DON'T REACH OUT TO THAT COLLEGE COACH!!!
Wait, what??? Most advice in the recruiting world says to reach out more and more and timing is never discussed. I think depending on who you are trying to be in contact with, when you send communication is so important. Some may disagree, but I firmly believe timing has a lot to do with your success in college soccer recruitment. Some recruits continue to reach out to college coaches randomly with no plan. Knowing when to reach out to coaches and how the whole system works will give you a much better chance of a coach paying attention to your communication and starting the recruiting process.
The transfer portal opened this week for women’s soccer and opens today for men’s soccer and there are going to be a lot of changes. Essentially, there is a lot of roster spot “swapping” going on. Student-athletes that are looking for a change, for a variety of reasons, are entering the portal. The transfer portal is a one stop shop for student-athletes looking to make a change to connect with college coaches. When players leave a program, a roster spot may open in a program that previously didn’t need a player or a certain position. Likewise, a school that had a roster opening previously, may decide to pick up a more experienced, older player as opposed to a new incoming freshman. It’s kind of a revolving door and roster spots are being filled and opening daily.
Since a lot of college coaches are really focused on the transfer portal right now and with Thanksgiving right around the corner, my advice to prospects reaching out to college coaches is to take a pause and NOT reach out to coaches with introductions until at least the week after Thanksgiving. The exception to this is if you’ve already been in touch with a coach, you are updating them about a showcase you’re attending in the next couple weeks or you are following up from an event you just played in. I think the chances of these communications getting lost are a lot higher than normal at this point of the year. Be patient and wait until after Thanksgiving.
However, you can start prepping those emails you are going to send so they are ready to go when the timing is better.
By waiting, your communication has a better chance of actually being seen. Not only that, but the transfer portal may result in a shift in the program’s recruiting needs and the coach may have a clearer picture of what they need.
Decisions like this are all a part of the individualized recruiting game-plan process that make Top Student Athlete Recruiting different. I lived the life of a college coach for 24 years and now use that experience to personally help college prospects and coaches connect. If you need assistance in game planning and connecting, I encourage you to sign-up for a free evaluation of your recruiting using the button below.