College Recruiting & Social Media

It seems that every high school and college student-athlete is using some form of social media almost constantly.  With the advent of smart phones, it is easier now than ever before to communicate and share opinions and thoughts.  With this greater opportunity comes a greater responsibility to be wise.  

If a high school athlete desires to have as many good scholarship options as possible, then it is important that they are wise in their social media use.  For college athletes, if they want to have as many good employment options as possible, then they need to be responsible when they post to their social media accounts.  

I recently presented at the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.  My topic was social media and college recruiting.  The bottom line is that the choices we make today will shape our tomorrows.  What do we want our tomorrow to look like.  We each have a brand.  We each have a story to tell about ourselves.  What are we going to tell the world?

Here is the power point presentation that we used at the conference…

• Power Point Presentation

CHARACTER REVEALED

Today we celebrated Martin Luther King day. He once famously said “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”.  It has often been said that sports build character.   Sports allow people to learn many lessons. The games themselves, though, don’t necessarily build character. Instead, they reveal character. Just like a test that you might take in school doesn’t build your knowledge base, but it reveals what you already know. The homework that you’ve done or not done is revealed when you take a test.In the same way, what you’ve done in practice and your workouts is revealed during the games. Your habits can make or break you.

I often told my players that bad players remember the good things that they do. Good players remember the bad things that they do. A good player will remember the time that they didn’t dive for a loose ball. A bad player will make a big deal about that time that they blocked out. Good or bad habits can lead to success or failure. A person’s habits oftentimes come down to their motivation. What is most important to a person? What makes them tick? Most players and teams that I talk with will tell me that they want to win a championship. However, their actions do not always back up this claim. Many players do not act as if winning a championship is the most important thing to them.

Marion Student-Athletes Learning Leadership Skills

Some Marion High School student-athletes are learning how to be better leaders in order to help their teams on the field of competition and improve the world around them.

About 25 student-athletes from various teams at Marion met weekly this past semester before school to learn about different leadership concepts.

“The morning sessions taught me a new thing every single week on how to be good teammate and player both on and off the field,” said Luke Oliver, who plays both football and soccer.

The student-athlete leadership training was led by Marion’s Director of Athletics Jamy Bechler.   It was a combination of the IHSAA and NAIA’s Champions of Character programs and Bechler’s own ULeadership initiative, which promotes the concept of “Leadership Begins with U.”