Here are nine tips for giving yourself the edge over your peers.

1 -  Keep your sports resume and references current.

University and professional teams want to hear from your most recent coaches. Make sure that you keep the references section of your resume as updated and current as possible.

2 - Add a video resume to your portfolio.

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of capturing quality game footage on video. Video is a fantastic tool for showing off your abilities, and not many players are making use of it. If you have a video resume, then you have something that helps you stand out from the crowd.

If you attend a camp, get a video of your training and competitive play there. If you attend tournaments, get a video. Any time you play competitively, get a video. Edit the footage you record into a five- to seven-minute video resume that showcases your talents. Then, copy and distribute the video resume to coaches, along with your paper one.

3 - Attend university showcase tournaments.

Never turn down an opportunity to show off your skills for university coaches. These coaches attend university showcase tournaments every year, looking for talented players to receive scholarships. Make sure that you are there to play so that you never miss an opportunity!

4 - Hone your skills overseas.

Distinguish yourself from other players by participating in international camps, schools, and academies. You’ll be exposed to a wider variety of coaching and intense daily training that will better develop you as a player, and give you a definite edge in the competition for university or professional slots. Don’t forget to add these experiences to your resume and capture video of yourself while you’re abroad.

5 - Be aggressive.

Controlled aggression on the field of play is good, but it’s just as important to be aggressive while seeking scholarships and schools. Create a database of colleges and universities that you are interested in attending. Be sure to include the coach’s name, email address, and mailing address for each school.

Then, make contact with the schools. Send them your resume and video. Ask about showcase tournaments, or if they’ll send a scout to watch you play. Ask them what financial assistance or scholarships are available for the upcoming year. Nobody is going to do it for you, so you have to be your own biggest fan!

6 - Let them know if you don’t need a scholarship.

If you don’t need a scholarship, but are eager to make the team of a particular university, let the coach know. Good players that don’t require money to attend school are very valuable, because they allow coaches to use the scholarships for other, equally worthy players. It’s very important to make this clear when you’re promoting yourself to universities.

7 - Know your level.

It’s always good to constantly challenge yourself and strive to better your skills, but be honest about your level. Don’t apply to Division 1 universities if you’re more of a Division 3 caliber. Get an accurate assessment of your level so that you pursue the appropriate colleges and universities.

8 - Clean up your profile on Facebook and MySpace.

Social networking sites started popping up like weeds overnight. By the next morning, employers, administrators, educators, and coaches were checking out YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook to get an idea of the image potential students and players were projecting.

If athletics are your priority, show it! Post pictures and videos of you playing. Post blogs about your camp experiences and what steps you’re taking to become a better player. Comment on major professional athletes and games. Make your social networking site a promotional vehicle for you!

9 - Consider consulting with an agent.

If you are a high level player that is not going to attend university, consult with a professional agent. They can help you attain professional trials both domestically and abroad. If you plan to consult an agent be sure to select very carefully. Be sure you understand the long term impact on your future before deciding to forego college.

Follow these tips to better your chances of getting noticed, and good luck on your future athletic career!

]]> http://h179407wp.setupmyblog.com/?feed=rss2&p=31 http://h179407wp.setupmyblog.com/?p=11 http://h179407wp.setupmyblog.com/?p=11#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:59:56 +0000 admin http://h179407wp.setupmyblog.com/?p=11 Getting Ready for Sport Camp
by Joey Bilotta

Whether it’s a day camp, a weeklong sleep-away camp or a month-long camp abroad, sending your child to a sports oriented camp for the first time can be a nerve-wracking experience for the both of you. Here are a few ways to ease the transition and help them enjoy the experience.

Involve them in the planning and the prep work: Likely there are many camps to choose from, so narrow it down by your child’s needs and your budget, and let your child make the final decision on where to go. If that’s not possible, then perhaps he or she can pick some of the activities or classes to take at camp.
Also, let your kids pick out some of the things they’ll need for camp. Whether it’s practice clothes and new athletic gear, or a toothbrush holder and face soap, letting them help with the planning and preparation will give them some control over the situation, and hopefully stave off the worst of homesickness.

Practice getting ready for new experiences: One of the scariest things about any first time at camp is that it’s an unknown. Find out what will be new to your kids and help them practice doing it. If your kids are going abroad, buy a language dictionary and practice saying simple things like “please” and “thank you” and asking for directions. If they’re just going out of town, spend a day in that town, if it’s within driving distance. If you happen to know or learn some of the drills or training exercises they’ll be doing, practice those with your kids in the backyard or on local practice fields.
New experiences are an exciting and sometimes terrifying part of camp, but practicing a little before your kids go will make the adjustment a lot easier. Don’t forget these new, challenging and often uncomfortable experiences are at the heart of why your children get so much from camps. The skills that are learned in dealing with these circumstances will give your child an advantage in the future.

Talk to them: Are your kids worried about being as good as the other players? Are they excited? Both? Sit down and talk with them about it. Let them know that it’s OK to have mixed feelings about going. Talk about homesickness, but be positive and encouraging about all the new things they’ll learn and experiences they’ll have.
If they’re worried about keeping in touch with friends and family, give them some stationery and an address book, or a phone card so they can call. If they are comfortable with email, remind them that Travel Sport Camp programs include computer lab time regularly. Or, try giving them a journal so they can write down their many camp adventures. They can share it with their friends when they return.

And don’t forget to have fun!

Non-soccer-playing students now also have the opportunity to study abroad through these international sports boarding schools, combining language immersion and academic study with daily training in tennis, basketball, volleyball, handball, cricket, cycling or even table tennis.

