The Recruiting Process and Some Tips
The Recruiting Process and Some Tips
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Tips for players and parents! There isn’t a coach out there who knows your game better than your high school/Legion coach. Use them as a resource and we will help you achieve your dream of playing at the next level.
- Keep an open mind - There may be a school that seems to be a perfect fit at the end of Junior year, but it doesn’t hurt to keep your options open. Be sure to explore all of your opportunities, and find the school that fits all of the goals you have for playing at the next level. Keep an open mind, and grow with the process.
- Enjoy the process - Appreciate the opportunity to play every game and showcase your abilities. Coaches notice those who seize every opportunity, and don’t take plays off.
- Find the school that fits you best - The choices you make will affect academic & social experiences with or without college sports. Your college baseball experience may change, coaches take new jobs, injuries end athletic careers, but choosing a college that fits you will help you get the most out of college both on and off the baseball field. Ultimately, you’ll walk away with a degree that will set you up for a successful next step in your journey.
Timeline
Timeline
Freshman:
Freshman:
Start your high school career by performing well in the classroom. Moving to high school is a big change in your academic career, and taking care of your grades should be a high priority.
Athletically start playing and keep at it. If you play multiple sports, enjoy them and continue to play. Specializing early doesn’t necessarily guarantee you the opportunity to play a college sport, and coaches love to see and recruit competitors and well-rounded athletes. It’s never considered a bad thing to be playing multiple sports. College baseball coaches continually tell us that they love to recruit well-rounded athletes - continue to be one.
Regardless of which team you play on (reserve, junior varsity, or varsity), look for opportunities to help your team and compete whenever you can. If you’re asked to play a different position than you usually do, seize it and make the most out of it. Prove that you are a dynamic and versatile player that takes the team-first mentality. You never know when that versatility will serve you well down the road.
Fill out questionnaires for the colleges that you are interested in attending. This gets your name into their system, lets them know that you are interested in their school. If you are especially interested in a school or coach, email or call them, letting them know of your interest. Understand that Division I coaches cannot email or all you back per NCAA rules, but they can answer your call, and it doesn’t hurt to express your early interest. TIP: College coaches cannot return your calls until July 1st after your Junior year – so if you don’t hear back, they’re not ignoring you, they just can’t contact you directly.)
Summer - Play!
Sophomore:
Sophomore:
This is a great opportunity to start looking at what types of schools are potential fits for you to continue your academic and baseball careers. In your initial scan, look at a wide variety of schools and keep an open mind as to what types of schools you are interested in, both academically and athletically. Above all else, work hard in both the classroom and challenge yourself with honors and AP classes, if they are the right fit.
As always, if you play and enjoy multiple sports, continue to do so. Although there may be people in your school verbally committing to a college. This isn’t for everyone but if that is you, congratulations. If this isn’t you, you are not being lost in the process, and aren’t late. The most important step is finding the right fit for you, not being the first person to commit. Many of you will be playing on travel teams - make sure you take care of your body. Know your body and realize that you don’t do anyone any favors by playing through an injury. Continue to fill out questionnaires for colleges so that you are on their radar.
The next step you can take to help get into the recruiting process is to create a video of you training. Post this video to YouTube and send a link to college coaches and programs that interest you. Write a short email introducing yourself and provide the link, and thank them for their time. Coaches watch these videos that come pouring in and many will watch the entire thing if done right. That being said, the video should not be longer than 3-4 minutes.
Things to include in your video:
- Say your name, age and school in front of the camera. Speak clearly, look the camera in the eye and show the viewer that you are comfortable and confident.
- Hitter: 15 swings in the cage (10 from open camera angle, 3 from behind hitter and two from behind the screen).
- Infielder: 12 ground balls – 4 at you, 3 backhand, 3 forehand and 2 slow rollers. Combination of throwing to 1B and “turning two.” For first basemen, combination of throwing to 2B, throwing home and one or two throws across the diamond to 3B.
- Outfielder: 5 fly balls (get behind the ball, throw to 2B and home) and 4 ground balls (2 at you, 1 forehand/spin, 1 backhand) with throws.
