It’s not necessary, as a freshman it’s best to focus your time on developing your position-skills, speed, size and academics. Instead of spending hours reaching out to coaches, put that time into your improvements and give yourself another year to become even better. The recruiting process can be quite time consuming, time that is better invested in the weightroom as a freshman.

Making varsity as a freshman is a great first step, but depending on the strength of competition within your school and district, it may not necessarily stand out to coaches quite yet. What they do look for: great position skills, speed, strength, size and the intangibles, including leadership, toughness, work ethic and a great IQ for the game!

Believe me, if you’re creating buzz and hype in the area as a freshman, college coaches will find out about it! Even though they can’ contact you yet—they’ll be gathering info on you!

And most importantly, make sure your freshman year grades are off to a great start. You don’t want your GPA to be a reason why coaches rule you out as a sophomore, junior or senior. Get off to a great start in the classroom and develop good study habits!