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Before you can blink an eye, the less demanding middle school years morph into high school and beyond. College planning is probably not the first issue that student-athletes and their parents want to tackle as the middle school years wane and high school begins. However, making a commitment to establishing long-range academic goals - along with developing strategies and timelines to support this effort - will pay high dividends down the road.

The "junior/senior year" crunch (and believe me, it can be overwhelming for both students and parents alike) is much easier and efficient with a game plan that begins in late middle school or early high school. I can't tell you how many times I have met with families and heard them lament, "I only wish I had thought about this earlier!"

Listed below are just a couple of academic guidelines that are right at the top of my "It's never too early" list:

1) Foreign Language - Colleges love to see students take at least three years of a foreign language. Four years are even better, and five - with the fifth year being at the AP level - is stellar. However, in order to fit that fifth year of a foreign language into four years of high school, the student needs to begin a foreign language in the 7th grade. Usually what happens is that 7th/8th grade foreign language study combines to form Level 1.

Check to see if your middle school offers a foreign language beginning in Grade 7 (not all schools do), and plan on enrolling.