Building Your Own Personal Brand - Affecting College Recruiting

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amandascarborough

where's the chocolate?
Jan 22, 2014
67
6
Everywhere, USA
I know many of you out there have daughters who are being recruited, maybe currently play in college or eventually will be recruited once they get old enough. A HUGE concept that is gaining traction and importance across all sports is the idea of Personal Branding. Every athlete out there is his/her own brand. We are all the CEOs/Brand Marketers of our own "companies."

This idea affects EVERYTHING - especially what young girls are posting on social media, the clothes they wear, the way they "stand out" at a college recruiting camp, or just at a college camp, period. No two athletes brands will be the same, and it's important to understand what your brand is, what it looks like, what it feels like, etc, especially when trying to catch a college coach's attention, and THEN utilizing that same brand once college softball is done and you go into the "real world." You even never start too early. I hope you guys enjoy these articles, as it's just ask much of an important concept as teaching a rise ball or teaching a hitting approach.

One I found over female athlete branding in general:
Teach female athletes how to brand, teach

And then I, myself, had written one over Personal Branding that is very similar:
Personal Branding | Amanda Scarborough
 
Jul 2, 2013
681
0
I would not put "branding" right up there with being a great hitter.

Important sure, but many of these young ladies are off to a good start at it by trying to get as many Twitter followers, or "Likes". It is the beginning stages of "branding". Females tend to think a bunch about it. Nothing really earth shattering. The young ladies today are always refining their looks, mostly watching what they say, and trying to hang with the right people. I think they do this by nature, and though you put a label on it like Branding, the ladies are already doing much of it, without even knowing what it is.

NOW ... if you can flat out hit, they will find you, even if you try to run off and hide.

AND if you present the greatest brand on earth, and cannot hit, they will not look twice.

What you can do is really hurt yourself by poor branding, or posting inappropriate stuff on digital media.

Sorry, just don't agree. Performance, or "speak softly and carry a big stick" will always trump a fluffy brand with no substance.
 
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JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
First of all, I was stoked to see you joined the forums. You have probably heard this many, many times, but that slow motion Power Drive video is a part of the "this is how a pitcher really pitches" canon. I just sent it to my DDs HC the other day as an example to show him that the arm is not locked during delivery. So thanks. as for you post....

I agree with all of the content that you posted in the article, but I have a personal gripe with taking a corporate concept like "branding" and using it on a person, this used to just be called reputation, it is just now that your reputation is further reaching and more lasting due to the Internet. I just don't see any need to change the term and treat kids like products for the sake of being recruited. Kids need to maintain their reputation as athletes, students and human beings, to do this effectively they MUST apply common sense to electronic communications in this day and age. But they don't need to get a logo or a jingle or anything :) And I really hope I don't start seeing commercials for people in my lifetime..
 
Dec 20, 2012
1,085
0
I would not put "branding" right up there with being a great hitter.

Important sure, but many of these young ladies are off to a good start at it by trying to get as many Twitter followers, or "Likes". It is the beginning stages of "branding". Females tend to think a bunch about it. Nothing really earth shattering. The young ladies today are always refining their looks, mostly watching what they say, and trying to hang with the right people. I think they do this by nature, and though you put a label on it like Branding, the ladies are already doing much of it, without even knowing what it is.

NOW ... if you can flat out hit, they will find you, even if you try to run off and hide.

AND if you present the greatest brand on earth, and cannot hit, they will not look twice.

What you can do is really hurt yourself by poor branding, or posting inappropriate stuff on digital media.

Sorry, just don't agree. Performance, or "speak softly and carry a big stick" will always trump a fluffy brand with no substance.

Thanks for the insight! I'm assuming you were a college all American, coach for the most recognizable TB org in the country, are an ESPN and Longhorn network analyst, and all the other accolades that Amanda has earned. Not to mention BOTH of your NOW/AND statements are totally incorrect. I know some of us on here have big egos but she has been there, done that and is still helping others do it. So I am pretty sure she may know a thing or two.
 
Jul 26, 2010
3,567
0
It depends on the school the kid is looking at, SCDad. At the highest level, there are lots and lots of kids that all perform the same. They're really great at what they do. They're amazing, they're spectacular. They're stars of their high school and TB programs. They've had boatloads of articles written about them in their local papers. They just don't stand out when they're amongst their own kind. Coaches are looking at differentiation besides skill. Grades come into play but so many of these kids are great students with great test scores, so that really doesn't matter much either.

