Student-Athlete Resume Sample (High School & College)

High school and college sports teams are full of self-proclaimed top-level athletes. Recruiters and coaches don’t dig deep; they quickly discard resumes that don’t catch their eye. To stand out, your student-athlete resume must be immediately impressive. Not sure if yours is up to par?

This guide will show you: 

• A student athlete resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a student-athlete resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a student-athlete resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a student-athlete to get any job you want.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

Create your resume now

Use this resume template

Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume examples here.

Playing for a different goal? Take a look at these guides instead:

• Athlete Resume Examples
• Personal Trainer Resume Examples
• Coaching Resume Examples
• Basketball Coach Resume Examples
• Yoga Teacher Resume Examples
• Recent College Graduate Resume Examples
• Undergraduate College Student Resume Examples
• High School Student Resume Examples
• College Application Resume Examples
• Scholarship Resume Examples

Student-Athlete Resume Example

Looking terrific! Now, let’s get you up to speed on how to write your own student-athlete resume:

1. Fix the Formatting on Your Student Athlete Resume

Student-athletes practice their preferred sport and achieve results while carefully balancing their academic lives. They need to dedicate time to their sport while exhibiting great discipline, a strong work ethic, and organization. A student-athlete resume has to show these qualities, too.

Results matter. Presenting them poorly will have them drop you faster than Usain Bolt’s WR.

Apply these resume tips to prove you’re not skipping art class for the sake of your sport:

• Start with a resume header that includes your contact information.
• Use one-inch margins on all sides of your resume.
• To describe your athletic experience, use the reverse chronological format and highlight your strengths in an accessible and readable way.
• Choose an easy-to-read resume font like Helvetica or Arial. Pretend you’re designing your team jersey and need to display your sponsors’ logos on it. If you use Wingdings, and they can’t be read, there won’t be any payoff.
• Use plenty of white space to keep it visually appealing.
• PDF resumes are generally less prone to digital injury. If you don’t want yours to be taken away on a stretcher, use that in favor of a Word format (if allowed).

Read more: 10+ Modern Resume Templates That Work

2. Lead with a Student-Athlete Resume Objective or Summary

You want to keep your sports career growing. So does everybody else.

It’s pretty clear they can only accept those who were basically born in their varsity jackets.

There’s a certain vibe your resume has to have, and if your resume profile doesn’t instantaneously project that, you can kiss your big break goodbye.

Experienced student athletes write a resume summary to highlight athletic accomplishments and their main selling points.

Entry-level sports enthusiasts will instead present aresume objective. The goal is to win, always, but don’t forget about the journey. Presenttransferable skills you have that will help the team get to the podium.

Read more: How to Write a Job-Winning Resume Introduction: Guide & Examples

3. Tailor Your Work Experience Section on the Student-Athlete Resume

According to this study, even if you achieved success early, there’s no guarantee you will keep winning. As a student-athlete, you know that sometimes things don't go your way.

The team management will want to know your brightest years are still ahead. A stellar experience section needs to show absolutely zero foul play in your career thus far.

So, learn how to present your athletic experience the right way:

• List experiences in reverse chronological order, including your titles or positions.
• Prioritize your most impressive sports achievements using 3–6 bullet points, describing relevant experience and results.
• Write descriptions using resume action verbs for maximum impact. That’s how you score a home run before dinner’s ready.
• Avoid saying you played well and supported your team, add numbers and percentages to mention you broke records (by how much) and achieved win rates of X%. That’s the language coaches want to see!
• Lastly, you adjust your training based on your sport discipline. Why not do the same for your resume? Each team or position you apply to will challenge you in different ways, which is why a tailored resume is always the way to go.

Read more: Work Experience on a Resume: Tips to Doing It Right

4. Display Your Student Athlete Education Properly

Being a student-athlete is no joke. You've got practices, games, and classes to worry about – who has time for anything else?

That’s precisely why a good education section can earn you bonus points. Proving you’ve got your stuff together is an excellent way to impress the recruiter.

A quick warm-up: start with the basics like your school name, degree, and graduation year. Then, sweeten the deal with some impressive extras.Consider adding your GPA, scholarships received, honors or appearances on the Dean’s list, relevant coursework, and other extracurricular activities.

Not finished school yet? Learn how to put an unfinished degree on your resume before you fumble.

Read more: Listing Majors and Minors on a Resume Successfully

Creating a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide and use content from Certified Professional Resume Writers to have a resume ready in minutes.

Create my resume now

When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.

5. Sport the Right Student Athlete Skills

We’ve prepared a sample list of skills for a student-athlete below. Keep in mind, your ideal skills will depend on your particular sport:

Excellent Skills for a Student-Athlete Resume

• Time management
• Discipline
• Perseverance
• Leadership skills
• Communication skills
• Teamwork skills
• Adaptability
• Athleticism
• Strategic thinking
• Focus
• Problem-solving
• Goal-setting
• Responsibility
• Accountability
• Resilience
• Dedication
• Endurance
• Positive attitude
• Self-motivation
• Decision-making
• Competitive spirit
• Active listening
• Conflict resolution
• Sportsmanship

But—

You can't just toss in all your athletic skills, mix them up, and expect to win the game.

Take the smart approach instead: what specific skills does the opening require? What position are you applying for? What’s the team's history? Do they need a player with “great endurance” or “mentally tough”?

Whatever info you may scrounge up, you always want to use the same phrases as they do in the description of the opening. Do that, and you'll score big with recruiters.

Read more: Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: How to Tell the Difference

6. Add Extra Sections to Your Resume for a Student-Athlete

Just another jock.

That’s what you don’t want them to think about your application. But with hundreds of thousands of athletes spread across different divisions, you simply can’t afford to make that impression.

By tackling extra miscellaneous sections, you aren’t just padding, you’re actually using a secret trick play up your sleeve to leave your competition in the dust.

So, what should you include on your resume?

Highlighting some of your hobbies and interests is certainly a good idea to set yourself apart. Noteworthy achievements, foreign language skills, or special training courses completed are all definite, great additions to your student athlete resume as well.

Maybe you’re a personal trainer in your free time? Asports-related certification goes a long way, too.

Read more: Extra Resume Information That Gets You Noticed

7. Send a Student Athlete Cover Letter

Cover letters are a must-have. That’s the tea.

Submitting an application without a cover letter is essentially an own goal. And it ain’t even that much of a hassle. A cover letter is typically just 200–300 words in length. You can write that easily.

Here’s how:

• Start by setting up your document with the proper cover letter format.
• Address the coach by name in your cover letter to get familiar.
• Grab their attention right from the start by listing more impressive accomplishments. Talk about your game skills and how you intend to use them to improve the team.
• Finish the cover letter with a strong closing and a call to action.

Interested in some extra reading? We’ve got more cover letter tips right here.

Read more: How to Write a Cover Letter: Examples & Guide

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

Create my cover letter now

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

That’s a score!

Thanks for reading my guide for the perfect student-athlete resume. I’m eager to answer all your questions below, so fire away!

About Zety’s Editorial Process

This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

Sources

• Early Drop-Out from Sports and Strategic Learning Skills: A Cross-Country Study in Italian and Spanish Students - PMC
• Guide for the college-bound student-athlete - NCAA