That first letter to the school

Question 1... I can't imagine a situation where a letter from a parent would ever be better received than from the player.

Question 2.. Ive been told many times that hand written letters are very acceptable and at times preferable....certainly hand written notes from Coaches back to recruits are much valued...

My only concern would be that if your sons handwriting and spelling are marginal, you might want to double think that.....

piaa

As one who is involved in the recruiting situation on an everyday basis and has been for many years the letter from the player is what is needed to kick it off-- as for hand written why not ?--the kid is who he is--that is what the coaches want to know about--the kid--the player-- Mom or Dad arent going to play for him and attend the school if it happens

No, I would not recommend that a recruiting letter come from a parent.

IMO, a typed letter is fine, so if you want to help get him started by ghost writing a letter or two, I think its OK as long as you keep son very involved in "his" recruiting process and he reviews, approves and signs all letters. It would be pretty embarrassing if he got a follow-up call from a coach and had no knowledge of the letter sent or its contents.

Keep the intro letter short and personal. Focus on letting them know of your son's interest, position, and where (tournaments/showcases etc.) they can see him play this summer. Attach a standard profile (samples under recruiting link) with his contact information, coaches reference info, & baseball stats.

Reminder: Include your son's e-mail address with the contact information. We found that many coaches today like having the ability to jot a line or two to a prospect vs. a call or using US mail. ALSO, this maybe the time for your son to get a new e-mail address. I've seen many kids who have inappropriate sayings or abbreviations in their e-mail name. It may not be the impression you want to give a prospective coach!

RHP

Interesting that you bring up the email addy's---that is a key point in our recruiting seminars-- first impressions mean a lot and "cute" addy's dont always cut it

You need to see some that we get and I can assure you that the coaches immediately notice the "cute" ones

Im a big fan of hand written letters.....my point about hand written letters and e-mails from youth is that what is acceptable today from kid to kid may not leave the impression you desire on a college coach...

A bit if discretion here might save you.. I am not suggesting editing thoughts or statements so a coach cant get an idea ot what an athlete is made of.....just avoiding some negative attention...

NE way....was ^...RU there?.CU L8r......

By the way I recived that response to an e-mail I sent out regarding a summer internship......

I've mentioned this elsewhere but my daughter is being recruited for golf. I made the mistake of e-mailing the coaches (on her behalf) some information of her's they had requested. When she met one of the coaches he made a point to tell her (and me) that he'd prefer to here from HER, not me, as he is recruiting HER. I'm sure this applies to anyone being recruited. Since then, she has kept the correspondence up on her own.

Luckliy, I get to experience the recruiting process now so that when my 12u son gets to that point, I'll have a better understanding of what to expect.