Are You Ready for the call?

​In the not-so-distant past, college recruiting centered around mail and phone calls. Today, the recruiting world looks vastly different - text messages, emails, tweets are just a FEW of the tools at an athlete's disposal.
While we have talked about a lot of these other communication tools (i.e. social media) and its benefits, a well-placed phone/video call to college coaches can be extremely impactful. Taking the time to call college coaches is a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd and get attention.

Calling and video chatting college coaches takes some preparation, but if you put in the work beforehand, your call will go much smoother. Remember: College coaches have been through this process thousands of times. They understand how intimidating and nerve-wracking it can be for high school athletes to call them. If you go into the call armed with the right information and a plan, the coach will most likely be impressed with your effort so don’t worry about small mistakes along the way.

 TIPS for Phone/Video Call Success

Practice . Before calling college coaches, role play the call with a friend. Have them play the part of the coach, and make sure they ask you tough questions (we have a list of potential questions coaches will ask you outlined below) that you will receive when you’re calling college coaches.

Do Your Research . Make sure you have a few key facts about the school and the team at hand. Good sources of info include the school's website, some articles about the team and the team roster, and the team or school's social media pages. 

Avoid Disruptions. Coaches want to have a good, personal conversation. If your family wants to listen, that’s fine, but make sure that you aren’t distracted. If you feel more comfortable taking the call alone, let your family know you need to be in a quiet room without distractions and fill them in on the call afterwards.

Choose the RIGHT Time. Schedule calls that make the most sense for you. When scheduling calls, consider what times throughout the day and week work best and when you have the most availability. Be sure to consider the coach's availability and make the call a priority!

 Questions to Expect from College Coaches 

As with any conversation, your calls with college coaches will involve you asking questions and the coach asking some in return. No matter how tough the question, the best policy is honesty. If you are asked a question you don’t know the answer to, don’t be afraid to tell the coach you’re not sure, but you’ll get back to them later when you have the answer. Take a deep breath and a second to think before responding if you need it. To help you prepare for coach questions in advance, we’ve created a list of questions coaches will likely ask you during a phone or video call. We recommend that you prepare your responses to these questions in advance.

• School: What is your GPA and test scores? Do you have any test dates planned/scheduled?
• What major are you interested in?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses as an athlete? What are you currently working on improving?
• What kind of training have you been doing? How has COVID-19 impacted you with training?
• What do you know about the college/university/track program (Hint: a little research BEFORE the call goes a long way in showing preparedness)? 
• What are your interests or hobbies outside of your sport?
• What other schools are you interested in/considering?
• What other schools are recruiting you?
• What makes you unique? What separates you from other athletes?

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