Question on showcases and attending coaches.

[LHV_NY_SB]

One thing to try is to locate the tournament's social media accounts. Many tournaments post the list of schools that have confirmed attendance. They usually update this as coaches confirm. Some post the list of coaches who've attended in years past. Nothing wrong with emailing coaches even if they are not attending, just to get her name out there.
One bit of advice that helped my DD was signing up for the service called Captain U. This cost us $20/month but allowed her to email coaches through their site. By doing this we could see what coaches opened her emails, and viewed her uploaded videos. As you get closer to September 1st of Junior year knowing which coaches are reading DD's emails will help you narrow down your selection of camps to attend. I'd say that even with spending $20/month for the site we saved a few thousand in camp fees as we were able to eliminate spending money on camps where the coaches never even read DD's emails. Today most D1 camps are $200-$250.

Anyone else had experience with the recruiting service? Thoughts?

 

[Sonerai]

We haven't used Captain U, but we are currently using SportsRecruits. It was purchased for the whole team so the cost is less than if we signed up as an individual. I think the basic account is our $250/yr for a single. SportsRecruits has been useful for us. My DD does 80% of her college coach communication through their platform. All the colleges are listed with details and links. Your DD, you and coach are notified when someone reviews her profile, sends a message or reviews a video. There are some basic stats and your DD can build and manage a list of colleges she is interested in.

 

[clarity]

Anyone else had experience with the recruiting service? Thoughts?

Every coach I've ever heard speak on the subject say they automatically delete any emails that originate through one of those recruiting services. Obviously some must look at them, but I've never heard a coach admit to it.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Every coach I've ever heard speak on the subject say they automatically delete any emails that originate through one of those recruiting services. Obviously some must look at them, but I've never heard a coach admit to it.

We use NSCA for recruiting, and we can see when the coach opens, reads, or responds to the messages. Even if they don't open the email from the site, it gives us every coach's email address so we can send it from her personal recruiting email address. I would say 85% of the messages she's sent over the last month have been opened and viewed, which usually results in a profile view.

 

[Sonerai]

Every coach I've ever heard speak on the subject say they automatically delete any emails that originate through one of those recruiting services. Obviously some must look at them, but I've never heard a coach admit to it.

Many of the coaches that my DD emails respond through SportsRecruits. However there are some that ask to send future emails directly to their email account because SportRecruits can go to spam folder. However even those coaches watch video on SportsRecruits at times. I would say if there is a coach that hasn't responded through a service like this, you should email directly to make sure they weren't getting lost.

 

[clarity]

I can say we don't use one of those services, and it doesn't feel like like her emails are getting read, even by the schools that say she is their #1 recruit.

 

[RADcatcher]

I can say we don't use one of those services, and it doesn't feel like like her emails are getting read, even by the schools that say she is their #1 recruit.

That is a gnarly result. Can be considered ghosting (kinda sort of)
Can create unnecessary stress.

Even an automated response would be something.
'We have your received your email. Thank you for contacting our program. With some other yada yada that's very neutral.'

 

[TwoPitcherFam]

If she has 10-15 schools she is interested in, she can also make a Twitter list and add all of the coaches and school’s softball Twitter to the list. They often post where they are traveling. Won’t solve all the issues but helps.

Re: recruiting services, if you do all the emailing and weekly recaps on Twitter, I don’t think it would add much value. Just went through the whole process and when coaches take an interest they will make it known. Until then, have to be very disciplined in outgoing emails and recaps. Everything else in trying to read tea leaves is speculation.

and to RADcatcher- if they said that, don’t lust for instant gratification- you are in a great spot and they will be back to you. These coaches have Fall ball, a whole roster of kids training 2 times a day and hundreds of emails. They are super busy- 12 hours a day, 6 days a week busy.

 

[4Martini]

We haven't used Captain U, but we are currently using SportsRecruits. It was purchased for the whole team so the cost is less than if we signed up as an individual. I think the basic account is our $250/yr for a single. SportsRecruits has been useful for us. My DD does 80% of her college coach communication through their platform. All the colleges are listed with details and links. Your DD, you and coach are notified when someone reviews her profile, sends a message or reviews a video. There are some basic stats and your DD can build and manage a list of colleges she is interested in.

My daughter’s org has SportsRecruits for everyone 14u and up. So, she apparently has a free account. Is there any benefit to do anything with it for an 8th grader? I’m not familiar with it. I was planning on waiting til she was in high-school to deal with it.

 

[RADcatcher]

and to RADcatcher- if they said that, don’t lust for instant gratification- you are in a great spot and they will be back to you.

These coaches have Fall ball, a whole roster of kids training 2 times a day and hundreds of emails. They are super busy- 12 hours a day, 6 days a week busy.

Yes busy. However they send out tons of emails for marketing their camps. Imagine the emails they get from these players go right onto that database. They collect that email information, would be easy at that time to do automated response.

Common it's the volunteer assistant coaches that have these duties.
( & graduate assistant volunteer coaches)