Your Recruiting Profile

In the game of recruiting, it is essential that an athlete put together a recruiting profile sheet.  This profile should be limited to no more than four pages and would be ideal at two pages.  This sheet can be sent out to college coaches through email or even the regular mail.  The advantage of the Internet and email is that you will be able to get responses quicker. Here are some of the important aspects that should be covered:

*Contact Information - If you really feel that you are good enough to play at that level, it is important to send the coach as much contact information as possible.  Include an address, phone numbers (Home and cell), email addresses (Yours and your parents) and any other ways for the coaches to reach you.  If they feel you have the talent to play, they would like as many way to contact you as possible.

*Grades & Academic Information – Coaches know what it will take grade wise to get into their school so make sure that they are aware of your academics.  If you have worked hard enough in high school, this should be something you are proud of and want them to see your GPA.  If you have taken your ACT and SAT already, make sure to include those scores.  The majority of the schools around the country do not have Ivy League standards so even if you have a 3.3 and a 23 ACT, that is still a solid resume on your academics.  Most coaches seek out kids with these grades because that can get you in at a lot of places.  If you have talked to the guidance counselor and know your class rank, throw that in there too.  As with contact information, the more you can provide, the better.

*Athletic Accomplishments - Make sure you are being realistic about this and not rounding your numbers up.  The last thing you would want a coach to find out is that you lied about your stats.  So if you rushed for 956 yards, put that instead of 1,000.  Keep things realistic because the coaches will eventually find out if things are exaggerated.  Other things to talk about in this portion include individual stats, post season honors (Try to avoid putting in preseason honors because that doesn’t really say a whole lot), team records, and team accomplishments.  Another good thing to add is accomplishments in other sports.  Even if it is a 20-10 wrestling record or a letter earned in track, college coaches like to see athletes to play multiple sports.  It shows that you are more well rounded and have not been focusing on a certain sport your whole life.

*A Picture – If the coaches are unsure, you might as well allow them to see a picture of you with a big smile on your face.  If you visit the school in the future, they should have a clue who you are if they consider you a serious prospect.  This picture will help that along. 

As for things to avoid, don’t add every stat known to man or try avoiding things like shooting percentage.  College basketball coaches may think it is great that you scored 18 points per game, but if you shoot 32%, they will eventually find out.  So make sure to keep things relevant and not just the ones that make you look good.

Now what format should I use to put this together?  It can be Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or even an Adobe PDF.  Make sure to not use an obscure program that causes the coaches any trouble in opening.  That may make things worse!

This recruiting profile is an important introduction of yourself to the coaching staff.  While it may not seem like much, it is a good way to introduce a lot of coaches to your skills.  It is easy to grab email addresses off of college websites and that can make things much easier than writing letters.