“We found that EduKick really filled a need with our yearlong international soccer boarding schools,” said Joey Bilotta, vice president and co-founder of Travel Sport Camp. “We wanted to expand that to include other sports as well, and give non-soccer-playing student athletes the unique opportunity to travel abroad, learn a new language and culture while training daily in their favorite sport.”

Bilotta and his business partner, Joe Coito, saw the need for international sports boarding schools beyond soccer. Travel Sport Camp was created to fill that niche.

Travel Sport Camp caters to student athletes between the ages of 11 and 23. Academic year sports boarding school options include tennis, basketball, volleyball, cycling, handball, and table and paddle tennis. Boarding schools are available in Mexico, Italy, England, Spain, and France. Travel Sport Camp plans for new venues in Switzerland and Canada beginning in 2010.

Students with Travel Sport Camp can look forward to the same quality language immersion opportunities that EduKick players receive. Travel Sport Camp also uses the same established directors and city venues as EduKick sports boarding schools.

“The partnerships that we’ve formed through EduKick have been immensely helpful in establishing these sports boarding schools,” said Bilotta. “It makes us much easier to maintain the same level of quality in both sports training and language immersion.”

It’s not just sports training and a new language that student athletes have to look forward to. Students will be entirely immersed in the culture of the country they choose. The international sports boarding schools and camps, associated language classes or academic study, and cultural excursions foster “intercultural competence” (IC) for both high school and university student athletes.

“Empowering our children to broaden their perspective is crucial in our shrinking world,” said Joe Coito, president and co-founder of Travel Sport Camp. “With the increasing trend toward globalization, our programs emphasize intercultural competence, the ability to understand and communicate clearly with other cultures. This is a vital aspect of the Travel Sport Camp international academy experience for our young participants.

“Students will interact with peers from all over the world on a daily basis. This international travel experience builds a level of intercultural competence that youth can only achieve by traveling outside their home country.”

The academic year international sports boarding schools start in September 2009 and run to June 2010. Register to reserve your place today at http://www.travelsportcamp.com.

About Travel Sport Camp:
Travel Sport Camp was founded in 2007 by Joey Bilotta and Joe Coito after the success of EduKick and its international soccer boarding schools. Bilotta and Coito are long-time business associates and good friends from Santa Barbara, California. Their goal: To bring the proven structure and excellence of EduKick to a variety of other sports. Today, Travel Sport Camp programs provide professional sports training combined with quality academic study , foreign language instruction and chaperoned cultural excursions in order to maximize a young player´s experience abroad.

Contact Information:

Joe Coito, President & Co-Founder
Santa Barbara, Calif.
(805) 682-3500
info@travelsportcamp.com
www.travelsportcamp.com

Joey Bilotta, V.P. & Co-Founder
Toronto, Ontario - Canada
(905) 469-5661
Toll-Free: 1(866) Edu-Kick (338-5425)
jbilotta@travelsportcamp.com
www.travelsportcamp.com

Our international sport boarding schools and camps, associated language classes, and cultural excursions, teach intercultural competence to both high school and university student athletes.

Intercultural competence allows students to navigate and operate more easily and more sensitively within a variety of international settings. They interact with peers from all over the world on a daily basis. This international travel experience builds a level of intercultural competence that youth can’t get without traveling outside their home country.

Sometimes what seems perfectly normal to us is considered rude or obscene in another country. In some Hispanic cultures, for example, nicknames are commonly assigned to friends and associates. Sometimes they aren’t very flattering, but at the same time they aren’t meant as insults. An example would be ‘flaco’ (skinny) or ‘huesos’ (bones), used when referring to slender people.

With a travel abroad international sports training school, you not only get the intensive sports training, but also the beneficial experience of actually living in a different culture. Travel Sport Camp programs incorporate cultural excursions and language learning in addition to the sports training in order to give our students the most inclusive and unique cultural experience of their lives.

With our international sport boarding schools and language immersion camps, students are living and training in another country, learning another language and culture. Students also learn awareness of their own cultural perspectives, personal biases and appropriate communication in different cross-cultural situations.

Travel Sport Camp utilizes intercultural competence concepts to build personal, academic and professional skills. These training techniques encourage students to shape their own cultural identities and become influential members of an interconnected society.

Travel Sport Camp’s international academies span a half-dozen countries and include half-year and year-long options. Give your child the language and cultural experience of a lifetime. Visit us online at http://www.travelsportcamp.com to register now.

Oakville, Ontario (PRWEB) December 7, 2007 — With technology changing the way people work, play and even job hunt, athletes applying to universities or professional clubs need to modernize their self-promotion efforts.

University and professional teams are inundated with calls and résumés from players wanting to get noticed. The key is to produce a packet of information for the coach or decision maker, including a high-level video highlight summary and a professionally designed video résumé. You need something that will grab their attention and distinguish one player from the rest.
We hear all the time how important self-promotion is when you’re looking for a job. For many of our students, a future career in sports is their chosen field. We now provide the means to help them document their accomplishments on the field in a professional DVD highlight reel. This allows them to stand out from their peers.

With Travel Sport Camp, you get an experience unlike any other: training abroad in a professional sports oriented school environment. With our video resume our players can actually show prospective coaches or owners how they played while abroad with us in our training school.

Video résumés provide an opportunity for coaches to see players in action; even if they haven’t been able to come watch them play in person. Players should still submit a traditional résumé, which includes information like teams played for, those teams’ standings, and individual statistics. It serves as a personal highlight reel, which can help grab the attention of coaches, scouts and agents.