Communication with College Coaches

Communication with college coaches

When trying to reach out to college coaches, email is the way to do it. You must initiate contact through email and phone calls in order to get coaches to come see you and possibly offer you a spot on their team. The goals are to get college coaches to come see you play and have a way to contact you if they are interested in you as a potential teammate.

The recruiting process is starting earlier than ever. Many top programs are already looking at 8th and 9th graders, possibly making verbal commitments as early as freshman year. Don’t get discouraged if you are older than that, it just means you have to be realistic when choosing your schools. Teams like Wisconsin and Texas are already done with their 2017 recruiting class. You can still send an email but be aware that they may be finished with your graduating year. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from initiating contact with a recruit before their junior year of high school, but, they can talk to you if you if you contact them first.

The introduction email should cover a few things like who you are both athletically and academically. It should include a way to see you play either video or a tournament schedule. And it should show that you have done your research about their school and program, make it a personal email specific to that school and coaching staff.

What to do when emailing coaches

1. Coaches receive hundreds of emails a day, find a way to make yours jump out at them, make it personal and professional.
2. You must include a way for the coaches to contact you either through email or your club coach or recruiting coordinator. Include all coaches and coordinators email and phone numbers in the email. Remember before junior year they cannot contact you back. They will call or email your coaches and coordinators if interested. They will then decide on a time through the coordinator as to when you can talk on the phone or over Skype.
3. Include only your basic athletic and academic information, keep the email concise and easy to read, otherwise it won’t get read or worse deleted. Remember they are not looking for you to be ready to play in college today they are looking at your potential so overall growth is important.
4. If you do not hear back from a coach, you may follow up a couple days to a week later. Make sure to make this email different that the previous one and include something else to distinguish yourself from others. Again remember persistence is a trait they are looking for in an athlete.
5. Every tournament should be included and prior to that tournament you can send a reminder email as to when and where you will be playing. This is good so that they can add you to their list of ones to watch.

Before you send your email:

1. Make sure to have an email address that is professional. You can create a new one free of charge through Google and make it be for college recruiting purposes only. Example simenson2016@gmail.com
2. The title should make a coach want to open it. Name, year, and position helps coaches make a quick identification.
3. Do your research on the school. Make a connection to someone on the team or a coaches successes. You will also want to include something about why this school is a match for you.
4. Make sure to find the coaches email and phone number. Stay organized and include when you emailed or called and when you will follow up or if they responded. Staying organized is half the battle. Keep a spreadsheet if necessary or use the volleyball recruits website to log the responses.
5. Make sure everything is spelled correctly and someone has edited for proper grammar.
6. State when you will follow up with a phone call. This is the BEST way to start developing a relationship with the coaches. Follow up with the assistant coach or recruiting coordinator if possible.
7. If you do not hear back from the coaches you can follow up with 2 more emails over the next week or two. After that, follow up every 2 months unless something changes you would like to share with them. If you still do not hear back, you may want to just follow up before big events and qualifiers. At some point you will have to decide on their level of interest.
8. You want to have at least 20 schools on your radar. 3-5 of these schools should be “sure things’, you are in communication with them and they have expressed interest. 8-10 of these schools can be “possibilities” they have responded but not much has been made in the way of plans to see you play or visit the school. 5 schools can be “dream schools”, that you keep on your radar and watch for changes or successes. These may not be responding as much as you’d like but you keep them in the loop.

Sample Email Letter

Dear (Coach’s Name),

My name is (your Name), I am graduating in (year) from (your High School) in (your City and State). I am interested in attending (College or University) and continuing to play volleyball in college. (Be sure to include something you found interesting about the school and their volleyball program. Possibly say something about what you like about the school and the academics they provide for you.)

I play (position) for Chicago Elite Volleyball Club on the (team name). Some things that I am proud of accomplishing so far are (name a few academic and athletic accomplishments). I have a GPA of (GPA) and my test scores are (number). You can view my complete online profile here (link to your volleyball recruits page, Google + page, or online resume). Here is a link to my skills video or game footage (link to video). Please feel free to reach out to my coach at (include email and phone number) and my recruiting coordinators, Jeanette Simenson (773) 230-8368 and Carol Kacor (872) 222-9242 at jeanettesimenson@chicagoelitevolleyball.com or carolkacor@chicagoelitevolleyball.com

Here is a list or link to our tournaments this year. (insert here). I will be following up this email with a phone call (state day and time). I look forward to hearing back from you and learning more about your program.

