D2 summary of rules (very brief summary):
We can email a kid at any time prior to Sept. 1st of junior year, as long as it is not related to softball recruiting. For example, we can talk about about camps or our academic programs.
Starting Sept. 1st of Junior year, we can have email contact about specific softball related items.
We are permitted to have phone contact starting June 15th prior to senior year. We can talk to athlete or parent once per week.
Also starting June 15th, we are permitted 3 off-campus face to face contacts, as long as the player is not currently playing in a tournament. We must wait till their team is completely finished playing in the tournament before we can talk.
Common misconceptions:
The whole email thing prior to junior year. Many interpret the rules incorrectly. As long as no recruiting is taking place, it is permitted. I know, it is a very gray area.
An athlete is permitted to call us at any age, as much as they want. We just can't return their calls prior to the June 15th date or if we have already made one phone contact per week during the permitted time.
We can only say hi to you or your parent during a tournament. I once had a lady follow me to the portajohn, insisting I was allowed to talk to her and her daughter because "everyone else was doing it."
An athlete can make an unofficial visit at any age, and can make unlimited unofficial visits.
An athlete is only allowed 5 official visits, regardless of Division.
Contact is permitted via Facebook only by private message, and by Twitter only thru direct messages. Any type of public exchange (facebook wall), chat, or instant message is prohibited. Text messages are prohibited, but a way around that is to have your Facebook private messages sent to you as text messages.