Finding The BEST Tennis Scholarship
You've been practicing and competing in tennis since you were a little kid. You've put in many hours of effort to get where you are, and now you want to take your good tennis skills to the next stage by applying for a college scholarship. But is it easy to get a tennis scholarship?
The answer is that it depends. While there are no promises regarding receiving a college scholarship, you can take some reasonable steps to increase your chances of being recruited by a college or university coach's athletic program. Remember, you are trying to make an impression on the program's coach, so be honest and upfront about your needs with every coach you speak with.
Process Before The Scholarship
First and foremost, you must ensure you're playing at a high level. This means being ranked amongst the top players in your region or state. If you're not currently ranked, there are several ways you can go about trying to improve your ranking, such as:
-Playing in USTA junior & adult tournaments
-Participating in junior tennis leagues
-Working with a private tennis coach
Another essential thing to remember is that colleges look for well-rounded student-athletes, not just good tennis players. So, in addition to excelling on the court, it's vital that you also have solid grades and perform well on standardized tests like the SAT or ACT. After all, colleges are looking for students who will be able to succeed academically as well as athletically.
Start The Recruiting Process
There are many ways to start the recruiting process early and impress college coaches. One way is by taking the initiative with your student-athlete's education, which will help set them up for success in college sports!
A great place to begin this journey is establishing a solid foundation at home - especially if you have children who may want scholarships for themselves one day or even just an opportunity to give it their best shot.
The best way to start impressing college coaches is by taking the initiative. Many families think recruiting starts when someone contacts a coach, but this is only sometimes true! If your student-athlete still needs to take steps towards starting the process of finding their future team home before they even get into high school, creating their first year in high school should be an excellent time.
Contact The Right Coaches
Finally, you'll need to contact collegiate coaches and let them know about your interest in their school and program. The #1 way to do this is by creating a free profile on ImRecruitable. This is a super resource website college coaches use to recruit potential athletes. Once you create a profile, include information like your academic achievements, tournament results, and contact information to start the process, especially if you are serious about a tennis scholarship and competing in collegiate tennis.
College Tennis Recruiting Game
College tennis offers the opportunity to play against high-level competition while also studying at a University. There are many levels of college tennis, and some universities have their tournaments that can be very competitive, mainly when they include teams from other parts or states, for players who don't compete locally get more exposure!
Many levels of college and pro-circuit competitions may lead you down an exciting path if you are the type of student-athlete coaches are looking for. Here are some suggestions for improving your tennis skills off the court.
-Be A Coachable Student-Athlete
-Prepare For College With Academic Achievement
-Physical Conditioning - Three Days A Week (Minimum)
Strength Training With A Certified Trainer
Flexibility Training
Pre and Post Stretching Routine
Agility & Footwork Drills
You should be around 15 to 16 years old or older before starting a physical conditioning program with a trainer. This is because you want to ensure your body is ready for the growth and conditioning three days a week training will give you.
More Resources For Student-Athletes and Parents:
Pick The Right College For Your Needs
Communicate With The Best Coaches For You
Find The Best College For You
Your Student-Athlete Guidebook
While there is no guaranteed path to getting a tennis scholarship, following the tips above will give you the best chance of success. So if your goal is to play college tennis, start working hard on and off the court and reaching out to ImRecruitable.com, and set up your free account today!
Is It Easy To Get A Tennis Scholarship?
Well, it depends on several variables and circumstances. It is not just a cut-and-dry answer; even for a collegiate sport like tennis, there are many factors you must go through in the step-by-step tennis scholarship process.
Here's what they're saying online, the NCAA allows for about eight scholarships for each division one program and six for each division two program. Now that needs to be a more accurate statement because the word "about" shouldn't even be in the conversation for both men's and women's tennis players at the Division one or two levels.
And there are also some walk-on tennis scholarships? That is very misleading as well. Student-Athletes can inquire about these walk-on scholarships through the collegiate coach and the athletic department, but there are always guarantees.
