Recruiting e-mail suggestion

[JoeA1010]

May I toss out a suggestion to girls trying to get recruited? When you e-mail college coaches, e-mail them directly, not through Captain U or any other recruiting service. Make it easy for us, not difficult. I would venture to guess that 90 percent of e-mails sent though Captain U, for example, never get read by a college coach.

I just got one of these from a girl through Captain U. I've had hundreds more, but just realized they were going straight to my Spam folder. Anyway, we have to click on a link that says Click Here to Read the Message. Then if we aren't automatically signed in, we have to somehow find our user name and password and sign in. Then we have to look around and find the girl's name among many other recruits and click on her name. Then we have to scroll around forever through her profile, only to find there is another tab that says Message and click on that tab before finding the message. And then if it's somebody who we can e-mail back, we can do it through Captain U, but not directly through our own e-mail from that message, which isn't likely to happen.

We all get hundreds of e-mails per week at this time of the year. The big schools (OSU, Mich, etc.) probably get thousands upon thousands. Anything through a recruiting service likely isn't getting read by more than 5% of the coaches it was sent to. For me, if it is an e-mail sent directly to me and specifically to me (and not 50 other coaches), there is a 100% chance it will be read. I'd guess it's the same for all coaches at the NAIA, D3, D2 and even up to small-to-mid level D1s.

 

[manitoudan]

Yep . Dead on .

 

[HITTER23]

 

[heater]

Thanks for the advice coach!

 

[Julie]

Thank you for the advice, sir.

 

[Shane]

Mental note made for my DD class of 2024, thanks Coach!

 

[klinder]

May I add please put player's name, grad year, number, position, travel team with coach's last name on each email. When emailing a coach about a tournament, make it easy for the coach to find you at the tournament. Include field address, field number, time, and opponent. The less information the coach has to search for the better chances the coach may try to watch you play.

 

[CARDS]

May I toss out a suggestion to girls trying to get recruited? When you e-mail college coaches, e-mail them directly, not through Captain U or any other recruiting service. Make it easy for us, not difficult. I would venture to guess that 90 percent of e-mails sent though Captain U, for example, never get read by a college coach.

I just got one of these from a girl through Captain U. I've had hundreds more, but just realized they were going straight to my Spam folder. Anyway, we have to click on a link that says Click Here to Read the Message. Then if we aren't automatically signed in, we have to somehow find our user name and password and sign in. Then we have to look around and find the girl's name among many other recruits and click on her name. Then we have to scroll around forever through her profile, only to find there is another tab that says Message and click on that tab before finding the message. And then if it's somebody who we can e-mail back, we can do it through Captain U, but not directly through our own e-mail from that message, which isn't likely to happen.

We all get hundreds of e-mails per week at this time of the year. The big schools (OSU, Mich, etc.) probably get thousands upon thousands. Anything through a recruiting service likely isn't getting read by more than 5% of the coaches it was sent to. For me, if it is an e-mail sent directly to me and specifically to me (and not 50 other coaches), there is a 100% chance it will be read. I'd guess it's the same for all coaches at the NAIA, D3, D2 and even up to small-to-mid level D1s.

^^^^^^^^This is a huge^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Do a little homework on the program and coach, Blanket and form emails are lazy...CC parents and travel coaches on correspondence and have a professional email address. The SB.VB.BB.Cheergirl1992@hotmail.com most likely is not going to be seen...

 

[WalkOffHR]

Email was great until everyone started doing it. Text or call coaches. Parents write 95% of all emails. Coaches know that and it does nothing to set a player apart. Coaches want to know why a player wants to play in their program, NOT that mom or dad are interested in the school.

Recruiting services are the biggest scam since bottled air. Don't use them ever. There are fake responses from coaches from the University of Fredricksburg Agricultural and Kinesiology in Edmonton (U FAKE) that "have recently looked at your profile." Check with teammates...the all get the U Fake notifications at about the same time on their CaptainU accounts.

Just told a girls dad Thursday to forego the email and text a coach.Lo and behold the next day he was ecstatic because on the first try his DD got an immediate positive response.

 

[lewam3]

Email was great until everyone started doing it. Text or call coaches. Parents write 95% of all emails. Coaches know that and it does nothing to set a player apart. Coaches want to know why a player wants to play in their program, NOT that mom or dad are interested in the school.

Recruiting services are the biggest scam since bottled air. Don't use them ever. There are fake responses from coaches from the University of Fredricksburg Agricultural and Kinesiology in Edmonton (U FAKE) that "have recently looked at your profile." Check with teammates...the all get the U Fake notifications at about the same time on their CaptainU accounts.

Just told a girls dad Thursday to forego the email and text a coach.Lo and behold the next day he was ecstatic because on the first try his DD got an immediate positive response.

Hmmm...Maybe ask Coach Joe is he would like his cell# given out and/or if he would like his phone flooded with text messages....

 

[CARDS]

Hmmm...Maybe ask Coach Joe is he would like his cell# given out and/or if he would like his phone flooded with text messages....

Travel and HS coaches use group text, twitter etc. and its effective team communication...Not so sure about ladies 13 to 18 years old using text to try to "establish" a connection with a college coach...

Further along in the process that may be an option but, I would think with email the messages can be flagged for receipt, follow up, etc. travel coaches and parents can be CCd so they know who the kids are talking too.
If the kid is serious about the school attending camps/clinics to put a face to a name is a good idea.

 

[JoeA1010]

If it's a girl I can text back (June 15 after sophomore year for us in Div. II), then I'm good with a text here and there once a recruiting relationship has been established, but I prefer pool play schedules and anything of any length to be in an e-mail. I know some coaches like to receive pool play schedules in a text, but e-mail is much easier for me to organize. Girls often update me during a tournament with a text of their next game once they get into bracket play.

I don't know how many coaches give out their cell numbers. Mine is out there and easy to find, but coaches with families with kids might want to keep communications more formal through an office phone.

 

[WalkOffHR]

Hmmm...Maybe ask Coach Joe is he would like his cell# given out and/or if he would like his phone flooded with text messages....

Joe DOES have his office phone right on his page. Some coaches do, some don't. I suppose every coach is different in that regard.

 

[9ers_dad]

Question coach, how important are skills videos attached to emails. My DD did this with hers and we seen the views go up but weren't exactly sure what you guys thought of them. Thanks

 

[JoeA1010]

Yes, skills videos attached to e-mails are always a good idea. Most coaching staffs will make sure to at least take a look at every video they receive. These are often the first step a potential recruit must clear with a college. If a coach likes the skills video enough, the next step is to watch the girl in games.

 

[Mad Hornet]

Great post Joe. I am also making a second request on this site to tournament directors. Please STOP using Captain U for your college books! Coaches and players and players parents hate it too.