By Ethan Guevin
Introductory emails to college coaches are important for all high school players looking to play at the next level. These emails need to come from YOU, the player. Don’t rely on your high school coach, summer coach, or parents to make contact with schools for you. Reaching out to coaches yourself shows a level of maturity and commitment that coaches look for and admire. Try to start this process early in your junior year (or even sooner). Keep in mind that coaches can send emails back only to juniors and seniors. They cannot respond to freshmen and sophomores in any way.
The biggest purpose behind these emails is to save coaches time and make it easy for them to learn about you. So, don’t include information that coaches don’t need. Don’t talk about players or teams you have defeated in the past or current college players who you believe you could outperform. The coaches don’t need information about your training and workout programs. Keep the emails simple. Here are the things you MUST have in your introductory email:
- Name
- School
- Year
- Contact information (email and cell #)
- Academic information (GPA and SAT/ACT score)
- Specific reason why you are interested in the school (no more than 1 or 2 sentences)
- Summer team and summer coach’s contact information (email and cell #)
- Whether or not you have filled out the school’s questionnaire online (make sure you do this in advance)
- Whether or not you are aware of the dates of the school’s prospect camp and if you have previously attended a camp
If you want to include stats, go ahead, but keep them simple. Include a link to a video if you have one available (and you should). Include only recent (varsity or within the last year) stats. Most important, give information about how and when coaches can see you. Understand that coaches have busy schedules during your high school season. Share information about any tournaments and showcases where you’ll be playing during the summer. This will give the coaches a better idea about how to get a look at you.
Finally, it’s ok to keep in contact with the coaches in order to keep your name in their minds. Email them every couple of weeks, just to let them know how you’ve been doing. All it takes is a quick note saying, “Hey coach, I’m throwing tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes” or “Hey coach, I went 5/12 this week with 2 doubles, 3 RBIs, and a stolen base.” Keep these emails short, simple, and modest.
Sample for an introductory email:
Coach Reed,
I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Joe Smith. I am a junior at City High School. I am a pitcher and shortstop and am very interested in your program because it is a mid-sized D1 school and has the sports management major I am looking for. I play for the City Bulldogs over the summer and my coach’s name is Steve Jones. His email is stevejones@email.com and his phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. Over the summer, I will be playing in the North Tournament July 22-30. I will also be coming to your camp on August 10. I have filled out your online questionnaire and included more information there, including my stats from last year and summer ball. My GPA is 3.02 and my SAT score was 1820. You can find my stats here and I have a short video as well. Thank you very much for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Johnny Appleseed
Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
