Recommendation Letters

tell the truth - thats the only advice i have. if you dont tell the truth - good or bad - it will hurt your cedibility when you have other kids you need to help in the recruiting process.
steve
http://www.leaguelineup.com/raiderbaseball

whiteylac-
The letter should be basically the same as a regular recommendation letter...but gear it to more than just the basics that you mentioned. I usually talk about things like coachability, work ethic, athleticism, character, etc. Every college coach sees the same stuff from coaches...what sets kids apart is more what they ARE than what they've DONE.
We send a 2-page prospect sheet to college coaches for my guys - if you are interested, I'll send you a copy. I created it with help from a couple of college coaches that I either played for or have worked with. Coach Knight

We have 3 letter options. The first is this is a great kid he will bring a lot to your school and oh, yes he does play baseball. The second one is somewhat more assertive. The last one, well as simple as it can be state, you're an idiot if you don't recurit this kid.

We make sure that we have a url mentioned so that the college can check out the stats. We have several contact numbers listed. We make sure we include class rank and tests scores if known. When known, we list the player's interest. For instance, one of my players this year wants to be a dentist. We note that.

I think that placing this info on school stationary is very important if you are a coach. If I am sending a player recommendation to a coach that I have not met, I also send my Coach's resume so that the college coach can assess whether I really know anything. (I know, that resume doesn't prove I do know anything but I put it in there anyway.)

The last thing we include is an attachment which is a corrupted form we got from HSBBWEB. We looked at an article on this site and took the best info from one of those forms then deleted and added things to make the form fit our needs.

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it. After speaking with the kid's parents I finally got the sense of the amount of responsibility that we, as HS coaches, have towards possibly impacting a boy's future and life. And here I thought I was just helping them to play a better caliber of baseball. Go figure.

Thanks.

Coach Knight you have a PM.

Oh, one more question if I may... How do you handle the case where a player, that you really can't give any favorable recommendation to, asks you for one? I have requested that the parents give me the name/address of the college coach requesting the letter and then I send it directly to them. However, I have one player, that spells team with an "I", is fairly uncoachable, and a hot head to boot. Politics have kept him on the team (please don't even go there) but now he's asking me for a rec!?#$^

whiteylac...

Why would you continue coaching a program where the kids that are kept on the team were there because of politics? Why would any coach want a coaching job under those circumstances?

I just don't get it!

Well I did ask that "you don't go there" but I feel that if I can help all the other kids then it's worth the frustration over the one that'll be gone after this year.

Hey, you really got to love the game (and the kids) to put in the hours that we do. It for sure isn't reflected in your pocket but when even one of the players comes back a few years later and shakes your hand and tells you "thanks coach" it inspires you. Well, it does in the movies anyway.

whiteylac-
I'd tell the kid and the parents that I would contact the coach and tell him that you were interested....and I'd leave it at that. I would then email the coach to fulfill the promise...but give the coach a heads up as to the type of player the kid is. If he wants to take it further, that's up to the college coach....but being dishonest in any way will hurt your credibility and udoubtedly hurt the chances of future players who TRULY deserve your recommendation.

i agree with coach knight 100%. if you dont tell the truth you've hurt all your kids. word spreads.