This section was created to help you through the process of contacting college coaches.  We will give you some guidelines and tips on emailing coaches and creating a player profile.  If you had a Player Profile created in our previous layout and would like to access that info: -CLICK HERE-.  Note: Some of this information is also available in the Resource Center under the 10-Step Plan and in the Additional Resources section.

IMPORTANT: KEEP TRACK OF YOUR COMMUNICATIONS

After you send your initial contact emails to the schools on your list, make sure you add a note to the “Communication & Task Tracker” notes section for each school.  Include the date the email was sent and a note on what you sent (Ex: 3/10/18: Sent Initial Contact letter and player profile).  Keep track of all communications you make with the coaches so you know what you have and have not done for each.  By including the date, you can keep track of how often and when you last were in touch.

To access the Communication & Task Tracker go to your “My Top Schools & Notes” section.  Click on the “Details” link for the school and that will bring you to the individualized notes page for that school.  Don’t forget to click on the “UPDATE” button to save your notes.

To further keep track of what you send to each school, create a folder on your computer named something like “My Colleges.”  Create separate folders within that folder for each school on your list and save a copy of any emails, letters, and player profiles you send to the specific schools.  You could also do something similar by creating folders in your email account.

EMAILING COLLEGE COACHES

Are you ready to reach out to college coaches and let them know you are interested?  The following are some guidelines on creating an email account, what to include on your email(s) and then how to create a player profile to attach or link to.

Before you do anything..

Before you contact college coaches, make sure to consider your image and how you are portrayed online.  Employers have been known to look at potential employees social media accounts, college admissions staff may look at potential students accounts, and college coaches may look at your accounts!  The general rule: assume that college coaches and admissions offices are going to look at your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. accounts and plan accordingly.

It would be a shame if a college coach at one of your top schools saw something on your page or account they don’t like that makes them question your character.  It could be a red flag and they could remove you from or bump you down on their recruiting list.  Don’t let one post or photo that you or your friends though was funny inhibit you from achieving your goals or going to the school of your dreams.  It’s not worth it.

Tips:

  • Make all of your social media accounts private.  Go to your privacy settings and select the most private option there is.  Don’t accept any request to be friends with someone or to allow them access to view your account, updates and personal photos unless they are a friend or someone you know.
  • Clean up your walls, feeds, photos, updates and remove everything that may portray you negatively to a college coach (whether it is your post/photo or someone else’s).  Make sure you have no inappropriate photos or anything that could be interpreted as illegal activity.  If in doubt, delete it.
  • Have one of your parents, or coaches or a trusted adult skim through your accounts and let you know if they see anything that might not portray you in the best light to a college coach or admissions counselor.
  • Think twice when you are posting updates, comments, and photos in the future and make sure you consider how it could portray you to your potential college coach!
Create an Email Account

Email is the primary means of communication during the college recruiting and admissions process.  You will need an email account to navigate through both.  Here are some things to keep in mind when creating and using your email account:

  • Make your email address something professional and mature.  A safe bet is the first initial of your first name, last name @gmail.com or hotmail.com (both offer free email services) or your firstname.lastname@ one of those.  Add your number or your class year at the end if just your name is already taken.  Avoid email addresses like funnybunny3, etc.
  • The athlete should have their own email account.  Don’t use your parents email.  While your parents may provide you with guidance throughout the process, you should be at the steering wheel.  College coaches don’t want emails from your parents- they want to hear from you.
  • Consider adding a custom signature to the bottom of your emails.  It looks professional and will provide coaches with information they may be looking for and/or remind them of who you are.  Here is an example:

First Name Last Name
Class of 20XX – Position
Cell Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX, Home Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Street Address, City, State, Zip
High School: High School Name, Club Name: Club Name
Highlight Video: include the url if you have one (optional)

  • Check your email regularly.  You should be checking your email at least once a day.  Make sure you respond promptly to all emails you receive.  This will show that you are responsible and interested.  Even if you do not have the answer or information they are looking for, respond and let them know you received their email and will get back to them as soon as you can.
  • Remember- college coaches have to follow the NCAA rules for communication and based on what grade you are in they may not be able to respond to your email.  That does not necessarily mean they are not interested in you.  A lot of players perceive a lack of response as a lack of interest and drop a school from their list.  Make sure you understand the rules so you don’t make the same mistake! (Read more about NCAA Rules and what communication is permitted and when for each Division)
The Initial Contact Email

We are going to refer to your first communication with a college coach letting them know you are interested in their school and program as the “initial contact.”  A lot of people have the misconception that a college coach will just notice them playing in a tournament or showcase.  College coaches often get hundreds of emails from players before big tournaments and they generally stick to watching those specific players who have already expressed an interest in attending their school because that is all they have time for.  You need to let them know you are interested!

