#recruitng

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The idea of getting recruited to play college sports can seem daunting. Many athletes and parents have questions about how to get on a college team and how to get coaches to know who you exist. While there are many ways to contact a coach, email is one of the most effective methods. It is non-invasive and gives coaches time to process your message and craft a necessary response. Here is our 5-step guide to maximizing your emails to college coaches. 

PREP

Before you start sending off email to coaches you want to contact, it is important to do some research. You want to find out about the coach and the team so you can send a more effective, personal email. It will help to show you care and that it is not just about you. 

Take some time to find out more about the coach and the team. Search on Google and Twitter.

What are the coaches achievements? The teams? How long have they been there? Know the details! 

Figure out what you can bring to the team and how you might provide value. 

How many players on the roster already play your position? Have they already signed someone in your position?

EMAIL ADDRESS

This may seem trivial and unimportant, but you don’t want to send an email with an address that is not professional. Avoid addresses that are unreadable and that have many special characters. The best thing to do is have your first name, last name, or both in your email address. 

SUBJECT

The subject line is the first thing a coach will see. Avoid making it too long, and keep out words or phrases, such as, “Recruit Me”, “Best Player”, “Scholarships”, etc. 

Keep the subject direct and to the point. 

OPENING LINE

Use your findings from your prep here. Say something about them - acknowledge a recent achievement, show appreciation, something about a recent game. 

Everyone enjoys something nice said about them.

BODY

Keep it short and to the point, 1-2 paragraphs maximum. If it’s too long a coach probably won’t read it all, which is why we have a character limit on Rosterfy. 

Tell them why you are interested in their school/program. 

Include a link to your highlights. Have a full game tape ready to send if they reply and want to see more. 

Let them know some intangible things you can bring to the team. 

Ask a quality question, such as, tips for improving a certain skill set, good camps to attend, etc. 

Attach your Rosterfy profile link so coaches can have a more in depth look at you. (This will make their job easier and save them time when they are trying to find social media accounts, and other relevant information about you, like your GPA)

Use proper punctuation and grammar and do not use slang! You wouldn’t believe how many people do not follow these basic things. It could automatically eliminate any chances you have. 

The most classic form of recruiting and the most overlooked is the age old recruiting of College athletes.  After the College Football season is over the most anticipated day until fall kick-off is National Signing Day (NSD).  

NSD is the first Wednesday in February and is when High School Football players sign binding letters of intent to attend a college or university. NSD isn’t reserved for the Notre Dame’s and Auburn’s of the world, but every school from the Football Championship Subdivision to Division III.

In preparation for this day, thousands of hours are put into evaluating and strategically determining the needs of the team, how the next class of players will fit into the preceding 3 years of recruits and their needs based on players transferring, injuries, grades or other factors that affect attrition.

Most teams will sign no more than 25 players in February, but that has to be balanced against loses from previous classes.  Football programs are limited to 85 scholarship athletes at a time.  Most programs have a coach designated as the Recruiting Coordinator.  Other than coaching responsibilities, this individual is very much like a Chief HR Officer.  They manage the position and class needs along with expected attrition.

Recruiting College Athletes is recruiting the “Hard Way”.  The hard way in that most athletes are recruited by visiting them and watching their High School performance in person. Going into the homes of the family and selling them on the prospects of playing for their team and getting an education at their school.  This is different than how mainstream recruiting occurs, possibly through an online web site or a recruiter who combs the internet looking for resumes.

You might think that College recruiting, and in particular College Football recruiting, doesn't compare with your ordinary mid-sized company but consider this data...

According to the Wall Street Journal College Football's Most Valuable teams by valuation are:

1. University of Texas $875M 2. University of Notre Dame $811.5M 3. University of Michigan $685.5M 4. The Ohio State University $674.8M 5. University of Florida $660.8M 6. University of Oklahoma $655.2M 7. University of Alabama $640.1M 8. University of Georgia $581.8M 9. Auburn University $537.6 10. Louisiana State University $529.8M

The success of these programs is completely dependent on their ability to attract and grow top talent. 

This is Human Capital Management (HCM) in its oldest and most basic form.  Businesses today are using analytics and metrics to determine their needs which are balanced against the business goals and financials.  College Football teams are doing the same thing but in a more manual way.  When a team has a “bye” week or week off, the coaches are likely traveling to their recruiting area of the country to watch games and meet with players with a goal of getting their commitment on NSD.  Recruiting also makes up a huge amount of time before and after spring practice.

There are some in the industry who believe knowledge of HCM systems like ADP Vantage, UltiPro or Workday constitute HCM domain expertise, this is incorrect and is considered Transactional HCM.  Human Capital Management is the process of developing talent, deploying talent and the ability to draw talent. Three things that any successful College Football program is doing today.  The HCM system is the mechanism to track and manage the process from recruitment to retirement.

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