My son has attempted to make contact with some D3 schools with several coaches not responding. He is legitimately interested in the academic programs and would definitely be a top athlete at their program. Should he just keep trying? Why would a coach not return the emails of a qualified student. For example, I can’t imagine that there are that many sending emails to the Amherst or Williams Track and Field coaches. Are they just not recruiting?
A number of reasons:
(1) timing – D3 track and field conference championships recently wrapped up and the national championships are next week. Coaches are busy.
(2) who are the emails going to? Recruiting emails generally are addressed to the head coach, BUT should also be copied to assistant coaches or the coaches of specific events. At many programs, the assistants handle preliminary recruiting so just emailing the head coach means it has to get forwarded to the assistants who then have to take care of it, and things can get dropped in the shuffle or delayed.
(3) And yes, Amherst and Williams do get deluged with recruiting emails from kids, and most of them will be well qualified academically and athletically. There are a lot of valuable threads on this Athletics board talking about NESCAC recruiting and the variables.
(4) tone and content of email: does the email project respect and genuine interest in the school and that sports program? Again, threads on this Board address appropriate content for an initial email – summary of academic and athletic achievements and specific reasons for interest in that school and program. An athletic resume as an attachment is useful, as is film, if appropriate to the sport/event.
Agree with everything above. Check the threads for info in what to put in email, and be sure to personalize it.
Also, for whatever reason some coaches just aren’t interested. Different sport, but S got blown off by several programs where as a high school junior he would be a starter. Ended up committing to a program far better than many who weren’t interested in him.
I would also do online questionnaire. And he can call too, although I would wait until after Nationals
Agree with all info above, adding to continue to contact coaches every month (emails and/or calls), even if you aren’t hearing back from them. Some will start recruiting later, some will never answer, some use how many times you reach out as a proxy for the seriousness of the interest.
Things happen. S had been emailing with one coach in spring of junior year. The coach seemed interested. Suddenly the coach went quiet. Sent several more emails, nothing. In August, a google search revealed that the coach had moved to another school. The school website hadn’t been updated, emails were not bouncing, no automated emails that the coach was gone. We figured it out by chance. He reached out to an assistant coach and restarted the dialogue with the replacement.
In another situation he emailed the coach frequently. We knew S’s times were competitive for the team. No response but he kept sending email updates. It was only after he had been accepted to the school did the coach respond and invite him for a visit. I think the coach just didn’t want to bother with the recruiting process but once he was in she was interested.