What right do you have to expect your club coach to call college coaches?

[Unregistered]

The club coach's role should be more than just an air traffic controller for emails. At the onset they should be very involved in helping the family develop a realistic list of college programs the player can aspire to and then as the process moves along they should be trying to connect the player with the college coaches at those schools. A good portion of the sad cases you hear about all come down to the family not knowing where the player is a good fit for and not knowing whether the coaches there have any actual interest. How many times do you hear parents venting frustration because they are not getting responses from the college coaches and they don't know what to do about it. The club coach should be calling that coach for the family and simply asking if there is interest. Most families only need a simple yes or no answer and can move on from there on their own but not knowing if the coach is even aware of the player is a common roadblock.

Don't agree with you at all, BTDT. Or is this someone else again??!! I'll call the coach and find out if there is interest. If we can't get any response we'll move on. Come on now, BTDT, it's not brain surgery. And do you think if a family asks a club coach to help that he or she actually refuses? You're a flaming idiot.

[Unregistered]

Wow, all that I can say is it is a good thing you have a strong and talented kid and you are not the panic type yourself. I've been through it twice myself and would suggest that you aren't the typical parent. I guess one difference between our experiences is we always chose our clubs and coaches based largely upon both their ability and willingness to participate in this process with us so different choices lead to different places.

One talented kid, one not so much. In both cases, there were schools that were interested and schools that weren't.

If you think they aren't getting your emails call them. On the other hand, if you email the coach and cc the assistants, you can be pretty sure they are getting your emails.

Based on the fact that we got responses from over 95% of the school the talented kid contacted, it is fairly safe to assume that coaches (who's job depends in no small part on the ability to recruit kids) are pretty adept at getting, reading and responding to emails from kids they are interested in.

With the not so talented kids, response rate was much lower, but when we filtered out (what we knew to be) the reach athletic schools, it was fairly similar.

[Unregistered]

Don't agree with you at all, BTDT. Or is this someone else again??!! I'll call the coach and find out if there is interest. If we can't get any response we'll move on. Come on now, BTDT, it's not brain surgery. And do you think if a family asks a club coach to help that he or she actually refuses? You're a flaming idiot.

Who is doing the calling, the player or the parent? No way the parent should be doing the calling.

[Unregistered]

One talented kid, one not so much. In both cases, there were schools that were interested and schools that weren't.

If you think they aren't getting your emails call them. On the other hand, if you email the coach and cc the assistants, you can be pretty sure they are getting your emails.

Based on the fact that we got responses from over 95% of the school the talented kid contacted, it is fairly safe to assume that coaches (who's job depends in no small part on the ability to recruit kids) are pretty adept at getting, reading and responding to emails from kids they are interested in.

With the not so talented kids, response rate was much lower, but when we filtered out (what we knew to be) the reach athletic schools, it was fairly similar.

How did you manage the conversations with those coaches if the club coach wasn't involved? The college coaches can't respond until very late in the process.

[Unregistered]

How did you manage the conversations with those coaches if the club coach wasn't involved? The college coaches can't respond until very late in the process.

Wrong. A d1 (maybe d2 also) college coach cannot initiate a call or email to you until late in the process. They can however answer the phone and talk to you when you call them or when you visit them on campus.

Also, (if I remember correctly) there are no restrictions on d3 coaches calling or emailing prospects early.

[Unregistered]

How did you manage the conversations with those coaches if the club coach wasn't involved? The college coaches can't respond until very late in the process.

I never said the coach wasn't involved. Most of the d1 initial contacts came through the club coach. At that point we reached out to the coaches directly.

[Unregistered]

No restrictions on any level coach in taking a call or responding to an email. Rules keep changing with texts so best to check latest rules there. D3 and NAIA do not have restrictions on contacts. Also all levels can meet with kid and parents on college visits, but you can't take an official visit until just before Senior year starts so all visits are officially unofficial -- meaning you pay. We found that D3 coaches were pretty aggressive in trying to get commitments from sophomores when they had less competition recruiting for kids like my daughter - good players, but not top 20 program types.

