Frustrating! Why isn't coach responding? Thoughts? How to proceed?

I'm hoping someone can help explain to me why this is happened. It's been eating at me for weeks now. DD attended a camp / tournament after which, she received interested from a school which she had not initially considered - but is now excited about. She was thrilled. The coach told her that he'd seen her at the said camp and is interested in seeing more of her skills. Told her exactly where he'd be recruiting this summer and to email him if she could attend any of the tournaments. He'd also asked that she complete their recruiting questionnaire - which she did immediately.

Problem is, she's emailed him 4 times since and has gotten no response. I find this strange because again, the interest was unsolicited. He reached out to her first. She responded and he vanishes into thin air? (BTW, no coaching change.)

She's a rising junior. Not sure if that's got anything to do with it. It's a high academic d3 school. She has the grades (4.0) and test scores (34 ACT) for the school - that's probably what caught his eye in the first place.

Any insight as to what's going on? Should she still keep writing to him? She scheduling a school visit soon. Should she just pop in on him? I think that's rude but it's also rude to not respond (since she's requested a visit and told him that she's going to be coming on campus shortly). Thanks in advance.

She should try calling the coach. They are really busy this time of year if they have been out recruiting at nationals.

First, many coaches are extremely busy out attending tournaments both window shopping and checking out players they have already made offers to making sure that they are progressing as expected, attending combines, individual showcases and camps looking for further possible recruits. Thay are only allowed so many recruiting days so they tend to spend these where they feel they can get the maximum bang for their buck so to speak. Second, depending upon the college division, they may have been in a blackout period where they are not allowed to make contact with either a player or their family. I believe D1's open contact period ended July 31st but I could be wrong. Third, some coaches just want to see how hard the player is willing to work at it. Four, It's a D3 school and many coaches at that level don't count on anything until the player arrives on campus to start college their Freshman year and tell the coach, "I'm here!" Any of these explanations are plausible.

If your DD is truly interested in this college, attend the next camp, clinic, individual showcase that is available and that the coach will be attending and email them saying that DD will be there. Next, research the Fall college camp and attend; once again emailing the intention of attending. If you haven't made a college visit yet, do so through the admissions office to schedule a campus tour and ask them to set an appointment with the HC. They are aloud to talk to you as long as you are on campus. Just a few suggestions.

ETA: The best thing you and your DD can do is become the squeaky wheel so to speak. Keep emailing the coach.

I will add, don't just email the HC, email the whole coaching staff....

We are in a similar situation / coach of a D2 saw my DD pay. (It was not a school on my DD's list / actually she was only looking at D3s). Coach invited her up. We went up - they took her on a tour, met with an academic advisor etx. HC made it very clear she wanted her and to get all her transcripts in. We did all this in July. The last we heard from her was a couple of weeks ago. Maybes she's busy - or maybe ???? It's so frustrating. Hopefully she is just busy too Either way my DD will do her overnights at the three D3s she likes this fall and we will take it from there. But is this a common practice with coaches ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's good advice to email all the coaches at the same time but what worked best for DD was calling.. A lot of times she got a voicemail but always got a response back... Calling should be practiced beforehand!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Acatchersmom said:

We are in a similar situation / coach of a D2 saw my DD pay. (It was not a school on my DD's list / actually she was only looking at D3s). Coach invited her up. We went up - they took her on a tour, met with an academic advisor etx. HC made it very clear she wanted her and to get all her transcripts in. We did all this in July. The last we heard from her was a couple of weeks ago. Maybes she's busy - or maybe ???? It's so frustrating. Hopefully she is just busy too Either way my DD will do her overnights at the three D3s she likes this fall and we will take it from there. But is this a common practice with coaches ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

She is probably just busy. Keep sending information on a regular basis. Email or text updates on tryouts or your team for the upcoming season. Call and leave a voice mail. If the coach made it clear that she wants your DD I think she will get back to her. It can be hard to be patient.

We have a similar problem. DD is going into her sophomore year at a JUCO. Prior to her freshman year she came in contact with a D2 coach at a camp. The D2 coach approached my DD and made contact with her. DD emailed the coach after the camp was done and never heard anything back. We went to the same camp this summer and DD emailed the coach letting the coach know she was going to be at the camp and hoped she would come watch her. The coach replied and said they would. DD attended the camp and after it was over she approached the coach and they ended up talking for several minutes. During this conversation the coach asked DD if she was wanting to transfer this year. DD stated she was open to it and they ended with the coach telling her to send her transcripts first thing that Monday morning and gave DD their cell number with the request she text when this was done. DD asked the coach about their preferred way to communicate and the coach told they preferred emails. DD did what she was asked but due to time constraints DD returned to her JUCO today. Albeit a spot was never offered, everything that was presented to me sounded as if the coach was interested in transferring this year. DD texted the coach for the first week and the coach returned the texts. DD then switched to emails and has not heard from the coach since. DD was and is really excited about this school and it has gone to the top of her list. I realize the coach is busy getting ready for their new year but I still find it weird that the coach hasn't tried to keep in better contact with DD or tried to schedule a visit for this fall. DD has contact with other schools and has scheduled visits for later this fall so I know coaches are still out recruiting this time of year.

Thanks for your responses. DD called the school today and left voicemail messages for both the HC and AC. She also followed up with emails to both referencing the voicemail and requesting a meeting. Hopefully they will respond.

If by chance they still don't respond, what do you suggest she do? Call again? When? How much calling constitutes too much calling? Same for emails - What's too many emails? I know I get embarrassed if someone is having to follow up with me again and again on an email I hadn't responded to.

I guess getting a coach's attention is like trying to date the most popular girl in HS. When boys are falling over themselves to date her, she doesn't need to work it to get a date. lol

My guess is the coach thinks your daughter has the ability to play for and knows she has a strong interest their program. The coach is probably churning the waters right now hoping to find stronger players. The coach is probably avoiding her, because the coach isn't ready to give your dd a yes or no. I think the same thing happened to my daughter, they romanced the hell out of her while being real cagey about the commitment. Then a long period of silence, (an insufferable amount of time to be trapped with my dd). Then out of the blue the coach calls and says here is the offer and I want to close out this year's recruiting class so you have a week to decide.