I would’ve started thinking about this earlier in high school, but I recently became interested in continuing track & field in college.
So, I already have my top 5 schools based off of the major I want to go in (of course), and I looked at the stats of some of the athletes on each team. My #1 school is a Division III team and I realized that compared to some of those athletes, I’m a pretty good runner.
My junior year just ended and I’m currently on summer break. I have no idea when to send emails to these coaches or what I should say. How will coaches get to see me play if college applications are due in the beginning of the school year, and indoor track meets don’t start until December? Or is that okay? :-S As you can tell, I’m very unfamiliar with this whole process! I could really use the help
You are behind the usual timeline, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are too late. Send emails to the coaches of your top five colleges today, or better yet yesterday. Include the nature of your interest in the school, times (if you are in timed events), awards, GPA and board scores. If you are close enough for a visit, ask in the email if you could meet with the coach. Do that immediately. Then get to work on the steps that typically come before. Draft up a resume of your accomplishments in high school, focusing on track and field, but include GPA, times, awards, jobs, ECs, etc. Be sure to ask your high school now – before they leave for the summer – for a pdf of your unofficial transcript. Then fill out the on-line questionnaires. It’s just like trying to get a job. The most important step is meeting with the coach, so try to get that accomplished, but be sure to bring your resume and unofficial transcript to the meeting with the coaches. Nothing shows genuine interest more than showing up.
Email the coaches from the schools you are interested in, include all of your times/marks for your events, and any big meets you may have gone to. Also include all of your academic info, test scores, GPA, class rank if you know it.
For many DIII schools you may get invited to a recruit day, but those do not happen until the fall. You can visit as many DIIIs as you like, but most will not cover expenses.
Don’t be surprised if you do not hear anything for a while. Start applying to the schools you are interested in and let the coaches know. If you are going to any summer meets, tell them so they can expect some updated times. Once indoor starts, send updated times when you get them.
Unless they are at a meet in your part of the country, college coaches will not really worry about “seeing” you, they will use the standard rankings lists (Milesplit, Dyestat, etc.) to keep tabs on you and validate your performance. If you are in a highly technical event (i.e. Javelin, high jump, pole vault, triple jump) a link to a YouTube video will also help to assure them that your PR was not a one-time miracle. If it is a running event, they really don’t care what you look like and may never come to see you.
Wow, thank you guys a ton. I sent some emails on the 21st, including everything that was mentioned… academic info, stats, about my interest in the school, etc. I was lucky enough that one of the coaches replied today! He said that he encourages me to visit and meet him.
I feel a little relieved that coaches don’t have to “see” me in order to seal the deal. That was my main worry, knowing that these schools are a little far from me.
I wasn’t able to get that transcript in time because school is already out and I don’t have any highlight videos yet, so I’ll have to work around that until school comes around again. But until then, I’ll be working on that resume.
Great news, but the process doesn’t end with an invitation to meet. Don’t wait, set up a meeting now. Then start preparing for the meeting. Look through the college T & F website page at the various events (yours in particular) to figure out how you could help the school in the sport. Are you faster than the fastest? Do you think you have more room for improvement with added training? Just figure out in your own mind how you would fit in. Research the coach so that you will know his or her background (and that of the assistant coaches) by the time you meet. Ask yourself sincerely, what you really like about “x” school and why do you want to attend. Once you have done this, prepare a five minute “elevator speech,” meaning that you are prepared to answer the question “tell me something about yourself.” Then prepare three questions in advance that you may ask the coach. Make sure that you understand during that meeting how you fit into the recruitment process. Sometimes the coach brings these points up, but if not, you need to ask. Remember you are interviewing the coach as much as the reverse. So, it is recommended that you ask: 1) how many people are you recruiting; 2) where would I fit into that recruiting list; 3) would you submit my information (this is where you want that unofficial transcript) for a pre-read from admissions; 4) do you cut recruits.
Finally, school may be out, but sometimes the administrators are around still. I would call your school to confirm that no one at the school registrar could help you with getting a copy of your unofficial transcript.
The great thing about T&F is that coaches don’t really need to see you at a meet. They get their most important information from viewinng your on-line stats, seeing your times, and seeing how you stacked up at meets against others they might know. So they want to get to know you to see if you will be a good fit for their program.
Frankly most T&F recruiting is based on times before your Senior year, so from a recruiting perspective “the hay is already in the barn” for most coaches. Sadly this works against kids who have big breakout Senior years. They just don’t want to see a Senior coast in their last year.
Don’t just compare yourself to athletes on the school’s roster, they want to recruit someone better than they already have. Look at end of year conference championship meets and see where your times fall - if scoring points then you have something to bring to the table for that coach.
You are late but not too late, you have the rest of Summer to get on school’s radar screens. Spend your time contacting as many as possible. Don’t rely on a single communication medium. Some coaches email a ton, other might never use it. If you aren’t getting answers to emails then start calling some coaches who haven’t replied. A “no” answer is better than “no answer” because you know to move on instead of wondering if you will ever hear from that school.
