A coach explains how to tell if a recruitment letter is genuine interest or a mass mailing. Personal gifts and handwritten notes are real signals; most letters are generic. Follow up by referencing the handwritten part and asking if they're interested in your position and class. If it's your dream school, attend the camp because coaches rarely watch games.
Hey coach, I just got a letter in the mail. I'm basically on the team, right? Like, that's just incredible.
Getting a letter in the mail can mean two things. One, if it actually comes with a physical gift like a shirt or a hat and an actual handwritten letter, then it's very likely that team loves you a lot. We had a girl recently who got a wonderful gift. She had torn her ACL and the coach sent her a handwritten letter saying, hey, we still love you, we still want to recruit you when you're all better, and we just wanted to write you a handwritten note, which is an incredible sign, right? That means they really like them. However, On the flip side of it, the one you're talking about, I have a feeling it's just a generic letter that they're trying to get you to come to their camp and they don't really know anything about you.
I'm looking at the letter right now. It looks like they probably sent it to everybody.
Now these letters do go out. This is called a mailing system. Remember, these coaches have to make money and they are a business. So just like they email you, they're going to send you letters hoping you'll come to their camp. Now what if you're the kid who's good enough? Like you're good enough to play on their team and you got this letter. You should go to their camp. However, how do you know if you're good enough? How do you even know if they need your position? How do you know if they think you're good enough? Because it doesn't matter if I think you're good enough, the coach is the one that has to make the decision. Well, I don't know, like, how do I know if they think I'm good enough? Okay, I know this can be scary, but one of the best ways is you, if you really got a handwritten letter, you can mention that in your email. Hi coach, I got a handwritten letter, or I got a letter from you inviting me to your camp. May I confirm you're looking for blank for the class of blank position for the class of blank? And if they respond, really well, like, yeah, we are, thanks so much, we can't wait to see you, we love you, and they compliment your video. That's how you know if it's genuine. If they don't compliment your video, then it's probably generic again. And then as a family, you still have to decide. If it's your dream school, the only way you're gonna get a chance is if you go to camp. They're not coming to your games, they're not gonna watch enough video of you, they're not calling your coach, so you gotta go to camp. But if you go, look, this is not my dream school, if they liked me, I would entertain it, then don't go to the camp.
Okay, I can deal with that. So even though the handwritten letter wasn't like perfect, it can still kinda help you.
That is correct. If you got a handwritten letter, you can kind of leverage it and say, hey coach, I got this letter, what does it mean? If you want more help, comment call and we schedule a call with you and your parents.
