ADvice from the Athletic Director

So how do you go about drawing the attention of college coaches?  Certainly some “blue chip” athletes draw many coaches to both high school and club games and tournaments.  But for most, in these tough economic times that include limited recruiting budgets, most families must take their own responsibility to keep in regular contact with interested college coaches.  College GAMEplan provides you with the tools to maintain contact with college coaches, whether it be for the first time, or as one of several follow ups. 

Although it may depend on the size of the college you are targeting, many coaches receive hundreds of letters and phone calls introducing them to new athletes that they either haven’t had the time, don’t have the financial resources to see for themselves, or simply do not know about.  With their busy schedules and limited funds, many coaches just don’t have the time to respond to every introduction letter they receive.  So it is important that you not only send out letters, but also plan to follow up with each coach either by phone or by mail.  College GAMEplan includes template letters that make it easy for you to follow up, and our list of Questions to ask College Coaches make it easy for you to call the coach to periodically check in and keep him up to date with your athletic accomplishments. 

Although there are some exceptions, generally college coaches may not initiate contact with high school students until after July 1 following their junior year (although recent NCAA rule changes do now allow one contact prior to July 1 under some circumstances).  That said, it is never too early to begin targeted communications with colleges that you believe you may have interest in attending.  Many college coaches begin building files, and even scouting outstanding athletes, as early as their freshman year in high school. Remember too, that while college coaches may not initiate regular telephone or personal contact with a prospective student before July 1 at the end of the student’s junior year, students and their families ARE permitted to establish their own direct contact with coaches before then. 

So a well organized and implemented College GAMEplan beginning with letters of introduction in your child’s freshman year, followed by periodic statistical updates a couple of times each year, and interspersed with carefully planned phone calls to the coaches every few months, will put you at the forefront of the coaches mind by the time he or she builds his/her recruiting list. 

With College GAMEplan, by the time NCAA regulations allow the coach to contact you, they will already know your current statistics and grades.  Perhaps even more importantly, they may have had years of experience in getting to know you as a well disciplined, enthusiastic and ambitious prospective student who uses specific goals and objectives to build and stick to their own performance plan. 

If these sound like the personality traits of a successful college athlete, they are.  But more importantly they are also the traits associated with outstanding workplace performers – the nation’s highest achievers and income earners!  And since college is after all, an investment in your entire future career, having your own College GAMEplan, then sticking to it, may well separate you from hundreds of other college applicants and put you at the top of the list of your year’s athletic recruiting class.

If you haven’t already done so, begin the process now by building your own athletic profile. Then simply follow the instructions College GAMEplan provides you each month.  Use College GAMEplan as your one-stop resource to learn how to market yourself; what to say to college coaches and when to say it; what to mail and when to mail it; what colleges to target and when to target them.  And after all is said and done and the offers are in, use College GAMEplan to learn how to choose and select THE best college for your own personality and performance level.

Get in the game with College GAMEplan … and put your playbook to work today! 

If you know other coaches, athletic directors, players or parents who might benefit from the FREE information College GAMEplan provides, send us their names so we can send them their FREE subscription too.  Just click on the Tell A Friend button below and send us their name and email address.