Should son contact coaches after letter?

At this time, IMO, contact by phone is only allowed by the recruit. Emailing would be at your descretion, but most are ususally not read by the coaches at this time.
I would make a list of all schools he received letters from and keep a list of how many come from each school on a regular basis and if he is interested. Letters are the standard first contact. As next summer approaches, letters may get more personal asking for summer schedule. If they are serious, you will know.
As summer approaches you can let them know your summer schedule.
See my post on recruiting letters.

In the spring he can email coaches with his schedule.

Again TPM is right on the money with her advise. I will add the E-mail process actually worked extremly well. At one point we were receiving several e-mails a day.

IMO, I would only responed right now to the true letter of intrest, not all the camp letters. When you return the questionaires they will know you have interest. Later down the road you will start receiving real interest, you will be able to tell the differance. Good Luck.

The few letters he's received don't mention camps and say they've seen him play and feel he would be a good fit for their programs. He doesn't really have significant interest in these programs right now, but then again, he doesn't know much about these schools yet.

quote:

by c-fan: I will add the E-mail process actually worked extremly well. At one point we were receiving several e-mails a day.

agree that TPM's comments are very good ..

C-fan says the email process worked very well - just wondering how you gage that?
did emails lead to an offer from #1 choice?

I would also suggest trying to attend the school's fall mini-camp and e-mail the coach ahead of time to let them know you are coming. That way the coach will be able to meet you face to face and speak with you. This is what we have been doing with our 09 son. Good Luck

Attending fall minicamps can get pretty expensive. If a school had sent you a "recruiting" letter, do the coaches every let you attend these camps for free or at reduced cost, or would that be a recruiting violation since that benefit isn't offerred to all camp attendees?

I'm new at this also but IMO if a school is recruiting you with a letter that says they have seen you play and they have an interest in you then yes I think it is in your best interest to try to attend some of these fall mini camps. You get to play on the school's field and you usually get a school tour and a feel for the campus. You can talk to some of the current players on the team that are helping out and ask them questions etc. Yes they can get expensive but we try to look at it as that it will payoff in the end.

NCMtnBBDAD,
You cannot attend these camps for a reduced fee, unless it is allowed to everyone.

Most likley everyone has received the same recruiting letter, NCAA allows no special favors.

The part of the process is sitting down and making a plan. Discuss which school your son is interested in attending. Close to home, out of state. Small school, big school. What does he want to pursue as his major, how are his grades. Have you been to a showcase where his skills (D1,2,3) have been evaluated (don't go by a coach saying he's the best he's seen), get an unbiased opinion. I do belive this is the first step, evaluation. Then it gives you ideas of where to concentrate, then you don't have to spend your money on every mini camp you feel your son should attend.

I essentially agree with the basic premise that it is up to your son to communicate with coaches. However, it is not always practical and our son's do not always get the substantive answers needed.

I could have gone broke sending my son to every school that wanted to see him at their recruit camp; it was not practical.

We defined the schools that he wanted to impress, then I (Dad) would call the baseball office of the school and usually talk either to the head coach or recruiting director and ask 2 question.

Have you seen my son and if so can you describe him?

And with his GPA and SAT's can he get into your school?

Knowing that a major portion of these camps is fund raising, I wanted to make sure that there was a good reason for my son to attend (do they know him and can he get in).

Beyond this basic communication, it was my son's responsibility to learn about the school, baseball program and make the impression needed to move forward.

For many players communicating every time you get a letter would be a full time job trying to get in touch with them.

09 recruiting season officially began 7 days ago.

Parents and players have to be patient and take it one step at a time.

quote:

by Ilbb: Have you seen my son and if so can you describe him?

many recruiting letters are mass mailings .. some "personal" letters are written by student volunteers
"we have seen your son play" COULD easily mean -

1) one of our sources has seen your son play

2) we recieved a questionaire from him

3) we got his name from a list



by putting the coach "on the spot" asking for a description of your son, coach might ..

1) really become interested in your son

2) cross you off his list

quote:

by putting the coach "on the spot" asking for a description of your son, coach might ..

