Showcases,Sophomore, & Coaches Email ?'s

[K1'S Dad]

I have a question and need some guidance, I have a sophomore and our team is just starting to attend showcases. She is trying to send emails out to the the colleges that are provided on the list of recruits per each showcase, She is looking into colleges that fit her major as the priority, secondary if it's a D1, D2, or the location. Does she send emails to only the head coach or send emails to the assitanct coaches as well? What if we cannot locate the head coaches email? Would she call to ask for the email? How does she forward them her schedule & info?

Thanks In Advance
K1'S Dad

[jonriv]

At many schools there is an assistant coach that handles the preliminary recruiting chores- so by all means contact them as well. Sending schedule, team & uniform number is key. My experience back when my Daughter was doing the showcase rounds- if you write, they will show(as long as they were planning on being at the showcase)

[K1'S Dad]

Thanks jonriv
"if you write" do you literally mean write to be more personal? or via email?
have you run into the case where the head coach's only contact is a phone number? what does she do? call the head coach? or just send coaches email to the assistants?

[BAM2]

K1'S DAD,
If you have a profile set up, It could be as easy as emailing her profile, with a list of games, showcases, and friendlies she will be playing at. Make sure you include time, location and the field she will be at. We have experienced both, contact with the head coach and the assistant as well. Most of your contact will be with the assistant coaches, but we always made sure that our dd had a dialog with the head coach as well.

[jonriv]

I meant e-mail

I know many have posted that writing(snail mail) can be very effective because of it's rarity. The key is to get your daughter noticed and to give her a chance to play in front of a coach.

best of luck and enjoy- it ends too quickly

BTW- many of the Dad's I know spent tehre time at the showcases playing "spot the coach" Never a bad idea for you to check the college websites and know what they look like

[CatWoman]

We did not have a recruiting website and did everything by email. I agree with everything all the other posters said and I would consider adding the following:

1. In the subject line, put her year, position, and something special about her, whether its her speed, her batting average, even her gpa if it is high, etc. You want to grab their attention.

2. Include a picture of her in action in the body of her email.

There is nothing wrong with calling, however, there is a good possibility that no one will pick up. If she calls she needs to have two scripts. One for if someone does answer and the other is for leaving a message. Remember, they cannot call you back and I believe may be restricted in what they can send you initially. You can ask to be added to their email list for camps and that way you can get an email for them and she gets her name in front of them.

Send the email to all of the coaches, you never know who will be there. Also, send it to your target list. Often times coaches are not listed as having attended or as coming, but they are there.

Good luck and have fun!

[xyzdude]

Agree with other posters and would add:

Use your own list to contact coaches before each showcase - not the one that the tournament posts. As a soph, our club recommends that she have 50 schools on her list and that she sends emails with game times, locations etc. each week to all of her contacts. As schools express interest in her (through the coach or college recruiter) she can add to her list. Cast a wide net!

Make the email one that the coach will read. Don't send the same boring letter that a thousand other girls will send (my name is Sally, I love softball, I have been playing for 8 years, my dream is to play softball in college). Give them a reason to come see you play!

You may have to dig to find the email address of some coaches, but it is always on the school's web site somewhere. Most have a coach contact on the team's web site. If not there check the staff directory on the first page of the athletics website. Don't trust lists that are published - they get out of date quickly! Also complete the recruit form that most of them have on the web site. If it is one of your top ten schools, register on the general school web site as an admissions prospect. I have heard that some of the schools track how often propspects go on their web site and use that in the admissions process (hard to believe but if it helps so be it).

Have fun.

[softballmomz77]

Use the Staff Directory for the emails

Also there is an app called "Softball University or Softball U" that I bought and its awesome.

Also make sure the email address is your daughters not yours.

Go to each softball website and fill out the recruit questionairre's.

Find any reason to email them-report card grades, stats of the weekend, anything and everything for them to keep seeing your daughters name come up on their emails.

We email the head coach and all the assistants.

Good Luck To You Guys!

[jonriv]

Use the Staff Directory for the emails

Also there is an app called "Softball University or Softball U" that I bought and its awesome.

Also make sure the email address is your daughters not yours.

Go to each softball website and fill out the recruit questionairre's.

Find any reason to email them-report card grades, stats of the weekend, anything and everything for them to keep seeing your daughters name come up on their emails.

We email the head coach and all the assistants

Yes, Yes, yes!!!

[AlwaysImprove]

A list of 50 is ok for a broad list. I would have the kid focus down to ~5 that are her primary targets. Put a ton more energy into those 5. Go to their camps. Make a point to write personalized emails to them, etc.

It is super super important that parents spend some time with their kid getting very realistic about which schools are considered. The problem is that many select coaches are actually bad at this part of recruiting. The problem for that coach is they feel if they are too realistic with you, you will leave their program. And who knows, you may be that 1 in a million sophomore that is going to actually go to AZ, OU.

In addition, it is actually to the College benefit that you remain talking to them long after they have made commitments to the other players. They use this tactic to keep good players from going to close rivals.

Almost every family I know started out at the top and worked their way through the schools, from top 10 last year to top 50, to top 100, to anybody good in the area, to oh crap. I tried many times to tell them to be realistic.

Look on robocoach for your schools, in question. Once they put 3 or 4 girls on for the year, if they are a major program, they are done with their money. Only keep that school on this list if you are willing to attend for no-money. Let's say you are willing to go for no-money. After they announce 3 or 4 recruits, you had better be hearing from them, or they are not interested in your kid.

So looking right now. If you are a 2016, you are in your sophomore year, the PAC-12 is largely done, SEC is filling fast. Notre Dame, OU, Baylor are all done. That does not mean no players will announce to these schools, just that they are winding up their efforts on 2016's.