RESOURCES FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS TO SUPPORT COLLEGE-BOUND STUDENT-ATHLETES

Counselors navigate a wide range of needs to set their students up for post-secondary success. As caseloads continue to increase, it’s even more challenging to keep track of the complex requirements for students who hope to play college sports.

We know getting students on the right post-secondary pathway is a team effort! Counselors, athletic directors, coaches and families all play an important support role. Honest Game has identified the key takeaways for school counselors to support their college-bound student-athlete’s road to success.

Identifying Strengths of a Student-Athlete
Research shows that athletes are stronger and more resilient at their sport when they construct an identity that goes beyond athletics. How can we help build their identity to build their strength as a student? Often, school counselors should focus on the “who before what” to help student-athletes shape their identity around who they are, before deciding what they’ll do. A recent article from Growing Leader emphasized the importance of encouraging a healthy identity.

Recognize Short-term and Long-term Goals
Does the student-athlete have a desire to participate in college athletics? Encouraging academic goals and relating those goals back to their sport tends to increase performance in both areas. Many student-athletes are exploring the idea of college athletics, however they might not be sure exactly what level or if they are able to compete in college. Some may have a definite plan in place with the exact path and school, which can provide a great outline for their academic goals. These conversations can happen early and often.

Honest Game stresses the importance of being prepared with an appropriate course schedule and load in order to be ready for NCAA academic eligibility requirements.

The NCAA requires incoming college freshman student-athletes entering NCAA Division I (DI) and Division II (DII) to complete 16 units (32 semesters) of NCAA-approved core courses. These courses must be completed on a specific timeline and in specific subject areas. Taking at least 4 units (8 semesters) of NCAA-approved core courses every year, starting the first year of high school, is key to staying on track.

Here is where Honest Game can help. Honest Game’s CARE® provides each student-athlete an individualized academic eligibility plan with clear short-term goals to achieve the eligibility requirements needed for college sports.

Preparation for Best College Fit as a Student-Athlete
Your expertise as a counselor in college selection is extremely helpful to your student-athletes. Asking the student-athlete the following specific questions will help narrow down their search as they look to play at the college level:

1. Have you started reaching out to college coaches to find out if they are interested? If not, get started. What are you doing to get yourself out there? Attending camps, completing questionnaires, emailing coaches, sending highlight reels, reaching out via Twitter?
2. What are your academic interests? Often, kids don’t know what schools they like, but by asking what they enjoy will help them narrow down the list of schools.
3. How do you envision your ideal college experience? What size of student body, diversity, campus and proximity to home are you looking for?
4. How do you envision your college athletic experience? Starting as a freshman, happy to be a walk-on, need help with admissions, being the star, playing all four years, traveling or just being on practice squad, scholarship or no scholarship?
5. If I was unable to play my sport at these schools, would I still be interested in attending?

Honoring Student-Athlete’s Commitment to Sport
Understanding the commitment to athletics and sharing that awareness with student-athletes is instrumental in their achievements and their struggles. As their counselor, your role is a very important piece to building their confidence.

As a school counselor, you may find student-athletes have highs and lows while in season vs. out of season, continuing to communicate with them about their commitment to athletics will foster important conversations about future plans.

Post-secondary opportunities in athletics are demanding, but also extremely rewarding. Student-athletes thrive on their support system to continue to build their confidence, so they can thrive in their sport and in the classroom. By creating community around our student-athletes and by finding something positive to say about each experience (good or bad), school counselors can create an environment where student-athletes feel supported, confident and can achieve beyond their potential.

Managing and Determining Expectations
With the help of a school counselor, student-athletes need to identify why they would like to compete at the next level. How much commitment are they willing to put forth in their college life to athletics? How will playing sports at the college level impact their academic goals?

Current high school student-athletes can gain a fresh perspective with a realistic insight to the life of college athletes by talking with someone that has previously been in their shoes.
School counselors can encourage conversations with former student-athletes that may offer a real world perspective for collegiate sports.

Discussing the time management skills required for competing at all playing levels is important and sharing options outside of NCAA DI and DII are important. Learn more about why more than 195,000 student-athletes choose to compete at the DIII level in the blog, “Is DIII for Me?”.

In an upcoming webinar Honest Game’s experts – former counselors and athletic directors – will share additional information on how to make sense of the NCAA’s “core course” rules, how to get courses approved by the NCAA Eligibility Center, and how to help students select classes that will help them achieve their post-secondary goals.

Quick Resources for Counselors to Share with Student-athletes and Families

• Honest Game Academic Eligibility 101 for Schools
• NCAA Eligibility Center Registration Checklist
• Read more about what qualifies as an NCAA-approved core course and how to ensure your student-athletes are meeting the requirements.
• NCAA Recruiting Calendars – NCAA member schools limit recruiting to certain periods during the year. Recruiting calendars promote the well-being of college-bound student-athletes and ensure fairness among schools by defining certain periods during the year in which recruiting may or may not occur in a particular sport. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with recent changes in NCAA legislation, recruiting calendars may be adjusted.
• NCAA School Interactive Map
• NAIA School Map
• NJCAA/JUCO School Map

As the industry leading on-demand academic compliance solution, Honest Game’s technology helps educators ensure their schools and student-athletes are tracking with NCAA & NAIA requirements for college athletics.

Contact us today to learn more about how our technology can support school counselors to best prepare your student-athletes to be eligible for college sports.

By Courtney Sakellaris, Honest Game Senior Manager – High School Success
A former High School Athletic Director with more than 14 years of experience, Courtney has guided thousands of student-athletes through the NCAA and NAIA college eligibility and athletic recruiting process. Interested in virtual counseling with Courtney? Sign up here.