« Back to Blog

School is Back, Get Your Recruiting Started Off Right

College Recruiting StartingIt’s that time of year again. School is starting and fall sports are in full swing. Even if it’s not the time of year for your sport, I am sure you are on your way to doing all you can to improve- It also means you will have more time to focus on your recruitment. A new year is the best time to begin creating a game plan for your college recruitment.

Get started the right way. Below I have a quick list for you to check off and to refer to so you will be ready for everything that comes your way this season:

  1. Build your college list. This should be a lengthy list of ALL the colleges you are interested in attending. The more colleges you reach out to the greater your chances of making connections with college coaches and seeing which colleges start expressing interest in you as a student-athlete.
  2. Gather coaches contact information. Trust me you will be thankful you took the time to gather this information early rather than later. Depending on the length of your college list and the number of coaches on staff, the longer your contact list will be.
  3. Set goals on what you hope to accomplish during the season, and how you plan to move forward in your recruitment. Remember, what you do and how well you do it will get you going in the right direction.
  4. Find ways to get video footage made during your games. Video is one of the easiest ways for you to get noticed by college coaches. You want to make sure you are sending colleges your video during the beginning, middle and end of your season so they can see your improvements throughout the year.

Now that you have a taste of how to begin your recruitment now you need to know what you should be sending coaches. Find out when the best time to contact college coaches is and what you should be sending them:

  1. Consider the time of season: You need to make sure you are sending your resume to coaches at a time when they are more likely to review it and more importantly at a time when they are going to want to respond back to you. If you play a fall sport than try to do your first send out after the season and then continue to keep in touch with the coach throughout your high school career; including before and after seasons.
  2. Understand that college coaches are not always going to have time to respond to your emails. NCAA Division I and Division II coaches are under strict guidelines of when they are allowed to contact recruits. Don’t get frustrated when you don’t hear back from them especially if it’s your first email to the coach.
  3. If you do not hear back within a week of sending out your first email, than try a second time. Make sure you make note in your cover letter that this is your second correspondence or that you just want to make sure your first email go to them.

High school is the most important time to get your name out there and to get colleges coach’s attention. Make sure you understand the ins and outs of recruiting so you will have greater options when it comes time to pick a college.

If you have any other questions about how and when you should be in contact with college coaches than leave a comment below and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Are you ready for the NEXT STEP!