How Do You Politely Decline A College Coach?
It is definitely a good problem to have If you are in the position where you need to decline an invitation for an official visit or a scholarship offer, but it can be difficult to do. If you want to decline a college coach you likely have other coaches contacting you that you are more interested in, and thus it can be uncomfortable feeling like you are “rejecting” a coach. But there are polite ways to decline a coach that they will respect.
To politely decline a coach, you should send them an email or give them a call and be honest about why you are declining as well as show respect and gratitude for their offer. It is important to always communicate with coaches when you want to decline an offer or invitation to an official visit or camp as they want to keep their recruitment lists updated with individuals that are actively interested.
It can seem daunting to reject or decline someone that is older and has more authority than you, but coaches are used to having athletes decline their offers and would much rather have athletes respond to them with a polite decline then not respond at all. You can probably think back to times coaches or other individuals have not responded to your emails and how this can be frustrating. This will help you understand how coaches feel when athletes do not respond to them.
What To Say When You Decline A College Coach
When preparing your email or phone call to decline a coach it is important to review what you have written or what you are about to say. You may be wondering as well whether you should call or email. This depends on your relationship with the coach. If you have been communicating with the coach via phone then you can call them, but email is appropriate as well, especially if you have never had a conversation over the phone with the coach. Below are some tips for what you should write or say to a coach if you need to decline an offer.
Express Gratitude: You should start off your email by thanking the coach both for reaching out to you and for giving you an offer or invitation. This is an extremely effective way to start your email as it shows that you are thankful for the time that they have given you and starts the message on a positive note of gratitude.
Be Direct: After expressing your thanks, you should get straight to the point and state that you are declining their offer. It is important to be direct and say this near the beginning as this is the purpose of your message. You don’t want to wait to say this till the end because it may be misleading for the coach.
Be Honest: It is extremely important to not only state that you are declining the offer, but also why. This can be difficult, but coaches respect when you are honest with them and give them the actual reason why you are not accepting their offer. Your reasoning may range from the college being too big for you or not offering the major that you want to study to the fact that you want to go to a college closer or farther away from home or that you are only looking at D1 colleges. The important thing is to be honest. Coaches take time out of their day to communicate with you and extending an offer is a big deal for them. Thus it is polite to give them your reasoning and feedback on why you are not choosing their program.
Be Polite: Finally, it is important throughout your entire email or phone call to remain polite. It is a good idea to end your message by restating how thankful you are for their time and their offer. If it is a coach that you have built a strong relationship with, it can also be appropriate to say that you hope to continue communicating with them about your process, as long as you have made it clear that you are declining their offer.
The most important thing is to respond. Many athletes do not take the time to decline offers or invitations and let the message stay in their inbox. But a coach will respect you for taking the time to politely decline. It can also be helpful to have a parent or friend review your message so they ensure that you have included all of the aspects listed below.
How To Tell Coaches That You’ve Accepted Another Offer
You may also be in the position where you have recently verbally committed to a college and you need to communicate with other coaches that you have been talking to that you are already committed at another college. It can feel very uncomfortable to talk to coaches about how you have chosen another program, but you should be respectful and inform them quickly.
Honesty Is The Best Policy: Similarly to declining offers, it is important to be honest, respectful, and polite. Coaches want to know why you decided to choose another program and thus it is important to give them a true answer. You also want to be polite and express your gratitude for all of the time that the coach has put in to communicating with you.
After you have verbally committed to a college you likely will be too excited to immediately think about telling other coaches that you have completed your recruitment process and will not be joining their program. However, it is important to send a message to them quickly so that you do not waste any of their time, and so that they can dedicate more efforts to recruiting other available players.
Keeping Your Options Open
It can be very challenging to go into the college athletic recruiting process with an open mind, but it is very important to keep one throughout the process. If a coach from a college you were not initially considering reaches out to you, you should take it seriously and consider the option heavily before you decline.
Do Your Research First: When a college coach reaches out to you or gives you an offer, do your research on the college both academically and athletically. You may be surprised by what you find.
This research could help you realize different values you have when choosing a college or a coach and can open your eyes to the possibility of going to a college you initially were not interested in. Thus, it is crucial to keep your options open and to not decline a coach before you have other solidified options that you prefer.
Things To Keep In Mind
**The Truth Doesn’t Hurt:**College coaches want you to be honest. As long as you are truthful and polite they will respect your decision to decline their offer.
Decline If You Have Other Preferred Options: It is not always a good idea to decline an offer right away. Take the time to research the college, even if you were not particularly excited about the offer at first. You do not want to close any open doors. If you have other offers that you know you would prefer, then it is perfectly reasonable to decline. But, if you do not yet have any other offers it is in your best interest to start communicating with the coach and not decline yet, because it may end up being your best offer.
Be Prompt: While you may want to wait to decline an offer if you do not have any other preferred options, once you are 100% sure that you want to decline, you should contact the coach immediately. Coaches are very busy and have only a few scholarship spots to give out, so you want to make sure you let them know as quickly as possible if you will not be filling one of those spots. This gives another athlete the opportunity to receive a scholarship.