Contacting XC/Track Coaches

Athletic Recruits
1

<p>My D (a junior) had a fantastic first year running XC in New York. She qualified for the New York State Championship and ran a solid race in the very competitive division 1, class A race. She has earned All Region (team 1) and All County (team 1) and most valuable member of her team.</p>

<p>I posted not too long ago about her receiving letters and questionnaires from schools. However, these are schools she's not interested in attending. She's a solid student with a 4.0 average (all honors and AP classes), will take the ACT & SAT in the spring, but did extremely well on the practice ACT & PSAT. She'd like to attend a large universtiy (e.g., Big 10). She is registerd with the NCAA and will be running winter and spring track for the first time.</p>

<p>Her coach would like to contact the XC/track coaches of the universities that she plans on applying to. Is this common? She plans on contacting them herself, as well as submitting their recruiting forms. </p>

<p>Another question I have is when should the coaches/recruitment form be sent? After she runs track or is the XC info enough right now.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You are lucky to have a coach who wants to help your daughter. Not sure how common that is–our D did not have that advantage. If the coach is articulate and you trust him/her to present your daughter well, then it’s a great for him/her to write the schools on her behalf. Since your D is new to the sport, I would contact the coaches now so she’s on their radar, and then update them later with track times from major meets. How exciting for you guys!</p>

3

<p>That’s great advice.
Many thanks!!</p>

4

<p>Editor, just make sure that you memorize the NCAA rules for contacts and communications before the senior year in HS. It’s not likely that you’ll run afoul of those rules, as they’re mostly designed to prevent colleges from pestering students too early and those coaches presumably know those rules. But you should know them so you don’t ask the coach to do something he or she is not permitted to do (“please call me back”) and so you’re not disappointed when you don’t hear from a coach and mistakenly think it’s because of a lack of interest.</p>

<p>But, yes, it’s a wonderful thing when a HS coach is willing to expend some of his or her credibility/capital to get a college coach’s attention. I’d think of that willingness as a bank account you don’t want to draw on too often, and try to limit those contacts to the schools that your daughter and her coach think are most likely to have a mutual interest.</p>

5

<p>What experience does the coach have with recruiting, specifically with the schools your daughter is interested in? How well-known is s/he, and do the college coaches really want to hear from he HS coach?
If the coach is getting involved, make sure s/he is on the same page as you and your daughter. Also, there should be one contact person with the colleges, your daughter. Once things get going, you don’t want to get too many people involved who may send out conflicting information (e.g. high school counselor, athletic director, coach on your end; admissions, coach, AD, on the other end — and you and your daughter in between). Honestly, with a time-measured event and individual race results, I don’t see why the HS coach should get that involved. Your daughter is obviously already on the radar of the college coaches. She should contact the coaches of the colleges she’s interested in. She could ask her coach to follow up with an email that endorses her.</p>

6

<p>beenthere is absolutely right. The college coach will call the high school coach for more information about your daughter. Your daughter should be contacting the college coaches, and then letting her high school coach know which schools she is interested in pursuing, especially if the list changes, and as the end of recruiting approaches. The high school coach should not be speculating with college coaches about where your daughter will likely go, which colleges she likes best, and so on. This just muddies the water. He should just be responding to coach calls, not initiating them.</p>

7

<p>Riverrunner, your admonition about controlling the coach so he doesn’t contact the wrong schools may be unnecessary, as Editor’s original post clearly states that “Her coach would like to contact the XC/track coaches of the universities that she plans on applying to.”</p>

<p>Beenthere2 and Riverrunner, your posts lead me to one other thought. Sure, if Editor’s daughter’s times are magnificent, they should speak for themselves and no interference by the coach should be necessary. But, if she’s just one of many kids whose times are in the range of interest of a particular level of school, a prompt from the coach may be what’s needed to help get her some extra attention early on. (And since we’re talking Big 10 schools with huge student bodies, it may be tough to have one kid stand out.) The coach may be able to say that she’s a particularly responsible teammate, or seems to have a lot of room to grow and improve her times, or has had some injury or other issue that, when corrected, will likely permit her to improve her times further. Editor is not suggesting that anyone other than the HS coach should be contacting the college coaches, so the concern about having too many voices is moot.</p>

<p>What may be important is to rely on the judgment of the HS coach. Does he/she have a track record getting kids into college and know whether a particular coach would welcome a reference? Or, rather, is the HS coach a newcomer and just using E’s daughter as an excuse to start networking with those coaches? Is the coach a good, diplomatic communicator, or is he the sort who’s more likely to stick his foot in his mouth and hurt her chances? Certainly, they should gently ‘grill’ the HS coach to make sure that they’re comfortable with the benefits of him making an approach. But, on balance, it’s hard to see where she’d be hurt by a call from the HS coach to the effect of “I don’t normally make these calls but this runner is pretty special and has top grades and I think she’d be a perfect fit for your program.” If her questionnaire/email/resume/YouTube video link reaches the coach at about the same time, it is more likely to get her on the coach’s “I’ll keep her in mind” list than a contact from the kid alone, IMHO. </p>

<p>Remember, E’s daughter is only a junior, so the college coaches are limited in the way they can communicate with her. Expecting a coach to suddenly call her HS coach this early in the game is probably not realistic. That likely will come later on when the college coach is more serious about her and is doing his or her due diligence to make sure she’s not a mass murderer - that’s a different conversation than the sort that the HS coach is talking about making now.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for another opinion, Ursa. I believe the student should email the coach a three sentence introduction including PRs, GPA and test scores if available, and the HS coach’s email and phone number. The student should address the college coach by name and indicate that she is targeting a few DI schools and is very specific about which programs she would like to run for. Coaches do get a lot of inquiries, but their assistants are pretty good at figuring out which communications are sincere and a good fit, and then bringing them to the attention of the right coach.</p>

