EMAILING COLLEGE COACHES

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EMAILING COLLEGE COACHES
Sending an email to a college coach is one of the very best ways to start your recruitment process. Don’t wait for coaches to reach out to you. Send an email to any school you might have an interest in. Your emails should contain some or all of the information below:
Introduction, where you are from, High school graduation year.
Academic info – GPA, PSAT, ACT/SAT if taken. Top 2-3 soccer and academic accomplishments. Club team full name and the positions you play. Jersey # along with a link to your highlight video, upcoming schedule, club coach and college liaison contact information.
Emailing College Coach “DO’s”
DO include personalization, so it doesn’t look like a mass email to 20 schools.
DO keep it concise, organized, and easy to read quickly on any device.
DO send your email to all the coaches, not just the head coach; it is common
for an assistant coach to lead recruiting.
DO address the email to the head coach, all the coaches, or the school’s
soccer coaches.
i.e. “Dear Coach Burleigh”, “Dear Coach Burleigh, Coach Campbell, and Coach Kirkup”, or Dear UF Soccer Coaches”
Emailing College Coaches “DON’Ts”
DON’T write a long and wordy email.
DON’T address the email with, “Dear Coach”. Use their name, “Dear Coach Griffin”.

WHEN AND HOW A COLLEGE COACH CAN TALK TO A PROSPECT

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WHEN AND HOW A COLLEGE COACH CAN TALK TO A PROSPECT

Division 1

Division 2

Division 3/NAIA

Phone

June 15 before your Jr. Year

June 15th before Jr. Year

No Restriction

Email/Text

June 15 before your Jr. Year

June 15th before Jr. Year

No Restriction

Off Campus

August 1 before your Jr. Year

June 15th before Jr. Year

June 15th before Jr. Year

Tryout

None allowed

1 on Campus (Sr. Year)

None (D3) Yes (NAIA)

Official Visit

1 visit per school (Total of 5) August 1 before Jr. Year

No Limit Anytime

No Limit

Un-Official

No Limit
August 1 before Jr. Year

No Limit
June 15th before Jr. Year

No Limit

A college coach can only call you after June 15 before your junior year in high school. That means a coach cannot place an outbound call to you specifically to talk to you about playing a sport at their college, until June 15 before your Jr. year. Division III, NAIA and Juco coaches do not have this restriction.  The same dates apply when you call a coach.

CALLING A COLLEGE COACH

When you call a coach, one of two things will happen:
1. The coach will answer the phone 2. You will get coach’s voicemail
You need to be prepared for both. How you prepare for a phone call will vary based on how many times you’ve talked to the coach. Assuming you have never connected with the coach before, or the coach has asked you to call them for the first time, you need to do your homework! Prior to the call:

  • Go on the team’s website to read the recent news, look at recent results, etc
  • Go on the school’s website to get a feel for and basic information on the school
  •  Prepare for questions the coach may ask you (common questions include, where you’re at in your recruiting process, how your grades are, what your goals are, what positions you play, etc.)
  • Write down any questions you haveCoaches are very busy people, so it is common to get their voicemail. You definitely want to have a few notes written down so that you leave a well-spoken voicemail. It wouldn’t hurt to even write out what you would say. Something like this is standard:

Hi Coach ___________, hope you are doing well! This is ____________, I play for ________ Soccer Club in ________. I have a 3.9 GPA and 1310 PSAT score. I’m really interested in playing at _______________. I will follow up this voicemail with an email with more information. It would be great if we could arrange to meet in the near future or if you could come see me play. Thanks for your time!

Remember, coaches understand how difficult it can be for a youth player to call a college coach. Their main advice is typically “don’t be nervous, just be yourself”. That’s it, just be yourself and you will do great!

The Recruiting Timeline

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WHAT IS THE RECRUITING TIMELINE?
Many players commit in their junior year of high school. However, we urge players to focus on doing their due diligence rather than worrying about what year in school they commit. Everyone’s recruiting process is different. Make the recruiting process a priority; focus on completing the above items, and everything else will fall into place!

All divisions are on a slightly different recruiting timetable. The majority of Division I colleges and universities will fill their recruiting class needs by spring of that class’s Junior year. This means that if you are a Division I soccer player, you have already visited that campus, sat down with the coach and know where you stand on their recruiting list by your first day of class senior year. The early commitment trend is becoming increasingly prevalent at the Division I level. This only increases the amount of time and research that must be put into recruiting on the student-athlete’s end.

Division II colleges and universities are typically the next to finish up their recruiting classes. Some Division II colleges and universities will have prospects verbally commit during the summer, but most will finish during the fall of their senior class. Division III, NAIA and Junior Colleges recruiting typically continues into the winter and spring of a student-athlete’s senior year of high school. If you are not on track with this timeline, do not panic, these are general guidelines and every college and university has a different situation.

MAKE A LIST OF COLLEGES
Draft a tentative list of colleges that interest you. Your list may include schools in your area, schools that have a particular major of interest to you, or schools you know very little about. Your list may be long but in the early stages you don’t want to eliminate any school you are curious about. It is very important that you look at the school for its academic programs as well as its athletic programs. Your academic experience in college is what will provide an important foundation for your chosen career path after college.

Here are some questions that may aid you in your college selection:
• Would I choose this college even if I am not playing on the team?
• Would I be happy sitting on the bench and not playing much?
• Would I still select this college if there is a different coach?
• Was I comfortable there both academically and athletically?
• Did the staff and team seem to get along and care about each other?
• How does the coach motivate the team?
• Were the coaching staff and team friendly? Enthusiastic? Honest? Supportive? Sincere?

Educate yourself about the Colleges on your List and after you have created your list of schools, research the schools. Read everything you can find on the school. Look at their school web page, athletics page, specifically the team page as well as their social media.