How To Respond To An Athletic Scholarship Offer?
After spending countless days in the gym or on the field, the day has finally come, and you have received a college athletic scholarship offer. This has been your dream all throughout high school. You may now be feeling a range of emotions from excitement to fear to relief. But how do you go about responding to your offer?
Regardless of whether you initially want to accept the offer or not, take time to think over your decision and possibly visit the college again. Once you feel confident in your decision, you should respond to an athletic scholarship offer as soon as you can in an honest manner, either accepting or denying the offer respectfully. You may want to ask to speak further with the coach about the offer, and thus you can also suggest setting up a phone call to ask questions or negotiate.
Choosing whether to accept an offer or not will chart the path of your next few years so it is an extremely important decision to make. Thus, knowing how to respond to an athletic scholarship offer and understanding your options is something you should focus on. Below, are explanations of how to respond to an offer if you have decided to accept it, decline it, or want to negotiate further.
How To Respond If You Want To Accept Your Offer
It is the day you’ve been waiting for, you finally receive an offer from your dream school and you are eager to accept. Accepting may be the most positive, and thus simplest way to respond to an offer, but you truly want to make sure you are fully committed.
Think Over Your Options: While you may be eager to accept your first scholarship offer right away, make sure to think about whether that college would be a good fit for you. Take your time, and before accepting, you may want to have a phone call with the coach to ask questions. You should also see how much time they give you to respond so you can possibly visit the college or talk to current players in order to be completely confident in your decision. Coaches like to see that you are making an effort to be thorough and are interested in finding a good fit. So don’t feel strange asking to talk further with a coach because this will definitely not cause them to take your offer away.
Show Your Full Interest: If you have made the decision to accept the offer, make sure to start your email or phone call off by thanking the coach and expressing your intent to accept. Show your full interest, be enthusiastic, express gratitude, and be respectful. Coaches will appreciate the time you take to be thorough. Lastly, make sure to end your message by asking any questions you have about the next steps.
It is important to remember that when a coach emails or calls you to extend an offer and you respond affirmatively that this is a verbal commitment. Your offer is not fully binding until you sign your National Letter of Intent, but you should treat a verbal commitment as seriously as signing the official letter.
How To Respond If You Want To Decline Your Offer
If after doing careful research you are sure that you want to decline an offer, it is important to do so as quickly as possible. Coaches only have limited scholarship spots so you don’t want to be taking the place of another athlete by not responding when you have the intention to decline.
Always Say Thank You: When you have made the decision to decline an offer, it is extremely important to start off the message by expressing your gratitude for all the time that they have taken to communicate with you.
Be Honest And Polite: When declining an offer you must be honest, even though this can be difficult to do. Coaches want to know your sincere reasoning behind declining, so make sure you give them the actual reason why. It is also very important to be polite in your message. If you are sending an email, make sure it does not come off as insincere.
It is very reasonable and coaches will respect you if you decide to decline an offer because you have other offers that you prefer. But, if you do not currently have other offers, you may want to consider some of the pros of the current offer you have before immediately declining. Make sure to ask the coach how long you have to respond and take your time to learn more about the program.
How To Respond If You Want To Negotiate Your Offer
It is not always black and white when it comes to accepting an offer. There are so many terms and agreements that it is likely you will find some grey area that you may want to negotiate. Especially if the offer is not from a school that was your top choice, you may have more aspects that you want to negotiate.
Leverage Your Other Offers: If a college is not offering you as much scholarship money as others have, you can use these other offers as a way to help you negotiate up. If a coach really wants you on their team and does not want to risk losing you to the other competing colleges, they will likely be willing to negotiate with you.
Be Realistic: It is important to be very realistic when negotiating. DII or DIII programs likely cannot give you as much scholarship money or perks as DI colleges may be able to. You should also leverage your unique attributes that will be an asset to that program, whether it be your academic accomplishments or athletic skills.
Don’t feel too uncomfortable to negotiate. Accepting or declining an offer is an important decision, and you want to make sure that you agree with all terms and scholarship amounts. You also want to ensure that you are honest throughout the negotiation process and respectful to the coaches, as some of the terms are not in their control and thus non-negotiable.
What To Do After Responding To An Offer
After accepting or declining an offer, you may be wondering what your next steps are in the process. While there is no clear set of actions, there are some recommendations for how to proceed before you officially start college and begin playing your sport.
What To Do After You Accept: After you accept an offer, make sure to quickly tell all other college coaches that you may have received offers from or that you have been in contact with. This should be done as soon as possible. You should continue to maintain a relationship with the coach that you have verbally committed to play for and communicate with them any updates you have or ask any questions. You will likely begin to see on social media other recruits that have committed to the same school as you. It is a good idea to get in touch with them as you will be spending a lot of time alongside them in the next few years.
What To Do After You Decline: If you have declined an offer and are still hoping to receive one from a college that you would prefer, it is important to keep your options open and keep communicating with coaches. You may also want to tell coaches that you have received an offer from another college that you declined, as coaches like to see that other programs have also noticed your skills.
Whether you accept, decline, or begin negotiating an offer it is always important to stay honest with all coaches you are in communication with. While communicating back and forth with coaches takes a lot of work, the more you show interest and talk to them the more likely you will stick out from other recruits.
##Things To Keep In Mind
Keep Your Lines Of Communication Open: No matter if you decline or accept an offer, don’t let that be the end of the conversation. You may end up forming a strong connection with a coach that you declined an offer from. When you respond make it clear that you would like to keep communicating with the coach and that you value the time they have spent talking to you.
Timing Is Important: It may or may not be necessary for you to ask for more time when responding to an offer, but the timing of your response is key. If this is your first offer and you are waiting to see if other coaches give you offers you may have to ask the coach to give you more time to respond. But you can’t leave the coach hanging for months on end. Thus while you are waiting to make a decision, weigh all your options carefully and keep communicating with coaches.
Talk To Those You Trust: Deciding how to respond to an offer may be one of the biggest decisions you have had to make so far. Thus, it is important to lean on those you trust. Whether it be your coach, your peers, your family, or a mentor, talking through your options with someone can make your decision more clear.