“In the best conversations, you don’t even remember what you talked about, only how it felt. It felt like we were in some place your body can’t visit, some place with no ceiling and no walls and no floor and no instruments” ― John Green, Turtles All the Way Down
I just finished a recruiting session with one of my high school athletes, and after we hung-up (do you hang-up on Zoom?), I had to sit down and immediately share what she learned this weekend. She’s a busy kid…great student, top of her class, part-time job, Captain of her team, plays high school and club year round, busy family, etc. She has done a great job of emailing coaches on her attack list, but she has been struggling to find the confidence (and time…the forever excuse!) to call coaches consistently that she has emailed.
This is a constant struggle with all of my teenage prospects. It is easy to send an email or a text. You have time to think about your words, create multiple drafts, polish and edit and create a message that feels good to the heart and the mind. But a phone call? That is immediate. That is in the moment. That is scary! What if they answer? What if they ask a question that I don’t know the answer to? What if I say the wrong thing? By the time they think about all the things that could go wrong, they lose their gumption and never even dial the number.
So, why is the phone call from recruit to college coach so important? Here are some things that this young superstar learned this weekend when she finally made the calls she needed to make:
- Multiple coaches told her that they never received her email. Some of her emails went into spam and the coaches never knew she was even interested in their school.
- Some of the coaches had just recently received a commitment from another recruit at her same position. Those coaches may have offered her instead if they only knew she existed.
- Some of those coaches were so impressed with her character and maturity on the phone that they immediately went looking for the email she sent weeks ago, asked to set-up a visit with her and her family just because they got an opportunity to hear how darn wonderful she is. They would have no idea of that through an email or a text.
- She now has a better feel for the character of these coaches. She knows who treated her well and who was excited to talk to her. She got to ask questions about their program and their thoughts about her as a player! She was able to evaluate the coaches just as much as they were able to evaluate her!
- Of the 9 calls she made, she now has 4 of those coaches actively recruiting her, 2 that she knows are no longer recruiting her position, and 3 who haven’t taken the time to respond. By making 15 minutes of calls, she has now doubled her active possibilities to play the sport she loves in college, and she has created an immense amount of leverage for her future! That’s Significance! That is Significant Recruiting!
College coaches are human beings. They are full of flaws…just like you and me. They get busy. They read emails and forget to reply. They see emails come through and then forget to go back and read them. They get busy and sometimes go days and weeks without responding to any emails that aren’t of utmost importance. They are coaches who often have families and kids of their own, and time is limited to spend on things that can get done tomorrow and not today.
So, when you decide that you want to get recruited, it is important that you follow a process that will lead to results. Part of that process is introducing yourself to coaches at schools you would like to attend. Just remember that electronic communication is nice, but calling and talking to the Head Coach and/or Assistant Coaches will always provide you with much greater results and save you and the coach a lot of time!
Go make your dreams come true! Don’t wait for something to happen. Make it happen!
Enjoying these blogs? Want to schedule a free 30-minute coaching assessment with Coach Rogers? You can do so here: https://www.significantcoaching.net/
Interested in Coach Rogers’ Book on College Recruiting? You can find it here: https://bit.ly/Matt-Rogers-Significant-Recruiting-Amazon
