How Do You Create An Athlete Profile?
Athlete profiles can be a huge part of recruiting because they allow you to demonstrate everything you have to offer as a player, a student, and a person in one cohesive space. Coaches look at tons of these sports resumes every year to get a first impression of players they might want to recruit. There are several key elements that you’ll want to include when you do make a profile, in order that you’re marketing all of your key attributes.
An athlete profile can be created online and should include all relevant information about you and your athletic career that you would want a coach to see. There is no explicit standard for what an athlete profile must include, which gives you the freedom to add some creativity, but there are some features that are recommended to include.
The great thing about athlete profiles is that today they’re very easy to create digitally, and even easier to send around to coaches and social media outlets. This article will give you the information you need to create a profile that will impress coaches and give you an advantage in the recruiting process.
Where Can I Create An Athlete Profile?
Before we discuss the specifics of creating an athlete profile, you’re probably wondering where exactly you can create one that will be accessible to coaches and easily shared. In the world of athlete profiles, technology has opened limitless opportunities for not only creating profiles, but also implementing various different components of your talents and achievements that will help you get noticed and achieve success in the process.
Recruiting Sites And Agencies: There are a number of sports recruiting sites that specifically offer athlete profile suites where you can conveniently build your information into a comprehensive presentation of your athletic highlights and personal attributes. These sites are the best places to create a profile because the technology is already created in a way that makes it easy to complete the process. Not only that, but many of these sites also offer consultation and support in creating your profile, so you’ll know that you’re getting the proper guidance on the specifics and best practices. However, these sites often cost money, so there are alternatives.
Microsoft Office And Similar Programs: Sports recruiting sites can be very helpful in creating athlete profiles, but you can also do it yourself in Microsoft Word or other similar applications. These suites offer all the technology you need for conveying your information and importing links to highlight videos, academic transcripts, and other elements of the profile. As long as you understand what should be included in making your profile, any of these digital platforms will be appropriate.
How To Create An Athlete Profile: Steps To Follow
As we said before, an athlete profile should include not only athletic information, but also personal and academic. You have the freedom to include various different pieces of complementary material, but there are some specifics that we recommend you should follow to create your athlete profile.
General Attributes: First, you’ll want to make sure that you include your name, sport, position, school, and graduation year/age in a highly visible location at the start of your profile. This might also include physical attributes such as height and weight, depending on the sport.
Personal Bio: Before getting into specific athletic features and academic information, you should include an introduction about yourself in the form of a paragraph or two. This gives you the opportunity to tell your story, share your inspirations, express your passion, and allow coaches to understand why you want to be recruited. This will be your first impression on anyone viewing your profile, so it’s important to take the time to write something meaningful that speaks to your character and demonstrates how you stand out on a personal level.
Photo: Along with your bio, you should include a photo of yourself on the sports field. This is a nice complement to your personal story because it adds context to who exactly you are. Try to choose a photo that speaks to characteristics of your game and who you are, such as an in-game action shot or professional photo of you in uniform off the field.
Athletic Information And Achievements: The next section should be your athletic information as this is the central point of your recruitment. There are a few ways that you can organize this, but a good outline to follow would be listing the teams you’ve played for or competitions you’ve been in, with your most recent experience at the top. Put the team or competition in bold with the year(s) you played there next to it, essentially organizing it by athletic seasons.
Underneath each section, write short descriptions of your highlights and performance both as a player and as a team if applicable. This might include statistics and/or a general description of the environment and why it was important to your athletic career. Next, include a section for awards or achievements you earned in each respective season or competition as this will demonstrate how you stand out from your competition.
Highlights: Within your athletic section, you should include a subsection to import links to your highlight and skills videos. After reading about your performance and achievements, a coach might want to actually see you play and get a better understanding of your talent. Including your highlight videos gives viewers a chance to evaluate you on the spot, which is not only convenient but will also increase your chances of moving forward with your recruitment.
Academic Information: You’ll next want to create an entire new section specifically for academic information. List your GPA, test scores, and any specific achievements such as honor roll or school awards. You can also provide specific coursework or academic interests. This can help coaches understand that you value being a student-athlete and have goals off the field. Other Options: The characteristics above are essential to any athlete profile, but there are also other features you can include. You could have a testimonial or endorsement from current or former coaches, where someone can advocate on your behalf and allow recruiters to see that you’re coachable and worthy from an outside perspective. You could also include links to your social media accounts (as long as all content is appropriate). Also, you might want to include brief highlights from other sports you play besides the one(s) that you are specifically recruiting for, as this can speak to your overall athleticism and abilities.
Contact Info: At the bottom of your profile, include all relevant contact information including name, email, phone, and address. Also include contact information for your coaches or anyone else supporting your recruitment, as college coaches might want to get in touch with both you and those who have contributed to your development.
Things To Keep In Mind
First Impression: An athlete profile, like any resume, is often a first impression that a coach or recruiter will have of you. It could be the thing that takes your recruitment to the next level or opens new opportunities. Make sure that your profile gives the best reflection of you as a player, person, student, and overall recruit.
Informational And Personal: Your athlete profile will contain a substantial amount of general information regarding your playing career and achievements, but so will everyone else’s. By personalizing your profile and adding meaningful details about yourself, your inspiration, and your goals, you will allow coaches to see how you stand out from the pack and have the determination to succeed.
Be Detailed And Creative: As we said above, athlete profiles follow a general standard of information to prove, but there is plenty of freedom to be creative and add your own elements. Take the extra time and thought to set yourself above the competition by adding as much supplementary information as possible that might help you achieve your recruiting goals.