Chris Gruler

If you have stumbled on to this site, you should check out my video blog! Click on the awesome picture below and lets get after your brand!

Hey guys. It’s been a while since I have updated this site. Please continue to use this site as reference for the Player Profile Websites. With that being said, I have recently launched Gruler.TV which will be dedicated to videos blogs regarding my experiences in the recruiting game and some tips for parents and players when they go through similar situations.

Let me know what you think…..P.S. The vblog is PG-14-15ish. Has some cursing but its necessary.

Here is me and Aaron Thorne sharing a few over in Australia. He is going to be tackling the Player Profile Websites overseas. He is an Ex-Professional Athlete and an even better guy. Cheers!

Gruler.TV Trip to Australia from Chris Gruler on Vimeo.

When it comes to college recruiting, it’s a great big world out there. Most aspiring athletes have spent their high school days as the big fish in a little pond. Gaining attention, status, and accolades for their accomplishments.

As the world beyond high school fast approaches, it becomes apparent that there are millions of fish in oceans and ponds all over. The recruitment process can be a daunting task, that’s for sure. The competition is stiff and the results impact not only the next four years, but your long-term career as an amateur athlete.

I want to break down a couple of the top recruiting websites out there and stack them up against our personalized one-on-one style of Player Profile Websites.

JumpForward.com

Clean design, nice home page, but an overwhelming amount of information…from the get go, you’ll discover one of the biggest problems we have with the site. Put yourself in the mind of a coach. How does he not get lost in the shuffle of this site? How does he find you?

First off, he has to register and login just to begin to be able to search. As an athlete the biggest thing you’ve got going is you. Recruitment is essentially a sales pitch, where you, the athlete, are the product.

Our vote? This site is overwhelming, too much info and no real way to showcase you as an athlete. You, the big fish in the little pond? Yeah, you’ll be lost in an ocean of competition. Not to mention, this company is heavily backed by Venture Capital Funding. Just sayin….

NCSAsports.org

We like the simplified home page. The navigation seems to be a little simpler than JumpForward.com but again, the coaches have to register, log-in and search for you. There you are lumped together with a bunch of other people with identical profile pages. Nothing stands out, no real way to showcase your assets.

Think about it. You’re going to trust your future to a computer “matching program” meaning- there is a chance you’ll be overlooked if a coach simply doesn’t enter the right search criteria. I don’t know about you, but that’s no way to ensure your future as an athlete.

Our vote? Don’t buy the lie. You must own your brand, and put yourself ahead of the competition. Don’t rely on a computer matching system to jump-start your athletic career.

Player Profile Websites

We can’t think of a better way to stand out from the crowd than through our Player Profile Websites. Own your name. Build your brand. Take control of your future. Trust us. We’ve played the game. We’ve seen how these big websites perform. That’s why we’re passionate about putting you in the driver’s seat of your future. Of course you need expert advice, but don’t sell your soul to get it.

Player Profile Websites gives you the help you need, but you remain in control of your future.

In the world of competitive sports there’s one thing we’re all taught. I don’t care if you’re a wrestler, a runner, a ball player, whatever you’re game…I’m sure the message was shoved down your throat, just as it was mine.  Preparation is paramount.  Take ownership of your performance. Prepare and deliver.

As athletes, we get it. We know that someone out there is working just as hard as us to dominate, so we push and don’t give up.  The place where most amateur athletes miss it has little to do with their game and everything to do with their career strategy.  Our twitter.com/protegebranding feed gets questions all the time from players who want to break out of the pack, get recognized and play for a quality school and quality team.  Many of them have tried the online recruiting services, shelled out tons of cash (anywhere from 3-5k), and discovered that they were nothing more than a number and were not getting results.  The truth is, you don’t take a back seat to your performance on the field; why would you with your future?

I’ve seen quality players get overlooked and passed by simply because they sat back and trusted an online company, who sends mass emails to coaches that never get opened, to do the preparation for their future as an athlete. Don’t get me wrong, not all companies are out to screw you for money. It’s just frustrating to watch talented people hand over 100% of their athletic career to someone who doesn’t even know them.

Our aim with Protégé is for players like you to understand one thing; no one will care about your future like you will.  Trust me, I’ve learned this first hand.  To succeed you have to be proactive and take control of your career.  At our video blog, Gruler.tv (coming soon), we break down tips, and advice on how you can do just that.  As a player you need to connect with coaches, send them video, follow- up in a way that causes you to stand out from the competition. Let them know that you want to play for them.  No one can get that message across better than you can.

Seriously, that’s why everything we do at Protégé, especially PlayerProfileWebsites.com (Example to the right), is aimed to give you the tools to own your future.  In regards to your future as an athlete, its time to prepare and deliver.