SportsGist Rules!

EXPOSURE

There are many reasons why some student-athletes are recruited more than others. The number one reason is exposure, If you need the exposure to get involved with at least 100 schools, you should begin to market yourself as soon as possible.

HOW TO MARKET YOURSELF

To market yourself, you should research as many schools as possible to obtain direct contact information. Next, compile your student-athlete profile by verifying your grades and test scores along with sport-specific statistics and conditioning levels. The profile and a concise introductory letter expressing your interest should be sent to all the schools you have researched.

There is the more traditional way of using direct mail, and the more modern approach of using e-mail. If you use either of these methods, please understand it is time-consuming and expensive to do it the right way. All correspondence must be personalized and all coaches (not just the head coach) must be contacted. Just remember, the greater the effort, the great the reward.

Also keep in mind that a quality collegiate scouting organization is an affordable and effective way to produce the contacts you need.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

So…finally…you are receiving recruiting mail! Are the letters unsolicited? Are they in response to a letter you have written? What do the letters mean? What is the coach saying? Are you getting the message?

Read your recruiting mail carefully. It is important to evaluate each school and how interested they are in you. If you don’t like the messages in the letters you are receiving, you should broaden your search and contact a wider range of college coaches. DON’T GIVE UP

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RECRUITING CORRESPONDENCE

• Simply put-if you are not directly involved with a minimum of 100 schools; you are not giving yourself the best opportunity available.
• The most important thing for you to do is to make contact with as many schools as possible and get into their recruiting pools.
• It is vital that your return every questionnaire and any other materials requested by every school that contacts you.

The student-athlete often does not return questionnaires because of the tedious and repetitive task involved. The easiest and most efficient way is to simply staple your profile to the questionnaire and return it immediately upon request.

PHONE CONTACT

Once you have established an interest in a school, you need to find out how serious they are about you. This can be accomplished by asking a specific set of questions when phone contact is made.

1. Find out who are you speaking with?

Head Coach? Assistant Coach? Graduate/Volunteer Assistant?

2. Have they made a personal evaluation of the student-athlete?

3. Will you (Head Coach) be making a home visit?

4. Do you intend to invite my son/daughter for an official paid visit at this time?

5. Are you interested in having my son/daughter sign early?

THE HOME VISIT

The home visit is usually the first time an actual face-to-face meeting takes place. You finally get to meet the people you have been speaking with for the past several months. This is the perfect time to review and clarify any questions or answers from the phone contact. You should keep in mind that the coaches are evaluating you as much as you are evaluating them.

THE CAMPUS VISIT

The campus visit, without question, has the biggest influence on your final decision of where to attend college. This is an exciting time for the student-athlete and it is important to now the guidelines college coaches have to follow during a campus visit. Student-athlete are only allowed a total of five official paid visits. Remember to refer to your “Guides for the College-Bound Student-Athlete” to comply with these rules.

THE PARTIAL AND WALK-ON-PITCH

We find more and more collegiate coaches breaking up scholarships with partial offers and the so-called walk-on opportunity. It has even been stretched to the point where coaches will entice a student with the “preferred walk-on” status.

Student-athletes and families accept such offers for a variety of reasons, but do so primarily because they don’t have a lot of options.

The key is to get as many schools as possible interested in your academic and athletic talent to put yourself in the position to negotiate.

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