Sincerely,

(Your name, email, address, and phone number)

Division II and III academic scholarship information

Did you know Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships and Division II schools may only offer partial athletic scholarships? If you have a great grade point average or a great ACT/SAT score you can qualify for academic funds from these schools. Be sure to discuss this with the college coaches and the admissions departments of the schools you are speaking with. There is also needs based fund and merit scholarships. You should discuss these options with a counselor at your high school.
Division II and III schools offer a great balance of academic and athletic opportunities and can be a great fit for many of our athletes. Consider all Divisions when contacting college coaches, and remember there are only 327 Division I schools and typically they offer 1-3 full scholarships per year. This is at the most 990 full rides per year and with the amount of athletes playing volleyball in any given year, your chances for a DI scholarship are very low, 1-3%.

December information as we gear up for tournaments

In the recruiting news, we want to celebrate setter Marlee Nork who was accepted to play volleyball next year at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Carol and Jeanette have been hard at work putting together our database of potential college bound athletes, preparing skills videos, and gathering all the information college coaches are looking for. We will be sending this out to all college coaches the middle of January. Please make sure to fill in your athlete’s information if you have not done so at http://goo.gl/forms/XEom7VscSP

You may be asking yourself, “What should we be doing as we prepare for tournaments?” The athletes have been working hard in the gym and in the classroom. This is the first step. Get your skills video done and fill out the form for the database. Support your child through the ups and downs of competition, they need to learn how to overcome adversity to play in college. Choose 10 schools and send them your video and information, ask them direct questions about what they are looking for in the year you will be graduating, and give them your tournament schedule. If you find out they need your position continue communication, fill out the recruiting questionnaire on the school’s website, and schedule a time to talk on the phone. Remember if you are a sophomore or younger you will need to initiate the call, coaches cannot call you back. If a school says they do not need your position, look for another school to add to your list. You can continue to send periodic email updates to that school just in case something changes with their needs.

If you filled out the athlete database, you will receive an email from volleyball recruits, a great resource for hosting your recruiting site. You can use it free for 45 days and see if it is a resources for you. Last year, athletes and parents loved the ease of communicating with college coaches.

A couple of things you should make sure you have done:

1. Register on the NCAA Clearinghouse site
2. Fill out recruiting questionnaires for the schools you are interested in
3. Email coaches with your information and schedule
4. Contact Jeanette or Carol for additional support
5. Play great and have a great attitude on and off the court, coaches are watching both.

Good luck in your upcoming tournaments, Carol and Jeanette will be at the tournaments as well so come find us if you need help.

New NCAA academic requirements

Please review this information and speak to your high school counselor about your course loads.

NCAA College List - College Links

This link has a list of Division I schools and can be organized by region, conference, or alphabetically. Each school has a link that takes you to the athletic website. Here is where you can start to find email addresses and research the team and schedule.
Here is Division II and III as well.
Division II
Division III

Chicago Elite Student Athlete Information

Thank you parents for attending the Chicago Elite Recruiting Meeting.
Please fill out this form to begin the recruiting process.
Find a time to make a skills video. Email Carol if you cannot make one that we have scheduled.
Sign up for the Sports Performance Combine

College Recruiting 2014-2015

Here is a link to the information we will be presenting at our meeting on November 20th. Please use any of this information as you begin or continue your journey to find a school and a program.
Please contact Jeanette Simenson or Carol Kacor for any assistance with this process.

Collegiate Sand Volleyball continues to grow.....

Interested in playing in college - sand volleyball? Here is the most updated list of NCAA Division One schools and their coaches. http://www.collegesand.org/schools
These schools are looking for ball control and very agile athletes.

Fall and gearing up for club season

Many of you are in full swing with your high school seasons and have accomplished many things. Have you gathered some great video, made team captain, or had some amazing stats? If you say yes to any of these make sure you have shared these great accomplishments with college coaches. Have you planned a visit to your top schools? Have you watched them play online so you can have intelligent conversations with the coaches? Make those phone calls and follow up with emails, make sure to know what is going on with their season and ask those important tough questions. As always, I am here for you if you have questions or need me to follow up with coaches....but they want to hear from you.
Jeanette Simenson
jrsimenson@gmail.com

High Performance Sand Volleyball

Four Lakes, Lisle, IL June 1st
To sign up: https://usavbeach.webconnex.com/14BHPTGL0601

Summer Camps

Summer Camps are a must for athletes wanting to be seen by prospective college coaches. Find out which camp is for recruits, sometimes they offer more than one camp. Make sure to contact the coach to let them know you will be attending the camp. This is great chance to meet the team, see the campus, and showcase your skills. Summer camps fill up quickly so solidify this schedule soon!

NCAA Collegiate Sand Volleyball Facts

• NCAA Division I sand programs are allowed to give five full scholarships. In 2015, this will increase to six. 
• 90 percent of the players selected all-Americans in the sport's first two seasons participated in USAV's Beach High Performance Program. Get involved in the HP Beach Program!
• Contact the coach directly and express interest in playing sand volleyball.
• See all the teams and coaches at http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/USA-Teams/Beach-Volleyball/College-Sand
• Go to camps and clinic in the summer!

