The Power Of The Introductory Email

Introductory emails have two main goals; to get on a coach’s radar and to help you identify where there might be an opportunity. Therefore, your communication should be efficient and powerful. Some coaches can respond with interest while others cannot, depending on your age and recruiting contact rules for your sport (A link to NCAA recruiting rules by sport is attached below).

If contact rules don’t allow a college coach to respond to my email, why am I sending them!?

College coaches evaluate athletes as young as 7th grade, depending on their sport and the competitiveness of their team. Therefore, it is worth the effort of an underclassman to send emails to college coaches. In addition, it’s a great way to get invited to some cool college camps. 👊🏼

Your introductory email should state only the important facts about your experience and a few gold nuggets that might help you shine:

• Graduation Year
• Primary Position + Secondary Position (or events if track & field or swimming)
• Club Teams / High School 
• Important Physical Stats to Your Sport (may include run times, weightlifting PR’s, jumping stats, height, etc.…)
• Contact Information (email & phone number)
• A Coach Reference (name, position / team, email and / or phone number) (Optional)
• Highlight Video (If you don’t have one, let the coach know you are working on it and send this first email without it) (Optional)
• Academic or Athletic Honors (Honor Role, National Honor Society, All Conference, Captain, All Region / State, etc. . . . .) (Optional)

If you ask a question (or questions) in your email you’re more likely to get a response from the coach (if permissible). For example, ask about their recruiting needs for your class! “Coach, what are your recruiting needs for the 2023 class?”

The introductory email should contain three short paragraphs (2-4 sentences each) sharing the components listed above. In addition, personalizing the email by mentioning something unique about the school or team is a great way to make a good first impression. For example, congratulating them on a recent win or award, or mentioning something unique about the school academically. Most coaches get hundreds of emails every week. Make yours standout!

NCAA Recruiting Rules By Sport:

https://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/resources/recruiting-calendars/division-i-and-ii-recruiting-calendars

For free introductory email templates, download the Elite College Recruit app:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/elite-college-recruit/id1559598522