Asking for experienced parents -We are sending first information packet - should this be by regular mail, registered, or FedEx letter. Does that look too eager?
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Regular mail works fine. My son sent out about 35 of them early in his Junior year and had a pretty nice response.
Agree with the regular mail recommendation...for two reasons:
(1) Chances are, all mail is going to be opened by an administrative assistant and placed in a stack of all incoming mail that day. The form of its arrival will be lost in many cases.
(2) Substance appeals to recruiters much more than the sizzle. The majority of them are constantly on the lookout for people (especially parents) trying to get them to notice a player who doesn't fit the profile of one who can contribute to their program.
A related recommendation: Your son's communications with recruiters should be as personalized as the form of communication allows. I put it this way because the later stages of the process probably warrant more personalization than the early ones.
Obviously, a first mailing wouldn't be expected to be as personal as a note to a coach once dialogue has been established. However, a first mailing can and should be written to the specific attention of the coach for whom it's intended. In other words, your son should use the coach's name, correct title, etc. in the letter's salutation...and for gosh sake, proof the spelling of his name carefully before it goes in the envelope or hit the "Send" button.
Best of luck to your son!
I have had the impression from coaches that they prefer email now, especially for the ability to send a link to a video.
Am I wrong? Do folks think the old fashioned US mail is still more effective for the initial communication?
Just asking, as I am totally done with this process thank goodness.
Email.
Far as I know, coaches use computer filing systems. They are not going to scan hard-copy letters to get them into their computers..
I am surprised to see that some people are really thinking about US Mail and FedEx. Eager to see more opinions and figure out if I am old-fashioned on this one
Whether they prefer it or not, the fact of the matter is that the large majority of what recruiters receive, initial or otherwise, comes via email. I took the OP's post literally and assumed that they'd already prepared a mailing; that they just wanted a reply concerning its conveyance.
A HC at a camp we attended said he gets 20 emails a day ... "do you think I really read them?" So my suggestion is to make yours stand out and to follow up on the phone.
I might suggest the idea of BOTH snail mail & email.
If the snail mail goes out first, maybe give it a week and follow up with an email.
The email might say most of the same stuff with a little intro to the effect of "Incase you didn't get my letter…."
I'd keep most any communication pretty short if possible.
BaseballmomandCEP makes a really good point about the ability to include a link to video. These days the chances of a link getting clicked is much higher then a dvd getting played.
Rich
Sending out letters sure, what we also do on our emails sent out to anyone is we put a link to beRecurited. I also have a 5x7 promo photo card of my son in action with baseball stats. I will sometime add that photo-promo card to an email.
So when someone opens the email there get to see the photo of the player and his info
along with a link to web site. berecurited..
Thank you for all the responses. We decided to express mail the information package, then follow up with an email version with the same info attached as a PDF with the video and web address links in the body of the email. We decided to go this route because of the personal email dialogue between the coach and our son. They specifically asked to watch him pitch this past weekend at PG WWBA in Jupiter and replied that they liked what they saw and will follow up soon with more info. Very excited!!
Players should be the ones handling the heavy lifting on this stuff. If they're insufficiently motivated to handle emails, questionnaire completion, etc., one is left to wonder who really wants it: the player or his parent.
Coaches are looking for players who care enough about their future in the sport that they'll step up to the non-baseball responsibilities as well as they do the ones associated with baseball. After all, the expectation when they get to college is that they're going to work hard at both baseball and academics. They want to see evidence of commitment in all phases in high school for that reason.
Son did all the work, I just took the package to post office and mailed for him. He has been responsible for all correspondence.