Posted by Jon Fugler on Sat, Mar 13, 2010 @ 11:10 PM
OK, March Madness is here, and we are going to see a ton of
schools in the spotlight on TV. This is an incredible recruiting opportunity for some schools that would normally not get this kind of exposure. If you're a student-athlete, you're going to hear about some schools you never knew existed.
They've been flying under your radar... until now.
So it is with you. You've been flying under the radar of hundreds of coaches. They don't know you exist. But that will change if you follow the instructions I'm about to give you.
In order to be noticed by college coaches, you need to be seen. You need to put yourself in front of them. It's just like those schools you've never heard of until this week-- now they'll be in front of you, and you will know who they are. They're getting exposure.
You need exposure, and that probably means you need to contact college coaches and get on their radar. Don't wait for them to find you. You need to find THEM. And coaches love it when you take the iniative like that.
So where do you start? The first thing you need to do is put together an Introductory Packet that tells coaches who you are what your achievements (academic and athletic) are.
The next step is to get that packet into the hands of college coaches at schools where you are interested in competing.
That's it. That's what it takes. Two important steps that will put you on many coaches' radar.
If you haven't signed up for our Free Stuff, be sure to do so. There's a whole lot more in there than what I can post in this blog.
Posted by Jon Fugler on Thu, Oct 01, 2009 @ 12:25 AM
- When should a player write a letter of introduction to a college coach? (9th grade, 10th grade, etc.)
- Do sending copies of high school / summer team statistics help? Are they of value to you, when included with an introductory letter?
- Are the "online" internet recruiting services taken seriously by college coaches? Would you recommend them to a high school player and his family?
These are a few of the questions asked to a college baseball coach on recruiting. It's always good to get a college coach's perspective, and that's exactly what you get with Davidson's baseball recruiting coordinator Damon Towe.
High School Baseball Web did the interview a couple years ago, but the information is still relevant today. I thought you'd benefit from it.
What have you been told by college coaches in your recruiting experiences? Weigh in and benefit other families with your comments.
Posted by Jon Fugler on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 @ 11:02 PM
Parents and student-athletes feel that sending a highlight video is a great way to get an athlete on the coach's radar. This is a fallacy.
Unfortunately, most of the videos (or video links) sent to coaches are never watched (or clicked)!
Put yourself in a coach's position. If you received a dozen videos every day, which ones would you watch? The ones you asked for, of course. You would toss most of the unsolicited videos.
We heard from a parent once who was stunned that when he went into a coach's office, he saw piles of unwatched DVDs. The coach told him he would never get to them.
While video is a key element in the recruiting process, it must be used wisely and effectively. Don't waste your highlight video. Our advice is to wait until the coach asks you for it. Or, ask him first for permission to send it. This way, you are likely to get it viewed.
Posted by Jon Fugler on Thu, Aug 20, 2009 @ 11:44 AM
The phone rings and it is one of those moments you've been hoping for. It's a college coach! Whether it's your first call or 50th, it still makes you nervous (no matter whether you're the student-athlete or the parent).
What do I say? Am I going to give him or her the wrong answers? Can I ask for a scholarship on the phone? What school is this (I didn't quite hear him at first)? Was that question stupid? What do I call the coach? Mr. Paterno? Coach Paterno? Joe? Sir?
Now, those thoughts are not too far off, right? You keep thinking, "I don't want to blow this call." And that's ok, but don't get too uptight about it. Here are some tips for what to do and say when the coach calls:
- Relax a little. Take a deep breath. This isn't a one-shot opportunity.
- Have your answers prepared in advance. In other words, think through the most likely questions the coach will ask you, and write down some bullet points for your answers.
- Have your questions prepared in advance. This isn't a one-way conversation. Find out as much as you can about the program, school, academics, etc.
- Be yourself.
- Don't be intimidated. That's not easy, especially in the early stages.
- Be direct with the tough issues. It's hard to talk about money and scholarships with the coach, but after several calls and sincere interest on their part, the financial element needs to be addressed.
These are just a few guidelines as you take the phone calls from college coaches. In most cases, you never know when they are going to when they are going to call or who it will be, so be prepared.
The Recruit-Me Kit has a complete section that deals with how to interview a coach, but what we've shared here is good for starters.
Posted by Jon Fugler on Wed, Aug 12, 2009 @ 08:54 PM
As promised, here is the new video on the recruiting timetable.
Posted by Jon Fugler on Tue, Jun 16, 2009 @ 03:02 PM
If your son or daughter wants to get on a college coach’s radar, and wants to be recruited by that school, what should you do?
The best method is something I personally learned early on with my twin boys and what I’ve been teaching families for years. And it's this: Create a well crafted introductory packet to send to college coaches.
This packet needs to introduce the athlete to the coach in a very personal way; one that gets their interest and makes them want to know more. It should give the personal and athletic details that a coach wants to see at first glance so he can make a quick screening decision.
You should never send an all inclusive, here’s everything, dump. You should be selective on what you say, but it should provide just the right information to get the coach's interest so he or she begins that back and forth recruiting "courtship."
It’s really important that you make a good first impression. Coaches get hundreds of prospects to filter through. They need to identify a few that they want to invest recruiting time in. If you turn them off with a bad first contact, you could move down their list or off it altogether, so you need not risk that. You need to do it right.
If you present yourself well with the first contact, then you move on to become one of their prospects.
For instance, there’s a kid from New York that we helped with his introductory package. As a consequence his dad was just so excited about the results that he emailed us and said that within five days, two coaches from Division 1 schools had already contacted his high school coach to check up on him. This family did a good introductory package. It was powerful.
Make yours powerful, too. The Recruit-Me System explains in detail how to put together your introductory package, how to get a coach's attention, how to receive letters and phone calls, and how to take the relationship all the way to a scholarship. For more information, and the full story of how I did that with my twin sons, go to the Recruit-Me website.