Getting Recruited: Advise from the Experts

MARKET YOURSELF TO GET RECRUITED


We first need to put the importance of marketing yourself t into perspective. According to NCAA statistics, the probabilities of high school senior athletes going on to play in any NCAA Division, by sport are:

• 3% or less than 1 in 35 boy's basketball players.
• 3.3% or 3 in 100 girls' basketball players.
• 5.7% or 1 in 17 football players.
• 6.1% or 3 in 50 baseball players.
• 11% of boy's ice hockey players.
• 5.5% or less than 3 in 50 of boy's soccer players.
• Statistics on other sports are not available.
  

So what do these numbers mean? First, they demonstrate just how competitive it is to play in the NCAA (and we haven't even started talking about scholarships). Second, unless you are a blue chip athlete, and by that I mean a nationally ranked athlete, you will not have college coaches knocking down your door with offers. From the coach's perspective, it's a buyer's market - there are more athletes than available roster spots.

Now here is the million dollar question; what do many of the athletes that got recruited have in common? Several things. First, they positioned themselves by having the grades to meet NCAA standards. Second, they made a commitment to train and bring their game to the next level. Finally, unless they were a blue chip athlete, they aggressively promoted their abilities to college coaches. In other words, instead of waiting to be recruited, they recruited the coach.

How to Recruit the Coach
The first thing to understand is that college sports is a business and recruiting is part of that business. Once you think of it in business terms you can begin to realize the importance of marketing yourself to college coaches. When you get right down to it, your athletic ability is a product and what is at stake is a full or partial scholarship potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Getting recruited requires a lot of work on the part of athletes and their parents. Understanding the process and rules will help you save time and money and is critical to running an effective recruiting campaign. Here are ways to effectively promote yourself to college coaches:

• Communicate at all levels of the organization. It is important to establish a relationship with the head coach as well as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coaches. Coaching positions change often and you want to maintain continuity.
  
  
• Use email to communicate. Coaches prefer to communicate with recruits and prospects via email. It is one of the best ways for underclassmen to communicate with the coaching staff as it is convenient for everyone and coaches can reply to your email. While underclassmen are free to call coaches, coaches cannot return phone calls to prospects or their parents. They can, however, reply to email.
  
  
• Maintain frequent communication with your target coaches. Had a great game against a tough opponent? Won an academic award or had a great academic quarter? Received athletic recognition? Make sure you keep your coaches up to date with an email or copy of a news article.
  
  
• Maintain your electronic profile/website. Provide coaches with a single point of reference to get information about you and stay up to date with your season.
  
  
• Send your video. Coaches are most interested in athleticism and mechanics and a skills video is the best way for coaches to assess your ability. Keep your video to 3 minutes, and highlight your best stuff within the first 30 - 60 seconds. Make sure to edit out misses cues, providing coaches with a quick pace of information. Forget the flash, fancy graphics and music - just keep it simple. Game footage is ok as long as it is done professionally and limited to a few edited highlights. Start by sending a skills video and then follow up with game highlights during your season.
  
  
• Send coaches your schedule. Coaches can't see you if they don't know where and when you'll be competing.
  
  
• Go where the coaches are. Get to combines, tournaments and showcases where coaches will be instructing or observing. Click here for a list of camps and showcases.
  
  
• Pre-sell yourself. If you are participating in an event that college coaches attend, get a list of coaches that attended in the past and email them a copy of your profile/weblink and let them know you will be there competing. Why go to an event hoping to get noticed? Get noticed before you get there.
  
  
• Get coaches to your events. Let's say you live in Ohio and you will be competing in an event in North Carolina. Find out what colleges are in the area (within 2 hours), provide them with your information and let them know you'll be there. If you are going to be there for several days, arrange for a college visit and meet the coaching staff.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call the coach. Rule #1, coaches want to talk with recruits, not their parents. Rule #2, if the parent must call, avoid the temptation of telling the coach what a great athlete your son or daughter is. Instead, focus on the intangibles: committed, great work ethic, disiplined, etc. Their athleticism will speak for itself.
  
  
• Respond quickly to requests for more information and follow up. As obvious as that sounds, coaches have complained to me about the lack of follow through by recruits. It gives the impression that you are not interested and coaches will move quickly on to the next prospect.
  
  
• Have your coach follow up with colleges. If you get a letter of interest from college coaches, have your coach follow up with a phone call to the head coach. Additionally, ask your coach if he has any college contacts and if so could he help you. Your coach is a vital component of your recruiting campaign and can be a great resource.