Playing rugby while in college can come with many benefits, including getting a chance to showcase your skills while doing something you enjoy.
Even better, there is a chance to benefit from college scholarship, which allows you to cover the increasingly heavy burden of paying for your education. While getting a rugby scholarship can be amazing, the path to getting such funds can be lengthy and complex. Many people are often interested in limited opportunities, meaning you have to present the best version of yourself.
Many athletes fail to achieve their college dreams because they don’t fully understand how rugby recruitment works. In this article, we highlight useful steps you can take to apply for a rugby scholarship.
- Start Working on Your Skills
It takes the best-performing students to qualify for rugby scholarships. While your academic performance will be important, your record in terms of athletics will also count. Keep practicing and sustain a high level of performance. Given the high level of competition for limited opportunities, you have to be at your very best to obtain a scholarship.
- Research Available Scholarship Options
If you are doing well both academically in your sporting participation, you should start researching colleges that interest you. You need to choose colleges based on the course you would like to pursue. Start by listing about fifty potential institutions, after which you can do thorough research to narrow down your options. Some factors to consider as you choose your colleges include location, sporting programs, rugby facilities, academic performance, campus reputation, and culture.
Also, consider the costs of tuition and other expenses as you narrow down your options. While some campuses offer partial scholarships for rugby students, the overall cost of tuition can be affordable, depending on other financial opportunities like work-study programs. You can also get help with the application process from a professional offering online paper writing service.
- College All the Information Needed
Once you have narrowed down your choices to the most appealing colleges, it is time to start preparing for the application process. Preparation is key, and you will need to collect all the information you will require when applying. Start by creating an athletic resume that outlines your rugby achievements and skills. You could create a video highlighting your unique skills and what you will bring to the college team.
You also need to highlight your academic performance and compile your transcripts. While you will be studying on a rugby scholarship, your academics will be a priority. As such, the colleges will be interested in your academic scores, including SATs and ACTs. Once you have gathered the information you need, you can start to look for and compile the contact information of the assistant coaches, head coaches, and officers in charge of recruitment at the various colleges. An added tip is to check the information you have included about yourself to ensure that your details are all correct. Also, go through your social media profiles and get rid of any content that may be considered inappropriate.
- Start Communicating With Coaches Early
There will be many other students looking for the same scholarship opportunities. The early you start lobbying for yourself, the better your chances. Start the outreach process by sending emails to coaches inviting them to consider your talent. A point to note is that college coaches get hundreds of emails every week, which means that yours ought to stand out to get noticed.
A good email should have a catchy but respectful subject line and contain all the information you have in your rugby resume. Also, make sure to include a link to your skills video. This allows interested coaches to conduct a preliminary assessment by going through your film. When creating your subject line, include your playing position, name, current academic grade, and a key statistic that will interest the coach.
When contacting coaching, creating a personal touch is ideal. This means that you should avoid creating one email to be sent to all people on your list. Instead, we recommend crafting a unique email for every coach in your list, specifically indicating why the college team interests you.
Remember to reach out to the contact about two weeks after sending your email to inquire about your application and show interest in the program. Plan what you would like to tell the coach if he or she picks your call. When preparing for the call, do some research and gather key facts about the college and the rugby program.
These are just a few tips to help you ace the process of applying for a rugby scholarship. Start the process of the application early and create time to research options. Most importantly, make sure you don’t miss your deadline.
