How to Get Your Child Noticed by College Wrestling Coaches
- 1). Send your child to as many wrestling camps as possible. Many top college wrestling programs offer camps for high school wrestlers to refine and improve their skills and to showcase their talent in front of college coaches and recruiting coordinators. Some of the best-known camps for young wrestlers are offered by the University of Iowa, one of the top college wrestling programs in the country. Iowa's camps offer team competition from Dan Gable, an Olympic gold medal winner and two-time national champion, along with individual training.
- 2). Register your child for regional or national wrestling tournaments. It's important for young wrestlers to showcase their skills outside of high school team meets, so college coaches can evaluate them as individuals. Find tournaments by visiting sites such as HSWrestling (hswrestling.net) and Wrestling USA Magazine (wrestlingusa.com), which list national and regional tournament dates, locations and contact information.
- 3). Make a recruiting video that features your child's wrestling highlights and achievements. Film your child's matches and edit them, using graphics and music to energize the images. You can also hire a recruiting video company that specializes in creating professional-quality recruiting DVDs. These usually feature an introduction with your child's resume and photo, highlights, and interviews with coaches and trainers. Companies such as GetURecruited.com and Highlight Video Productions provide these services.
- 4). Sign your child up with organizations such as beRecruited.com and NCSA Athletic Recruiting, which provide free recruiting services. Their services include posting your child's highlight video on their website and creating a profile that matches your child's talent to the appropriate college coaches.
- 5). Create a website dedicated to your child's wrestling career. Include biographical information and videos of your child talking about why he loves wrestling. The website should offer college coaches a complete overview of your child, not just as an athlete, but as a person. Link the website to social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
