Promoting Yourself

Apply To Strong Academic Schools

As you might suspect, college coaches frequently ask admission officers to admit student-athletes who might otherwise not qualify academically or are “on the bubble.” Of course, this does not mean a student whose academic profile is significantly below the school’s minimums will be accepted simply at the coach’s request. However, if you are within a reasonable distance of a school’s SAT/ACT and grade requirements, and are an athlete the coach wants on his squad, the coach probably has a good shot at getting you if he pushes hard enough.

A good rule of thumb to use is that your athletic ability should be able to get you into one school above where you would be accepted on academics alone.

At some schools, admission requirements may not be as stringent for recruits as they are for non-athletes. An Ivy League school may require students to possess at least a 3.6 GPA, yet a sought-after athletic recruit may only need to have a 3.4 GPA.

Remember, coaches at strong academic schools seek good athletes just like their counterparts at the top D-I programs. Their sports programs have every bit as much tradition and history, sometimes even more than the big D-I schools. And when you graduate, you have an excellent chance of obtaining a great job or being admitted to a graduate school of your choice.

Also, you have a much better chance of competing in college athletics by being a big fish in a small pond if you include some smaller or low profile schools on your list. For example, if your Target List features the U. of Florida (a national D-I powerhouse) where thousands of athletes may apply, and the college of William and Mary (a lesser-known school with an excellent athletic program and academics) where hundreds of athletes may apply, where is it easier to stand out? It’s obvious—the statistics favor you at the smaller school.

The bottom line: use the athletic talents you have worked so hard to develop to give yourself a shot at getting accepted to one of the academic “reach” schools on your Target List. You owe it to yourself to pursue the best possible academic education available.

Don’t focus on a school primarily for its athletic reputation. Years later this will just be another word on your diploma. Would you rather ride the bench at a well-known school or play for four years at a smaller school?

Coaching Communication

This is a vital part of getting into the school you want to attend. If you are academically on the border of being accepted to your top school, you’ll want the head coach and his staff on your side. In many situations, they will have pull in the admissions office and willing to go out of their way to help out. You also want to begin learning about the coach’s particular philosophy and overall strategy as early as possible. This information will help you decide where you want to continue you athletic and academic career.

Initiating Contact

Before your sophomore season, compile a broad list of schools you would most like to attend. Visit each of these schools’ athletic websites to see if there is an online questionnaire that you can complete. Take your time to list all of your accomplishments. Be proud of your athletic career. There is no need to be modest, but never lie! Double check all the information you enter, especially your contact information. If you think your e-mail address may be inappropriate (partyanimal232@example.com, sexygirl37@example.com), create an acceptable one with a subtle indication of yourself (CHSlacrosse2@example.com or longjumper17@example.com). This can be done for free at hotmail.com, gmail.com, and yahoo.com.

Following Up

If you do not hear back from the coach right away, do not worry! He will likely enter you into a pool of potential recruits for the coming year. If you do not receive general information from the college via e-mail or snail mail within a month, you may want to write a brief, handwritten note to the coach politely asking if he received your questionnaire. This is also a good opportunity to inform him of any upcoming camps or showcases you will attend, and also include a copy of your team schedule.

Let Coaches Know You’re Interested

During your junior year, send a letter of interest to each head coach on your Target List. The purpose of the letter of interest is to let the coach know that you would like to attend his school for academic reasons and to
compete for his team.

It is extremely important to personalize your letter of interest. You will get even more mileage out of a handwritten letter. Make sure you spell the coach’s name and address correctly, and include something specific about his team (i.e., team’s record, top rivals, great facilities) so he knows your interest is based on knowing something about his program.

One cardinal rule: whether your letter is handwritten or printed from a computer, do not send a coach a photocopied letter. How would you feel receiving a letter that pretends to be written to just you, when it’s obvious that same letter has also been sent to many others? You feel like the sender has no idea who you are and doesn’t really care, right? You want a coach to understand that you have genuine and specific interest in his school and that you have devoted a lot of time to researching his program. So make each letter of interest an original, from start to finish!

Begin the letter by explaining your interest in the school’s academic program. Mention the major you will pursue or ones that interest you. Perhaps the school boasts some prominent professors whose classes you’d like to attend, or famous graduates who had similar interests to yours.
Discuss your educational and career goals, leadership ability, and your personal values. These characteristics demonstrate to the coach that you are well-rounded and that you plan on staying in school all four years. Avoid the temptation to discuss only athletics in your letter. Athletes who treat academics just as seriously as sports really impress coaches.

