Today female athletes are “in.” It has not always been that way. A generation ago most girls and women were called “tomboys” if they wanted to participate in sports, especially team sports with physical contact. But now it is commonplace for girls to play catch with their fathers while their mothers are off playing soccer or softball…or ice hockey. As little girls grow into women encouraged to be physically active, their self-confidence and skills grow and they find increased opportunities to use their athletic talents. One way that today’s female athletes benefit is by playing sports in college and by getting scholarships to help pay for the exorbitant costs of a college education.
According to the book “How To Win A Sports Scholarship,” by Penny Hastings and Todd Caven, nearly 167,000 females played collegiate sports in the 2005-06 school year. Many of them were on full or partial scholarships.
Unfortunately, certain myths surround college athletic scholarships and often prevent talented female athletes from taking advantage of the possibilities available to them. Let’s debunk these myths one by one.
Myth #1–You have to be a superstar to win a sports scholarship. False!
Only 1% of the nation’s high school or community college student-athletes are superstar or “blue-chip” athletes. These elite athletes have no problem catching the eye of college coaches. In fact, their biggest dilemma might be a constantly clamoring telephone or overflowing e-mail inbox! Clearly, if these blue-chippers were the only athletes recruited, colleges could not fill their rosters or field a team. So, what happens to the other 99%? Some make up the teams of colleges around the country, but others do not even try because they think only superstars get the breaks.
Myth #2–College coaches will automatically hear about you if you are good enough. False!
The truth is that college coaches will probably never hear about you unless you bring yourself to their attention. No matter how good you are on your high school or club swim, tennis, basketball or lacrosse team, only college coaches within your geographical area will ordinarily know about you. There are thousands of female athletes across the country who excel. But shrinking athletic budgets at all but the largest, most competitive schools prohibit coaches from scouring the countryside looking for players so many talented student-athletes are overlooked in the recruiting process.
Myth #3–If you want a sports scholarship, you must have the talent to play at a Division I school. False!
Over 180,000 athletic scholarships are available each year in all sports (many of them divided so that a single soccer scholarship, for instance, might be given as partial scholarships to three or four players). Not all of these scholarships are from Division I schools. Many student-athletes think about Division I programs when they think about playing collegiate athletics because of their high visibility. They see them on television and read about them in the newspaper. But while Division I programs draw the most attention, there are several thousand other colleges with competitive sports programs that offer college scholarships to help pay student-athletes’ expenses. Savvy young women look at a variety of college programs, not just Division I, when investigating options.
Myth #4–There are few sports scholarships available for women. False!
Scholarships, as well as other intercollegiate sports opportunities for women, have increased dramatically and will continue to do so. According to Mary Jo Kane, director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports, at University of Minnesota, “Title IX (Federal legislation mandating equal opportunity for males and females) fundamentally changed the landscape of sports, because without it, we wouldn’t be where we are. In one generation we have gone from young girls hoping there is a team to young girls hoping they can make the team.”
Sports scholarships are awarded to women in 24 college sports from archery to field hockey, lacrosse to soccer, rowing to water polo. Sports called “emerging sports” by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), offer additional opportunities to females. These sports are so new to intercollegiate competition that even young women who have little or no proficiency in one of these sports find that their athletic backgrounds can sometimes get them recruited by college coaches trying to fill their rosters. Archery, badminton, bowling, equestrian, rugby, squash, synchronized swimming and team handball are all emerging sports.
Laying to rest the sports myths is an important step for young women interested in playing collegiate sports. But it is not enough. You cannot afford to sit back and wait to be recruited. It is up to you to market yourself—to grab the attention of college coaches and cause them to begin recruiting you.