The other thing they say is for tennis scholarships, there's a three percent chance of earning a scholarship, and the way they base this is how many programs they exist, which is 1158 programs, and 312 of them are NCAA division One, offering eight scholarships per team. Those numbers can change weekly because university programs are being added or canceled.
The NCAA division two has 216 programs offering six scholarships per team, and the NCAA Division Three levels have 371 programs that do not offer athletic scholarships. That is a lot of stuff to understand. So, division three doesn't have any athletic scholarships? What's that about?
How Many Division One Men's Tennis Scholarships?
Let's start with the first one, how many scholarships for men's tennis in division one do they offer, and how can you get some money? Suppose the University or college program is fully funded. In that case, there are 4.5 full scholarships provided by the coach. If they are not fully funded, then the coach breaks up the scholarships how they want them to and or according to the policies of the program of the athletic department.
And again, walk-on scholarships are misleading. You may become eligible for a coach's program if you are at the sport or athletic level and qualified for the academic level, which means you have a high enough GPA. You need to improve consistently while you're in college as a walk-on, which the coach is currently looking for; if he's looking, they are Looking for that. Then, you might qualify for a college scholarship.
How Many Division One Women's Tennis Scholarships?
It's the same format here, also. If the University or college program is fully funded, then there are eight full scholarships offered by the coach and Institution. But, if not fully funded, the coach breaks up the scholarships how they want and or according to the policy of the athletic department programs. Then again, the third factor I continue to reiterate is, Walk-On scholarships are misleading. You may become eligible to be a scholarship recipient if you are at that athletic or sport level. The academic level is necessary to receive one of those scholarships if that's the coach's rules or regulations or they are currently looking for someone.
How Many Division Two Women's Tennis Scholarships?
There is a difference if the University or college program is fully funded, then there are six full scholarships offered by the coach. That's six in the division two women's tennis; if not fully funded, the coach breaks up the scholarships how they want and according to the athletic department policies and program. I know I keep saying this but walk-on scholarships? needs to be more accurate even at the NCAA division two level. You may become eligible to be the coach If you are at the sport level and the academic level the coach is currently looking for in any given year.
So let's say you're a freshman in college, and by your sophomore year, you improved so much, and your academic level has risen and improved so much that the coach decides to offer you a scholarship, even though you have been a walk-on for the past year. Therefore, the student-athlete deserves a scholarship according to the coach's decision, whatever that amount of scholarship might be.
How Many Division Two Men's Tennis Scholarships?
This is very specific as well. For example, suppose the University or college program is fully funded. In that case, there are 4.5 full scholarships offered by the coach, but if the program is not fully funded, that program and coach can break up those scholarships according to the policies of the program and the athletic department; they want walk-on scholarships to be the same and consistent across the board. So you've heard me say that, before it's consistent across the board, with all those NCAA divisions.
How Many Division Three Men's & Women's Tennis Scholarships?
This will include both division three men's and women's programs. At the present time, division three programs only offer academic scholarships, not athletic. Most NCAA Division three coaches are looking for a 3.5 to 4.0 GPA student-athlete, plus a very strong SAT or ACT cumulative test score to apply at the D3 institution. Yes, that's a standard requirement to get any academic scholarship. Division three coaches also look for a strong UTR or Universal tennis-level ranking to fill key spots. Now, if you're in tennis, you should know what a UTR is; if you're serious about becoming a collegiate athlete.
At ImRecruitable we can go into more detail on many of your specific questions. We have the knowledge you need to start the correct process and path to acquire an athletic or academic scholarship for sports at the NCAA and NAIA levels. You can sign up for your free student-athlete account at ImRecruitable and get your process started immediately to start preparing to receive a college scholarship.
So is it easy to get a tennis scholarship? We definitely want to make a point about the qualifications needed, but also, is it easy to get a college tennis scholarship? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on your tennis level, your high school academic level, ImRecruitable's process you learn to follow, and even your desire to make it work for you, no matter what your tennis level is.
