Football is a big part of our high school experience. Prep rallies with the football players and game days that students are excited to attend. ⅓ students are student-athletes in high-school. Playing sports in high school is a big responsibility and a huge priority for them if they take this sport seriously.
But imagine being in the top 100 in the country for football! In order for players to be ranked each player is given 1 to 5 stars which is based on their talent, size, skill, etc. They are then given a number that corresponds to how they rank among their fellow prospects of the same position nationally. This helps differentiate between the quality of players with the same general talent, size, skill, etc. Rivals begin grading players on their expected impact, but it does not factor into their overall prospect grade.
These ranks are:
☆☆☆☆☆= Great prospect
☆☆☆☆= Very good prospect
☆☆☆= Good prospect
☆☆= Average prospect
☆= Evaluation pending/ not enough film to evaluate
Talia Smith, a senior, stated, “I feel like being ranked in any sport can be really stressful especially with being a student and balancing everything. I know it can be really hard dealing with school itself so imagine adding a sport that takes up half your day.”
Being ranked brings a lot of advantages like the boost in confidence in your abilities, some high schools give awards to the students who achieve a certain rank, scholarships that require applicants to have a certain rank or percentile to be eligible, networking, leadership experience, competitive advantage, and more traffic.
Balancing being a student and being an athlete that is ranked is really hard some athletes move to online schools to pursue playing sports at a better school, class of 2025 players who are ranked have to balance out their options with different colleges/ universities and see which one is better for them and their career, make sure to keep their grades up to not have a scholarship taken away, and always represent themselves in the best way.
Jaidyn Brown, said, “Being an athlete myself I can say being a ranked athlete takes a lot of hard work. Being ranked does bring a lot of opportunities that help kids have a better future. It’s crazy to think that sports can be such a big part in someone changing their future for the better.”
Players also have to maintain their talent by making sure they attend practice. Sometimes they even have additional separate practices, they have to make sure they maintain their athleticism to help prevent injuries. They have to have really good time management making sure they can complete their athletic duties but also make sure they can complete their day-to-day duties and making sure to get their sleep.