9

<p>River, from my limited experience with another sport (baseball), I would agree with what you recommend as to the contents of the initial communication letter. Also, I would recommend a closing line to the effect of: “I would like to keep you posted of my times and successes during the rest of the season and/or track season.” This way, she won’t seem like so much of an unsolicited pest if she sends a follow-up report every month or two. And, if the college coach’s school is in the same state where she goes to school, she can say, “I expect to be competing in the following major invitational meets, in the event that you or any members of your staff happen to be there.” (Coaches often like to know where they can see you compete with other elite competitors.)</p>

10

<p>Hi Ursa, and thanks for telling us your family’s sport is baseball. This is so different from track because it’s skill based rather than straight-up timed/measured performance. </p>

<p>A high school coach can be a huge help in framing an athlete in skill sports, but really, for track/field and swimming, the stop watch or tape pretty much tells the story. HS coaches can speculate about potential, and can certainly talk about improvements during HS, coachability, and attitude, but college coaches have their own very set ideas about HS times that translate well to college success, no matter what the HS coach says.</p>

<p>I’m sure this is very different in sports like baseball/softball, soccer, basketball and football where coach communications analyzing abstract skills including field sense, ball-handling ability, and even leadership and teamwork play into the decision.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the advice. Now I’m confused. You both have valid points. D wants to wait until the end of winter track to contact coaches. She’d like to include her best times in XC and winter track. We weren’t planning on taping her. Aren’t coaches more interested in time? Why would they want to “see” her run.</p>

12

<p>hi editor,
They don’t want or need to see her run.
She can start the conversation any time.<br>
Now is a good time to report results of XC.<br>
Do you have any plans to make unofficial visits to schools this winter or spring? That can also be part of this first email. The coach can reply to you to set up a meeting on campus. This is the off-season for track coaches, and a good time to contact them. Once indoor starts up, things get crazy.</p>

13

<p>riverrunner, we plan on visiting schools early April and then one or two over the summer.
Your point about this being “down time” for the coaches is a good one. I’ll be sure to let D know.</p>

14

<p>Riverrunner, it’s fun ‘sparring’ with you, and hopefully out of our debate Editor is picking up some helpful thoughts. I think we’re very close; please note my qualification “if Editor’s daughter’s times are magnificent, they should speak for themselves and no interference by the coach should be necessary”. </p>

<p>My suggestions are only for those situations where “the stop watch and tape” do NOT tell the story enough to break her out of the pack, or where some additional information may assist the college coach in assessing the runner’s (a) potential [where her current times alone may be misleading due to injury, etc.], and/or (b) genuine interest in that particular school. </p>

<p>As to point (b), college coaches of course are loathe to invest a lot of interest in an athlete where the athlete has the skills and academics to go to a hundred different schools, and there’s no particular reason other than the athlete’s ‘say-so’ to believe that she is particularly interested in his school. The athlete may lie and there’s absolutely no repercussion against the athlete. But, if a HS coach says, “I know this kid and she has told me fifteen times that Riverrunner University is her top choice” and the Riverrunner U. coach holds a spot for her and she ends up elsewhere, the HS coach’s credibility with that college coach takes a hit. So, a college coach will devote a little more time on the athlete whose HS coach is willing to stick his or her neck out that way.</p>

<p>As to the possibility of posting a YouTube video, I mentioned that in passing without any notion of whether they are commonplace in track or not - certainly they are in baseball. And, no, it shouldn’t be a video of nothing but the athlete running around the track. Rather, it’s a chance to give the college coach an opportunity to see the athlete and get a better picture of her in a minute or two, and no longer. In baseball, the video generally begins with the player looking into the camera and reciting something like, “Hi, I’m Joe Schmoe of the Class of 2012 at Majoric High School in Yourtown, Georgia. I’m a pitcher and catcher and hope to continue playing baseball at a [state parameters of colleges you’re looking at]. I’ve [state major athletic accomplishment], and my grades and SAT scores are X.” The video may show her running or crossing the finish line, or perhaps even working out, either after or over the athlete’s voice comments. Then fade out - I’ve seen 8 minute videos but my sense is that anything over three minutes will start to test the patience of a coach. Because running is - as you note - such a time-focused sport, a minute-long introduction to the athlete may be all you need.</p>

<p>This of course presumes that the athlete makes a good presentation; you don’t want a mumbling teenager or a gum-chewing girl talking in ‘Valley-girl’ speak. Remember, this coach will - if your child enrolls at his or her school - will spend more time over the ensuing four years with your child then you have over the past four years, and you want to reassure the coach that this is a person that he/she will want to be around. Put a face on your child so that she’s remembered as something beyond a set of numbers on a page. Conversely, if your child doesn’t come across well on the video, maybe you’ll want to scrap the idea.</p>

<p>Keep it simple and direct. Generally, music is a no-no. (And if you play the theme from “Chariots of Fire”, you’ll be blackballed for sure.) It shouldn’t look too slick, but it should be recorded with something a little better than a camera phone. I’ve taken the liberty of chopping down and sanitizing my son’s three-minute baseball recruiting video to less than a minute to give you an idea of what an amateur but well-received initial recruitment video can look like in baseball. You can look at it here: [UrsaMajoricSampleRecrVideoD1.wmv</a> - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>

<p>(Others’ baseball recruiting videos of varying degrees of effectiveness can be found in the right margin.) I’m not saying your video is necessary or that it should look like ours, but one may help your daughter be remembered.</p>

15

<p>Ursa, awesome video advice! And I don’t look at this as sparring, as much as presenting several points of view. I don’t pretend to know everything about this stuff, but like you, my experiences have certainly given me some opinions!</p>