How Do You Get A College Coach To Respond To You?
Sending emails to college coaches can be intimidating. Even if you craft the perfect email, you might not get a response from the coach. So how do you get a college coach to respond to you?
Whether or not a college coach responds to your email has multiple factors, many of which are not personal. The best way to get a college coach to respond is to reach out with personalized messages consistently. Sometimes college coaches won’t respond to your email because you aren’t a good fit for their program. You increase your chances of getting a response if you are realistic about your skills when deciding which schools to target.
It’s essential to personalize your message when you first send an email to a college coach. You’ll want to address the coach by name and reference specific things about their program and coaching style in your email. You want to convince the coach that you are a good fit for their team and that you are genuinely interested in playing for them. Connecting yourself to the school shows that you’ve done your homework, something that many other potential recruits don’t do.
Ways To Get A College Coach To Respond
College coaches have busy schedules and don’t have the time to respond to every email they receive. You’ll have to work hard to stand out from other potential recruits. If you’ve already sent the perfect personalized introduction email to a college coach, then here are a few tactics you can use to get a college coach to respond to you.
Follow-Up Consistently: If you haven’t heard from a coach in over a week after sending them an email, it’s appropriate to follow-up again. Throughout your season and the entire recruiting process, you can reach out to the coach several times. Recruiting is all about building relationships, and communicating consistently with a college coach will help develop a great relationship.
Call The Coach: Calling a college coach is a great way to learn more about them and introduce yourself. You might include a time that you plan to call a college coach in your first email to them. If you don’t get a response from your first emails to a coach, you have a good excuse to call a coach. You can reference your emails during the call and ask for feedback on your highlight video.
Talk To Your Current Coach: If you still can’t get in touch with a college coach, you can always reach out to your current coach. They may have connections with the coaching staff that will be helpful to you. Your current coach may also be able to set up a meeting over the phone between you and the college coach.
Subject Lines Matter: What you choose to title your email can go a long way in getting a coach to open it. A good subject title is catchy and to the point. You should include your name, year you graduate, position and any vital athletic or academic statistics. This way, the coach knows who you are and your potential right away.
If it’s been multiple weeks and you still haven’t heard from the coach after reaching out repeatedly in different ways, you may be better off moving on to other schools. You should take a look at your skills and verify that you would be a good fit at the school. Being realistic about which schools you’re targeting helps ensure that a coach responds.
Reasons To Follow Up With A College Coach
One of the best ways to get a college coach to respond to you is to follow up consistently. It builds name recognition if you are sending emails to their inbox regularly. The key to following up is to make sure that you have valuable information for a coach. Here are some reasons for reaching out to a college coach that will be helpful for them when deciding who to recruit.
Update To Highlight Video: When you first reach out to a coach, make sure you include any relevant athletic or academic statistics. This can consist of your highlight video, athletic statistics, standardized test scores and other related academic information. If you have any updates to this information, like new highlight clips or a higher test score, you can reach out and let your coach know where you stand. This may change how they view you or how you fit into their roster of potential recruits.
Congratulate The Coach: If the coach had a successful season or a big win, you could reach out to congratulate them. This is an excellent opportunity to comment on specific elements of their coaching style that you admire or think would be a good match with your skills.
Share Your Tournament Schedule: One of your goals during recruiting will likely be to get the coach to watch you play. If you know your upcoming tournament or camp schedule, you can let the coach know where you’ll be playing. If a coach is interested in learning more about you, they can stop by the tournament to see you play in person, rather than just watching your highlight video.
If you’ve been regularly following up with a coach, you will likely get a response. You’ll want to respond within a day to show the coach that you’re serious about their program. Being consistent and communicating professionally can help increase your chances of hearing back from a college coach.
Reasons Why A College Coach Isn’t Responding
There are many reasons why a college coach might not respond to your emails, and it may not have to do with the content of your email. There are a few reasons why a coach might not respond within a week of receiving your emails.
NCAA Restrictions: The coach may not be able to respond to you because of NCAA regulations. If you’re targeting Division I and II schools, the coach might not be able to respond before your junior or senior year. If this is the case, be patient and continue reaching out until the coach is allowed to respond to you.
They’re Busy: College coaches are extremely busy, especially during their season. They have to balance coaching their team and leading practices with administrative work and recruiting responsibilities. Their email inboxes are often flooded with messages from potential recruits. Writing a good email can go a long way in helping you stand out from other recruits, but it’s also important to keep contacting coaches to stay at the top of their inbox.
They Don’t Know You: If the coach doesn’t know you, it’s your job to make yourself interesting enough for the coach to respond. They may already have several recruits that they’re interested in, so they are responding to any new emails. You’ll want to include information about your athletic skills and a link to your highlight video in your emails so the coach can get to know you.
When you’re communicating with a college coach, make sure that your emails are clear and concise. Being brief shows respect for the coach’s time, and gives you a better chance of hearing back from a coach. Don’t be too concerned if you don’t get a response from a coach right away. Be patient, and continue reaching out before you move on to other schools.
Things To Keep In Mind
Keep Your Emails Professional: When writing emails, maintain a professional tone. You want to let your personality come through, but be respectful and follow established email conventions. Always proofread your emails before you send them to avoid making any spelling or grammar errors.
Be Persistent, Not Pushy: There’s a fine line between being persistent and pushy. You want to come across as determined and interested in playing for a coach, not disrespectful or tone-deaf.
Communicate During Business Hours: Always communicate with a college coach and respond to emails during acceptable business hours, usually between 8 am to 7 pm. You don’t want to send a coach a text when they’re trying to relax with their family or going to bed.
Email At Different Times: Emailing at several different times can increase your chances of getting a response back from a coach. The coach may only go through emails early in the morning, so they don’t get to yours that day. Test out sending emails at different times of the day and week to see which one the coach responds to.