Spots on Division One (D1) teams are coveted by top athletes. The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) top-level teams are the ultimate goal for college competitors.
Oftentimes scholarships are the answer. Nixa High School Athletics and Activities director Brandon Clark said there are varying athletic scholarships depending on the level, but earning one is rare.
“Three percent of kids go on to play college sports,” Clark said. “… Even a smaller percentage of that actually gets full-ride scholarships — we’re talking potentially less than 0.1 percent of that three percent get that chance.”
Because of certain NCAA rules, only a select number of scholarships are permitted to be given out per sport.
“For other sports like baseball for instance, I believe the number is 11 because most [teams] will carry 20 to 30 plus kids, so a lot of times kids will go on partial scholarships and that’s actually more common, so full-rides are not as common.”
However uncommon full ride scholarships are, Senior Jayden Antonelli received a full-ride scholarship to play football at the West Point United States Military Academy on the Army Black Knights football team in New York.
“I was super excited when I got this scholarship because now I don’t have to pay any college debt back so that was awesome…” Antonelli said.
With all expenses covered, Antonelli can advance in not only his athletic career, but his academic pursuits as well. With the help of his scholarship, Antonelli plans to pursue a career in orthodontics.
“After I graduate I become a second lieutenant in the Army — so you go to school … and you serve for five years and then … after the five years they’ll pay for you to go back to school,” Antonelli said. “So my dental and orthodontics will be paid for by then.”
Scholarships that are received come from persistence and dedication. A lot of the times, self promotion is the name of the game in receiving athletic scholarships.
“They’ve got to [find] a way to get themselves out there,” Clark said. “There’s people who do really well; I’ve seen kids who promote themselves and collect all their Hudl highlights and send those out to various coaches … and a lot of times they do get some looks and get invited to come to elite camps and try out…”
Hudl is a software that allows both coaches and players to review and send out game footage. It can be a resource for self promotion for many athletes. While additional resources such as Hudl are used to assist students in communications with collegiate coaches, some students gain contact by increasing their play exposure for college scouts.
For example, junior Caeden Cloud is committed to the University of Kentucky to play D1 baseball.
“This summer I did a lot of recruiting stuff, so I tried to get in front of a lot of scouts,” Cloud said. “[I] went to a lot of big events where I knew scouts were going to be there — just try to get myself in front of them so they can get a look at me.”
In his effort to gain exposure, Cloud will receive an athletic and academic scholarship.
“It was a lot of conversations and phone calls with coaches,” Cloud said. “… Kentucky for example — I went to a baseball camp there to kind of get a first look at the coaches and the facilities and everything and after that I went on a visit. After I went on a visit, they gave me the offer and it was exactly what I wanted.”
Although he still has his senior year of high school ahead, Cloud was pursued by schools the moment they were able to contact him.
“For baseball it was different because schools and coaches aren’t allowed to contact you until Aug. 1 of your junior year and so on Aug. 1 a bunch of schools started calling me,” Cloud said.
Looking towards the future, Cloud said he is grateful for the opportunity.
“I’m excited for the next step and I’m very thankful for me being able to play collegiate baseball and for it to be paid for,” Cloud said.
However, Cloud’s scholarship did not come without preparation.
“I traveled a ton this summer,” Cloud said. “I traveled to Atlanta, Alabama, Indiana — all over the place.”
Similarly to Cloud, Antonelli traveled during his summer for football.
“I spent a lot of time practicing and lifting and I spent my summer going around to all different football camps and just showing out for college coaches,” Antonelli said.
Although a large part in gaining athletic scholarships is the work put in by athletes in self promotion and skill in their sport, contributions made by many people come together for the opportunity.
Cloud said his dad, coaches and trainers helped him to be where he’s at.
“My dad coaches me on days I don’t feel like doing stuff, don’t feel like going to the gym, working out, hitting, getting better and my coaches and trainers … [were there] for me and [helped] me along the way,” Cloud said.
Some of the happenings behind the scenes to help student athletes achieve their goals are the relationships between high school and college coaches.
“… They develop more of the personal relationship with the various college coaches, especially the ones in this area and they invite them into practices,” Clark said.
Clark said NHS has outlets to help student athletes such as the Nixa LIVE stream and his own role in working with students and their parents.
“Firstly, it just starts with educating the kids and the parents on how to be eligible to even start to receive the scholarship offers,” Clark said. “… There’s NCAA and [National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics] NAIA requirements in terms of the classes they take, their GPA [and] their grades…”
Through his role in providing guidance for student athletes in the realm of collegiate athletics, Clark said his goal is to make students’ time spent in high school athletics memorable.
“… When a student athlete graduates and leaves, hopefully they look back on this and go, ‘Man, that was such a great experience,’” Clark said.