Don’t forget to emphasize your athletic accomplishments and why you can contribute to the team.

• Let the coach know that you have a video available if he would like to see you in action.
• Do not send your video unless a coach specifically asks for it.
• Request literature about the college, a media guide, any camps they may offer and a schedule.
• Mention you’d like to attend a home game.

Along with your letter of interest, you should also provide your personal statistics, which is discussed below, and a copy of your high school schedule in case the coach decides to send a recruiter to one of your games. Limit your letter of interest to one page (not including the schedule or profile).

Sample Letter of Interest to Coach

Write Your Athlete Profile

In addition to your upcoming schedule, you should also include a Athlete Profile of yourself with each letter of interest you send. This one-page résumé should contain personal information, such as your interests, jobs you have held, volunteer or community work you have done, as well as highlights of your academic and athletic accomplishments.

Sample Letter of Interest

Sample Thank You Note After A Campus Visit

Sample Letter Providing New Information

Telephone & E-Mail Contact

After you mail your letter of interest and Athlete Profile to coaches on your Target List, it is important for you to maintain periodic telephone and/or e-mail contact with the school’s coach. This will let him know that your interest is strong and sincere. It will also give you an opportunity to evaluate where you stand on the recruiting depth chart.

Make sure you have a purpose to each contact with a coach or school. For example, you can inform the coach of an event you are attending, ask questions about the program, request information about the school that cannot be found from published sources, or find out if the coach would like to see your highlight video.

Remember, it is illegal for NCAA coaches to call you or to return your phone calls until July 1 before your senior year; however, they can e-mail you anytime. You are permitted to phone and e-mail the coach as many times as you like. Just use common sense. The last thing you want to do is annoy a coach by calling or e-mailing too often. One last bit of advice… you should place the phone calls, not your parents. This will demonstrate that you are a mature and responsible young adult who can speak on his own behalf.

Publish a Web Site

Once you are a high school junior, you should publish a personal web page at a free site like TAKKLE.com to give college coaches an easy and informative way to learn about you, follow your results, view bio info,
references, grades, SAT scores, personal statistics, workouts or even your training log.

Go to the web page of each school on your Target List to find the e-mail addresses of the head coach and assistant coaches (some schools have as many as four different coaches and an administrative assistant who handles recruiting). Then e-mail each coach with a link to your web site and invite the coach to visit it periodically. Make sure to update your site frequently to encourage repeat traffic.

If you decide to design your own website, here are some things to consider:

Ideas For Your Personal Web Page

• Keep the design and layout simple and easy-to-use. Don’t make the coach work too hard to find
  information.
• Limit it to one page. Coaches are pressed for time, and too much navigating will discourage them from visiting.
• Include both academic and athletic information.
• Update the site regularly to keep it current—at least once a week during your season.
• Include multiple pictures of yourself in action.
• If you have the ability to include a short video clip, do it.
• Don’t worry too much about fancy graphics. The coach is visiting for information, not entertainment.
• Make sure your results, personal statistics, height and weight, and any other information you provide is accurate.
• Avoid spelling or grammatical errors.
• Don’t forget to email coaches to let them know the page is online.

Facebook, MySpace, and Other Social Web Networks

With the growing popularity use of social networking sites, be very careful what information and pictures you post for the general public. Make sure you always have an appropriate “default picture”. This may be a coach’s first impression of you after scouting you at a showcase, reading about you in the newspaper, or just hearing your name through the coaching grapevine. Make sure you use the privacy settings on your account to restrict sensitive information. If a coach requests access, carefully review all areas that may reflect you in a negative manner. Ask yourself, is this something my grandparents would find acceptable? A good way to check-up on what is out there about you is to google yourself, and be enter all of your name variations (Bill Smith, Billy Smith, Bill A. Smith, William Smith, William A. Smith). You may also want to expand this search to your email address. By the same token, google prospective coaches on your target list. You may learn some interesting stuff.

