Hi all! My son is just starting to reach out to college coaches via email (with highlight video, grades/test scores, athletic highlights, etc). I’m just wondering if these unsolicited emails generally get a response? If he gets one, how much do we read into it? He sent out 5 emails on Sunday (4 D1, and 1 D3) and has heard back from 3 already. Responses included things like:
"With your grades and test scores, you should heavily consider applying to xxxx"
"Keep me posted on how the Spring goes for you."
"We’ll continue to keep track of your athletic and academic progress over this year and upcoming summer"
"We are looking forward to continuing to evaluate your talent throughout the spring and summer seasons."
"I thought your film looked very good. Would you mind telling me a bit about where you are in the recruiting process? What sorts of schools are you looking at?"
But, I have no idea if this type of response is just what they always send or not. I’d love any feedback from other who have been through this. Thanks so much!!
We are a soccer family, not lacrosse, but generally, coach responses are often framed to keep the conversation moving along, and not close any doors until they have to close. Some of the comments about “keep us posted” and “we’ll keep track of your progress” sound like that kind of general, “we’re not going to close any doors” remarks whereas the “your film looked very good, tell me about where you are in the process” sounds more of an invitation to talk more specifically, at least because the coach indicates has actually looked at film.
Sounds pretty promising to me: my kid sent out probably 15 letters to coaches and got two replies. one was thanks we ll try to see you this season and the second was similar but asked for transcripts. Nothing else. We’ve thrown in the towel.
I think all those responses sound very promising. If they aren’t interested they usually don’t respond. Keep the dialog going, send emails with updates and where you will be playing. When they stop answering is when they are no longer interested. It’s a crazy process, we had a coach email my son on Thanksgiving and Christmas morning with good wishes which to me was a sure sign of ultimate interest and then months later he was told they went in another direction. Cast a wide net.
Things for a junior should be moving fairly quickly at this point. Most top teams have offers out and may be looking to only fill one or two spots. The mid-ranked schools are making contact, inviting to camps, interested in high school and club schedules. The lower ranked D1 and D2&D3 are also starting. You are going to run into the season very soon, and most coaches don’t have a lot of time for recruits who aren’t sending stuff all the time. The coaches will look at it if it lands on their desks/computers, but won’t have time to go looking for recruits.
I’d just keep sending stuff - about the season, about school, new test scores. Don’t worry about annoying the coaches because the only way to stay out in front is to keep sending stuff. If he has a club coach or a high school coach who knows any of these coaches, ask them to make a contact too. My daughter’s college team has 6 players from her club program, and that’s because the college coach trusts the club coach to send names of players who are a good fit for the college program.
@center, If your son only sent one letter to each coach, that really is not enough contact to cause you to throw in the towel. Perhaps if he sent 20 emails to each coach with no response, it might be time to change priorities. Also, you mentioned letters. If sent by first class mail, you may get a better response by email.
@Midwestmomofboys is on the money about these comments. None are expressions of “non-interest.” Does that mean your son will end up being recruited? It is way too soon to decide that now. Your son should respond as quickly as possible to these coach emails, and each time end his response to the coach with a question. That invites the conversation to be continued by the coach. For example, if a coach asks for his transcript, end the email with the salutation “what do you think about my transcript?” Think of the conversation as a hot potato. As soon as the coach gets back, respond with an email that includes a question to keep the potato moving.
If there is one particular school that your son is interested in, have your son call the coach and ask for a meeting. We had rafts of meetings that went no where. But there is no greater exhibition of interest than traveling to a school to meet with the coach, and my overall experience with these meetings was very positive. @keepmecruisin refers to coaches who had interest and then disappeared into the sunset. But if you turn the tide, think how many athletes are chased by coaches that end with the athlete’s radio silence. I couldn’t begin to count the emails that we did not respond to because we felt there was no academic fit. Anyway, it is easy to keep the conversation rolling by email. When you talk in person, you will come to understand exactly how serious the coach is about recruiting your son by asking the hard questions.
Keep the communications going. Work hard and good things will come.
Most of those replies sound promising based on our knowledge. Gointhruaphase gives good advice. I would definitely let the coaches know which tournaments he will play in this summer and they will look in on his play if they can as well as take some tours and try to meet the coaches. Don’t hesitate to ask if they have any events you can attend/play at.
My son did not send any emails to coaches directly. He filled out the recruit questionnaire on the athletic website for each school he was interested in. This approach was pretty successful.