Official Visits.

[The Ancient Enemy]

Every year, every I-A football program goes out of their way to express interest in high school seniors that they think can help their program. Recruiting has a ground-zero influence on a football team's (and program's) success for the upcoming year, and the years down the road, where kids develop or make initial impacts. Many, many letters are sent out to kids from every university program, and the letters are a compliment to the success the seniors have had on the field. If you are lucky, and a coaching staff at a university has enough faith and interest in your talents, you may be invited to that school for an official visit, to get a look at what the program has to offer a potential future star. They show the kids the benefits of coming to their school, to play football, and do so with the compliment to that kid's talent and success. It is a big deal to be one of the chosen athletes to be invited to a campus, or receive an offer from them. In inviting you to the school, you are displaying interest in that college football program. It does not have to be high interest, but travelling there is interest nonetheless. You are at least curious as to what they have to offer. Being that you are being recruited to play football, that school has hopes that you will attend their institution, and play on their football team. You are one of a select few who get invited there to check out their football facilities, all for football. But sometimes, high seniors who are very good no longer want to play football anymore. Either they want to focus on academics, maybe they've lost interest in the sport, or maybe they want to go run track at UCLA. All those reasons are understandable. The important thing to keep in mind, is that you are one of a select few who was chosen to go and take a look at a school who wants you to play football for them. Going there, knowing that you no longer want to play football, takes the place of maybe someone else who the school could have invited. Maybe someone who wants to play football, and is worth the coaching staff's time. Just something to think about.