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By Andy McKernan

When you look back at the recruiting process, what are you going to say about the contact you made with coaches? Are you sitting around, waiting for a coach to send you something more personal than a mass mailer? Or are you putting yourself out there with emails to multiple coaches at schools where you’re qualified to play?

There are so many places you can find coaches online. Our recruiting network is one of them. But the next question–the more important question–is what to say to coaches once you have their contact information. Your parents probably have a good idea about how to write professional sounding business letters, but corresponding with a college coach is a process most people don’t do on a daily basis.

Don’t worry. We’ve done this before.

Before you fire that email off, you’ll have to do a little prep work.

• Who are you contacting? 

Research each school and each coach you’d like to play for, and find out as much specific information you can. Your letter isn’t going to be a report on what you’ve found–after all, the coach probably remembers any of the statistics or information you found about last season’s games–but you can personalize your letters with specific details of the program that you like, or that seem interesting to you.

• What is the purpose of the email?

Be clear with yourself about the point you want to make in your email, and be sure you’re explicitly saying it to the coach as well. Most often, the purpose of an email to college coaches is to introduce yourself as a potential player for their school. But maybe there’s something specific you want to convey. Or maybe this isn’t the first time you’ve written to the coach, and you want to affirm your interest in the program.

• How will you keep track of coaches you’ve contacted?

We recommend that students contact around 50 coaches a year. That’s a lot. We know it’s a lot. How are you going to keep track of coaches you’ve contacted already, or those you’ll email the next time around? A notebook? A spreadsheet? A note on your phone? You know what will work best for you, but be careful not to lose it: notebooks can get lost, files damaged, phones dropped. Backups are your friend.

What should my letter entail?

Let’s start with a bad letter. Seriously. This is awful. Don’t copy it. But see if you can figure out what’s wrong with it before reading on.

Hey,

I really want to run track at your school. I’m a sprinter and I won my heat at last week’s meet. I love running and I would be a great addition to your team.

I don’t really know what I want to do in college, but I know your school is the one for me.

I would love to meet you and talk about being a part of your team.

Jimmy

There are actually some good aspects to this email. Jimmy identifies himself as a sprinter (although we don’t know what races he runs) and he’s positive throughout the email. But he didn’t take the time to write the email so it would be specific to the coach he’s addressing (and he’s really informal with “hey”), or about the college he’s interested in, or even specific to what makes Jimmy a special candidate.

Community service announcement: We’re all special people. These emails to coaches are the chance to learn about what makes you special.

Here’s a different email Jimmy could have sent.

Dear Coach Lundquist,

My name is Jimmy Brown from Champaign, Illinois and I’m a Class of 2016 student in Champaign High School. I am writing to you because of my interest in running track at Sampleton University. I have been a varsity athlete on my high school’s indoor and outdoor teams since freshman year and contributed to a 4×200 squad that replaced a school record that had stood for 10 years.

Just to tell you a little more about myself. I primarily run the 100 and 200. I placed sixth in the state in the 200 at states last season. Outside of track, I’m on the school debate team.

As a student, I am really interested in math. I currently have a 2.9 GPA and scored 1760 on the SAT. I’m not sure what I want to do at the end of college, but I know Sampleton University has really interesting programs in math and physics.

I’ve included a link to my NCSA Athletic Recruiting page for you to see my highlight videos and my athletic and academic information.

I’d love to meet you and talk about the possibility of becoming part of your team in 2016. If there is anything I can do to help you decide whether I might be a good fit, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll follow up with you soon by phone and hope I can answer any of your questions then.

Thank you very much for your time. I hope to hear from you, and will contact you by phone very soon.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Brown

What’s important about this second letter is that Jimmy is being specific about himself: his grad year, the distances he runs, his experience on high school (or club) teams. He talks about his GPA and SAT scores, and even though he doesn’t know what he wants to do for a career, he’s able to talk about why the school is a good match for him academically, as well as athletically.

The more goals and plans you can add, the better. Show you have ambition; show your character and work ethic.

What not to say to a college coach

We’ve covered the top statements you should never make to a college coach before. Here are some general tips for your initial contact with coaches:

• Don’t directly ask for a spot on the team. The recruiting game is stressful, but it’s not a sprint. You need to get to know the coach–and they need to get to know you, before you both decide that a spot on the team is right for you. (Note: The same thing goes for directly asking how much scholarship money you’ll get.)
• Don’t address your email “To Whom It May Concern.” You want to play for this specific school, right? It follows that you want to play for a specific coach. Even if you’re sending out similar emails to multiple coaches, make sure each is addressed personally to each coach. (Please, please, please make sure the school is correct for each, as well!)
• Don’t be negative about your high school or travel coach, or your teammates. This goes back to the coach getting to know you. Your athletic achievements and academic records are components of your recruiting the coach can watch or see without speaking to you. But how you act toward the sport–and your coach and teammates–will be a deciding factor in whether you continue to be in the running as a prospective recruit.

And after all that, you’re going to have to pick up the phone and call.

Look back at the sample email from Jimmy. At the end, after introducing himself, he says he’ll contact the coach by phone. There are strict NCAA regulations about ways coaches reach out to athletes that might make it impossible for them to return your email. But you should send it anyway so they are aware of you — even if you have to share some of the same information with them on the phone.

Article originally published by NCSA Sports