The most competitive and well known athletic awards are the NCAA scholarships. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of high school athletes are talented enough to participate at such a level. The good news is there are other national athletic organizations that provide scholarships such as the NAIA and NJCAA. If you are willing to compete at a smaller college or university, your chances of receiving an athletic scholarship to pay for your school are greater. Having good academic progress in high school, a passion for your game and connecting with college coaches will put you in the best position to get all or part of your college paid for. This article will give you the run down on athletic scholarships and give tips on earning one.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) all offer athletic scholarships to their student-athletes. Each has their own eligibility rules and regulations for competing, which include firm academic criteria that must be met. NAIA and NJCAA scholarships many times go under-advertised and are just not as well known because the schools that participate are the smaller colleges. Some have the impression that a smaller school is not as good as a big well known school, and because of that, they might miss out on a free ride.

NCAA Scholarships

The NCAA is the largest collegiate athletic association with over 1,000 participating schools in the U.S. Within the NCAA there are three divisions: division I, division II, and division III. Usually the divisions are determined by the schools size and the size of their athletic program. Both divisions I and II schools offer athletic scholarships, but Division III schools do not. The NCAA division I and II athletics are known for being extremely competitive and attract the best talent.

NAIA Scholarships

The NAIA schools include about 300 college institutions throughout the United States and Canada. Within the NAIA there are three divisions: Division I, Division II, and Division III. The NAIA generally sponsors athletes who’s playing abilities fall outside the scope of the NCAA. The colleges tend to be smaller and only include about a dozen different sports. Many NAIA Division I and II schools offer athletic scholarships.

NJCAA Scholarships

The NJCAA represents two year colleges and they offer athletic scholarships, called grant in aid. Scholarships are offered at the participating Division I and II levels in most competitive men’s and women’s sports. Many Junior Colleges throughout the country are extremely competitive and prepare student-athletes to transfer to four year schools. Some exceptional athletes that did not meet the academic criteria to earn a NCAA scholarship go to Junior Colleges first to improve their grades, and then transfer to NCAA schools for their remaining two years.

Full Scholarships and Partial Scholarships

Athletic scholarships fall into one of two categories: full scholarships or partial scholarships. Typically the big money maker sports like football and basketball offer their players full scholarships, while other sports like baseball, softball, and golf offer partial scholarships. Full scholarships usually include tuition, books, transportation, room and board, and other expenses, whereas partial scholarships cover a portion of these expenses. So for example, one athlete might receive a full scholarship that covers 100% of their college expenses and another athlete might receive a partial scholarship that covers 60% of their expenses.

The Super Star Myth

You don’t have to be a super star like Michael Jordan to earn an athletic scholarship. Since the likelihood of playing at a huge division I NCAA School is slim to none, it makes more since to direct your attention to the other opportunities that exist. Even if you don’t excel at one of the major sports like basketball, football or baseball, there are still many other sports that offer scholarships like lacrosse, badminton, rowing, archery and volleyball. There are even scholarships available for emerging sports like bowling and rodeo. This is not to say that you don’t have to shine at your sport, but by no means do you have to be the best in the country. You just have to stand out to one of the many coaches that are looking to give away a free education to good athletes.

Tips on Earning an Athletic Scholarship

As promised here are some tips on how to help you get that athletic scholarship you have always dreamed of.

• Start Early: Begin thinking about your college athletic plans your sophomore year in high school.
• Get Good Grades: In order to earn a scholarship you have to meet the GPA requirements or you won’t be eligible. Also, college coaches don’t want to take a chance on someone who is on the boarder academically because they don’t need too. There are great athletes everywhere and they are going to choose the one with the better grades.
• Play On A Summer Team: If you’re an athlete, then you know playing your sport during the off season is one of the most important things you can do. There are various summer leagues throughout the country that host tournaments for the sole purpose of getting you exposure to college recruits.
• Talk With Your High School Coach: Your high school coach can help you by contacting college coaches on your behalf and sending them your playing films. There are rules that college coaches must follow in regards to when they are able to have contact with you and when they are not able.
• Apply To The Colleges of Interest: College coaches will take more of an interest in you once you have applied to their school. That way they know you have a serious interest in their school.
• Know The Rules: Each association (NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA) has different rules and regulations for obtaining a scholarship. You should know what the rules are which includes knowing what GPA they require.
• Show Your Passion: You don’t have to be the best at your sport, but if you are passionate and work hard you will be a coach’s dream.

Additional Athletic Scholarship Resources

For some additional information on athletic scholarships and grants, check out these links:

Breakthrough Basketball Blog: This blog has some great tips on how to get a basketball scholarship and gives information on summer basketball.

Sports Scholarships: Provides important information on each sport that offers scholarships.

Fin Aid: A guide to scholarships and financial aid for student athletes.

College Scholarships: Gives information about grant programs that are available to athletes.

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The 3 questions were developed by George Kinder, CFP. Mr. Kinder is the founder of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning and author of The Seven Stages of Money Maturity: Understanding the Spirit and Value of Money in Your Life. He developed these three questions as way to explore his client’s underlying values, hopes and dreams. Without this information, financial planning is simply numbers without purpose. So here are Kinder’s 3 questions (and watch out for #3, because it’s really the one question that gets to the root of your heart’s desires):

Question 1: Imagine that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. How would you live your life? Would you change anything?