Ultimately, the coach is going to go with who they know personally. This is usually either by a recommendation from the very small circle of people the coach "trusts", or from the relationship that a player has built with that coach. I can see how learning how to brand ones self can help get the foot in the door on the way to building that relationship.

For smaller schools, this is not so much an issue because there are more opportunities and less competition for that relationship to be built.

Now, where I do have a problem is that, as discussed in the thread about loosing, is that many kids these days put an emphasis on showing as opposed to actually winning or competing. When the "branding" interferes with competition and competitive spirit, I have an issue.

-W
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
I had a conversation with a friend's pitching coach (she and her sister both played college ball on full scholarships) a couple of weeks ago about what college recruiters are looking for. Attitude on and off the field will make or break a player's chances in a heartbeat. Things like how you support your teammates, interact with your parents, interact with friends, etc. are HUGE. Skills can be taught. A bad attitude is a cancer. The player that trots over and pats her teammate on the back after a mistake is going to get a lot more interest than turning a great play on a hard grounder up the middle. A player who back-talks their parents on the sidelines between games is a player to be avoided, no matter how good her bat is.
 

amandascarborough

where's the chocolate?
Jan 22, 2014
67
6
Everywhere, USA
I would not put "branding" right up there with being a great hitter.

Important sure, but many of these young ladies are off to a good start at it by trying to get as many Twitter followers, or "Likes". It is the beginning stages of "branding". Females tend to think a bunch about it. Nothing really earth shattering. The young ladies today are always refining their looks, mostly watching what they say, and trying to hang with the right people. I think they do this by nature, and though you put a label on it like Branding, the ladies are already doing much of it, without even knowing what it is.

NOW ... if you can flat out hit, they will find you, even if you try to run off and hide.

AND if you present the greatest brand on earth, and cannot hit, they will not look twice.

What you can do is really hurt yourself by poor branding, or posting inappropriate stuff on digital media.

Sorry, just don't agree. Performance, or "speak softly and carry a big stick" will always trump a fluffy brand with no substance.

My point exactly: a "big stick" is a part of your brand.

It's not "earth shattering" to change your hair, no. But young athletes have to understand they are forming their athletic brand as well to stick out to college coaches. ---- Do you have a great back hand? Do you have a great change up? What's your athletic brand? ALL of that goes into catching the eye of a college coach.

Not hitting but being a great defensive player -- that is part of your personal brand too.
 

amandascarborough

where's the chocolate?
Jan 22, 2014
67
6
Everywhere, USA
I had a conversation with a friend's pitching coach (she and her sister both played college ball on full scholarships) a couple of weeks ago about what college recruiters are looking for. Attitude on and off the field will make or break a player's chances in a heartbeat. Things like how you support your teammates, interact with your parents, interact with friends, etc. are HUGE. Skills can be taught. A bad attitude is a cancer. The player that trots over and pats her teammate on the back after a mistake is going to get a lot more interest than turning a great play on a hard grounder up the middle. A player who back-talks their parents on the sidelines between games is a player to be avoided, no matter how good her bat is.

TOTAL agreement. I interact with a ton of college coaches on this and they are highly looking for the intangibles that a college player brings.
 
Jul 2, 2013
681
0
My point exactly: a "big stick" is a part of your brand.

It's not "earth shattering" to change your hair, no. But young athletes have to understand they are forming their athletic brand as well to stick out to college coaches. ---- Do you have a great back hand? Do you have a great change up? What's your athletic brand? ALL of that goes into catching the eye of a college coach.

Not hitting but being a great defensive player -- that is part of your personal brand too.

Listen, I understand what you are saying and don't entirely disagree.

I also think today's female athletes are more adept at "branding" than we adults realize.

Most all these concepts are pretty straight forward. Easy, simple, a 12 year usually knows, or have been told by their parents.

Also society is attune to fluffy salesmen, or women, trying to sell themselves, or an old concept under a fancy new name in order to make some money.

Virtually NOTHING trumps flat out GREAT performance. Word travels for them. Coaches spend decades trying to find them. They know. They are NOT fooled by some fluffy presentation with a corporate logo. If fact, they have learned to look elsewhere.

The Original Poster said "branding" is "just as important as being a great hitter". I strongly disagree. If you can amend the advertisement, maybe this stupid poster will come around to the OP's way of thinking.
 
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