College Search Process for Student-Athletes – Contacting College Coaches

Written by: Kim Penney and Danielle Dunn, One-on-One College Consulting

College athletic recruiting for both scholarship and non-scholarship student-athletes naturally accelerates the college search process. Starting this process early is necessary so student-athletes have ample opportunities to market themselves to college coaches in order to gain exposure and receive critical feedback on their potential level of college play.

Student-athletes first need to target a list of colleges that fit them academically and socially, and then overlay the athletic fit. By approaching the process in this order, student-athletes are more in control and are “covering” themselves in case they get injured or if the coach who is recruiting them decides to leave. It is important that student-athletes reach out directly to college coaches themselves.

A sample target email to a college coach should include:

1. In Subject Line: Student-Athlete Name, Year, Position, High School, Town and State
2. Athletic Information:  Short introductory paragraph listing physical statistics (height, weight, dominant hand/foot) and high school and/or club team name(s). Include most important high school and/or club individual accolades (i.e. Boston Globe All-Scholastic, League All-Star, etc.) and team accomplishments (i.e. State/League Champions, National Tournament ranking, etc.)
3. Academic Information: List such things as:  GPA, test scores, class rank and desired major(s) of interest at each college. 
• Tip: Coaches like to know that student-athletes have already done their research on academic/social fit for their respective school.
4. Link to Schedule: Provide high school and/or club season schedule and indicate which games are most competitive for coaches to attend.
• Tip: Make it easy to be identified by college coaches - list team name, uniform colors and jersey number. Include court/field location and game times.
5. List of Tournaments/Showcases: Include schedule of upcoming tournaments/showcases (i.e. Bay State Games)
6. Link to Video: Provide link to video (i.e. can include highlights, skills and game footage)
• Tip: Videos help college coaches determine whether or not a student-athlete is a recruit they wish to see play in a live game setting
7. Questions to ask a college coach at end of email: Can you please let me know if you are interested in me as a potential recruit for your program?  Are there any camps you run or work at that you believe would be beneficial for me to attend?
8. End of Email: Thank the coach in advance and express interest in hearing back from him/her soon. Be sure to list complete contact information at end, including:
• Address; Cell Phone; Email

Next BSG Blog Topic (Week of April 8, 2019) – Importance of Creating an Athletic Profile

For more resources, visit www.baystategames.org/recruiting-tools