3 Quick Tips to Help You Expand Your College Recruiting
We have said it a million times, but the college recruiting process can confuse athletes who are otherwise qualified to continue to play sports and receive a college education. You may have a basic understanding of what you need to do to get recruited, but you can’t quite get over the hump and attract the attention of coaches and scouts. 
Email Coaches Every Week
Start by picking a manageable number of new coaches to email each week (3-5, but more if you think you can handle it). Like most student-athletes, you are probably quite busy, but it is important to budget your time and set some aside for recruiting; playing sports in college is quite time consuming as well, and budgeting your recruiting time during high school will help you prepare for college. Get ready to contact coaches by creating a sports resume (that also includes academic information), or at the very least a well-written cover letter and a link to your online video. Introduce yourself and show your interest in the coach’s school and athletic program. Emailing a few new coaches every week will help you expand your recruiting options.
You should use this time to follow up with coaches you have already emailed as well. Here are 50 reasons for you to contact a coach to update them. If a coach responds to you, you should reply as soon as you can, but if they don’t reply then follow up with them a week after you initially emailed them.
Don’t Just Email- Make a Phone Call!
Emailing coaches is great, but it has also become common place. Recruits may be hesitant to call coaches, but calling them will help set you apart from other recruits. It will make you look more mature than other athletes- only furthering your recruiting advantage over them. You can call a coach at any time, but some times are better than others. Figure out how the best times fit into your schedule.
Here are some tips for prepare for recruiting phone calls, and here are some questions you can ask them the first time you call.
Use Social Media, and Be Smart About It
Social Media’s has an obvious influence on today’s college recruiting landscape- so take advantage of its rising popularity. Coaches will not be able to correspond with you publicly on these sites because of rules barring them from publicizing their recruiting efforts, but there are still some incredibly valuable uses for these sites. Follow the teams and coaches you are getting recruiting by and want to get recruited by on Twitter and Facebook. This will help you stay up to date on all the important news associated with the team. You are still allowed to Facebook Message or Direct Message (on Twitter) coaches, so whenever something interesting happens, send the coach/team a message.
Twitter and Facebook are also great ways to learn about a program from the current athletes, and to connect with some potential future teammates, but first make sure your profile is appropriate for college coaches and potential teammates to see!
Do you have any questions about how you can expand your recruiting efforts? Just ask us in the comment section below, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+!
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