Volleyball Video Tip

Presented by James Finley, Administrative Director
Nike Volleyball Camp at Legacy Sports USA

How to Contact College Coaches (video)

Once you've made your list of College Coaches, created your recruitment video, and gotten all of your academic info together, it's time to take the sometimes nerve-racking step of actually reaching out to the coach.

Coaches can't see everyone, it's impossible... So make yourself known!

Here are some other tips to get you started:

1. Don't use the email address you created in the 7th grade. Create a new email address before you send any emails to a Coach. Keep it simple... something like [firstname].[lastname]@[emailprovider].com is perfect and looks professional.
2. Create a spreadsheet with the following columns to keep track of your email outreach:
   1. Coaches Name
   2. School
   3. Email
   4. Date Contacted
   5. Received Email Reply from Coach
   6. Sent Follow-up Email
3. Personalize every email. Don't blind copy 100 Coaches on the same email. It will never work.
4. Start by sending an email to the schools you're least interested in first. This will allow you to test your email and subject line multiple times so you can get it just right BEFORE you reach out to the coaches you really want to play for.
   
5. Show that you care and take initiative by sending a follow-up email two to three weeks after your initial email was sent. Coaches look for life skills like determination, persistence, consistency and so on... Make sure your follow-up email is slightly different than your first email.