How to act to make the coaches choose you!
By following our tips below, you can increase the chances of turning interest into actual scholarship offers
How to Act to Make the Coaches Choose You!
In the college recruitment process with a college agency, the main responsibility clearly lies with the agency to find options for you. However, once the agency has found schools for you, the focus shifts.
At that point, it’s up to you to catch the coach’s interest enough to move forward to the next step. The next step being that the coach offers you a scholarship. A typical recruitment process goes like this:
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We, as an agency, search for options based on your preferences.
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Interested schools and Athleticademix get in contact.
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We verify that the school is reputable, and that the athlete is accepted to the school.
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The school contacts the athlete to get to know them and see if it’s a good fit.
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The school evaluates many other athletes.
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They then decide which athlete they will offer a scholarship to.
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You, as the athlete, decide whether or not to accept the offer.
In general, you’ll be in contact with several schools at the same time, just as schools are speaking with several other athletes. By following our tips below, you can increase the chances of turning interest into actual scholarship offers. Here are the tips on how to act to make the coaches choose you!
Tip 1 – Be Quick, Even if it’s Just a Short Email!
When a school emails you, they expect the athlete to respond quickly. I usually set a rule to never wait more than 24 hours to reply to an email. If you feel you don’t have time, you can always reply with:
”Coach Hals, Thank you for contacting me, I’m really excited to get the opportunity to talk to you further. The next coming days, however, I have a lot in school. So I will respond with a longer email as soon as I can. But I really appreciate your email. Talk soon!”
It took me 1 minute to write, and we all have that time 🙂 You just have to make the time.
Tip 2 – Show You’re Interested, Do Your Research!
When you reply to a coach’s email, show that you’ve read it! Write, ”I love your gym, it looks amazing!” if the coach included a picture or video of the gym. Show that you’ve taken the time and are genuinely happy to have received the email.
In a previous post, I explained how to show interest through social media. Follow the school’s Instagram, comment, like, and be active! Show that you exist.
When you sit down to talk with the coaches, make sure you’ve read up on the school beforehand. Reference what you’ve learned when speaking to the coach! They have many conversations with athletes who haven’t done their homework—stand out by showing you’ve taken the time to learn a little about the school!
Tip 3 – Be on Your Toes, Don’t Be Afraid to Follow Up!
As I’ve mentioned before, the world is your competition! Schools are talking to athletes around the globe, so they are juggling many athletes at once. Have you replied to an email but haven’t heard back in three days? Follow up! Coaches love when you send a follow-up email; it shows you’re interested and on top of things, as long as you do it politely! Here’s how you can write:
”Coach Hals, I hope all is well and that your week has been off to a good start. I realized that you have a lot to do, but I wanted to send a friendly reminder about my email a couple of days ago. I’m really eager and interested in learning more about the school, so I didn’t want my email to get lost in the pile of emails you probably have. Again, hope all is well and all the best!”
Pro tip for emails: Go to your ”sent” folder, click ”reply all,” and then write the follow-up email. This way, the coach can easily read your original message alongside your reminder. All for making it easier for the coach!
Tip 4 – If It Goes Quiet, Reach Out!
Some coaches are better at recruiting than others! This means that some coaches you speak with will constantly follow up to set up new conversations and discuss new things. Others are not as good at this! But just because a coach isn’t good at following up doesn’t mean they’re a bad coach.
If you’ve had a conversation with a school and haven’t heard from them in a while, don’t hesitate to reach out! Here’s an example of how you can write:
”Coach Hals, I hope all is well and congrats on your win this weekend! It’s been a while since I heard from you, and I just wanted to send a note saying that I’m still very interested in your program. Is there anything you need from me at this point in time? Just let me know what you need, and I’ll do my best to send it to you. Looking forward to hearing from you again!”
Even a short message like this shows you know what’s happening at the school and that you’re still very interested in the program.
We Guide and Coach You!
Throughout the process, Athleticademix will, of course, monitor all of these things for you. But it’s good to keep these things in mind.
If a coach is speaking with an athlete just as skilled as you, but that athlete is slow to respond and not as on the ball, there’s a high chance that the coach will choose you instead, as you’ve shown great interest and a mature attitude toward the coach.
When you work with Athleticademix, it’s important to understand that this is a team effort. We will guide, coach, and direct you in the right way. But it’s important that you, as the athlete, put in the work required! With hard work, big rewards often follow.
Thank you for reading! Stay safe!