Beginners Blueprint For Getting Yourself The Athletic Exposure You Need
My Why..
Let’s be honest, players of all ages are overlooked every single day. That’s not to say that they aren’t talented enough or have enough potential, the problem is that nobody knows who they are! It’s impossible for scouts to physically see every single player all over the country and the world, which is why you need to start taking the initiative! Don’t let the fate of your future rest on the chance of the right person seeing you. Why not give yourself a guarantee of putting yourself in front of the right people? This was the stance that I took when I got to college. In high school I wasn’t the best, but I know I was good enough to receive an offer from at least a D3 school. Instead, I left high school with zero offers from any level and ended up walking on to a small D3 school. There is nothing wrong with having to walk on to a small school, that just means that you have to go above and beyond to get to the next level. I made it work, you can too.
Take matters into your own hands. My biggest mistake when I was in high school was trusting that other people were going to help me get recruited. While yes, people may help you and it’s awesome if they do, you don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket. That means that you can accept help from whoever you want, but don’t solely rely on them to get your name and face in front of as many scouts and coaches as possible. Unfortunately, I was that person who trusted all of my coaches to do the work and get my name out there, and it didn’t work out too well. In high school I didn’t do any type of recruiting or reaching out to coaches on my own. Honestly, it was because I didn’t know any better. I saw kids who didn’t perform as well and didn’t have as much talent as me, get offers from colleges. Here, a kid with dreams of playing professionally, didn’t even have offers to play for even the smallest of division III schools. I was heartbroken, which is why I am creating this document for you all. I don’t want the same thing that happened to me, happen to you when it is preventable.
Utilize Social Media..
Don’t underestimate the power of the internet. By simply using social media you instantly increase your chances for exposure. All it takes is the right person seeing one video, one post, to change your life. At any point in time, a scout or coach could see a video of your training and become interested. You never know, a relative of a coach or scout could even be following you for a long period of time and tell their uncle or family friend about a kid (you) they see on social media is the hardest worker they’ve ever seen, they deserve a shot. The internet can and will surprise you, you will build relationships with people who you never met before and that could potentially give you the opportunity you’ve been looking for.
With that being said, if you haven’t already created social media accounts on multiple different platforms, I suggest you do that tonight. Starting tomorrow I want you to post on each of those accounts every single day, multiple times a day. Start treating social media like your job. Stay consistent and stay disciplined. You might post a video of you training in the morning, maybe lifting heavy weight in the gym or fine tuning your craft in your respective sport, and a scout might miss it because by the time they get online later that day your video wasn’t on their timeline or their explore page. This example is why you want to post multiple times a day. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to get yourself in front of a scout or coach or like I said before, a relative or family friend of a scout or coach.
Social media can change your life for the better as long as you take advantage of the opportunity in front of you. On any given day, you can connect with someone who can change your life.
Which Social Media Platforms Did I Use?
There were many more that I could have & should have used!
Instagram:
Instagram was my first attempt at trying to give myself exposure. At the beginning of my sophomore year of college I created my first ever baseball concentrated account, @t_reisinspiration. I posted every single day, multiple times a day, for my entire sophomore/junior/senior years of college. With each post I showed everyone that I was an unbelievably hard worker and that I wasn’t going anywhere. I had a goal in mind and I was going to do everything possible to achieve it. I would tag different baseball accounts with the possibility of them reposting one of my videos, which sometimes they did, and that began to increase my following. The more accounts you get your content in front of the better.
More accounts = More eyes
More eyes = More People Talk
More People Talk = Opportunities arise
Opportunities arise = You get your chance
With every post I created, I added as many hashtags and tagged as many people as possible. When tagging people I didn’t tag just any random person. I did my research and figured out big accounts that a lot of the baseball world followed or even smaller accounts of people who were scouts or coaches to get me in front of their eyes. Remember, the more eyes you get in front of the better.
Facebook:
I took the same approach with Facebook as I did with Instagram. I posted every day, I put hashtags and I tagged people. The biggest difference with Facebook, was the chance to join groups. On this app you get the chance to join groups that concentrate on different categories. You can honestly find a Facebook geared towards just about anything. There were two baseball specific groups that I followed:
These two groups are geared towards baseball, but the same concept applies for all sports! All it takes is some effort on your part. Do research and you will be able to find a group or groups of people who are trying to do the same thing that you are. You might even find a group of people whose sole purpose for being in the group is to help young athletes like you by giving you opportunities. That’s the beauty, YOU NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU TRY!
LinkedIn:
On LinkedIn I took a different approach. With LinkedIn being a more professional atmosphere, I was able to find accounts of professional scouts much easier. With that being said, I took action with direct messages. In my last 3 years of college, I sent roughly 1,000+ direct messages on LinkedIn alone to professional baseball scouts. Not all of them answered, but I ended up networking and building a ton of connections with the ones that did. I received advice, given names of scouts in my area and many told me they would pass along my information to the area scout around me. Whether they did or not, who knows, all I know is that my name was out there in front of more people and I was creating my opportunity. Eventually, I was given contact information and in my senior year I was talking with a couple different scouts. The point is, I created an opportunity for myself simply by going out of my comfort zone and putting effort into my own future. YOU CAN DO THE SAME!
What Content Do You Post?
You want to show everyone out there that you have the best work ethic they’ve ever seen. You want everyone to see your progress. Posting every single day shows your followers, and even random accounts that stumble on your page, that you are consistent and disciplined. Now, I want to make something very clear, do not worry about how many likes you get! Just stay consistent and the likes will come eventually. I recommend posting no less than 2-3 times a day. Make posts about workouts, stretching routines, instructional videos, progress pictures, speed training, etc. Anything to do with you making progress, post it! From my experience, you’ll get other players and kids even younger than you start to follow you, support you AND LEARN FROM YOU! While you are building your own legacy and grinding out your successful journey, you can and will unknowingly help others do the same.
The Power of Direct Messages..
The beautiful thing about social media is that you have the ability to reach people all over the world with the simple act of clicking on their profile and sending them a message. This alone changed the exposure I got while I was in college. Throughout my last 3 years at Waynesburg University I sent over 1,000+ direct messages to professional scouts and coaches between the social media apps instagram and LinkedIn having a ton of different conversations getting my name in front of as many people as possible. Below is an example of one of the messages I would send on LinkedIn!
“Mr. … ,
I want to first thank you for connecting with me I truly appreciate that. Second, I made