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.