High school athletes searching for college scholarships have a new resource: JumpForward.

The self-described "sports relationship management" Web site has a database filled with information on 2,580 universities and colleges and contact information for more than 50,000 coaches in a variety of sports.

"We've streamlined the recruiting process," JumpForward president Adam McCombs said. "We've put the power and decision-making in the hands of the athletes and parents. You must be pro-active. You're a needle in the haystack and have to make yourself noticed."

According to McCombs, the process works like this:
-- Users create a profile, allowing them to log-in and search for information on schools.

-- Once users find a school they are interested in, they can contact the coach in their sport via e-mail or click a button that initiates a phone call between the user and coach.

JumpForward also has lists of questions athletes and parents might want to ask prospective coaches. It also lists the core classes high school students must complete to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, as well as NCAA recruiting rules and calendars.

Here's a video JumpForward posted on YouTube that describes the process.

I decided to post this information about JumpForward, essentially giving it free advertising, because the company does not charge users. McCombs said the company makes money off advertising, not subscription fees. This differs from most other recruiting services.

McCombs said the service has been in beta-testing for five months and has
about 500 users, but he expects that figure to rise.