- Catcher: Have someone video you from the front while receiving 5 balls from a bullpen session. Make 5 throws to 2B (two with camera right behind catcher, 3 with camera zoomed in on catcher and behind 2B so viewer can time the throw). Block 3 balls in the dirt and make 2 throws to 2B and 1 to 3B. This should all be done on regulation bases.
- Pitchers: Capture 20 pitch bullpen. Throw 5 of each of your pitches, indicating before each one which pitch is coming. Camera should be behind pitcher, offset to arm side for 15. Five should come from behind catcher/backstop.
- Include your email, graduation year and name on-screen at the end of the video.
Summer – Continue to play with your travel ball team, and start thinking about finding showcases where you’ll have access to the schools in which you’re interested. This is an important summer to continue to improve as a player and also start gaining exposure to college coaches.
Junior:
Junior:
Junior year is often the toughest year of high school in terms of academics, and a time when a lot of things need to be taken care of at one time. Traditionally this is the time when students start taking more advanced classes, more standardized tests, pressure about the looming college process, and less sleep. You may be involved in leadership roles in other extracurricular activities, which take time. Dedicate your time to those leadership positions that you are most passionate about. It’s important to be fully engaged in few activities than have less significant roles and spread yourself too thin. It’s tough to achieve your best, if you’re trying to focus on 100 things, and the benefit of healthy habits can’t be overstated.
Junior year is also about the time you’ll probably start going on college visits, reach out to coaches to let them know that you’ll be on campus and see if they have a window to sit down to talk about the program. This is a chance to get a feel for the program, introduce yourself to the coach, and to demonstrate your strong interest in the program. The importance of making a good first impression cannot be understated. For a lot of people this will be one of the first chances you will get to talk to a prospective college coach, and making a good first impression is very important. Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center (the sooner in your junior year the better). All potential Division I and Division II athletes must register to determine academic eligibility and qualify to play at these levels. You’ll also need to send SAT/ACT scores to the NCAA Clearinghouse/Eligibility Center directly.
Summer - Keep playing! This summer is another important one to develop as a player and continue to gain exposure to college coaches. Your recruiting footprint includes playing, showcasing and also proactive outreach to coaches that are on your narrowing list of schools. Update your video (guidelines above) and send out.
Senior:
Senior:
Senior year is the time to work through to narrowing your school list for the final time, applying to colleges, and writing college essays. This is also when you will more than likely be taking official visits to schools that are fits on every level, from academics to athletics and campus culture. If you’re receiving athletic aid to play, you’ll be signing your National Letter of Intent in November. By winter your applications are in!
Enjoy your last high school season. It’s important to continue to challenge yourself in the classroom and develop your game on the field. Finish strong - always go hard through the grind.
Summer - This is the time to PLAY and enjoy doing it! This could be your last season of ball with your travel team. Relish the tournaments and overnights. Enjoy the hours at the field. Capitalize on every ground ball rep in the infield. Regardless of the outcome of each game or tournament, enjoy the teammates you’re with, value the opponents you play against. Remember to thank your family, coaches and everyone who helped you along the way.
Preparing a good Email to a College Coach
Preparing a good Email to a College Coach
Constructing a quality introductory email to a college coach is one of the most important steps in the recruiting process for any high school player looking to play at the next level. College coaches’ email inboxes get flooded with interest from recruits each day, so if you want your email to have any chance of being read, you have to do everything right. This starts with contacting coaches at the appropriate time in your development and recruitment.
The goal of an introductory email is to captivate the interest of the coach or coaching staff so they want to follow up and evaluate you as a potential fit for their program. As such, contacting coaches before you have the skill set they are looking for will not get you very far. It’s also important to keep in mind that there are restrictions on when coaches at certain levels can email recruits back. At the D1 level, coaches cannot email recruits before September 1st of their junior year, even if it’s in response to interest initiated by the high school player. That’s why including your coach’s contact information is very important. You can find communication restrictions for all levels of college baseball here.
A quality introductory email needs to come from you. Don’t rely on your high school coach, summer coach, or parents to make contact with schools for you. Set up your own recruiting email (first and last name with graduation year works great) and use it for all your recruiting communications. Reaching out to coaches yourself shows a level of maturity and commitment that coaches look for and value. In our most recent college coaches survey, we asked 24 coaches across every level of college baseball how they like to be contacted by a recruit for the first time and 23 of the 24 said a short email. Of those same 24 coaches, every single one said they want the recruit to be the main communicator throughout the recruiting process.
