An effective college athletics recruiting strategy begins with a proactive plan and robust effort. This can be accomplished through direct communication, sharing your player profile, and providing coaches with your highlight video to name a few. In addition, you can get on the “radar screen” of the college coach by participating in sport-specific camps, showcases, and tournaments.

Tournaments and camps give college coaches a firsthand look at prospects and offer a more genuine evaluation. These events are abundant. They offer athletes the opportunity to unveil their talent against competition they would normally not see. Choosing the most “strategic” venues is important, especially if the athlete is trying to get some “good looks” from college coaches.

College coaches focus on the evaluation of raw talent of prospects. They begin with initial hard data and build their information base further with specific student-athlete evaluations.

Determining the events to participate

Firstly, you want to determine which events are most popular and attract a higher volume of athletes from a diverse geographic region. Secondly, you want to get a historical perspective of the event and determine the past attendance of college coaches.

Coaches will make every effort to attend recruiting showcases, but they cannot attend them all. Consequently, if the coach is recruiting 50 prospects and can view 15 prospects at 1 tournament, there is a good chance he or she will be there. College coaches strongly value “economy of time and effort” and will look to attend tournaments where their “active prospects” will be in attendance.

Once you have determined the events you plan to participate in, contact the college coaches and share your showcase schedule. Remain upbeat, and confident, and encourage them to evaluate you.

College Camps

On-campus sports camps are becoming more popular each year and for good reason. Not only do college coaches benefit from bringing talented student-athletes to the university, but they also have the opportunity to evaluate “on-site.” Subsequently, each camp participant makes a “pseudo” unofficial visit.

Prospects benefit from this on-campus experience as well. It provides the prospect with direct access to the coach and with very few restrictions. Not only will the athlete have the ability to take part in an exciting camp experience, but she can also form the foundation of what can potentially become a mutually beneficial relationship.

It gives prospects a chance to “probe” the coach about his program, philosophy, and where he possibly sees the prospect as a future member of his team. This approach will only assist the prospect and his family as they navigate the college quest further.

Communicating with the coaches

College coaches are bound by strict contact rules, but prospects are permitted to contact coaches with little restriction. Make the effort to contact coaches well before the scheduled event and let them know that you have a strong interest in their institution and would strongly value their evaluation.

Participation in sport-specific camps, showcases, and tournaments will offer prospective student-athletes the chance to unveil their athletic skill. In addition, it provides prospects with a chance at grabbing the attention of coaches and further strengthens their position as they navigate the college search