Since it's Halloween I figured I would share a few recruiting things that scare me when I hear or see them. Enjoy!
1) Letting NCSA do your recruiting for you.
This is scary because NCSA and other similar platforms don't DO anything for you. They can be good platforms and tools, but if you are hoping that by getting one of these it will DO the recruiting for you, that is an incorrect assumption.
2) "We got a twitter account"
Great! Now what? Having something like twitter, SR or NCSA isn't magical. If you aren't going to use these platforms, then don't use them. Please, please, whatever you do, do NOT pay for ads on social media and hope that will help "increase your reach" to college coaches.
3) NOT emailing college coaches during a "black-out" period.
First, there is no such thing as a "black-out" period. Please don't use that term. There are "quiet periods" and "dead periods". Second, there is nothing in the NCAA rules stopping athletes from reaching out to college coaches at ANYTIME during the year. The athlete can ALWAYS reach out. You're safe! Send some emails today and more tomorrow.
4) NOT following up with college coaches!
Haven't heard back from a coach in 2-3 days? They aren't ghosting you. They are just busy. Take ownership and responsibility of your process and email or text them again. Don't go two weeks without reaching out and then just give-up. Be proactive and show intentionality and interest to that school and coach by consistently reaching out to them.
5) NOT responding to emails or texts from coaches!
This one scares me! Why wouldn't you respond? Don't know what to say? I'm sure there is someone out there that could help with that (me) or maybe your club coach. Don't punt on opportunities because you don't know how many choices you are going to have. Silence kills your recruiting opportunities.
6) "So-and-so follows us on Instagram"
Scary...I don't know what this means. Does it mean they are going to offer you a scholarship? Is it great to have people follow you on social media? Yes! That's awesome. Now what? There is nothing wrong with having a social media account dedicated to volleyball. Nothing wrong with that at all. But again, it's a tool. Know how to use it. Our goal is VISITS to campuses, not instagram followers.
Scary things can happen. It's not your fault. College coaches and people like myself go through this process 100s of times every year. You and your athlete are only going through this once. Get as much information and education on the recruiting process as you can.
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