Contacting College Coaches

Very few high school athletes will receive a high level of attention from college coaches without reaching out to the coaches proactively. Those athletes listed as “five-star” recruits with their names on recruiting boards represent a small portion of the athletes pursuing college athletics. Most student-athletes need to take the recruiting process into their own hands to successfully find a school that is the right fit for them both on and off the field. 

What Should I Do Before I Message a Program? 

There are a few steps you should be taking before it's time to message college coaches. 

1. Build a Target List of Schools: When starting the recruiting process, make sure you are taking the time to research schools that would be a good fit for you. You must be looking at a school holistically and not just focusing on athletics. Read our article here for our step-by-step guide on finding your best-fit schools.
2. Fill Out Recruiting Questionnaires: Once you have your Target List of Schools, take the time to fill out the program’s recruiting questionnaire. This is how you will get into the program's recruit database.
3. Put Together Recruiting Video: Coaches must see video to evaluate you. Make sure you add video to your SportsRecruits profile before sending out messages. Check out our article here to learn what exactly coaches want to see in your videos. 
4. Update Recruiting Profile: Make sure your SportsRecruits profile is fully up to date with all of your academic and athletic information and video.

When Should I Start Emailing College Coaches? 

The earlier you start contacting schools, the better! Especially if you have your heart set on playing at the NCAA Division I or II level. A great time to start sending these intro emails is right after club or high school season wraps up your Freshman year.

If most of the schools on your target list are NCAA Division III, NAIA, or NJCAA programs, you can start sending your introductory messages during your Sophomore year as these programs typically recruit a bit later.

Once you're ready to start emailing, head to the Messaging System and search for a school. As you type, the current coaching staff's contact information will appear. Don't forget to select every coach on staff so that you maximize the chances your email gets read. If you need inspiration for what to include in the email itself, reference our sample email template library for the important points to hit and best-in-class email etiquette.

What Information Should I Include in My Emails?

It's important to use a clean and professional structure that includes basic information about yourself when emailing college coaches. We recommend the following structure:

1. Subject Line: Your subject line should always have your name, grad year, position, and reason for reaching out. Example: Emily Smite | 2026 | Attack | Introduction
2. Addressing Coach: When contacting coaches via SportsRecruits, you should email the full coaching staff. Each program has a specific person in charge of recruiting. That could be the Head Coach or Assistant Coach, so address all of them at the start of your email! Example: Dear Coach Smith, Coach Jones, Coach White
3. Basic Information: This includes information surrounding where you go to school, if you play for a club, etc. This also includes the essential information you have within your subject line. 
4. Express Interest: In every email, no matter the topic, you should always express interest in the program. It does not need to be lengthy, a sentence or two will work!  Example: “I’ve been keeping tabs on (program)’s current season, and wanted to congratulate the team on their win over (rival school)!”
5. Include Important Academic or Athletic Achievements: If you received a perfect score on the SAT or ACT, or if your team made it to some sort of state championship, include that in your emails. Anything that would be impressive to a coaching staff should be included in all of your emails. 

Importance of Communication Surrounding Recruiting Events 

When attending recruiting events, you must communicate with coaches both before and after the event. 

• Before the Event: Coaches do not attend events walking around trying to find the best athlete. They are attending recruiting events with a pre-determined list of student-athletes who reached out beforehand to let them know they will be attending. Make sure to send your event schedule 7-10 days before the event!

• After the Event: After events, specifically camps, clinics, or events where you are working with coaching staff, you should reach out and thank them for their time. If your team did particularly well at the event, or you have new recruiting video from the event, you can share that with coaches who were unable to attend in person.

Check out our example email templates here for guidance on what to email coaches before an upcoming recruiting event.

How Often Should I Be Emailing Coaches?

There is no magic timeline for how frequently you should be reaching out to a college coach. The basic rule is that you should only be reaching out when you have new information to share. You should have some new information to share at least every 2-3 months.

There will be times throughout the year when communicating with college coaches more than every three months will be necessary. This is usually the case during the busier event seasons, where a college coach may be attending multiple tournaments that you are registered for. You may have to email them your schedule for back-to-back weeks, so there may be times when your communication may ramp up more than every three months. For most sports, the summer event season is when communication may happen more consistently.

Make sure to look over our high school recruiting checklist to get a better understanding of what communication may look like throughout the year:

• Freshman Year Recruiting Checklist 
• Sophomore Year Recruiting Checklist 
• Junior Year Recruiting Checklist 
• Senior Year Recruiting Checklist  

Below is a list of reasons to reach out:

• Introduction
• Inform them of an event you are attending
• You have added or updated video on your profile
• You have added or updated your transcript on your profile
• You plan to visit their campus
• You are within five days of your official or unofficial campus visit
• On the day of a coach’s off-campus visit with you
• Wishing a coach good luck in a pivot game/match
• Any new athletic accomplishments 
• Setting up a phone call to learn more about the program 

We've outlined several example email templates here to help you craft these emails.

Parents/Guardians: How You Can Help Your Student-Athletes Contact Coaches

College coaches want to hear directly from the student-athletes. They should be the ones sending the messages and driving their recruiting process. However, there are still several ways you can assist them in this process!

• Help Build Target List: Take the time to sit down as a family and discuss what is important in a college or university. Attending college is a family decision, so discussing what types of schools should be on their list will be helpful.
• Check Grammar & Spelling: Take the time to read through and make sure their grammar is correct. Also, ensure they are addressing the correct school and coaches! 
• Practice Interviews: After your student-athlete starts to narrow down their list they will most likely be having phone calls or even official visits. Take the time to practice interview questions, and help them come up with questions to ask college coaches.

Why Hasn't a College Coach Responded to Me?

There are several reasons a college coach might not reply to your message, and most of them don't mean the coach isn't interested. NCAA rules don't limit when you can reach out to college coaches, so keep sending updates even if you haven't heard back yet.

NCAA contact rules are one reason, but only for part of the process. Division I coaches can't begin direct recruiting conversations until a set date that depends on your sport. For many sports, that date is June 15 after your sophomore year. For others, such as softball and lacrosse, it falls in early September of your junior year. Division II and Division III coaches can contact you at any time. Once your sport's Division I date has passed, NCAA rules are no longer the reason a coach hasn't written back. Check the date for your sport in NCAA Contact Periods.

Timing and fit are often the reason. College coaches may be in season, traveling to events, or focused on a different recruiting class. A program may have already filled its needs at your position for your grad year. Many coaches get a high volume of messages and reply when they're ready to take a next step.

A coach who hasn't replied can still be evaluating you. SportsRecruits notifies you when a college coach views your profile or watches your video, even if they haven't written back. With a Pro account, you can see which program it was.

Give each follow-up a reason for a coach to read it. Share a new video, your upcoming event schedule, updated grades or test scores, or a recent result. Keep programs on your list while you wait, and keep adding programs where you'd be a strong fit.

Next Step: Send Your Introduction Emails

From your SportsRecruits profile, you can use the free School Search Tool to build out your target list of schools and send your introduction email to each of your favorites. When a member of the coaching staff clicks your message to evaluate you further, you'll receive an update in real time. Start building out your target list and messaging coaches here.