Scout.com’s Allen Trieu shares football recruiting tips-
A question we often get from youth football players and parents of players is how to get noticed by high schools and give themselves the opportunity to have more options on where to attend high school.
The basic foundation of the answer is the same as it is when high schoolers ask about getting noticed by colleges. The first step is you. You have to be a good football player or have the tools to develop into a good football player. That means both physical and mental tools.
The culture surrounding youth and high school football is a little different in every town, city, state, area, but in general, if you play well for your youth teams, by the time high school rolls around, it is likely the local high schools will know who you are.
That said, there are some steps a player can take to help that process.
- Have some film ready. Even a short highlight tape online can offer a glimpse of your abilities. Length is not as important as quality. Show a wide range of abilities and put the best plays at the start.
- Most high schools offer clinics and camps for local youths. It is a good idea to attend those. Not only will you improve as a football player, but you will have an opportunity to work first hand with the high school coaches which will allow both sides to get a feel for working with one another.
- In those situations, it is important to be coachable – meaning you listen to your coaches and take instruction well. That is just as important as being big, fast and skilled. There are always big, fast, skilled players out there who do not play or do not play as soon as they think they should because they do not take care of the little details. I would recommend being open to what coaches suggest. That may mean moving positions. Coaches will put you in what they believe is the best position to succeed and help the team. It may not be what you have played growing up, but be open to it.
- It is also important not to force getting noticed. That carries all the way up to high school when trying to get the attention of colleges. Getting noticed is about putting yourself in the best position to be seen and then allowing your talent to do the work. It is not about manufacturing hype. Too often, in the age of the internet and social media, the focus becomes about getting noticed and getting attention and not about improving and being the best football player, student and teammate you can be.
I have never seen a kid who was a great football player, great student and good all-around kid not get noticed.
Take care of those things and the notice will come, and the above steps will help make that happen. If those base characteristics are not in order, however, no amount of camping, media, or flashy highlight videos will matter.