The key to having your introductory email read is to make it easy for the coaches to get the information they need to evaluate you as a potential fit for their program. Send the email to the school’s head coach and CC the assistant coaches. Tell them what they want to hear and don’t waste their time with unnecessary information. Don’t talk about players or teams you have defeated in the past or current college players who you believe you could outperform. The coaches don’t need information about your training and workout programs. Think of your introductory email as an initial inquiry about a job you really want. Keep the email simple. Show them why you are qualified for the team, give them the information to measure your qualifications, and explain in one or two sentences why that particular program is a fit for you. This personalization is key. Generic emails without coach or school names and mass emails sent to a bunch of coaches at once go straight to the junk bin. Failure to personalize your email is a sign of laziness and shows a lack of serious interest.
Most college coaches don’t care about seeing your stats in an introductory email, so save the time and space. You absolutely will want to include a link to a skills video, and here’s why you need one. Coaches prefer video links over attachments, and if your video requires a password to view, coaches won’t watch it. We discuss at length what to include in your pitching skills video or position player skill video, and you’ll want to make sure you put your most valuable skills first in the video. If you are known for your bat, put hitting first in your video. If you have a power arm, show it off first. You’ll have 10-15 seconds to capture a coach’s interest and get him to watch more from the time he starts watching it, so don’t waste any time. You’ll also want to include information about how and when coaches can see you. Understand that coaches have busy schedules during your high school season. Share information about any tournaments and showcases where you’ll be playing during the summer. This will give the coaches a better idea about how to get a look at you.
Finally, it’s okay to keep in contact with the coaches in order to keep your name in their minds. Email them every month or two, just to let them know how you’ve been doing. If a coach has been responsive, you may communicate with them more. All it takes is a quick note saying, “Hey coach, I’m throwing tomorrow at XYZ High School. I’ll let you know how it goes” or “Hey coach, I went 5-12 this week with 2 doubles, 3 RBIs, and a stolen base.” Keep these emails short, simple, and modest.
Below is a list of everything you should include in your introductory email and a sample email. Take your time, read your email over more than once, and get it done right:
What to Include in an Intro Email:
What to Include in an Intro Email:
- Name
- Graduation year and position
- Personal contact information (cell #, they’ll have your email once you contact them)
- High School and high school coach’s contact information (email and cell #)
- Legion/club team and coach’s contact information (email and cell #)
- Academic information (GPA and SAT/ACT score)
- Specific reason why you are interested in the school (no more than 1 or 2 sentences)
- Whether or not you have filled out the school’s questionnaire online (make sure you fill it out in advance)
- Future games schedule
- Any other details they should know (If you have previously attended the school’s camp or met the coaches)
Sample Introductory Email:
Sample Introductory Email:
To: Reed@email.edu, RecruitingCoordinator@email.edu, SecondAssistant@email.edu
Subject: Johnny Appleseed 2019 P/SS
Coach Reed,
My name is Johnny Appleseed. I am a junior at City High School. I am a pitcher and shortstop and am very interested in your program because it is a mid-sized D1 school and has the sports management major I am looking for. My coach at CHS is Paul Thompson. His email is paulthompson@email.com and his phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. I play for the City Bulldogs over the summer and my coach’s name is Steve Jones. His email is stevejones@email.com and his phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. Over the summer, I will be playing in the North Tournament July 22-30. I will also be coming to your camp on August 10. I have filled out your online questionnaire and included more information there, including my stats from last year and summer ball. My GPA is 3.02 and my SAT score was 1820. I have attached a copy of my academic transcript and my future games schedule. Here is the link to my short skills video . Thank you very much for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Johnny Appleseed
Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
More Scholarship Information
More Scholarship Information
Learn more about baseball scholarships and how much money you can typically expect to pay for tuition at schools you are interesting in at the following websites:
The website below is a great resource for recruiting help. It is a non-profit organization committed to helping educate people on playing baseball at the next level. It includes checklists, podcasts, videos and plenty of educational information for players and parents on the recruiting process. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter!
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