Football has become America’s national sport. Perhaps the only one that could probably compete for this title is basketball. Because of this, most colleges are willing to invest in their football players in the form of tuition fee grants.

However, being able to get a college football scholarship is very hard as the process is very competitive. With up to 1.1 million football players from high school hoping to get one, there are only at most 184 scholarship grants available for college football players. Unfortunately, the actual available slots go lower than this if you would consider that there are already senior college players who had already availed a scholarship.

It is therefore a must that you should set your sights on an athletic scholarship early on. Hone your skills so that you will be able to be noticed by the recruiters. Furthermore, make sure to keep your grades high as almost all of the colleges require a certain GPA to qualify for their football program.

The best part of availing a college football scholarship is being able to get a college degree for free while playing the sport you love. So get in the huddle and blitz your way to that college diploma.

1. Do a personal assessment. Evaluate your abilities, talents and reasons for wanting to play in college. Also what type of college are you searching for athletically and academically.
2. What level can you play at? Put your ego aside and do a real evaluation of your talent and what you want out of a college athletic career. Do you want to play at the biggest college possible and risk sitting the bench? Or are you happy with a smaller school where you can play all four years?
3. Develop a personal recruiting packet. This should contain a athletic cover letter, athletic resume and video highlight and game films. You can do this better and cheaper than any company or service that charges you money to post an online profile or make a highlight tape for you.
4. Initiate contact with colleges. Follow a system that will maximize your exposure to colleges and play the recruiting game on the college coach’s level. This will put you above the thousands of other recruits fighting for the same spots.
5. Communicate and follow through. It is often difficult for high school students to communicate with college coaches. You must mature quickly during this process and ask the right questions and have the correct answers to show the coaches you are the player for them. It is also difficult to keep the drive and determination to get an offer late into the recruiting season if you have already been turned down multiple times.

High school athletes who are able to follow a game plan throughout the entire recruiting season are the ones who ultimately end up with a scholarship. It takes a lot of work but if you are willing to be mature and keep your dream alive, you will be able to earn a football scholarship and play in college.

Here are 5 common mistakes football players make when getting recruited:

1. Only wanting to play big-time DI football. Some athletes let their ego get in the way of evaluating their true talent. There is nothing wrong with wanting to play at a top level school but these athletes are very few, less than 1 in 100. If you are not one of these, don’t limit your choices and shut the door on other opportunities.
2. Believing everything a college coach says. Football recruiting is a game. The competitive nature of  the sport makes for a live or die situation for coaches because their job often depends on it. They will string athletes along until a better player shows up right up until signing day. You as an athlete need to play the game on the coaches level and determine the true level of interest from a college coach.
3. Getting a recruiting letter and thinking schools are interested. Thousands of letters are sent out by each college. These letters do not initially mean anything. What you choose to do with them from there is up to you. Some athletes will receive dozens of letters from a football program but never receive so much as a phone call from a coach. The process needs to be initiated by you to increase success.
4. Not willing to play other positions. Coaches often look less at what position your currently play and look at you more as an athlete that can fit into their system of play. Too many athletes think they are only a receiver, not a defensive back, or only want to be a tight end and not an offensive tackle. You must be willing to play wherever and whenever to increase your opportunities.
5. Giving up during the recruiting process. The recruiting season can be tedious, stressful and hard on your confidence. Those athletes who make it are not afraid to get turned down by colleges. They keep on searching and fighting for recognition from colleges even if they have not yet been rewarded with an offer.

You can play football in college and earn a scholarship. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes and take a no-holds-barred approach to your recruiting. You have worked too hard up to this point to let it slip away because of mistakes you make off the field towards recruiting.