The general objective of the initial contact is to let the coaches know you are interested in their school and field hockey program and tell them a little about yourself and why you are interested.  Keep in mind that college coaches are extremely busy and may receive hundreds of emails like yours.  For this reason, you want to make sure you are clear, concise, personal and include the information they will be looking for.  You will want to send them a letter of interest and athletic resume, or what we are going to refer to as a player profile.  The most common and efficient practice is sending the letter in the body of an email and attaching the player profile.  We recommend including the Head Coach and Assistant Coaches on this email because the recruiting coordinator may vary from school to school.

 

The following is a general outline with some tips for what type of information should be included in your letter of interest.

Subject Line:

Your Name – Class of 20XX Position (Ex: Jennifer Smith – Class of 2017 Midfielder)
This will immediately signify to the coach that this is a recruiting letter.  It will also let them know what year you are so they know whether they can respond to you or not (because of NCAA Rules).

Length of your Letter:

There is a fine line between making your letter personal and telling them enough about yourself and why you are interested in their school and telling them too much.  Be clear and to the point (~2-3 paragraphs, 4 tops!) and let your player profile speak more about your experience and accolades.  You are just introducing yourself, highlighting your greatest accomplishments and/or involvements, and explaining why you are interested in their school and field hockey program.

To include in your Letter:

  • Your name, class and where you are from (maybe the High School and/or club program or coach you play for if that is noteable)
  • Why you are interested in that particular school and field hockey program (try to be specific- if you have particular field hockey goals that match their goals, know what you want to major in and they have a program you are really interested in, etc.)
  • Why you think you are a good fit for that school and field hockey program (try to be specific here as well)
  • Your GPA, SAT and ACT scores (if available)
  • Your best 1 or 2 athletic and academic honors (you don’t need to list several- save those for your resume)
  • If you have visited campus, seen them play or know someone on the team- that may be a good way to make the letter more personal and show that you are genuinely interested
  • If you plan to visit campus soon, watch them play, attend a big showcase/event they may be recruiting at, attend a spring clinic or summer camp they are hosting, etc.
  • If you have a highlight video, you can include the url (you may instead choose to include it on your player profile or in the custom signature of your email like explained above).

Letter Tips:

  • #1– MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT SCHOOL & COACH’S NAME!  You would be shocked at how often coaches receive emails addressed to another coach!  Not a good first impression to make..
  • It may seem obvious, but do not include any slang.  Be professional.  Start your letter with a “Dear Coach X” and end it with a Sincerely.  Don’t use words like hey, lol, smiley faces, etc.  Coaches are interested in bringing in mature athletes that will represent their program and institution well.  Make sure you are portraying yourself as such.
  • Double check every single word of your letter!  It is a good rule to have someone else read through it as well to make sure you haven’t overlooked any typos or errors.
  • Keep the font, design, margins, spacing, and formatting all standard.  It may even be a good idea to initially send a copy of the email to yourself first so you can see what it will look like when the coach opens it.

CREATE A PLAYER PROFILE

You can either create a player profile on your own in Word (or a similar program) and attach it to your email as a PDF or create a player profile online using one of the various services out there like NCSA.  We provide some guidelines and tips for both.

Create Your Player Profile

The Player Profile is where you expand upon your experiences and accomplishments.

We no longer push our old Player Profile tool because the formatting was tricky and not always clean looking with our new site and the varying information players had and did not have.  However, we do recommend that you still take a look through the information we included on it and consider including much of the same information when you create your own Player Profile in a program like Microsoft Word.  We also recommend that you save your profile as a PDF file and attach it to your email.  To save a file as a PDF file: If you create your profile in Word, go to File, Save As, and select PDF from the Format drop down.

