Why YOU Should Want to Be the Perfect Walk-On Player
August 23rd, 2008 - by
by Chris Krause, NCSA Founder and President
As the hype and hoopla of the upcoming college football season gets ready to kick-off next weekend, and all of our time and attention here at NCSA focuses on a new class of high school athletes in all sports who are entering the stretch run when it comes to getting noticed by college coaches and hoping for a full-ride scholarship, I want to talk to you about being the perfect walk-on player.
“Walking on???”, you say. “Why are you going to talk to me about walking on to play sports at the college level?”
Because for many athletes, it’s what they choose to do. In fact, it was almost the road that I took when I was searching for the right school as a high school athlete.
Furthermore, having the right “walk-on attitude” can help you right now as you compete for scholarships while you enter the final year (or years) of high school.
I was reminded of that certain attitude when I ran across a great article about the walk-on football players at Marshall University. In the article, it talks about how important the walk-on player for the program. The reporter talked to an incoming Freshman walk-on player, Chris Bowers. Bowers’ attitude was off the charts…here’s what the 6′ 2″, 280 lb. lineman had to say about his grueling pre-season workouts at Marshall University:
“It’s a privilege certainly,” Bowers said. “There are a lot of guys who would have loved to have been down here. They gave me the privilege and the shot to come down and show them what I can do.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity. It’s a strange perspective since I’ve been around it all my life, basically. Actually being on the field with the guys you’ve been watching for a couple of years, it’s a strange perspective.”
“And as a walk-on I know it’s going to be really difficult, because I don’t have to be a little bit better than the guy in front of me. I have to be a lot better, because they brought him in for a reason.”
The thing is, no matter what happens in Bowers’ college football career, he’s going to be successful in life. If he perseveres, he’s going to come away with a work-ethic and attitude that will make him unbeatable in his post-college career, whatever it is.
Marshall’s coach, Mark Snyder, agrees:
“It’s a rough road for them,” Thundering Herd head coach Mark Snyder said. “They’re paying their own way to school, and you’re relegated to scout team work. And you’ve basically got to make a way out of no way.
“But what we’ve found is that most of the time those guys become great leaders, because they’ve had the adversity. They don’t take things for granted.
“Those kids have done a great job. They’ve worked hard, and I’m glad they’re on our football team.”
After listening to Coach Snyder and Chris Bowers, here’s why I think every high school athlete should take on the attitude – right now – of being determined to be the perfect walk-on player in college:
- You will put yourself in control of the recruiting process. Of course you want a full-ride scholarship. But even for really good athletes, that sometimes doesn’t happen (especially in non-revenue sports at the college level). Think about it: If you make up your mind that you’ll probably be a walk-on player in college, you can take control and choose the best school for you, rather than waiting for phone calls from your dream school.
- You will develop an unbeatable positive attitude. That’s something that you will take with you your entire life. Having a “can do” attitude is something that employers (and college coaches) look for in people. Look back at the quote from Chris Bowers at Marshall: Does it sound like he’s unhappy to be a walk-on? Absolutely not! He’s a part of a program he loves, and even though it’s hard work he knows he will benefit in the end.
- You will develop GREAT leadership skills. Why? Because you will have to go through a little more adversity than some of your fellow athletes. And I can tell you, as someone who has built a successful organization from the ground up and has gone through his share of adversity on the field and in the corporate world, you will draw on your experiences as an college athlete to power you through to success. The walk-ons of today will be the CEO’s of tomorrow.
- You will be more grateful for the chance to play sports. Walk-on athletes at the college level talk about the renewed passion that they have for their sport at that level. Why? Because they have to work harder to continue playing the sport they love, which propels them towards better performances in their sport. Sometimes you have to go through a little adversity to launch you to the next level.
- Chances are, if you stick with it, you’ll earn a scholarship. As you begin to hear from college coaches this year, don’t be surprised if they tell you that they have a policy of not giving incoming Freshmen scholarship money. However, they will also talk about kids who stick with it, make the team, and then are awarded healthy scholarships for the rest of their college career. My message here is that your hard work will pay off; usually with scholarship money, and almost certainly with new leadership abilities, more maturity, and with the ability to overcome obstacles in your life after college.
So, right now in high school, develop the attitude of the perfect walk-on player. Decide to have the attitude right now, before you need it, that you WILL play college sports no matter what. And, if it comes to taking a walk-on opportunity in your sport, you will look at it as an opportunity to build yourself into not just a better athlete, but a better person as well.
To maximize your opportunities to play college sports, I’d love to have my team of more than 70 former college athletes and coaches here at NCSA be able to help you through the process. If you haven’t registered your athletic qualifications with us yet, click here.
