Can Parents Email College Coaches?
As a parent, it’s natural to wonder if there’s anything you can do to make recruiting for your student-athlete easier. High schoolers are busy with school, practices, games and spending time with friends. Asking college coaches your questions may seem like the most efficient way to get your child noticed. But can parents email college coaches?
While parents can email college coaches, most coaches prefer to hear from the student-athlete. If you email a coach, you take away an opportunity for your child to contact the coach and connect with them regularly. After all, it’s your child that’s being recruited, not you. The recruiting process is a natural way for both coaches and student-athletes to get to know each other and develop a relationship.
Communicating with the coach helps the student-athlete get to know them and vice versa. It also helps them develop skills like time management, confidence and organization. Emailing college coaches is one of the first steps in the recruiting process, so your child must be involved in contacting coaches from the beginning.
Why Should Student-Athletes Email College Coaches?
Emailing college coaches as a parent can send the signal that you’re over involved in your child’s life, and they aren’t making these big life decisions on their own. College coaches want to know that student-athletes are pursuing sports in college of their own accord and not just bending to their parents’ pressure. Student-athletes have the opportunity to show college coaches their maturity and commitment by reaching out first.
Show Their Dedication: College coaches are looking for student-athletes who are genuinely interested in their program, and not just setting up a back-up option. By emailing a coach themselves, student-athletes can express their interest in the school and explain why they think they would be a good fit for the program.
Build Name Recognition: Consistently showing up in a college coach’s inbox can help a coach start to recognize a student-athlete’s name. Sending highlight videos and athletic statistics helps a coach understand how the recruit might fit onto their team. Being consistent with these emails can catch a coach’s attention and show commitment to their team.
Stand Out From The Crowd: If a student-athlete emails a coach with a positive message and professional tone, they can stand out from other potential recruits. Coaches receive hundreds of emails every season from student-athletes, so they are trying to find ways to narrow down their list of recruits. Receiving an email from a parent rather than a player is an easy way for coaches to take that player off their list of recruits.
Staying behind the scenes will help your child much more than you think. Giving them the tools and support they need will enable them to be successful in the recruiting process. Your help will pay off when it comes time for coaches to extend a scholarship offer or a roster spot.
How To Help Your Child During Recruiting
it’s natural to want to help your child during the recruiting process. Recruiting can be an overwhelming task, so you want to break it down and make it more manageable for your recruit. Here are a few ways you can still help, but behind the scenes.
Draft An Email: It can be helpful to provide an outline or some critical points for your child to mention in an email to a coach. Be careful not to write the email for your child. Parents write differently than a high schooler, and coaches can tell when you’ve written an email and just signed off with a student-athlete’s name. Remember that this is a chance for your child to take steps of independence. It’s a good idea to edit the email before they send it off and verify there are no spelling or grammar mistakes.
Prepare For A Phone Call: Another way to help your child prepare before talking to a college coach is to practice calling a coach together. Calling a college coach is a great way to get any recruiting questions answered and get to know the coach a little better. This can be intimidating for student-athletes, so creating a list of questions and answers before they make the call can help calm their nerves.
Attend A Campus Visit Together: Later on in the recruiting process, your child will be visiting colleges, whether they’re invited on an official visit or planning an unofficial visit. This is an opportunity for you and your child to walk around campus, talk with the coach and tour some of the athletic facilities. Coaches want to get to know players, so it’s great to take a step back, let your child answer, and ask the most questions.
Introduce Yourself: If you see a coach at a tournament or showcase, it’s appropriate to introduce yourself to the coach. However, your child should already be emailing and beginning to connect with them. This way, the coach will know who you are and be interested in getting to know you as the parent of one of their recruits.
While it’s important to let your child take the lead on most questions, coaches still recognize that your support is key. Your perspective will be valuable when it comes to topics like financial aid, tuition and the logistics of housing and moving. Asking questions about these topics or adding your opinion here during any campus visit or before a phone call can help positively guide your student-athlete.
When Can Coaches Email Student-Athletes?
Parents should encourage their children to email coaches themselves. But when are coaches allowed to email recruits back? The NCAA has specific rules about when and how coaches can communicate with student-athletes. Below are some of the restrictions to be aware of if you don’t receive a response from a coach right away.
After Sophomore Or Junior Year: The NCAA prevents college coaches from contacting student-athletes before June 15 of their sophomore year or September 1 of their junior year. This varies depending on your sport and division, so be sure to verify the exact date that coaches can contact you. This rule helps prevent early recruiting and gives players some time to develop their skills and build a name for themselves before focusing on connecting with coaches.
During Certain Time Periods: During certain parts of the year, the NCAA restricts coaches from contacting recruits. The recruiting calendar is split into contact, evaluation, quiet and dead periods. During the dead period, college coaches cannot meet face to face with student-athletes or their parents. However, the NCAA does not penalize student-athletes for reaching out to college coaches at any time.
While college coaches prefer that student-athletes contact them, these communication rules apply to parents as well. To help your child with recruiting before these dates, focus on assisting them in developing skills, both athletic and academic. It’s best to do some research together on schools that will be the best for your child based on their current and potential athletic abilities. Preparing ahead of time can set them up for success when it’s time to communicate with college coaches.
Things To Keep In Mind
Parents Are Important: Coaches recognize that parents are a crucial part of the recruiting process. They also provide the basis for the recruit’s support system as they enter into college athletics. College coaches evaluate how recruits interact with their parents during campus visits, so maintaining a calm, supportive presence can help your child secure a scholarship offer.
Stay Organized: Parents can be beneficial when it comes to the organization during recruiting. Some recruits work through a spreadsheet of schools they’re considering, and it can take an item off their plate if their parents help them create it. Keeping your child on top of deadlines and important dates also helps keep them organized and focused.
Talk About Their Priorities: Talking with your child about their college experience priorities helps them think about what’s important to them before committing to a school. The conversations you have together can help them decide which schools to target. Once you’ve narrowed down the schools, it’s easier to focus on analyzing them by streaming their games and talking with the coach.