While the basic approach college coaches and scouts use to recruit high school athletes have remained the same, one of the more 
notable changes is the use of social media. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are just a few of the social media sites that allow people to stay connected and enhance the recruiting process.
Combined with the advent of the smartphone, social media has changed the way people stay in touch and has become a method for high school athletes to reach out to colleges and universities.
With colleges reaching out to their fan bases using social media, it’s no surprise that coaches also use it as part of their recruiting efforts. This has created both positive and negative aspects for athletes in terms of how it can affect their chances at being recruited. In fact, there are several cases in which a promising high school talent cost themselves a chance for a scholarship because of their misuse of social media.
How You Can Use Social Media to Your Advantage
For high school students who are looking to get scholarship opportunities from colleges, here are a few tips that will help improve your chances.
Presentation: How you are portrayed on social media is how people like college coaches and recruiters will see you. So, while your friends and family may know one side of you, those who are considering you for their team do not unless that is portrayed on your social media. Keep in mind that this does not mean staying away from subjects like racism, sexual orientation, or political points of view. Rather, it is the use of coarse language, unsettling photos, and vulgarity that will have a negative effect.
Photographs: All it takes is one image of something controversial such as weapons, nudity, or drugs to pull you from consideration. You can use your privacy settings to ensure that your photos are protected and to ensure that you are not tagged in a photo by someone else that is controversial in nature.
Language: If you post something that will have your mother or grandmother disapproving, then you shouldn’t post it. This is mostly about keeping your language in check because the use of profanity is the most eye-catching of all ways to have college coaches lose interest in recruiting you for their team. Go over your posts and tweets over the past several months and remove or at least clean-up those that have profanity.
Keep in mind that your social media presence should still represent who you are, but it needs to be presentable to anyone who views it.
Why SportsForce is the Ultimate Solution
To make the most of your efforts in getting recruited, SportsForce provides proven solutions to help in the preparation and marketing of your abilities. In addition to the many services SportsForce provides, one of them is to advise you on your social media accounts so they are more presentable to college coaches.
This does not mean changing who you are, but simply presenting yourself on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media accounts as your best self. Let SportsForce show you how to reach college coaches to help achieve your goals. Sign up for a free evaluation Here.
