Letters to coaches

Honorable mention is a level of all conference. So he’s all conference. All conference won’t mean that much to the coach unless he knows the level of competition in the league. What means far more than all conference are his metrics, grades and SAT scores. Metrics will tell the coach a lot more about college baseball potential than all conference.

It’s good to include grades and SAT scores. But can you compete at their level on the field comes before academics. No coach ever thought, “Wow! What a student! Can he play the game!”

@RJM posted:

No coach ever thought, “Wow! What a student! Can he play the game!”

We used the subject line to communicate baseball measurables, i.e., <Player Name>/School/Class/Pos/Exit/Pop time/Throwing velo (he's a catcher). Body of the email starts with expression of interest *specific to the school*. It's fine to include accolades later in the body, but they're unlikely to move coaches for the reasons previously stated.

TY!

We found a wide variation of email hit rate based on subject line.  The most successful was highlighting the top metrics and not cluttering it w/the rest.  ('20 OF 6'3" 190, 6.6, LHH).  We didn't put the name in the subject since it was clearly expressed in the email user name.

We created an email address just for recruiting ...

first.last.travelteamclassyear@gmail

Then we did what K9 suggests in the subject line. If a player has the prototypical size and an eye catching metric it’s likely to be effective.

Hey, RJM, where can I find that classy ear team?  Where are they based out of?

Many will say that a subject line that stands out is important.  Others disagree, but I can tell you it mattered for my 2021.  All his numbers were good, but he didn't have one particular number that we felt was worthy of jumping out of a subject line, so emails went out first with this subject line:

2021 MIF/OF [city high school] - [first last name]

Crickets were chirping.  That's it.  We started looking deeper into how his numbers compared to his peers (what was available on PBR) and realized every one (at the time) was in the top 10.  Now, we're in a smaller state, so top 10 numbers here can't mean what it would in say, Texas.  But my son switched subject lines to this: 

2021 MIF/OF with Top 10 [state] Measurables - [first last name]

Things changed quick. All of a sudden, he started getting responses from coaches and RCs.  It wasn't luck or coincidence.  I'm guessing here, but if I were a coach and a kid with supposed top 10 measurables emailed me expressing interest in my program, I'm opening that email and at least taking a quick glance.

Great info, ty

I agree. Lead with something that sets your kid apart. We did a few emails leading into the summer before junior year. Our subject line was his name, his height, L/R OF/P and we always started with the coach’s real name and one sentence about their season/program. In the body, we highlight something about his game and shared his summer schedule.

Good luck!

Subject line for my son was a simple: "Dalton Chandler 2018 RHP 6' 4" 230 lbs." There needs to be something in the subject line that will catch a coaches eye.