What do emails from coaches mean?

[softball dad 6]

DD recently attended 2 showcases that had a lot of coaches in attendance. Based on the information we have gotten from DFP DD emailed coaches from schools she may be interested in attending. After the showcases she has gotten emails from several schools that she has not previously had contact with. These emails have ranged from personally worded emails detailing her play and the fact they liked her power, speed, and athleticism to simply a link to the schools camp with nothing else in the message. The other emails fell somewhere in between but all included an invitation to attend camp and visit campus. I think I know what the coach is thinking that only included the link to their camp. My question is are the other coaches that took more time to send a personal email likely interested in DD or are they simply trying to fill up their camps?

Thanks,

#6's Dad

 

[JAD]

Camps are BIG money makers for college coaches, so my suggestion would be to contact the coaching staff and request a tour of the facilities, campus and athletic complex before or after the camp. It is not supposed to be during the camp, but some coaches bend the rules a little as long as the tour starts off campus after the events of the day have been completed. If a coach is interested in your DD they should be willing to accommodate your request. You can judge the level of their interest by their response:

1) No tour - little to no interest, unless there are extenuating circumstances
2) Tour by student from admissions department - very little interest
3) Tour by assistant coach - medium interest, especially if it is a private tour vs. a group tour
4) Tour by head coach - high level of interest, especially if it is a private tour vs. a group tour

 

[cuzmail]

Sounds like she was placed on a mailing list.

Personal communication is the key. And by personal, I don't mean a players name on a mass email.

If the Coaches have interest, One or more of them will talk with her, give her their mobile number, or email her directly. If this isn't happening, then their level of interest is questionable.

 

[corlay]

Camps are BIG money makers for college coaches,

I've found that fees for camps are all over the map,
and the $$$$ amounts are not necessarily correlated to the prestige of the program, either.

Most winter camps I've looked at (for pitcher sessions),
range from as little as $50, up to $200 or more.
The ACC schools are the most affordable, it seems, interestingly enough.
Colonial, Atlantic-10, etc for example - much higher.

 

[TMD]

Sounds like she was placed on a mailing list.

Personal communication is the key. And by personal, I don't mean a players name on a mass email.

If the Coaches have interest, One or more of them will talk with her, give her their mobile number, or email her directly. If this isn't happening, then their level of interest is questionable.

Very true.

One test we used with my daughter was to replace her name with the word "player" or any other name and see if the email felt any different. If it felt like the same exact email could have been sent to anyone, then it probably was. Note that depending on division of school and HS year of daughter, contact from coaches is restricted, so mass "come to our camp" type emails may be all they can send.

Note that coaches can use the same thing when reading emails from recruits...replace "Dear Coach X" with "Dear Coach Y", and "University of A" with "University of B", and see if it still feels the same. If they think the email you sent them is exactly the same as every other email you sent, it won't get much love.

 

[WaNole]

Did these emails come through her coach? They're not allowed to email unless she's a jr., so that's a red flag if they did not.

If they did come through your coach, have your coach call the school if your daughter is interested and get more info.

 

[IRONMAN]

If a coach is interested in your DD they should be willing to accommodate your request. You can judge the level of their interest by their response:

1) No tour - little to no interest, unless there are extenuating circumstances
2) Tour by student from admissions department - very little interest
3) Tour by assistant coach - medium interest, especially if it is a private tour vs. a group tour
4) Tour by head coach - high level of interest, especially if it is a private tour vs. a group tour

In our experience, these are a good rule-of-thumb. When my DD received an offer, we were sent an itinerary for the non-official from the coach, either through our TB coach (before she was an JR) and directly to her (when she became a JR). We were taken on tours with the head coach on all of those occasions.

 

[MNDad]

What appears to be a mass email may be genuine interest so I’d suggest following up. DD’s first contact from her school was the standard mass email. I called the coaches and found out the interest was genuine. I still had to talk DD into going to the camp because she had no interest in playing there. Ended up falling in love with it.

College coaches couldn’t communicate with underclassmen directly except to invite them to camps. I’m not sure the current contact rules. Ask your travel and/or HS coach, but don’t rely on it. I’ve seen too many not follow through.