As summer starts to come to a close, I wanted to answer any questions that my previous articles had raised:

How do we (high school athletes) get in touch with college coaches?

Getting in touch with college coaches is easier than you think, especially using your beRecruited.com account! First, start by searching for colleges that best fit your wants and needs by using our find-a-school tool (located under the Colleges tab).  Once you have found a school that interests you, click the green plus sign next to it. By clicking this plus, you not only add this college to your Bookbag but the college coach of that program will be automatically notified that you are interested in their program.  Your Bookbag serves as a quick reference tool for you to keep a list of all the schools you are interested in.

As you are searching for programs you are interested in, the Bookbag tool allows you to create a quick recruiting reference tool. Once you are in the Bookbag tab looking at your list of schools, click on the name of a college to see the school’s profile. From here, click the Athletics tab where you will see the athletic information for the college as well as the name of the coach of your sport at the top of the page. Next to the coach’s name will be an option that says “Email the Coach.” Click this link to see the coach’s e-mail address. I would then create a word document that contains the coach’s name, school, and their e-mail address for every school that you are interested in attending. This document is your starting point in keeping track of your likes/dislikes with each program and other notes you don’t want to figure as your progress through your recruiting search.

E-mailing coaches is a quick, easy, and an effective way to stay in touch with college coaches. Make sure that your e-mails are direct and only contain information a college coach would be interested. Some examples include: your recent statistics, awards you have won, or academic success (latest ACT/SAT score).  If you would like to have help starting off your e-mailing process, I would recommend upgrading to our Deluxe account. The Deluxe account has a letter-of-interest generator that is very useful in starting off your first contact with a coach. Upgrading your account for a one-time fee of $39.99 can end up saving you money and time later down the road. To learn more about the other Deluxe account features visit www.berecruited.com/upgrade.

Just remember, if a coach does not e-mail you back, do not be discouraged. Keep on e-mailing coaches even if you do not hear back from them, it can’t hurt!

What would make a coach look/notice your beRecruited profile?

The number one thing you can do to get college coaches to notice your profile is to complete it thoroughly. Make sure you have all your recent statistics, grades, and test scores in your profile.  Take advantage of the Additional space at the bottom of each section, filling it out with things like all other awards, AP or honor courses taken, SAT II scores, camps attended, clubs you belonged to at school, other activities you enjoy, etc. By adding the other information you allow a coach to see other abilities you possess in extra-curricular activities and within the community.Uploading pictures and videos will also help coaches see you in action! This is a great tool because it allows colleges coaches to see you perform without actually being at your event. For athletes looking to go to school further away from home, this tool makes the distance away from a program that you are interested in irrelevant since coaches can evaluate your ability without being able to view you live.  Hope this advice helps, please e-mail me at fielding@berecruited.com with any other questions.