Introducing Your Student-Athlete to Coaches

Greetings from Waltham, Massachusetts where my wife and son and I are attending Bentley's Open House for Accepted Students and Spring Football scrimmage. Today I'd like to discuss how to properly introduce your student-athlete to college coaches, and there are two basic tools for this purpose.

The first is the Recruit Questionnaire which you will generally find on the school's website. Generally, all football programs have the RQ, other sports vary from school to school. Completing this is the first critical step to letting the coaches know who your son is and what his stats are. Schools that I've visited with have a system that automatically imports this information into their database, producing a master roster of potential recruits. Don't think that just because you received a recruiting 'form letter' from a school that they know alot about your son; likely they just obtained his name and address from his coach, even though the flowery language in the letter might lead you to believe they've been following your S-A's every move! (Harvard Coach Tim Murphy sends out 10,000 letters each year)

It is CRITICAL that you complete this online questionnaire in its entirety! If there is something you feel that can be improved (such as his SAT score or perhaps one of his weightlifting numbers), you can address that change later. The key is to be complete so that your son shows up on their spreadsheet with no gaps in his posting. Some schools still send a hard copy of the questionnaire to be filled out and returned; same rule applies - be complete.

The second tool is your son's Academic & Athletic Resume, or Profile. This is the tool you have to really sell your son beyond just data. It should include a clean, smiling head shot of your son. (make him look likable) Below that should be your son's academic profile - SAT/ACT scores, class rank, membership in any honor societies or awards, etc. (all in bullet points)

Follow this with his athletic profile - game/season stats, leadership status, honors, awards, etc. (bullet points)

After this, like a resume use the remaining space on the page to define the type of person your son is. Include bullet points listing his outside interests that shows a coach and school that he is a well-rounded individual. A few examples:
- class body officer or STUCO member
- membership in other school groups
- member of school's chapter of FCA
- church youth group membership
- any summer Leadership programs or camps attended
- family make-up and rank (oldest of three boys)

On my son's profile, because we live in Texas and were searching out Boston area schools, we listed "- family summer vacation home at Pt. Judith, Rhode Island." This let coaches know he'd spent time every summer in New England and knew the territory. (copies of my son's Profile will be included in the materials distributed at the Parents Recruiting Workshop so you will have a model to follow)

The Profile should be submitted to the coaches along with your son's high school transcript. If you receive a hard copy Recruit Questionnaire, complete it and mail it back along with the Profile and transcript. Don't simply attach the Profile to the questionnaire or send it as a substitute; the coach knows exactly where on his form he can find a player's time in the 40 - he doesn't want to have to peruse another document to find it.

By the way, I've received a few calls from parents who'd forgotten to mail their registration in by yesterday's deadline, and I granted reprieves for them to still register at $35. So if you too forgot, well get it in the mail today with your check for $35.