Field Hockey Scholarships- 5 Mistakes to Avoid

: Image by go mustangs via Flickr

Field hockey scholarships are competitive to earn for the NCAA. Unlike football and basketball which award full-ride scholarships to every athlete, field hockey is an equivalency sport in the NCAA. This means scholarships are usually partial and can be divided to be awarded to multiple athletes.

Division I programs have 12 scholarships for the entire team while Division II schools have 6.3 scholarships to award. This means if you earn a .4 or 40% partial scholarship, the coach has 11.6 scholarships remaining. The minimum you can receive is 25% which covers tuition, room and board. The amount of scholarship money you receive is only for that year. If you perform well on the field, coaches will increase the money when you renew the field hockey scholarship each year.

Full ride scholarships are possible but in the past 5 years, NCAA Division 1 programs have only awarded an average of 10 total to incoming freshman classes. With the competition become more fierce each year it is important that you follow a recruiting system, start early and take necessary steps that puts your name and game films in front of college coaches.

Here are 5 Mistakes to Avoid:

Quitting: We have seen athletes whom after hearing no from 50 colleges, get the scholarship from the 51st college coach they talk too. Don’t quit during the process. Sounds simple enough but you’d be surprised how many athletes just aren’t prepared mentally for how tough recruiting can be.
Letting your grades slip: If it comes down to an athlete with great test scores and solid grades over the same athlete with NCAA minimum qualifying standards, guess who gets the field hockey scholarship? Solid grades show you can handle balancing college field hockey and academics. Both are harder and require more time in college.
Poor attitude: You can be one of the best players in your State but if a coach watches you play and see’s you get angry easily, argue with refs, don’t finish out the clock, no one will touch you. No coach wants to recruit an attitude like that and have to deal with you for 4 to 5 years.
Not contacting coaches: You need to be active and aggressive in your recruiting. Players who wait for college coaches to call them, don’t get the scholarship. Take initiative and let coaches know that you are the player for them.
Treating recruiting lightly: You only get one chance out of high school to earn a field hockey scholarship. Do everything you can to educate yourself about the process and then use that information to take action. Treat it like a job and you will be rewarded.

The recruiting process for a field hockey scholarship is not different from any other sport. Educating yourself about the recruiting process and following a system that works is what will separate yourself from the thousands of other Senior athletes, all wanting the same scholarship money.

CLICK HERE if you are ready to beat out your competition and earn a field hockey scholarship.