Recruiting services seem to be a hot topic this time of year, every year! It’s starting to get late in the process for Seniors, Juniors are committing all over the place, and the freshman and sophomores out there are starting to get nervous about the process! I get it, it can be complicated and cumbersome…but do we really need to spend some big $$ on a recruiting service?
International Student-Athletes, make sure you read to the end…your process is much different! For now.
For those of you from the US, where do I even start? How about we start here…NO YOU DO NOT NEED A RECRUITING SERVICE. Did I say that loud enough. YOU. DO. NOT. NEED. A. RECRUITING. SERVICE! Hopefully that was clear.
Now with that said there are some exceptions and there are some great people out there willing to sincerely help, give great advice, and even get out and see you play. Most but not all of them work independently and from what I can tell do a pretty good job for their clients. If you are connected to someone like that and have the extra income it may be a great fit depending on your situation.
I get emails DAILY from recruiting services sending me resume’s with some video of a kid. Same email probably got sent to 500-600 other coaches out there. So did the service do what they said and got your name out there? Yes they did. You know what I and many of my colleagues do with those emails? Immediately delete them! I don’t have time for that.
What do I have time for? The kid who found my email address, sent a personalized email, created their own resume, and maybe even clipped some of their own video and put it up on a platform like YouTube.
We want players willing to do the work. There is only one way to be successful, do the work! Paying someone else to do it while the student-athlete goes and hangs out with their friends, isn’t likely to be a player who is going to be successful in our programs.
You can find coaches email addresses on tournament sites, on their athletic department pages, among many other places! We will talk specifics about what to put in that email later, but you can do EVERYTHING yourself that a recruiting service can do, and you can do it better. It just takes some work, but that work will pay off in the end. Your recruiting service email didn’t make it across my desk because I deleted it. Your personal email did, and I can tell you I read it!
Ok, so let’s talk to those internationals out there who may be reading this. Know that you too can still do all the work yourself, but we get it. NCAA sports and the rules that go along with them are like listening to someone speak a foreign language! International recruiting services are often run by former NCAA athletes, they have been there, understand the process, and all things that go along with that process. So for now, it is most likely in your best interest to get some professional help, and we are paying attention and even building relationships with your recruiting service people! Your process is much different.
Thanks for reading!
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The Recruiting Dad
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