The College Talk Guy explains how to get college soccer coaches to meet you at MLS NEXT Fest/FLEX. Email coaches 2-3 months before the tournament asking "May I shake your hand in person?" instead of vague invites. That specific question gets a clear yes or no and locks in a meeting.
Coach, what should I be doing to prepare for the showcase I have coming up for MLS NEXT Fest? I'm really excited and I know a lot of coaches are going to be there. What should I be doing? Let me preface this with this MLS NEXT Fest and FLEX tournament is the biggest way, number one way to get recruited to play Division I college soccer or any division for that matter. The most coaches are going to be at this basically single event. Generation Adidas is probably another one, but the reason it's so important is because if you are a freshman or sophomore College coaches will come to your games depending on if you've been in communication with them, and many of them will even tell you, while we may not be able to come to most of your game, the fact that we now know that you're good enough to be at this tournament means we want to keep an eye on you. So the next time they do come and watch you— now, if you're a sophomore or a junior, you must have been sending emails 2 to 3 months prior, if not 6 months prior, to actually convince one of them to come. Now let's assume you're 2 weeks out from this incredible tournament, then you You must send videos beforehand. Now, if you're unsure if they're going to be coming to your game, you must ask this question in your emails: May I shake your hand in person at the tournament? Now, many of you will go, well, they're not allowed to shake our hand. That is correct. They're not allowed to. So let them respond to you saying they're not allowed to. If you're a junior, they're allowed to, and on top of the fact they break the rules all the time, okay? It's called soccer, not college football. Nobody really cares. So the point is to say, this is about you getting attention. And the reason this question is the best one is because if instead you ask, 'Will you come to my game?' and they don't respond, then you don't know if they're coming. If they— if you ask them, 'May I shake your hand in person?' now they'll probably respond with yes if they want to meet with you, and that means they're coming to your game. So now you've booked a meeting and they're coming to your game. And on the flip side, if you say, 'Will you just come to my game?' and they say, 'Yes, I'll be there,' now you don't even know if you'll see them. You don't even know if you'll meet with them. You don't even know if they'll watch the game when you're in. So it doesn't really help you. By trying to meet with them, it's a game changer in the recruiting process. Wow, that was really helpful. Uh, do you do this for a living or something? Yes, I do. I'm the College Talk Guy. If you want more help playing Call of Duty, give me a call. Links in the bio. Talk soon.
