JENNIE SHERWOOD

As someone who committed to Boston College for Women’s Division 1 Rowing over the summer, I wanted to give my fellow student-athletes a hand in starting their recruiting journey. It’s hard to know where to start if you’re thinking of playing your sport in college, and it’s hard to know how the process goes if you don’t know someone who has been through it. I’m here to be that someone, and to give you the nitty gritty of how to go about recruitment.

1. Setting Up a Profile

This is the first step, and the one most student-athletes are aware of. There are two popular recruiting sites to make profiles: NCSA (Next College Student Athlete) and BeRecruited. Different sports may have other platforms that work just as well, but I highly recommend one of these if you don’t have access to another site from your team. When building a profile, it’s easy to start here, make an account, and then forget to keep it updated. College coaches actively check these sites for athletes who are continuously improving and updating transcripts or game footage. To be most successful and have the best chance at getting contacted by a college, it is important to update and keep active on your recruiting profile.

2. Contacting Coaches

There are two circumstances: either a coach contacts you with interest, or you will have to contact a coach with your interest. Division 1 and 2 coaches are not able to actively be in contact with you until June 15 after sophomore year for most sports, but that doesn’t mean you should wait until then. If you are interested in a college program, send their recruiting coordinator an email a month or so ahead of time so they know to keep an eye on you. It will also give you an advantage with that team once June 15 rolls around. Once you make contact with coaches, keep in touch. Email them with updates instead of just posting on recruiting profiles. Take advantage of phone conversations to ask coaches questions about their program. The more you take initiative and show curiosity, the more you stick out and the more successful you will be.

3. Keeping Track and Staying Realistic

Once you’re in contact with multiple college coaches, it can be hard to keep track of emails and information they give you. I highly recommend keeping a notebook or Google Spreadsheet to track conversations. This can also help you continuously rank schools you’re
in contact with, as the list might change with each phone call you have or email you send. You also don’t want to burden yourself by talking with every single school that shows up in your email inbox. Do some research on their program first, figure out if they’d be a good fit for you, and then start the conversation. Think about if you are looking for a more competitive program or maybe something more relaxed. Remember, you’re looking to see if programs and schools are good enough for you just as much as coaches are looking to see if you’re good enough for them.

Good luck ELHS!