<p>Sorry if this has been asked before.
When a student sends letters of interest to coaches, should the letter (and athletic resume) be sent by mail, or is it okay to use e-mail even as a first contact?
Thanks for your help...</p>
<p>I would suggest doing both, send a snail mail resume and letter etc… but also follow up with an email and mention you sent them a packet with info.</p>
<p>Email is perfectly fine.</p>
<p>Email is fine. D never sent anything on paper and that was five years ago!</p>
<p>Email. I would hold off on any attachments though. We found that some emails we sent with attachments didn’t go through to the coach on a first time email–spam filters I am guessing. Keep in mind, for most sports the coach can not reply to your email until after Sept 1st of your junior year.</p>
<p>thanks you guys.</p>
<p>SteveMA: if it’s an e-mail with a letter and a resume, how do you send it without an attachment?</p>
<p>I understand about the spam filters and have been warned about including photos, but how else to include the resume?</p>
<p>Keep the initial contact email brief - express your interest in the program and hit a couple of bullet points about your athletics and academics. Enough to whet their interest.</p>
<p>Offer to send add’l info via attachment at their request</p>
<p>ahhh. thank you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wish the NCAA was much clearer about this.<br>
A coach, after all, is allowed to answer the phone and talk when called by a student (even before Sept 1 of junior year).
However, emails are not specifically listed in the guidelines but, apparently, (I’m told) are considered “recruiting material” and are governed as such.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that the rules for Div II and III are different than Div I.
And, as SteveMA mentions, there are different rules for different sports.</p>
<p>The NCAA Guide:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CB12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CB12.pdf</a></p>
<p>GolfFather–the coach can’t initiate contact before Sept 1st of Junior year ( or whatever that date is for a select few other sports). Meaning he can’t just pick up the phone and call an athlete. If the athlete call him and he answers, that is ok, but if the athlete leaves a message on the answering machine, the coach can’t call back before the above date. Similar to on campus visits-you can do as many of those as you want, on your own dime, but coaches can’t meet with you on an official visit until after the first day of your senior year–official visits the college pays for. Somewhere there is notations of how emails and text messages are handled. I don’t have time to search for it right now though.</p>
<p>Generic emails, such as “XYZ school soccer team has exciting news to share, we qualified for the NCAA"s” or whatever sent to a mailing list is considered “recruiting materials” much like a brochure sent in the mail. An email saying “Golffather, we saw you play and want you to consider us” is not ok as it is athlete specific.</p>
<p>These rules result in some awkward moments: D visited one of her top choices during spring of her junior year on an unofficial. It was a wonderful visit, and she and the coach had a great connection. As we were leaving though, the coach said she would be seeing us the following weekend at a college-sponsored athletic event D was competing in, and she said she would be able to do no more than wave, and not to come say hello, but that she would be watching and sending good wishes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, a little more.
I was at a presentation recently on recruiting and the compliance officer at a college was telling parents “The coaches can’t talk! The coaches can’t talk!”
Well, AFAIK, not true.
They can say “hi” and exchange pleasantries but, no, they can’t talk about recruiting.
And, if they meet at a sports camp they can talk all day … about the camp.
But they can’t talk about recruiting.</p>
<p>And, yes, SteveMA, I just posted that the coaches can answer the phone and talk to the prospective student.</p>
<p>Those rules don’t apply to DIII, (at least for my D’s sport, but I think it is all DIII), she e-mailed coaches about her summer tournament schedule at the end of her sophomore year and they were able to respond. Plenty of coaches sent e-mails to her after those summer tournaments.</p>
<p>If you email, they can respond because it is a continuation of your initial contact. If you send a letter, they can’t respond.</p>
<p>The other thing to pay attention to is if they have directions for contact on their team website. I’ve seen at least one school my D was interested in actually requested a FAX of resume, etc. Now I admit I suspect this is old info, but she faxed anyhow, as well as emailing, in case they really did want it as a Fax and would appreciate a potential recruit who can follow directions.</p>
<p>Twinkletwinkle8–no, they cannot respond to an email you sent. The emails are similar to voice messages–if you call the coach and leave a message on voice mail, they can not respond until after Sept 1st of junior year (a few sports being the exception to that date but they still have a specific date where coaches can answer vm’s and emails). You can visit coaches all you want on campus, except during certain quite periods, as long as the college doesn’t pay you for those visits. You can call the coach all you want and if he answers your call, he can talk to you but he cannot RETURN your call.</p>
<p>SteveMA - Although technically you are probably correct it seems the reality is different. My daughter did send out emails to DI coaches during the spring of Sophomore year mostly to state that she was interested in their schools and to list Spring/Summer major tournaments that she would attend and to ask them to watch her play. Some of the coaches replied with psudo generic emails that they were not allowed to engage in communications but the language would indicate that they were interested. Some sent her generic broshures and recruiting questionaires. Some came to watch her play a few months later so I assume they put her on their watch list. This is the sport that requires personal evoluation but it has ranking that helps generate initial interest. So it is counterproductive to wait until Junior year when full-blown 2-way communications is allowed and miss rare opportunities to show off your skills during major Summer events.</p>