The Communication Pyramid

Arguably, the most important part of the recruiting process is the outreach to college coaches.  No matter how talented the student-athlete is in their sport, if the information doesn’t reach the right person, they’re not going to be recruited. 

Coach outreach is where the rubber really does meet the road. It is helpful to think of the different modes of communication used in athletic recruiting as a hierarchy; one that the student-athlete should be trying to climb in the course of their recruiting journey. Think of this hierarchy as a pyramid. From the bottom base (broad & less valuable) to the top tier (narrow and more valuable). These five levels are: Email, Social Media, Texting, Phone Calls, & In Person Visits. The goal for student-athletes should be to climb this pyramid over the course of their journey. Each level will bring them closer to the coaches making the decisions and ultimately their destination.

Level 1: Email: 

The base of the pyramid is email. This is the initial form of communication, where student-athletes put themselves on the map with coaches. Early in the process, it also allows them to cast a wider net.  

Creating a brief, but effective email introduction and following it up with a regular series of updates is the first basic step in this process.

Level 2: Social Media: 

Level 2 is social media. This can be almost as broad as the email campaign but can be a bit more time-intensive and personal because the athlete is putting their information out there for all the world to see. This is also a very sport-specific step because some people use social media heavily in the process and others don’t use it at all. Therefore, it’s important to get a feel for each sport’s specific recruiting culture.

Level 3: Text: 

The 3rd level is text messaging. Getting a coach’s cell phone number is an incredibly important step in terms of interest. It means they view that athlete as someone they are considering as a potential recruit. Coaches don’t give this number out haphazardly. 

Once given permission to text a specific coach, students should concentrate their communication to that medium.

Level 4: Phone or Zoom Call: 

The next step is an actual phone or Zoom call. Different teams and sports handle these calls differently, but coaches want the athlete on the phone to ask and answer any number of questions. Often, it is a very informal conversation where they are probing for information into the student-athlete’s personality, coachability, and dedication. The student should have done their research into both the coach and the school and have a number of questions ready to ask.

Level 5: In-Person Visits: 

These can be either official or unofficial visits, both of which have their own dynamics and values. Unofficial visits can range from the visiting campus on their own and dropping by the coach’s office, all the way to a series of preplanned meetings and a tour. Official visits are often the final step before an offer is made. It is an indication that the team and coach are VERY interested in recruiting that student-athlete. After all, they’re making the effort to bring them on campus and introducing them to the program.

When to start?

The most common question families ask at the beginning of this process is when to start communicating with coaches.  The answer varies and depends on factors like age, sport, location, and intended college and division.  The most common answer is to start when the athlete is ready to provide coaches with relevant information.

This usually occurs when the student begins to play on the varsity. In most sports, junior varsity stats are unimportant, so sending out emails with JV performance metrics is premature. There are relevant pieces that students can develop earlier, like video.  Recording and sending out videos of different aspects of an athlete’s performance can help to establish the student as a promising young player who would be good to keep track of as they progress.

How to Learn More?

This post is just a brief preview of a much more in-depth dive into coach communication that we go through in our new course, Advising the College-Bound Student-Athlete. The course is built exclusively for counselors interested in learning more about how to guide athletes through the recruiting process.

Here is a link to learn more: https://www.thestudentathleteadvisors.com/online-course

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