PERSONAL STATEMENT

My name is A personal statement is your chance to show college coaches who you are outside of your academic and athletic life. It provides an opportunity to showcase your character, extracurricular activities, and anything else you would want a coach to know about you that they can’t get from stats or video. 

As a student-athlete, you should include your personal statement in your athletic profile. You can also use the information from your personal statement to help formulate introduction letters or emails to college coaches. 

STEPS TO WRITING A PERSONAL STATEMENT

Step 1: Be yourself.

When writing your personal statement, be honest and be personal. This is something to keep at the forefront of your mind as you write and revise the statement.  

There is no need to write this like an academic paper; instead, tell everything you want your recruiter to know about you. Don’t be ashamed to “boast” your achievements. At the same time, share your passions and what motivates you when it comes to your college future.  

Be specific.

Being specific in your personal statement means answering questions like “So what?” and “Why me?” when describing what you bring to your dream college team. This includes:  

• Awards and accolades  

• Academics (beyond what is displayed on your athletic profile) 

• Experiences, hardships, and lessons learned 

• Motivations 

• Future goals 

• Leadership roles 

When writing your personal statement, use these questions as a guideline, but make sure your personal statement is unique to you. It should highlight what is impressive about you and your life, such as: 

• What details of your life have influenced who you are? 

• When and how did you become interested in your sport? 

• What have you learned about yourself through playing your sport? 

• What are your academic goals for high school? For college? 

• Have you had to overcome any obstacles to get where you are? 

• What unique characteristics or skills do you possess? 

Step 2: Edit and proofread for spelling and grammar.

Once the first draft of your personal statement is written, review it and focus on: 

• Spelling and grammatical errors  

• Specificity  

• Relevancy  

• Clarity with simple, concise language  

• Active voice (rather than passive voice)  

Then, read the essay aloud to help catch additional mistakes and hear how the writing flows to identify areas of improvement. If you have family or friends who can proofread your personal statement, that will only make it better. This is your chance to shine and make a good impression on a college coach, so give your full effort.  

Step 3: Rework your opening sentence.

Lastly, make sure to work on and rework your opening sentence to grab the reader’s attention. It should be personal to you, not using any clichés or quotes. This is arguably the most important part of the statement! 

PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLES

Seeking some inspiration for your personal statement? Review the two examples below from real student-athletes. What makes these statements flourish is that they do not simply repeat the baseline information in the players’ applications and athletic profiles.