<p>Hi! I have a swimmer who has just begun to fill out the online athletic recruiting forms. Should we take it as a sign that the coach is not interested if the s/he doesn't respond right away? We're new to this, so I'm trying to figure out how to advise my child to proceed after the form is submitted. I'd love to hear other people's experiences with this. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I actually was in a similar position. I filled out recruiting forms online for various schools, and didn’t hear from any coaches; I honestly don’t think they look at every player/athlete that comes through. Almost all of my success, though, came through emailing coaches and getting their interest that way. In fact, most of them replied asking for information similar to that on the form, as well as videos, stats, etc. When a coach is truly interested in you as an athlete, they will tell you. But you have to get them interested first, and you have to get them to recognize your name. Get your child to be proactive and contact coaches at schools your child is interested in. If they don’t respond, email again. If they do respond, play the game, and the gains can be considerable.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks so much Moonman! Your experience is very useful and your advice makes a lot of sense! I will pass it on to my swimmer. :)</p>
<p>How old is your child? If your swimmer is a junior or older, assuming swimming is done for the year, the coach could call or email. If your swimmer hasn’t completed his/her junior season, they can’t call or email unless you call them or email them first. All they can do is send “recruiting” information in the mail–basically something that tells you about their program and maybe some follow-up information about your swimmer. If you are talking about a sophomore or younger, they can’t return e-mails until after Sept 1st (moving to July 15th either this summer or next).</p>
<p>It would be a good idea to look at the NCAA recruiting calendar just to get an idea of what coaches can and cannot do. [2011-2012</a> NCAA Recruiting Calendars - NCAA.org](<a href=“http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/test/issues/recruiting/recruiting+calendars/2011-2012+recruiting+calendars]2011-2012”>http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/test/issues/recruiting/recruiting+calendars/2011-2012+recruiting+calendars)</p>
<p>Thanks Steve! Again, very helpful information. :)</p>
<p>my sons are not swimmers but, from what i read, i think situation is similar. online forms are the bare minimum to get noticed; it’s equivalent (from your end) to sending a form letter. athletes should compose a (not more than 1 page) email/letter introducing themselves to coach. 1st paragraph is general background, there should be a paragraph about his interest and accomplishments in said sport, and a paragraph on academics with details if you have them regarding scores and grades. attach a copy of transcript and test scores. the more of the work you do, the easier it is to get a meaningful response from coach. he will know up front if you are viable or not and, if not, what might be done to get you in range. also, furnish all your contact info and contact info for current coach(es)</p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>Awesome! Thanks so much. I’ll pass on the info. :)</p>
<p>One thing we did that worked really well and was easy/affordable - my daughter created her own website - it included her intro and complete schedule on the home page, then pages for academic accomplishments/stats, athletic accomplishments/stats, contact/reference info, links to game film, highlight film and skills video. It was very easy to keep up to date and it looked very professional - we just paid a small fee to register the domain through google and then used google site builder. Then when she sent an intro email, she could include the link. It was also great to have at all the different recruiting sites where she registered. We set it up as a private site - meaning it was not found in search engines and you had to have the link. That way, we knew all the traffic was specific to her communication efforts. Quite a few coaches told her they really liked the format.</p>
<p>As others have said, go ahead and fill out the questionnaire, but follow-it up with the personal email - give an overview of yourself academically and athletically (my D was told to lead with academics) and then a few lines very specific to why you are interested in their school. Make sure they know where they can see you play/compete. Close by telling them you will be following up with a phone call and then make the call! (This is assuming it is before Sept 1 of your Jr year and they can’t email you back - obviously once you pass that date it’s much easier to stay in touch.)</p>
<p>We found that interested coaches DO find a way to get in touch. Either through a letter (they’re allowed to send one letter or email I believe) or if they’re really interested they will call your coach and have the coach tell you when to call them.</p>
<p>Make sure to stay in touch after that first email - send a follow-up after a big tournament or meet and let them know how it went. After each major tournament, we made my daughter a new highlight video, added it to her website, then emailed all the coaches she was targeting to say “check out my latest highlights from xyz tourney.” Make sure to make the phone calls - it sounds intimidating, but the coaches expect the calls and are used to getting them, they guide the conversation and will be very honest. Once you get over the hurdle of the first call, it’s not hard at all. (This is all directed at the student athlete, not the parents - the student needs to do the communicating.)</p>
<p>It’s a lot of time and effort but definitely well worth it!!! Good luck!</p>
<p>These are amazing suggestions! Thanks!</p>