Hey everyone,
I emailed one of the coaches at a HADES school December 22 with some stats and videos. I got no response, so I emailed him about a week ago. I still got no response. I also met with him during my interview in November, and he told me to email him some videos and he would give me feedback on how I would fit in on his varsity squad. Should I try him again, or assume he doesn’t want me? Thanks for your help.
Also, if it’s of any importance, he never referred to me as being a recruit candidate.
Are your numbers (GPA & SSAT) reasonable for this school ? Or are you hoping to get a significant athletic boost in admissions to overcome low numbers ?
Regardless, it seems clear that the coach–for some reason, not necessarily your skill level in that sport–is not excited by your submissions.
P.S. I have known or heard of similar situations at the collegiate level when a coach is leaving that particular school.
P.P.S. In other thread, you shared that your guidance counselor refused to write a recommendation for you on the grounds that repeating 11th grade was illegal. This may be a source of your difficulty in getting a response.
@Publisher Yes, my GPA is reasonable and my PSAT is a 1430 (99th percentile). I never expected to get in based on my athletic skills, but I’d take any boost I can get and I would potentially like to play varsity baseball if I get in. It’s weird, because honestly the videos don’t show much, it’s just me pitching into a net. Even then, wouldn’t it be courteous to say “you might need to work on your skills before you make varsity, but good luck in the admission process?”
The coach does not work for admissions. His/her job is to coach the team. It may be that more people send in notes/videos/questions than he/she can reasonably reply to.
Yes a response would have been nice. However, unlike college coaches, this is not the only thing he does. If he’s a FT employee of the school, he also teaches a full course load and may have house responsibilities. If he’s a PT employee, he has another job.
So while I personally would have at least responded with a “Thanks and good luck” (and any member here who has ever messaged me knows that I do at least acknowledge the message, even if they don’t like what I have to say), the key point for you is to recognize that the lack of a response is your response - he’s not interested. I personally do not believe that he owes you a skills assessment at this juncture. This will likely not be the first time in your life that you’ve been ghosted.
If you end up getting in, you will then need to decide if this impacts your decision as to which school to attend. Good luck.
He might respond to another coach. Ask your coach to call or email him. The coach can also use the opportunity to talk about your strengths and what you can offer.
@ThomasBr: There is too little to evaluate if your athletic video submission consisted of you simply pitching a baseball into a net.
P.S. Although I think that you would have received a return comment if you had walked or struck out the net, followed by the net going to first base or returning to the dugout.
I would agree that no response is your response. We had similar experiences with a few schools that were known to bring in senior and PG “ringers”, who then went on to play professionally…nothing like saying Player X from the NBA/NHL/NFL etc went here!!!
Remember, the reality is you want a coach who wants you…otherwise, hope the bench is comfortable.
To the OP: Don’t lose hope! While we did hear back from some coaches directly and even had the opportunity to chat or meet, there were a couple who never got back to us and all turned out OK on March 10th. Sometimes, coaches fulfill multiple roles at school and don’t have time. There were a couple of schools where the coaches for XYS sport were part-time and not on faculty - nothing to do with the school outside of coaching. So just don’t worry!
In re-reading your comments “honestly the videos don’t show much, it’s just me pitching into a net” I’d guess that you did not spend the time and effort needed to create a video that would be valuable to the coach in terms of assessing your skills and how you might fit into the varsity squad so he/she has no basis to send a meaningful reply.
@happy1 Obviously it wasn’t professional quality video, but I did spend a few hours editing it before I sent it to him to make it concise and watchable. I also sent him a pretty long list of stats and accomplishments in the email, it’s not like I just slapped some raw footage into an email and sent it to him.
That is different from how I interpreted your earlier post.
I think there’s a solid chance the guy has thousands of emails in his inbox and forgot to even open it…people are busy at BS, and I’ve noticed most coaches aren’t the ones who respond to emails in 30 seconds like some AOs. Given I’m not an athletic applicant and have not spoken to coaches at Boarding Schools, I’m just saying in general.
P.S. I disagree with @skieurope . I happen to know a bit about the applicant. While I doubt he is going to get admitted due to sports, he has many other attractive qualifications. I just think the coach may only respond to “game changers” this doesn’t mean he isn’t wanted at all.
I did not mean to imply that he would not be wanted by the school or by the team as a walk-on (to sit on the bench in all likelihood). I did mean to state that the coach is not interested in him as a recruit. @coppii
But I will also say that the OP sent what from the description is a sub-par (in terms of presentation, not skill level) video. While I would have still sent an email of “thanks and good luck,” such a submission would not warrant more feedback, IMO
If being a starting position player the first year is a goal of the OP, then this is not the school for him.
To expand on @skieurope POV…if you’re accepted to a school where the coach didn’t respond…the likelihood of you convincing him to start you once you’re at the school is very small. So, if playing a key role on your sport at school is important to you, keep the coach’s lack of response in the back of your mind.
Yes, that I understand. @skieurope I thought you were implying that the coach was not interested at all.
To the OP’s question, “Should I try him again, or assume he doesn’t want me?”
No, do not try him again. Assume that given the limited time the coach has to spend on all teaching, supervising, coaching and other duties, replying to your emails did not make the list. So you should not expect the coach to contact admissions on your behalf. Sending additional emails could only make you seem annoying, which may earn you negative points now and possibly the future (if you go to that school).
I personally think coaches and special interest teachers should have a nice template email that they use to respond to candidates, but that’s just my opinion and how I’d handle it. You shouldn’t view the lack of response as meaning that you wouldn’t have a great athletic experience at the school, likely playing JV first and then moving up to varsity.
If the admissions committee has interest in you, they can prod the coach. As others have pointed out, the nonresponse could be for a variety of reasons. But at this point you should consider other options.