Another recruiting scenario

don't worry about it they probably knew about the change before you did

I think our son's HS coach got all of about 2 phone calls from college coaches.

I don't think I'd worry about it right now.

If I was your son I'd tell the coach that I'm interested in his college and would like to be considered. This just adds one more option for your son.

As far as notifying other schools, I wouldn't waste my time. It doesn't matter.

quote:

by bee: don't worry about it they probably knew about the change before you did

that's my story & I'm stickin to it!!


however - it's a GREAT opportunity for follow-up calls to the
college coach(s) of your choice



.

justbaseball - then what's all this I hear about the high school coach being the most important person (besides the player) in the process?
Baseball25 - way ahead of you. unfortunately the school doesn't even come close to my son's academic interests.
Bee> - you make a great point, hopefully I can get my painfully shy son to make these calls. He's not been looking forward to that part of the process. I think the thought of "cold calling" a college coach has him very intimidated. Perhaps someone who's run in to that problem can relate their story? I think once he gets a couple of calls under his belt they'll get easier.

quote:

the high school coach being the most important person (besides the player) in the process?

huh?? other than "very few" who attempt to help - it's YOU & the GUY in the mirror

have your son start with regular mails (preferred - as they cannot be deleted with the press of a key) or e-mails . . even if he composes them & you "doctor" and send 'em



.

DITTO on what BEE and Justbaseball have said!
Fungo

Bee> - As I said, he's already sent the letters out, albeit with some "dated" material in them. If you all don't think it's a big deal then I'm not going to worry about it. While I'm here. Do you think college coaches prefer the follow up phone call over emails? It's sometimes difficult to get a hold of a coach by phone. And depending on the division, most aren't allowed to return your call until after your sons' junior year. That's why we're leaning toward emails. Of course I guess there's no guarantee the coach reads his email either. Thanks for your help.

Poptime,
(I like that screen name...I used it on my son's college message board)
Email vs. phone call? PHONE CALL! I would venture to say that many emails are intercepted by an office person and may or may not make it to the coach. Plus, this whole recruiting event is a form of marketing and we all know how important emotions are in marketing. Email lacks emotion and personality and is so easy to ignore or delete. Email is convenient but I look at it as the easy way out of what many young men perceive as a difficult task. We want to make an impression and a voice does it better.
Fungo

PS. A different situation may arise later on in the recruiting cycle when the coach may request information via email.

It is never a choice of one or the other. Both are essential in the marketing process. E-mail is quick and don't get too verbal. Insert pivtures. Follow up with phone calls. All forms of communication get intercepted and the garbage pail is a short distance when the letters start to pile up.
Several coaches were almost impossible to reach by phone. Once I e-mailed them I would set up a time to call them. Worked very well, quick and efficient.
Some schools have blockers on e-mails with photos so you have to eliminate the photos if they can't turn the blockers off.
The point is that most coaches will talk to you are are very polite. One school I sent their Athletic Questionaire in twice on the web. I got no response. I phoned and left a message on his voice mail. " I have sent 2 AQs and I am surprised that I have not heard from you. My 6'4" LHP is good student with an 1130 SAT and a an Elite pitcher playing against top Elite american and Canadian teams,single A, college players etc" He called and appoligized and said he was extremely busy. He red the AQ and asked for his video. He e-mailed me immediately after receivind the video saying "we have to talk ASAP". This is the school he is now playing for.
I get the impression that a lot of people are too worried about upsetting the coach. They love the game and if you have the potential to win they will appreciate the effort you made. Use all the tools that are there for you.