MEQ - Indianapolis list of colleges attending

http://universityathlete.com/attending/3441
Send out your schedule to the colleges you are looking at and tell them your court assignments.

Recruiting Rules

Calendar and Summary:
http://recruitlook.com/blog/id_2076-2013-2014-ncaa-volleyball-recruiting-calendar.html

When do we start the process and what do we do......

The parents have been so helpful this past week. I learn from you as much as I learn from college coaches. One parent and I were speaking yesterday about when to start the "process". If your daughter is a Freshman, you can start by having conversations.....do you like volleyball enough to play in college? What is playing in college like? Go see some games this Spring at local colleges. Take some video of matches, just in case she has the game of her life, you want to have it on video! But generally, Freshman year is all about getting good grades, learning about life in high school, working hard on and off the court, and enjoying the game. Do not put stress on college this early! Some may get exposure or even get some generic letters from college coaches. This just means someone thinks you are good...take it as a compliment and continue doing what I stated above. If a school contacts you and you are excited, email the coach and tell them a bit about yourself. Maybe even invite them to watch you play. At that point you can start to think about if you want to play and where you might want to do some camps this summer. Get on a campus, get a feel for college, the environment, volleyball, and the team. Then continue to have conversations with your parents. They can be a HUGE help when making decisions later, remember they have known you a long time :)

When you get to be a sophomore and junior, we will then discuss the next steps, for example:
Making a highlight video
Making an online profile
Getting a list of schools together
Sending emails to coaches
Making some unofficial visits, going to camps
Calling coaches and asking the tough questions
(I can work individually with what your needs are)

For most of you, hopefully you will get to make decisions about college your junior and senior year. This is when you can make the most educated decision based on what you want in a school and in a volleyball program. As always, enjoy the journey of high school and the exploration of your college future. Playing in college is not for everyone but it is a phenomenal experience if you are up to the demands it takes. If you have any questions about what it takes to play in college, we have many people you can discuss this with at every level.

Remember the three most important things to being recruited.....Get Good Grades,  Work Hard in and out of Practice, and Always be Positive!!!

Recruiting Services - Parent Info

Hello again,
Thank you for all of your wonderful emails about how helpful this is! You all are making me smile :)
A parent emailed me today with a good tip for all of you. As we head into qualifier season, you will see booths and information about recruiting while in Indy. If you want to spend money then do it by spending it on test prep or a family vacation, maybe to a college campus or a volleyball camp. Do not spend thousands of dollars, even hundreds on recruiting services! That's what Powerhouse is here for, to help you through the process...from start to finish. This is part of being with Powerhouse. Dan Ernst spoke about one recruiting service "It's more like $3,000 to just have Volleyball Recruits without you. They couldn't possibly do anything like what you do because they don't know the girls and they're not out on the court." Thanks Dan for that shout out!
The recruiting web service we use is www.volleyballrecruits.net and we have loved it. It is an additional $90 if you would like to have a profile made. This is not necessary but it is very helpful for coaches, players, and parents. Otherwise just get in touch with me for questions or needs. Jeanette Simenson at jrsimenson@gmail.com

And send me pictures of that great family vacation instead of spending $3000 for any recruiting service!

College Summer Camps

All high school players.....now is the time to start thinking and planning your summer camps. This is where college coaches can really see what you are all about. You can see the campus and meet the team. It's like taking an unofficial visit while getting to show off your talents. Make a realistic list of schools you want to look into further and lay out their camp dates. Call the coaches to make sure they know you will be there. Then play your hardest and have fun!

High Performance USAV

Make sure to check out USAV High Performance tryout dates.

Calling college coaches

Some of you have been actively calling and setting up times to speak to college coaches. Some pointers for those of you who are new to this.
Email the coaches with a couple of times that you will try to reach them. Include Jeanette Simenson's email jrsimenson@gmail.com so they can email me back if one time works better than another.

What kind of questions should you ask?
Any questions you have about the school, academics, and how they support student-athletes.
Any questions about their vision for the program, how you would fit in, and their practice schedules both in season and during the off-season.
Make sure before you hang up you ask where you stand in their recruiting process. What you need to do next and what steps you can put in place today. Example: Set up a visit, commit to camp, or arrange to have them see you play.

Get ready for Qualifiers

Some of you have asked what should I be doing for exposure before The Mideast Qualifier. Make sure you have shared any new videos with coaches that are on your list. When you get your court assignments make sure you let the coaches know where you will be playing. Also if anything has changed like you have just touched 10 feet or you have received your ACT scores, make sure to send great news to coaches.
Check the Mideast website for schools that attended last year and send out any information to schools that may be of interest to you. Mideast Website