How To Respond To A College Coach Text?
Recruiting is changing rapidly, with new forms of communication becoming essential tools and changing NCAA regulations. Texting has become a new way for student-athletes to connect with college coaches. Texting has many benefits, including being a more natural and faster way to build a relationship with a coach. But how do you respond to a college coach text?
How to respond to a college coach depends mainly on what they said to you. Usually, if you have a coach’s cell phone number, then they are seriously recruiting you. Coaches don’t give out their phone numbers to any student-athlete, so they don’t get overwhelmed with texts. The goal of any text conversation is for a coach to get to know you better, so be yourself when responding to a college coach’s text. Make sure you answer a question if they ask one and feel free to ask any questions of your own if you have them.
Previously, the NCAA restricted college coaches from texting student-athletes at all. Recently, the NCAA categorized texting in the same way as any other digital communication, including email and social media DM’s. Coaches are allowed to text student-athletes after June 15 of their sophomore year or September 1 of their junior year, depending on the sport.
How Do You Respond To A College Coach?
Although texting is categorized as the same as any other digital communication, it practically is different from emails or social media DM’s. Texting is less formal and more personal than any other form of communication used for recruiting. Coaches often use texting as a way to learn more about your personality. Coaches can look up your athletic information and statistics, so a text exchange helps coaches figure out who you are.
Be Concise: When texting a college coach, keep your responses short and to the point. It’s natural to write less over text, but you want to make sure you’re precise. Many student-athletes text college coaches to ask about the team or update them with their athletic or academic progress. Consider the coach’s perspective: they are busy juggling many different priorities and appreciate a student-athlete who is upfront about their questions.
Personalize: Personalizing your text messages is a great way to show your commitment to the school and the sports program. You can do this by referencing the team’s performance in a recent game, the coach’s coaching style or other things that you like about the program. It is usually more natural to personalize a text message as compared to an email because it’s a one to one communication.
Talk About Yourself: It is essential to talk about yourself and your athletic progress in a text message with a college coach. Coaches can look up your highlight video or athletic statistics, but what they don’t see is the time you spend developing your skills in and out of practice. Coaches want to know how you’re thinking about your current team and how you might fit on their team, which they can tell from getting to know you over text or any other form of communication.
Keeping these things in mind when responding to a college coach will help you get further in your recruiting process. Because texting is much more natural and more comfortable to answer quickly, it’s especially important to think carefully before sending a message off. You don’t have to respond right away; you can take some time to think about what you want to say to a coach. Make sure to proofread any message to avoid making any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Reasons To Text A College Coach
You know that you need to continue building relationships with college coaches to be successful in recruiting. You may have had one text conversation with a coach, but you might be having trouble thinking of reasons to reach out to a coach. Here are a few reasons to reach out to a coach, particularly over text.
Congratulate A Coach: It’s entirely appropriate to text a college coach and congratulate them on a big win or successful season. You might even reference your preparations for the end of your season and how you are looking forward to improving your skills. This helps show coaches that you are willing to do your research and are genuinely interested in their program.
Thank A Coach: If you saw a coach at one of your tournaments or sports events recently, you can text them and thank them for coming out and watching you play. You can also reach out to the coach and thank them for watching your highlight video and giving you some feedback.
Update A Coach: If you’ve had any significant changes in your athletic or academic performance, you can reach out to a college coach and let them know what has changed. This especially applies to reaching a new personal best, winning a big game or getting a new score on a standardized test. This may change how the coach thinks of you or how you might fit on their team, giving you a better chance of getting an offer.
Ask A Question: You can also text the coach to get some clarification on a recruiting question or any general question about their team. You want to remember to keep your communication with a coach positive and interesting, so anything that might give them a better picture of you will be helpful to know.
Texting a coach is very similar to emailing a coach. You want to make an excellent first impression, you want to communicate your interest in their program and you also want to give them a good sense of who you are. By reaching out periodically, you can develop a relationship with the coach, which will help you as you get further along in the recruiting process.
Is It Better To Text Or Email A College Coach?
You may be wondering if it’s worth texting a coach at all if it’s a trickier form of communication to use. There are so many ways to communicate with coaches now, from social media DM’s, phone calls and in-person conversations. They all have different advantages, but here are some of the benefits of texting over other forms of communication.
Shows That A Coach Is Serious About Recruiting You: Coaches won’t give out their phone number to just any recruit. If you have a coach’s phone number and they are constantly texting you, that means they’re seriously interested in recruiting you. They’re still going to be evaluating you, but it’s a good sign for a coach to text you for more information.
Easier To Reach Out: Texting is more comfortable for both coaches and student-athletes to communicate quickly. If a coach needs a student-athlete’s athletic statistics right away, they are more likely to text them than to send them an email because of the pace of the communication. Keep in mind that coaches are texting multiple recruits throughout the recruiting process. Responding promptly can help you stand out.
Show Your Personality: Texting allows you to show off your personality in a way that wouldn’t come across in an email or a more scripted phone call. You can be more casual and let the coach see who you are. Because coaches can look up your athletic progress on your social media or season record, you should take advantage of texting as a way to show coaches why your personality would be a good fit for their team.
While all different forms of communication have distinct advantages in the recruiting process, texting is especially helpful in getting to know a college coach and building a relationship with them. It’s essential to utilize all different methods of communication, whether it’s email, phone calls or texting, but responding to a college coach can help move your recruiting process forward by establishing a relationship.
Things To Keep In Mind
Send Messages At Appropriate Times: Make sure you send text messages during business hours. Most coaches don’t want to talk with a student-athlete after 9 PM or before 8 AM most days because they have lots of priorities to juggle and need some downtime to focus on themselves and their families.
** Don’t Use Abbreviations:** Although it’s more natural to use abbreviations and very casual language in a text message, stay away from abbreviations or terms you would use with your friends. Never curse in a text message with a coach. Keep your tone polite and respectful, and remember that you’re still talking with an authority figure.
Unanswered Texts: If you sent a coach several texts and they haven’t responded yet, it may not be the best form of communication to use. They may prefer that you email them or call them. You might also need to move on and talk with a different coach.