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RecruitLook

Help in accessing college sports scholarships

STORY BY BILL BOWMAN

f you have a student/athlete you feel might be good enough to Canale’s search for scholarships and athletes to fill them stretches
earn a college scholarship, but don’t know where to turn to take from the highest levels of NCAA Division 1 schools down to the lower
Ithe next steps—or even what those next steps might be—it’s levels and everywhere in between. At RecruitLook, it’s a process that
probably time for you to check out RecruitLook. Unveiled in 2008 by starts with an athlete’s evaluation, both on and off the field. “It’s pretty
Mike Enright, RecruitLook matches up qualified student/athletes with simple. The better your grade point average, the better college you have
available scholarships. That sounds easy enough, but with thousands of a chance to get into,” Canale says. “With a 3.0 GPA, you’ll only qualify
colleges and millions of dollars in scholarships out there, getting a good for 51 percent of colleges nationwide. A 3.5 GPA will get you into 72
fit can be quite daunting. percent and a 4.0 GPA will get you into about 94 percent.”

Enright was a traveling college scout in search of top-flight talent. The bottom line is that athletes need to work on those grades as
Now the talent comes to him, and your child or children could be next. well as on their sport or sports. “That’s the barometer,” Canale says.
Granted, the talent and the grades have to be there, but that’s where “What are your grades like? I’ve had kids go from a 3.0 or 3.2 and push
Enright and his crew can—and do—make a difference. themselves to a 3.6 and give themselves a better chance. But I’ve also
had kids go from a 3.0 to a 2.2 and take themselves out of a chance to
Tommy Canale is one of those crew members. Canale, based in Las go just about anywhere. It’s about how much work they want to put
Vegas, is RecruitLook’s top scout and director of scouting. He spends into it.”
countless hours on the search trying to match up students and available
scholarships. And that includes golf, one of his specialties. As an ath- Flexibility on where they wind up in college is also a great point, but
letic director for seven years and three years as an assistant AD prior one that is sometimes overlooked. “There are kids who get hung up on
to that, Canale knows the ropes of the scholarship process. “I know the playing Division 1,” he says. “There are times where that might not be
rules and the bylaws,” he says. “It helps that I can explain everything a fit so we try to tell them not to pass up other opportunities at other
to families and let them know the ins and outs and the proper way to levels that might be a better fit for them. We have over 1,100 colleges in
handle the process.” our network. If you’re limiting yourself, you’re limiting us in our search
and you’re limiting your child.”
RecruitLook’s goal is simple, but challenging: Find talented kids with
solid GPA’s and link them up with scholarships. It may sound easy, but RecruitLook helps those who qualify get more out of the recruiting
it is a complex endeavor encompassing colleges across the country. process. Spending a little money now can result in thousands of dollars
“What I’m looking for are kids who stand out,” Canale says. “I also in savings in scholarship money. “The average cost for college is about
want them to have a passion for the sport, really wanting to do this at $35,000 a year,” Canale says. “That’s $140,000 (for four years). If you
the next level. Some kids just don’t have that passion, while others are can cut out half of that, $70,000, with a scholarship that’s a great thing.
very driven.” It sometimes boggles my mind that people don’t see the value of our
service if they can’t afford to send their kids to college on their own.”
Canale also points out that not everyone will qualify to be a client
at RecruitLook. “We don’t take everybody,” he said. “We do a lot of re- The services RecruitLook offer are not just by word of mouth. “The
search before we take a client on. The athletic side is important but the MVP Membership (there are several packages) is an all-inclusive
academic aspect is more important. We want quality student athletes. package that is a one-time fee and not an annual fee,” Canale says. “The
They have to show as much discipline in the classroom as they do on MVP begins on the day they enroll into the membership. That can be
the field.” And this process can begin when the child is young—very as early as eighth grade or as late as their junior in high school and ex-
young. “We can start as early as eighth grade if they are ahead of the pires on December 31 of their graduation year. There is one exception
curve,” Canale says. to this in that if they go to a junior college, we will help them with their

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