1) really become interested in your son

2) cross you off his list

Agreed. Patience is a virtue. Fall practice for '09's is in 734 days. Quietly lure the little squirrel over for a peanut.

If they send you a letter which says "we consider you a prospect." It is only fair that you ask why.

My son sent out letters to 35+/- schools, they all sent back questionaires. He went to the major showcases in our area, again more questionaires and invitiations to their prospect camp.

After several efforts to "show interest," isn't it fair to ask have they seen my son? Of the several times that I did it, I got 3 solid answers which help validate the the interest of those schools. In the end, my son choose one of the schools that showed integretiy in their recruiting process.

Now that he is at the school, the integrety of the coaches (which was demonstrated with a truthful answer to a simple question) is far more important than we could begin to imagine.

The recruiting process is a two way street. If you don't know where you really stand you are likely to make a decision in the end that may not always work out. In the mean time asking questions can save you hundreds of dollars on camps and showcases that may not produce results.

Just my humble opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by ILVBB:
If they send you a letter which says "we consider you a prospect." It is only fair that you ask why.

LUVBB,
According to the NCAA anyone who participates in HS sports is considered a prospect.

TPM

Touche--

I went with the spirt of what was written, not the form (or in this case the law according to the NCAA).

LUVBB,
I got ya but I couldn't resist!

On son's only two official visits, when HC coaches said they liked my son, before the offer, Mr. TPM asked why. He knew the recruiting coaches liked him, had seen him play, but wanted to know what teh HC's had to say, both had never seen him play.

I do beleive there is a right time and place to ask questions. That's JMO.

The poster was looking for advice as to respond to the letters. Parents and players have to know, most likely most have not seen him play at this time. The purpose of the letter is to send info about their program and gather info about your son, because the NCAA says you can now do it (junior year). And the recruit and his family need to understand, the time has come to let those questionaires you return to do it's talking, by getting involved in showcases, tourneys, camps, where those sending letters can see your son play.

Integrity in the recruiting process was important for us as well as for son, but that comes later.

Some schools mail because it's advertising and marketing, the more you see their name in front of you, the more you will take notice of their program and become interested. If by chance, you become high on their list, you will have done your homework, as they might have done theirs. We knew nothing about Clemson, it was not one of teh programs my son ever considered early in HS. They obviously did a good job in making us aware of their program.

In other words, their advertising worked!

One more thing, you can get dozens of letters, multiple ones as well, phone calls, but the bottom line is the offer.

quote:

by ilvbb: If they send you a letter which says "we consider you a prospect." It is only fair that you ask why

a great reminder that as TPM noted, mis-understanding and or confusion can result if ya define terms in your own context or understanding. NCAA has provided alot of great reading material.


From NCAA:

"You become a “prospective student-athlete” (PROSPECT) when:

• You start ninth-grade classes" ...

* some jr high students can also be termed PSAs



any warm body can be termed a prospect

any warm body with $$ can attend a prospect camp

the coach's response would likely be more tactful but mean the same thing

TPM - Bee

My son got the usual questionaires and the like late in his jr year. However, after the summer prior to his senior year, after attending several high profile events and showcases, the letters and invitations accelerated and multiplied.

I could have spent a fortune having him traveling here and there for each "camp." By that time I was well aware that he had been seen by nearly 20-30 top notch programs the prior summer.

We (he in his time and effort and me $$$) had invested enough such that qualifying the camps became both practical and necessary. So in making the call and asking "have you seen my son?" it was matter of qualifying their interest (I remember one coach discribing him to a T and another telling us that he was on his short list at his position).

Therefore to go back to the beginning of this topic; at some time you need to access what is the "real" interest otherwise you can spend a fortune which may or may not get results.

My advice to the original poster is:

1.Respond to every request for information in a timely manner.

2. Listen to those that have experience and know your son and be realistic when committing to camps.

3. Due your own due diligence (get an idea what they are looking for) before committing to every invitation to attend a camp.

Good Luck

Very good advice by all! Thanks. I think we'll let a little more time go by just to see what develops. Still early in the game for him.