How to Organize Your College Recruiting Process

Being well-organized simplifies the college recruiting process and makes you more effective. Take the time now to organize yourself so you can be systematic with the work ahead and be better prepared for your recruiting process. As you prepare your college list, speak with college coaches and receive information, save everything carefully so it can be retrieved at a moment’s notice.

FILE UPKEEP

Throughout the process, save all communications and materials in a created desktop folder or preferred cloud storage system. Save the emails you receive and send in this format: YYYY.MM.DD.CollegeName, to quickly search and find your documents.

CaptainU Recruiting is a lot like applying for a job: When you communicate with a coach, you should be knowledgeable about his or her team. Your folders will help you organize a team’s schedule, roster, game results, and other important details, so you can easily access this information when talking to the coach.

Staying organized will equip you with the tools to talk about the upcoming game against the team’s rival ask about the recent nail-biter, and most importantly, knowledgeably discuss recruiting matters, such as which roster positions will open up for your freshman season. The coach will likely be impressed with your knowledge and it will demonstrate your genuine interest in their team.

Once you’re organized, it’s time to initiate contact with the college coaches you’ve identified. Take a deep breath and get ready to write a cover letter and create a recruiting profile.

TIPS FOR SETTING UP AN ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

Create a desktop folder or Cloud system folder named “College Recruiting”
Create a document or spreadsheet for each college in the folder and save it as “College Name”
In this document, copy the contact information you collected for your candidate schools, teams, and coaches (names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc.)
Create a log spreadsheet, with tabs for each college, to help you keep track of your progress to each team’s website and copy the roster, schedule, and game results to have as references for conversations. Put these into your file folders.
Download or copy email correspondence from college coaches to the correct file and document in the log spreadsheet.

Make sure the notes on your log sheets are dated correctly so at any point you can look through your file folders and see exactly what you’ve accomplished with each candidate school over a given period of time.

Sample spreadsheet:

4/3/19 Sent cover letter and resume to Coach Smith.
4/12/19 Received information packet and player profile.
4/13/19 Completed player profile and returned to coach with a short note.
4/26/19 Called Coach Smith. It went well—he said he wants to see me play. He’s going to send me the registration forms for the U. of Troy Summer Camp, which he’ll be at.
5/1/19 Emailed Coach Smith May Monthly Update, describing my hat-trick in a league game against our arch-rival.
6/1/19 Emailed Coach Smith June Monthly Update, describing my play during the first two weeks of the state cup.
6/30/19 Attended University of Troy Summer Camp—played in Coach Smith’s group. Had a few conversations about playing for him—he thinks I can be a significant contributor within my first two years.
7/1/19 Emailed July Monthly Update, describing our state semifinal loss—the game in which I scored the first goal. I included a personal note to Coach Smith about camp.
7/12/19 Smith saw me play at the Shellackers Tournament against ____ I scored the first goal in our 2-1 win.
7/19/19 I called Coach Smith who said he really likes what he’s seen and wants me to apply.
8/1/19 Emailed Coach Smith August Monthly Update, detailing my summer preparations for the high school season.