Prospect camp follow-up

Right or wrong we just wrote one.  I think it went something like:

I really enjoyed your camp, your coaching staff seems great, as does your school.  The campus, from what I saw of it, looked beautiful and I am even more interested in your program than I was prior to the camp.  I hope to see you again soon, I really enjoyed getting to know your school and your staff better.

Like I said, right or wrong it's what he wrote.  I also stood over his shoulder and told him he could NOT describe the coaching staff as "CHILL", or the campus as "SWEET", and that all words used had to be used in accordance with the definition found in the dictionary.

Lord help us all with this generations grammatical choices.

Cherokeeplayer posted:

Right or wrong we just wrote one.  I think it went something like:

I really enjoyed your camp, your coaching staff seems great, as does your school.  The campus, from what I saw of it, looked beautiful and I am even more interested in your program than I was prior to the camp.  I hope to see you again soon, I really enjoyed getting to know your school and your staff better.

Like I said, right or wrong it's what he wrote.  I also stood over his shoulder and told him he could NOT describe the coaching staff as "CHILL", or the campus as "SWEET", and that all words used had to be used in accordance with the definition found in the dictionary.

Lord help us all with this generations grammatical choices.

Thanks!

Ya, son told he was going to go rake and I thought “ wow, he’s never once helped with the leaves without being asked” I was sadly mistaken, of course.

My 2018 tried to be a little specific about what he liked about the school. One school taught the kids a yoga warmup and he told that coach his parents recoded it and he was sharing with his head coach, or that he appreciated the tip on his arm slot or something.

I will say, I massaged the first couple of notes he sent, but finally stepped out of the way. I'm guessing he told more than one coach that their facilities were "lit" or something. It's authentic, it's clearly from a 17 year old, and guessing coaches are used to that.

I wish people understood one thing very clearly.  If they see you and they want you, they don't even care how much you like or dislike the campus or anything else.  They will seriously go after you if they want you.  If they don't see you as someone they need, there is nothing you can say or write that will change their mind.  Usually if they were interested you would have known it before leaving the camp.

That said, knowing it is all about their interest rather than your own, I would simply say I enjoyed the camp, do you have any suggestions for what I can do to get better and what type of college do you think I should be looking at.

Or something along those lines.  The sales pitch is always your talent first and the other things later. Words only mean something if they want you.

PGStaff posted:

I wish people understood one thing very clearly.  If they see you and they want you, they don't even care how much you like or dislike the campus or anything else.  They will seriously go after you if they want you.  If they don't see you as someone they need, there is nothing you can say or write that will change their mind.  Usually if they were interested you would have known it before leaving the camp.

That said, knowing it is all about their interest rather than your own, I would simply say I enjoyed the camp, do you have any suggestions for what I can do to get better and what type of college do you think I should be looking at.

Or something along those lines.  The sales pitch is always your talent first and the other things later. Words only mean something if they want you.

And this is why it's helpful to have PG Staff here.

Lol, the slang comments are great.  Lit, sweet, chill....lol.   Kinda like the new Motel 6 ad on the radio telling people that they will "stay woke"    I still have no idea what that means lol

PGStaff posted:

I wish people understood one thing very clearly.  If they see you and they want you, they don't even care how much you like or dislike the campus or anything else.  They will seriously go after you if they want you.  If they don't see you as someone they need, there is nothing you can say or write that will change their mind.  Usually if they were interested you would have known it before leaving the camp.

That said, knowing it is all about their interest rather than your own, I would simply say I enjoyed the camp, do you have any suggestions for what I can do to get better and what type of college do you think I should be looking at.

Or something along those lines.  The sales pitch is always your talent first and the other things later. Words only mean something if they want you.

Nice dose of reality......

PG Staff, are there any issues with asking " what is it I need to work on to be considered for your program?"

Cherokeeplayer posted:

Right or wrong we just wrote one.  I think it went something like:

I really enjoyed your camp, your coaching staff seems great, as does your school.  The campus, from what I saw of it, looked beautiful and I am even more interested in your program than I was prior to the camp.  I hope to see you again soon, I really enjoyed getting to know your school and your staff better.

I think that is a great note to write.  As many have said, finding the right college is about finding the right fit, which includes building relationships and trust.

Not every moment in life has to be about getting something from someone, neither does it have to be about what can you do for me right now.

Building a team, building a friendship, building a life, it is about relationships and communication.

Be yourself.  Be genuine.  And yes, without the OMG's and slang (for now, at least!)

Maybe the particular school doesn't end up being the right fit, but the grad assistant ends up coaching at another school which is a great fit.  Or maybe it is just about being respectful to someone and making a friend.  Is that so bad?

Echoing PG:  thank you notes and such are not gonna make a difference if a particular coach is not interested.  They won't "become" interested.

Echoing 3and2, I know a guy who knew a guy, etc. etc., who had his heart set on a particular school.  Went to a couple of camps, really hit it off with the RC.  Wrote a snail mail letter to the RC  thanking him and reiterating the dream school stuff and asked if he should go to a third camp.  The RC emailed him back and said all sorts of complimentary things about the kid as a person,  but cautioned him that they were only looking for a couple of position players, and that while the camp would be a good investment for instructional purposes,  he  felt the kid would be better served going to a different camp.  Then he offered to call anyone on behalf of the kid.  Kid got the message, was grateful for the help, asked where do you see me fitting in.  RC told him, made a couple calls on behalf of the kid, kid found a good fit as a direct result.

The takeaway for me was if a kid clicks with a coach, even if he may not end up playing for him, it can lead to good things.

I would have to agree with the dose of reality. In our experience, the only schools who show interest after camp were those that spoke with him at camp. However, I will say that staying in contact with a program that has gone cold (after initial interest), would still be prudent if a player is still interested in the program. Obviously, the continued contact would need to include good progress updates. We experienced this first hand.

coachld posted:

I would have to agree with the dose of reality. In our experience, the only schools who show interest after camp were those that spoke with him at camp. However, I will say that staying in contact with a program that has gone cold (after initial interest), would still be prudent if a player is still interested in the program. Obviously, the continued contact would need to include good progress updates. We experienced this first hand.

My son is doing this -- once you've spoken to him you get progress updates whether you like them or not! LOL

CoachLD, did it work? They went from cold to warm once he started touching 92??

smokeminside posted:

 

The takeaway for me was if a kid clicks with a coach, even if he may not end up playing for him, it can lead to good things.

This is so true. We took my son's friend, a 2018, to a camp with us and he really wowed the coach. The next day, friend comes along as we meet with HC (weird, I know, but suffice to say it was a unique relationship). HC told the friend flat out, I don't have any money for you, but you're good, If you would come here without money you would play. But if you don't want to do that, tell me. I will help you find a spot.

He then proceeded to give the boy a 10-minute speech on how he should approach his recruiting process, specific skills he needed to work on, etc. It has made a huge difference in this kid's view of himself and his skills, and it was a totally generous act on the part of the coach.