Press Clippings & Awards

Encourage your high school and summer league or club coaches to submit game results and photos to all media in your area. If they don’t have the time to do this, ask if you could be in charge of publicity. When you are mentioned online or in a newspaper, cut out the article and paste it on a sheet of paper. Make enough photocopies for all the schools on your Target List and then go through each article with a yellow marker to highlight wherever your name appears. This will allow the coach to learn about your accomplishments quickly and easily. Send the article to the coaches at each Target List school with a handwritten cover note like:

“Dear Coach (insert name), I thought you might be interested in seeing this story. I look forward to speaking with you soon.”

Questionnaires

Once a coach knows you’re interested in his program, three important things will happen:

1. Your name will be entered in the team’s recruiting database.
2. You will receive a questionnaire to complete.
3. You will receive the materials about the school.

The literature you receive will help you learn more about the school and its program and decide whether to keep the school on your Target List.

When your questionnaire arrives, complete it honestly. Avoid the temptation to exaggerate your academic or athletic accomplishments. If a coach discovers inconsistencies, he will remove you from his recruiting list. Also, let the coach know you are serious about his school by returning the questionnaire as soon as possible. Do not put it off!

Avoid the temptation to let your parents complete your questionnaires. If a coach notices an adult’s handwriting or language on your form, he will assume you lack maturity and responsibility, and that your parents want the opportunity more than you do.

Avoid Rushing To Judgment

Do not reject a school too early in the process. Wait until you have thoroughly researched all of your options before telling a coach your interest level. It’s difficult to predict how the recruiting process will evolve, and an offer you turned down in August may be your best or only option in April. If a coach makes the effort to contact you, respond promptly. Don’t burn any bridges.

Emphasize Your Unique Selling Point

Although they hate to admit it, many selective colleges target certain groups of applicants for admission. They might want to increase the diversity of the student body, expand the physics department, or recruit a few potential future donors. To have the freshmen community they want, colleges need musicians and athletes, leaders in publications and student government, a certain percentage of alumni children, minorities, and international students.

Students in the targeted groups may have an easier time getting through the admissions process, and there is often special scholarship money available for people from certain backgrounds or who are interested in specific programs. So emphasize what is unique about you.

Prove How Badly You Want To Attend the School

Every time you visit a campus, meet an alumnus, or e-mail a professor, let the admissions office know. By rejecting students who have failed to show genuine interest, colleges can boost the percentage of accepted applicants who enroll. A high percentage of accepted applicants who enroll make schools appear more attractive, and it saves the cost of recruiting students and of “wooing” desirable students with generous merit aid.

A Strong Essay Can Make the Difference

Admissions deans often push hard for the writers of their favorite compositions. On the other hand, they also note the papers that are riddled with typos or grammatical errors. Generally speaking, typos reflect sloppiness. Even if you do have a tendency to be light on the spell check, there is no excuse for these kinds of errors. They can be eliminated entirely by careful and repetitive proofreading. Eliminate the mistakes and show you care about how you are perceived. Choose a topic you feel passionate about. Be creative!

On-Campus and Alumni Interviews Matter

Interviews are the only personal interaction in an otherwise paper-driven process. Admissions committees frequently consider whether or not you bothered to set this up, and what the interviewer thought of you. Aggressively seek out any official or unofficial representatives of your Target List schools. You never know which contact you make will be the one who will move your application from the “Rejected” to “Maybe” to “Accepted” category.

Take Advantage of Family Ties

If you have siblings, parents, uncles, aunts, or grandparents who attended a school on your Target List, give that school careful consideration because you have an edge there. Schools generally look favorably on relatives of students and/or alumni for obvious reasons — financial support, spirit, tradition, etc. — and this may give you a leg up over non-affiliated student-athletes who apply. Also, make sure to inform coaches if your father, mother or any of your siblings have competed at the college level.

Get Recommendations

Since most college coaches on your Target List are not going to see you compete in person, they will have to rely on recommendations from people they trust. It is extremely important to develop a network of credible and influential people who will provide recommendations. We suggest you ask the following people whom you know to write and/or call the college coaches on your Target List:

• High school coach
• Opposing high school coaches
• Any college coach or elite athlete in your sport
• Academy directors
• Influential alumni
• Camp directors/organizers
• Former teammates who competed in college

This is no time to be shy! Many adults are happy, if not flattered, to be asked to advocate for a young person who has taken the time to respectfully request their assistance. So ask. As we are sure you have heard many times before, the worst thing they can say is no. When you ask people to write or call a college coach on your behalf, make sure they support you and feel you are college athletic material. Choose them carefully. Even one negative comment can be the “kiss of death.”