What To Do After Filling Out A Recruiting Questionnaire
Congratulations! Filling out a recruiting questionnaire is one of the first steps in the active recruitment process. You have expressed a general interest in a specific program(s) and have taken the first step towards letting a coach really get to know you and your athletic potential.
After filling out a recruiting questionnaire, make sure to keep it up to date as you progress through high school and get in contact with coaches. Being extremely consistent in your communication with coaches along with exuding your interest in their program will make them more likely to actively recruit you. The recruiting process is all about making yourself appealing to coaches as there are thousands of other student-athletes out there who may be qualified to take your spot on a roster.
Below is some important information on what you should do following filling out a recruiting questionnaire.
Keep Updating The Recruiting Questionnaire
First and foremost, once you ‘finish’ a recruiting questionnaire, you are by no means done with it. Don’t forget about it because it’s extremely important to keep updating it throughout your high school career.
Grades: Grades are of utmost importance when discussing the recruitment process. Make sure to keep your GPA up to date for coaches to see. If you do poorly in a class and your GPA goes down, make sure to still include it. Working hard to bring it back up is something coaches will view as a strength. The more appealing your grades are, the more appealing you are as a student-athlete.
Athletic Achievement: Recruiting questionnaires may be filled out as early as freshman year of high school, so it’s important to keep them updated with your athletic achievements. Make sure to include all sorts of honors including all-conference or all-state recognition, team captain recognition, and other accomplishments such as state championships or playoff appearances.
Links to Recruitment Profile/Highlights: Be sure to update the links to other recruiting profiles or highlight films. Recruitment questionnaires do give a general idea of what you are like as an athlete, but providing an active visual aid for coaches may make you more likely to move towards the next level of evaluations.
Coaching Change: If there is a coaching change at a school you are interested in, the recruitment processes at that school have changed. A new coach may want to completely alter the way recruiting is conducted there, so make sure to continually update your recruiting questionnaire if a coaching change occurs.
Make sure to stay vigilant when it comes to updating your recruiting questionnaires. If you leave them untouched and outdated for a while, it may signify to coaches that you have limited interest in their program.
Preliminary and Secondary Evaluations
Following the completion of a recruiting questionnaire, athletes will be compiled into a database of potential recruits. From here you will be rated by a number of different characteristics and based upon these, coaches will evaluate who to continue pursuing in recruitment.
Emails From Coaches: At this point in the recruitment process, you should be very focused on your email, as to not miss any potential communication from a coach. After compiling prospective recruits into a database, coaches will begin to reach out via email to invite you to camps or other events taking place where you can put your talent on display.
Calls From Coaches: If you have received a call from a coach you have made it past preliminary evaluations. A phone call is an attempt for a coach to build a more personal relationship with you as well as signifying their interest in you as a recruit. On a phone call, coaches will try to gauge your interest in their program and might even invite you on an official or unofficial visit.
Reach Out: Coaches get hundreds or even thousands of recruitment questionnaires over the duration of a year, so it’s extremely important to get in contact with them to show both your dedication and interest in their program. Don’t just wait for coaches to come contacting you. Make sure to be on top of things and reach out to them if you haven’t heard from them recently.
Keep Your Questionnaire Professional: While this may seem fairly unimportant, your recruiting questionnaire is very similar to a resume. Just like an employer will glaze over your resume if there are formatting and spelling errors, so will a coach. Make sure your recruiting questionnaire is concise and easy to read.
Even if you don’t hear back from any coaches, the recruitment process isn’t over. Keep trying to get in contact with coaches. Don’t get discouraged, continue to pursue your dreams of being a collegiate athlete!
Helpful Tips For Your Recruiting Questionnaire:
Filling out a recruiting questionnaire is the first step in receiving interest from collegiate coaches. Make sure to fill out questionnaires for as many schools as possible. The more you fill out, the greater awareness there is of you as an athlete.
Fill Out By Hand: Many coaches like when prospective student-athletes fill out recruiting questionnaires by hand. This alone shows coaches that you have a general interest in them and their programs, as you were willing to take the time to personalize their recruiting questionnaires.
Fill Out As Many As Possible: It may be tempting to not fill out some recruiting questionnaires, but it’s truly important to try and fill out as many as possible. You may be seeking a scholarship at a school within a power five conference, but if they fill their scholarship roster spots with higher profile athletes, you’re in a bit of a pinch. Make sure to fill out recruiting questionnaires for some “lower” level schools so that if all the roster spots get taken at your favorites, you have a backup plan.
Too Many To Fill Out: This issue more-so applies to top-tier athletes. When you’re an extremely high-profile athlete, you may receive more recruiting questionnaires from coaches then you know what to do with. If this scenario resonates with you, create a more general profile sheet that answers a lot of the same questions a typical recruiting questionnaire asks. When coaches are recruiting athletes of an extremely high caliber, they understand that it may be near impossible to personally get back to each and every one.
When receiving recruiting questionnaires, make sure you keep these tips in mind. Remember, try not to get overwhelmed. Being involved in the recruiting process is an honor, try not to let it stress you out too much!
Things To Keep In Mind
Below are a few things to keep in mind after filling out recruiting questionnaires.
The Recruiting Process Isn’t Over: Unless you have just officially signed with a school, your recruitment process is not over. Filling out recruitment questionnaires is one of the first things you do in the entirety of the recruitment process to get both your name and some basic information about you out to collegiate level coaches. Once you have filled out your desired number of recruiting questionnaires, make sure to keep them updated throughout the process. Alongside this, make sure to continually try and get into contact with coaches, and build relationships throughout the process. There should never be a span of time during the recruitment process where you are doing nothing to actively sell yourself to coaches. Give coaches every reason possible to recruit you.
Keep Working: Just because you have finished a couple of recruiting questionnaires, you aren’t done. Remember, keeping your grades high and significantly progressing athletically throughout the course of high school is extremely important. Any drop of interest from a coach shouldn’t encourage you to stop working, but to work harder.
Be Consistent: In whatever communication you have with coaches, be consistent. Coaches are utilizing their valuable time trying to recruit you, so if you have no interest in their program, make it known early. Along with this, if you’re communicating with coaches, make sure to not go extensive periods without contacting them. Communication is one of the first ways a coach will gauge your interest in their program.