[ACCESS MAX FIELD HOCKEY’S PLAYER PROFILE TOOL]

When you send an initial contact email with your player profile, college coaches will most likely respond and send you a link to complete their digital prospect or recruiting questionnaire which will ask for much of the same information included on the player profile you just sent.  This ensures that your information gets loaded into their recruiting software and management tool.  So why have we created a uniform player profile for you to create and send when you are probably just going to have to complete another one online?  We still believe it is a valuable piece of the initial contact.  It gives coaches information about you, your experiences and your accomplishments so they can evaluate whether or not you are a good fit for their program.  It also gives you a central place to keep track of all of this information- like your test scores, coaches contact information, etc.

Create a Free Online Player Profile with NCSA

MAX Field Hockey’s recruiting consulting partner Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) allow you to create a free online player profile in their system.  You create an account with them, fill in your player profile information, and they provide you with a url that you can then include in your email for coaches to click on to view your profile online.  You can also sign up for additional paid recruiting consulting with them, but you do not have to.

[Build Your online Player Profile with NCSA]

FOLLOW-UP COMMUNICATION

After you make initial contact with each of the schools on your list, it is important to stay in communication with them to show your interest, to build a relationship with the coaches and to learn more about where you stand in their recruiting process.  Remember, depending on NCAA rules, the coaches may not be able to contact you directly, so some of the leg work may be on you in the beginning.  This contact can be done through email or phone calls.  Email is the primary method used for regular communication (notes about upcoming events, updates, etc.).  There is no limit to the number of times you can call or email them.  You want to keep in touch so they know you are interested, but you also want to make sure you are doing so appropriately and not overdoing it.

TRACK YOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Anytime you make contact with a coach, make sure you add a note about it in the “Task & Communication Tracker” section of the Notes for that school.  We recommend you include the date, who you talked to, was it phone/email, what you talked about, and anything you need to follow up on.

SOME REASONS TO CONTACT COLLEGE COACHES
  • If you will be attending a major upcoming tournament or showcase
  • If you have a bunch of upcoming tournaments/events- you can send them your schedule for the season
  • To check in on when/where they will be coaching and/or recruiting (tournaments, camps, etc.)
  • If you want to plan an unofficial visit
  • To establish a time for you to call them
  • When you receive any major awards or if your team wins a championship
  • If you have a new highlight tape or game tape available
  • When you get test scores back (SAT, ACT)
  • When you have applied to the school, completed financial aid paperwork, registered for the NCAA Clearinghouse, etc.
  • If their team wins a big game, championship, or a player or coach wins a big award
  • To wish them good luck at the beginning of their season, congratulate them at the end
  • To wish them a happy holiday
  • Thank you note after you visit campus
  • To talk about where you rank on their recruiting list and the possibility of scholarship money
  • When you have narrowed down your college list and they are one of your top schools
  • If you are looking for information on the school, academics, admissions that you aren’t able to find elsewhere
  • When you have decided to attend their school!
  • When you have decided to attend another school

Make you sure you are checking your email regularly (at least once a day) and responding promptly to any emails you receive from coaches.  The same goes for phone calls and any voicemail you receive.  Responding promptly will not only show your interest, it will let coaches know that you are mature and responsible, which is what they are looking for from potential players.

PREPARING FOR PHONE CALLS

If you are planning on talking to a college coach on the phone make sure that you are prepared ahead of time.  Research the school using their MAX Field Hockey U Profile, follow the school and field hockey program on social media, visit their official field hockey website and read through their latest news stories.  Have a good understanding of the team’s make-up and how they have performed recently.  Read through the profile of the coach you are going to talk to and learn more about their background and experience.  Make a list of potential talking points or questions you’d like to ask them.  Doing all of these things will show you are interested, mature and responsible, and it will also help the flow of the conversation!

While you certainly want to come across on a phone call as responsible and appropriate, make sure you are being honest and true to yourself.  Coaches want to get to know the real you because that is who they will have on their team for four years.  You want to see how your personalities mesh with one another, so try to open up and let them get to know you as you also get to know them.