I am responding to your concern about your son not wanting to call coaches. I do not think this is abnormal. In my humble opinion, most athletes are encouraged to stay out of the coach's office, and just play, so it is a complete reversal in the kid's mind to hear that he must call a coach, an unknown authority figure, to show an interest. Athletes are not salespeople, and should not be expected to be. A parent can contact a coach to get things going or to see what info a coach's wants. You can also try e-mail. Having said that, all a coach wants to hear from a prospective player is that I am interested in the school, and wanted to see if there was an opportunity for me on your team. I assure you, the coach will take over after that. Finally, I can understand why coaches would want to speak directly with the prospective player, but it is a teenager/minor trying to talk (negotiate?) with an adult. A parent has a right to monitor and participate in the process about dates, info, visits and the like. Obviously, stay out of any evaluation discussion. (i guess this is more than you wanted. sorry)

quote:

Originally posted by PopTime:
justbaseball - then what's all this I hear about the high school coach being the most important person (besides the player) in the process?

It just wasn't true in our case nor in other friends of ours.

True story...one of our son's coaches knew a D1 head coach pretty well. They ran into each other at a social event...son's coach told the D1 coach, "hey, I've got a real player for you!, etc..., etc..." The D1 coach basically blew him off...later told other mutual friends "can you believe this guy trying to pawn off his players on me?"

A week or two later the D1 coach saw our son pitch at a showcase for the first time...not connecting him to his coach, he apparently really liked what he saw and the mail, email, aggressive recruiting and ulitmately phone calls and scholarship offer came flooding in.

Point is, he didn't even really trust someone he knew for a while until he saw with his own eyes.

Fungo, Dominick, justbaseball, Bobblehead,

Tremendous, tremendous help! You all make such great points. How long after the intro letters are sent out should he follow up? I'm telling you he's dreading it, but he knows it's something that has to be done.

If you do it by E-mail it can be done same day. Put photo inserted in the e-mail (not Attached) If the coach isn't available leave a short message that you will call back. You can do the initial calls if he is timid about it. My guy is slightly shy and a guy of few words.

quote:

You can do the initial calls if he is timid about it. My guy is slightly shy and a guy of few words.

Really? Is everyone in agreement with this?

Pop Time - IMO sooner or later, your son will have to talk to the coach. I can tell you from our experience, if a college coach calls, he'll ask for your son, not you. So, why not have him get some of the experience up front while being proactive. Have him practice and role play. The first college coach we visited in person happened to be my son's #1 choice. He sat there like a knot on a log and he's known as being a very outgoing kid. Afterwards, I asked him "why didn't you talk more"? Remember though that the coaches are used to dealing with somewhat shy and awkward teenagers - they know how to keep the conversation going and make a kid comfortable.

lafmom,
Very good points, as usual. I think my son will be fine. He always seems to impress adults with his personality and maturity when they first meet him. Besides talent, I would guess that that's #2 when a coach is evaluating a kid. But I think my son may be looking at these initial conversations as life or death interactions where one wrong phrase, word, stutter, ect... will spell doom. But as you say, these coaches deal with hundreds of kids and if they didn't know how to make a kid comfortable during these talks/interviews then they wouldn't be where they are. I got an answer earlier from someone who said start making the calls right away. I'm thinking maybe wait a week or two to make sure the coaches have actually had a chance to open their mail. Would you start making calls if there was a chance the coach hasn't even seen the intro letter yet?

Pop - I would have him wait a week or so. If he calls the head coach - in all honesty the guy probably will not have seen it. If your son does the calling, he needs to understand that and not feel uncomfortable if the coach doesn't know anything about it or his name for that matter. He's showing initiative and interest and hopefully inspiring the coach to look for his info or request more. It's an introduction of sorts. My son's favorite coaches were one's that he would make the comment "I'm very comfortable with him", "I could see myself knocking on his door if I had a problem", and "I like talking to him". Talking with the coach can give a player important information.

I'll share something that I found kinda funny. I helped my son's former girlfriend with college recruiting this summer. She mailed out her info and then I had her do follow up emails with the coaches to see if they received everything. One of the coaches meant to forward the email to his assistant and asked "have you seen this kid's stuff - do you know anything about her". Instead he had hit reply. I had to sit for a minute or two and think how to handle this situation. Obviously he wasn't going to get a reply from the assistant as she never received it! I had the kid reply back in a humourous manner what had happened. Maybe out of embarassment, but he made sure he found her info and followed up with her!

Thanks again lafmom!