We’ve probably all heard some variation of this question. If you won the lottery, what changes would you make in your life? Many of us would quit our jobs, but then what? How would you fill your days if money was not an issue? The point to this question is to unearth what is most important to you. Perhaps you would keep your job, if not scale back some. Maybe you’ve wanted to start your own business, or get deeply involved in a charitable organization. The key to making this question work, however, is to unleash your dreams and imagination. Don’t hold back because you think your dreams our unrealistic. I hope they are unrealistic, they are dreams after all.

Question 2: Imagine that your doctor says you have only five to 10 years to live. You won’t feel sick, but you’ll never know when death will come. What will you do? Will you change your life? How?

This question takes the first one a step further, and ads a touch of reality. In question 2, you’re not financially free to do whatever you want. Instead, it causes you to think more deliberately about your life and your future. It makes you see time as the scarce resource that it truly is. It forces you not to take your time on this earth for granted. So what would you do? Would you work more and spend more time at the office? Probably not. You’d probably hug your children and tell them how much you love them every day. You might write that book you’ve always wanted to write, or learn to dance or speak a foreign language. Who won American Idol would probably seem a tad less important.

Question 3: Now imagine that your doctor says you have only one day left to live. Ask yourself: What did I miss? What did I not get to be or do?

Question 3 to me is the most important. It’s about regrets, and most of us have some. What would you regret not doing, or not seeing, or not being? If you spend some time really thinking about this question, you’ll identify what is most important to who you are and who you want to be. For me, it’s writing a novel. That has always been one of my dreams, and the one thing I’d regret not doing if tomorrow were my last day.

Kinder’s three questions are a small part of a larger life planning program he developed called EVOKE. EVOKE stands for Exploration, Vision, Obstacles, Knowledge, and Execution. You can read more about his program in article he published in the Journal of Financial Planning called EVOKE™: A Life Planning Methodology for the Coming Revolution in Client Relationships.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite scenes for City Slickers, which encapsulates the whole concept of Life Planning. I should add that finding that “one thing” is a life long journey, and watch out, because that “one thing” can change when you least expect it.

Huntington Bank just released what it calls a Checklist for Life. Checklist for Life is a seven page PDF document that allows you to keep an inventory of all your financial information. The idea behind the checklist is to encourage people to begin thinking about estate planning. Here’s how Huntington describes the Checklist:

Many people believe that they need an estate plan only if they are wealthy. The reality is that everyone needs to determine how their assets will provide the income and health care they will need in retirement. They must also ensure that upon their death, their assets will go to the beneficiaries they intended and that the taxes, fees and costs associated with their estates will be minimized. Without an estate plan, they can put the fruits of their labor in jeopardy. The first step is to develop an inventory of savings, investments, retirement plans, real estate titles and liabilities. To help you to develop that inventory, Huntington has created the Huntington Checklist for Life.

The Checklist could be used to help your parents organize their finances. For me, it’s a great way to put all of our financial information in one place so that my wife knows what we have and where it is. She’s not very involved in our finances, and this Checklist would provide her with a convenient road map to our money should she ever need it. The last thing I want to hear one day is, “Honey, you don’t look so good, tell me about our investments.”

” Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. If Voyant’s newly released online financial planning tool has anything to say about it, failing to plan will be a thing of the past. Voyant showcased its free financial planning tool at DEMO 08 being held this week in Palm Desert, CA. I’ve spent some time using the financial planning tool, and it has real potential. Here’s how Voyant describes it’s tool–

Voyant @Home helps people understand the big-picture impact of life-changing events and their long-term financial implications — from the birth of a child to the early retirement of a spouse. Unlike one-dimensional personal finance software, expense aggregators and budget calculators, the product features interactive forecasts, “what if” scenarios and online collaboration tools that give consumers more control and customization than traditional financial planning options. Even better, Voyant @Home is a free, Web-based Internet application that allows users to manage up-to-the-minute plan information from the convenience and privacy of their home, office or favorite coffee shop.

This tool is not light on features. In fact, it takes some time to enter all your financial data into the system. Here’s a screen shot of one of the main summary pages:

What I find so appealing about Voyant is that it looks at your finances over your lifetime. The screenshot above shows a timeline Voyant generates based on data you provide it. It then allows you to plan for major life expenses as far into the future as you’d like, such as your child’s college expenses, a future wedding, or that trip around the world you’re planning 20 years from now. The system calls for entering a substantial amount of your financial data, including income, retirement and taxable investments, expenses and debt. I’m still working with it and will provide a more in depth review soon, but some of its features include–

• Timeline: defines key life stages and events; foresees important financial obstacles and opportunities.
• Simulations/Illustrations: demonstrates the impact of life-changing events such as birth, marriage and retirement; illustrates products and services such as life insurance, investments and loans that support personal financial goals.
• Real-Time Snapshots: compares current account balances to established goals; defines and tracks action items.
• Collaboration: supports secure communication with designated community members including friends, family, employers, and professional advisors.
• Data Mining/Analytics: recommends areas for potential improvement based on established industry norms such as fees and coverage rates.

You can get more information about the financial planning tool and download it for free at Voyant.