The club coach can help talk up a player to a coach after a game when and if a coach comes to see a kid play. If a team is doing a showcase event or ECNL event let your club coach know that your kid is communicating with coach X from college Y. If things are advancing with particular schools then certainly let your club coach know that he may get a call from coach X. Keep them posted on who you are talking to and where things stand. Also keep your high school coach up to date as they too might get a call. My kid's coach never spoke to her club coaches but talked with her high school coach - mostly about team leadership skills.

[Unregistered]

Wrong. A d1 (maybe d2 also) college coach cannot initiate a call or email to you until late in the process. They can however answer the phone and talk to you when you call them or when you visit them on campus.

Also, (if I remember correctly) there are no restrictions on d3 coaches calling or emailing prospects early.

College coaches can't call back if you don't reach them until Sr. year. D3 coaches aren't really a factor on the girls side until the end of things so talking to them early doesn't make much of a difference.

[Unregistered]

I never said the coach wasn't involved. Most of the d1 initial contacts came through the club coach. At that point we reached out to the coaches directly.

Same with us except we used our club coach to zero in on their interest level

[Unregistered]

BTDT, can you describe for your adoring fans who your club coach was vital in helping you land that Duke scholarship? Did your coach come up with Duke as a potential option or was there a family connection there? Did your kid already like Duke before the club coach started making all of your calls for you?

[Unregistered]

Don't agree with you at all, BTDT. Or is this someone else again??!! I'll call the coach and find out if there is interest. If we can't get any response we'll move on. Come on now, BTDT, it's not brain surgery. And do you think if a family asks a club coach to help that he or she actually refuses? You're a flaming idiot.

Who is calling the college coach? You or your daughter? I never communicated with a college coach except during visits and when we met for the offer. Club coach went through a list of schools that we out together (I helped my daughter). He discussed which schools he thought would be a god fit and why. My D went through the same list with her school counselor for the academic piece. Club coach was the go between whenever D was scouted or a coach wanted to reach her.

[Unregistered]

No restrictions on any level coach in taking a call or responding to an email. Rules keep changing with texts so best to check latest rules there. D3 and NAIA do not have restrictions on contacts. Also all levels can meet with kid and parents on college visits, but you can't take an official visit until just before Senior year starts so all visits are officially unofficial -- meaning you pay. We found that D3 coaches were pretty aggressive in trying to get commitments from sophomores when they had less competition recruiting for kids like my daughter - good players, but not top 20 program types.

The club coach can help talk up a player to a coach after a game when and if a coach comes to see a kid play. If a team is doing a showcase event or ECNL event let your club coach know that your kid is communicating with coach X from college Y. If things are advancing with particular schools then certainly let your club coach know that he may get a call from coach X. Keep them posted on who you are talking to and where things stand. Also keep your high school coach up to date as they too might get a call. My kid's coach never spoke to her club coaches but talked with her high school coach - mostly about team leadership skills.

Can college coaches respond to email or is that only after a certain date? I can't remember. What contact rule recently changed? Just texting or phone calls too? Is phone calls from a coach still sept 1 of senior year?

[Unregistered]

Who is calling the college coach? You or your daughter? I never communicated with a college coach except during visits and when we met for the offer. Club coach went through a list of schools that we out together (I helped my daughter). He discussed which schools he thought would be a god fit and why. My D went through the same list with her school counselor for the academic piece. Club coach was the go between whenever D was scouted or a coach wanted to reach her.

You picked that up too. Don't sweat it, Perspective doesn't know what he's talking about because he never went through the process. He's here trying to minimize the degree of difficulty involved with recruiting in order to give clubs that don't do much for their players cover. That's just how he rolls.

[Unregistered]

Texting rules have changed since my kid started the process years ago. Kids do not communicate by email so coaches have gone to texting. Start with an email but then ask the coach how best to communicate.

[Unregistered]

My daughter's club coach acted as a middleman between the college coaches and my daughter. She sent out the initial e-mails with her coach's contact information and if they were interested they contacted her club coach. We never expected him to do the majority of the work though.