I am a junior on a good club team. Right now I am a starter on the varsity team at [high school name omitted.] When should I start the recruiting process? - Sara

In a word: now. If you start the process of college sports recruitment now, you can proceed at a leisurely pace, whereas if you wait until this time next year, you're going to have to hustle. Another good thing is that if you start now, you'll have more time to think about what colleges are right for you. You're more likely to assemble a list of colleges that really match your needs than if you wait and try to do it when the pressure is really on. Continue using our Online Guidance to find the right colleges and also start tapping into your club and high school coaches, as well as a teacher or two who you really respect.

There will always be those players who start writing coaches while still in their freshman and sophomore years. If this is your style, go for it.

To learn how to get recruited, though, you have to maintain regular contact with coaches for the duration of your time in high school. If as a sophomore you write a coach and then proceed to fall off the face of the earth until your senior year, you haven't done yourself any good.

If you do start self-recruiting as a sophomore, in addition to maintaining regular contact with your candidate coaches, you should send an updated resume after your junior fall season.

The bottom line for would-be early starters: Begin self-recruiting only when you're prepared to invest yourself consistently. You must correspond with your candidate coaches regularly—not just sporadically, when the spirit moves you.

The timeline of athletic recruitment is faster for the top prospects in the country.

Many top players will be heavily courted by college coaches. If this is the case for you, don't make the coach do all the work. Show the coach—who's clearly enthusiastic about you—that you're just as excited about playing for him.

The self-recruiting timeline varies from person to person and depends on a number of factors including:

1. Timeframe - The point in your high school career when you begin self-recruiting. If you?re a sophomore beginning the process, self-recruiting will occur over a longer time frame than that of a senior who's just beginning.


2. Qualifications - The athlete's appearance on paper. If you have national team experience, a coach will probably make a swift effort to see you play.


3. Accessibility - How close you live or play to a given school. The closer you are, the easier it is for a coach to see you play.


4. Marketing How effectively you market yourself will determine your success in the recruiting process.

The winter isn't a great time to play sports outdoors. The winter months, however, are perfect for an indoors project like self-recruiting. You can devote the time you normally spend at practice to getting yourself onto a college team.

During the winter, college coaches spend a lot of time in their offices. For an active breed, this is almost insufferable. Coaches gaze out the window daydreaming, wishing the snow would melt. Give them a call. Brighten up their day.

The recruiting timeline for high school athletes is a subject of great confusion. Athletes and parents often get worried by rumors that spread like wildfire.

The rumor mill spawns myths like, "If it's the spring of your junior year and you haven't been contacted by any coaches, you have no chance of playing soccer in college." That's just wrong.

College coaches may not be as far ahead with recruiting as you might expect.

In reality, most coaches don't finalize their recruiting classes until the winter or spring of the recruit's senior year in high school.