How Important is a Good Team Website

I just went to a D1 college showcase/recruiting event where several of our D1 state colleges were giving out advice on recruiting. All of the coaches said that one of the first things they do is to check out the organizational websites to look at profiles and skills videos to see if the player would be a fit for them skill-wise/personality wise. The next thing they do is to contact the TB and HS coaches for input. After that, they research social media for "awkward posts." If they have seen the players at one of their camps, then they might go to watch them in a tournament/showcase if everything checks out and they truly seem interested in playing for that college.

corlay said:

I think the value of a good team website is not college recruiting.

It's about projecting a professional image to the public.
Has got to help with the community's impression of your organization,
and who might develop interest to tryout next time around.

Also, a great way to spot the psycho trophy-hunting teams.
You know, the ones that post a new "article" after each tournament,
detailing how they (once again, as usual) crushed all of their competition,
with accompanying "Bling Photos"...

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If you were a college coach would you rather recruit a player from a team that kicks rear on the field or has a kick rear website??? That is the answer to your question...

While recruiters may never visit a team website I do see some value in it and there is many times a correlation to how the organization is run and how well (or not) they keep up to date on their website. When scouting a team for DD to join, the website is the first thing I go to when doing my due diligence. DD's last team had a website that hadn't really been updated in years and (in hindsight) was a good indication of the disorganized nature of the org. If you checkout some of the top programs in the nation, like Firecrackers; Batbusters; Gold Coast Hurricanes, etc. they all seem to put a lot of time and energy into their website.

JAD said:

If you were a college coach would you rather recruit a player from a team that kicks rear on the field or has a kick rear website??? That is the answer to your question...

Click to expand...

I think ideally you would have a kick-rear team AND website, among so many other factors that help kids get recruited like a) personalized email to the coaches (not group mail blasts); b) having the player tell the coaches why they want to attend that particular school and how they can help that college team be competitive; and most importantly attending the camps and clinics hosted by the school recruiting them so they can meet and interact with the HC and ACs directly.

First I would say that if you are expecting college coaches to maneuver their way through a team website in order to see a profile or video, THEN YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG! Getting info to them should be as easy and painless as possible for them not you. Second, not to call any coach a liar but what is being said at these skills camps and recruiting seminars and what actually is happening are not the same. For instance they say "we watch your social media, grades, attitude, etc...". Then every team has a kid that is either in academic trouble, getting caught drinking or whatever the problem happens to be. Really this is a shock to coaches???? HELL NO, they take a risk that the good will out way the bad. Depending on the coach/school they may glance at Facebook or Twitter but do you really believe they have time to sit and look at posts from every girl they are considering offering a scholarship. Should your kid keep their noses clean, grades up and attitude in check? Yes! Is too much looked into many aspects of the recruiting game? Yes. You get a kid to commit at the age of 13, now you are spending all your time looking for her replacement and occasionally checking in on the 13 yr old. Not checking to to see what she has to say on Twitter. If something BIG happens the coaches will find out.

I think it's great for the player, parents, potential players, potential recruiting.

Of course it's just a piece they product has to be good on the field as well.

Another parent and me have built my daughters team site Home of Pinnacle Elite Softball