this topic a lot these past few months. It has been all over the news, not only for college sports fans, but across all national TV channels, even the ones who do not typically cover sports. So here is what happened: In the fall of 2024, the NCAA (to the surprise of most people) all of a sudden announced some of the biggest rules changes in college sports history. They implemented what they call the "roster limit rule", which basically means that every roster at the NCAA Division 1 level, will be limited to a certain number of athletes. For example, golf teams will only be allowed to carry a maximum of 9 players, tennis teams will…
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The Sports & Study USA Hot Seat (#4) – 10 questions for University of Tampa golfer Justine Bayle

The Sports & Study USA Hot Seat (#4) – 10 questions for University of Tampa golfer Justine Bayle

Our French golfer, Justine Bayle, was kind enough to get on the Sports & Study USA Hot Seat and answer some of our questions about her experience at the University of Tampa and about the recruiting process in general. Justine is a Freshman at UT this year and has had a tremendous first season with the Spartans. Before that, Justine was a very accomplished junior golfer at the international level and was rewarded with a scholarship to play golf at one of the very best schools here in Florida. It was a huge pleasure to work with Justine and her family and to now watch her progress over here in the United States. Check out the video below for some very insightful information about college golf and about Justine's experience!…
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The Sports & Study USA Hot Seat (#1) – 10 questions for our founder Patrick Hanauer

The Sports & Study USA Hot Seat (#1) – 10 questions for our founder Patrick Hanauer

Where did you go to college and what sport did you play? I played four years of college golf at Abilene Christian University in Texas followed by a couple of years as a college golf coach.What made you come to the college in the US? To be honest, it was a difficult decision. And I feel like most young athletes struggle with the decision and almost everyone is going to have some doubts and concerns. But in the end, after doing one year of university over in Europe, I knew I needed to come to college in the US, as it was impossible to combine university studies and golf in Europe. And when I say impossible, I really mean it. And let’s face it, who is good enough and ready…
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A day in the life of a college golfer

A day in the life of a college golfer

A question we get asked by a lot of athletes and their parents is how the days of college athletes typically are structured? While every sport has slightly different schedules and there might also be some variations depending on the day of the week or the time in the season, here is what a typical day looks like for a college golfer: 5.30am: Wake up 6am-7am: Morning workout (typically 2-3 times a week during the season and up to 5 times a week during the offseason) 7.30am: Breakfast 8am-11am: Classes (this can vary a bit depending on your major, your personal schedule or whether you are a freshman, senior or grad student) 11.30: Lunch 1pm-6pm: Team Practice or 18 holes of team qualifying 6.30pm: Dinner 7.30pm-8.30pm: Howework or Study Hall…
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How difficult is it to transfer between universities?

How difficult is it to transfer between universities?

Transferring between universities has gotten a lot easier and also more common over the past few years. Back in the early 2000s, college coaches could literally block transfer requests by any of their athletes. This is no longer allowed so that you are no longer “stuck” at a school if things are not going as planned. However, there are some procedures to follow and it is very important to not break any transfer rules, so that you do not jeopardize any of your eligibility. Each governing body will have slightly different rules to follow, but in general the first step will always be to notify your coach or the athletic department of your school that you are planning to transfer. Before that happens, you are not allowed to contact any…
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The importance of maximizing exposure

The importance of maximizing exposure

The competition for sports scholarships in the United States is extremely high. As a matter of fact, it has grown tremendously over the past decade and will continue to do so. We always talk about the importance of an athlete standing out in the recruiting process and doing all the right things in order to impress coaches and to beat out other athletes of the same level. This is definitely true and an extremely important thing to keep in mind. However, in this blog post we want to talk about the importance of exposure and how you can further improve your chances of getting that dream scholarship that you are seeking. While this does not necessarily apply for team sports as much as it does for individual sports, it still…
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Don’t just go for the biggest scholarship, go for the best opportunity!

Don’t just go for the biggest scholarship, go for the best opportunity!

Picking the right university when you have several offers can be very overwhelming for a young student-athlete. As a matter of fact, it can be one of the hardest decisions you will ever be faced with. Coaches are all great salesmen, as it is a big part of their job to sell their program to recruits and to find the best possible athletes for their teams. So it can get very difficult to figure out which option might be the best one for you.  What we see happen a lot, is that athletes tend to go for the cheapest option or for the biggest scholarship. While there is nothing wrong with that approach, it can also lead to you not picking the best opportunity or the best fit for you.…
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Starting early and the importance of June 15

Starting early and the importance of June 15

As most of you probably already know, you should always try to start the recruiting process as early as possible. You really cannot start early enough. It gives you more time to do all the necessary steps properly, it allows coaches to follow your progression over a certain period of time, and there are just more scholarships available if you start 2-3 years in advance rather than a few months prior to your college start date. If you are still unsure about when exactly you should start the process, one important date to keep in mind is June 15 of your junior year of high school, so a bit more than two years before you are supposed to start college. So why is that date so important? The answer is…
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