Like I mentioned previously, if you are reading this then you probably have a good idea on how to use a computer. Email updates are a great way to keep your daughter’s name in front of coaches. You have to be the judge if you want her to be responsible for sending out the updates. In my case, when my daughter was younger, I would send out the updates for her, but as she got older and really narrowed down her schools, she was able to accept the responsibility of updating her favorite schools.
You will want to start an email account for your daughter with the same common sense that you would for yourself if you were looking for a job – common sense and discretion is key because if your daughter is sending them emails from an account like hotchick4u@yourmail.com, I’m sure it’s not going to leave a good impression in the coach’s mind. Most email domains are free now so you can probably be pretty creative or just simple (firstname_lastname@yourmail.com) . Once you have established the account you can begin adding coaches email addresses. I set up distribution lists for each of the schools so she could update all the coaches for that school in 1 email. For mass updates (tournaments, showcases) she would blind copy (BCC) the coaches if she was targeting a lot of schools in that area.
Now there are some things that are EXTREMELY important. Your daughter is trying to make a good impression so things like capitalization, punctuation, spelling and grammar are important. Utilize the spell check feature and proofread it before it is sent. Using internet slang (ur, omg, lol, w/e) are no-no’s – at least until a relationship has been established and rapport has been built. Even then, I discouraged it with my daughter – in my opinion she was interviewing for a job and I preferred she remain as “professional” as possible.
Some sample emails
Tournament Notice:
Hi Coach,
I just wanted to let you know that I will be at ABC tournament July 6-7.
We are playing
July 6 on Court 1 @ 2pm against XYZ Team
July 7 on Court 4 @ 9am against MNO Team
July 7 on Court 2 @ 11:30am against DEF Team
Our team colors are blue & gold – I will be wearing jersey #23.
Hope you can make it!
Periodic Update:
Hey Coach Mary!
I wanted to let you know what has been going on. I just finished my first semester and I did really well. I made the honor roll and did great on all my finals. Our team is 5-2 now. I scored 16 points the other night. I led the team in steals and we beat the top team in the conference by 7 points! We are starting to come together as a team and my coach is cool!
My schedule for the next few weeks is…
Hope you can make it!
Showcase Notice:
Dear Coach
My name is …. I just wanted to let you know that I will be attending the ABC Showcase in Anytown, VA and was hoping you could come to watch me play. I was checking out the schools in that area and think that your school may be a good fit for me. I go to…High School. I play for … AAU team.
Hope you can make it!
Sincerely,
So, you can see where I am going with this. Sometimes I would have her include a goofy picture of her doing something other than basketball or a candid headshot – so they could see her outside of a uniform. Of course, you will be creative and accommodate your daughter’s personality. It’s probably important to help her out the first few times to make sure she understands the importance of getting her name in front of these coaches.
Some things that will come up… After April or May, you are probably going to have to update the email address book. A lot of coaches change jobs, move on to other positions. It will take some homework on your part to make sure you have the most recent and updated email accounts in your address book.
I even set up distribution lists based on region. My daughter played a national schedule and if she had a tournament in the Northeast, I had all of the coaches grouped that way as well. If she played in the South, there were distribution lists for that region too.
If she went to tournaments in areas that we hadn’t spoken to any colleges and letters showed up in the mailbox shortly after, I would do some research and add them in to the email address book to keep them updated. You never know which school could be “the one” and we never ignored anyone. We entertained all “D’s” and she kept relationships with them throughout the entire process.
Emailing is a no-cost way for your daughter’s name to remain in front of coaches. It is probably 1 of the easiest ways for your daughter to begin a relationship too.
You will want to start an email account for your daughter with the same common sense that you would for yourself if you were looking for a job – common sense and discretion is key because if your daughter is sending them emails from an account like hotchick4u@yourmail.com, I’m sure it’s not going to leave a good impression in the coach’s mind. Most email domains are free now so you can probably be pretty creative or just simple (firstname_lastname@yourmail.com) . Once you have established the account you can begin adding coaches email addresses. I set up distribution lists for each of the schools so she could update all the coaches for that school in 1 email. For mass updates (tournaments, showcases) she would blind copy (BCC) the coaches if she was targeting a lot of schools in that area.
Now there are some things that are EXTREMELY important. Your daughter is trying to make a good impression so things like capitalization, punctuation, spelling and grammar are important. Utilize the spell check feature and proofread it before it is sent. Using internet slang (ur, omg, lol, w/e) are no-no’s – at least until a relationship has been established and rapport has been built. Even then, I discouraged it with my daughter – in my opinion she was interviewing for a job and I preferred she remain as “professional” as possible.
Some sample emails
Tournament Notice:
Hi Coach,
I just wanted to let you know that I will be at ABC tournament July 6-7.
We are playing
July 6 on Court 1 @ 2pm against XYZ Team
July 7 on Court 4 @ 9am against MNO Team
July 7 on Court 2 @ 11:30am against DEF Team
Our team colors are blue & gold – I will be wearing jersey #23.
Hope you can make it!
Periodic Update:
Hey Coach Mary!
I wanted to let you know what has been going on. I just finished my first semester and I did really well. I made the honor roll and did great on all my finals. Our team is 5-2 now. I scored 16 points the other night. I led the team in steals and we beat the top team in the conference by 7 points! We are starting to come together as a team and my coach is cool!
My schedule for the next few weeks is…
Hope you can make it!
Showcase Notice:
Dear Coach
My name is …. I just wanted to let you know that I will be attending the ABC Showcase in Anytown, VA and was hoping you could come to watch me play. I was checking out the schools in that area and think that your school may be a good fit for me. I go to…High School. I play for … AAU team.
Hope you can make it!
Sincerely,
So, you can see where I am going with this. Sometimes I would have her include a goofy picture of her doing something other than basketball or a candid headshot – so they could see her outside of a uniform. Of course, you will be creative and accommodate your daughter’s personality. It’s probably important to help her out the first few times to make sure she understands the importance of getting her name in front of these coaches.
Some things that will come up… After April or May, you are probably going to have to update the email address book. A lot of coaches change jobs, move on to other positions. It will take some homework on your part to make sure you have the most recent and updated email accounts in your address book.
I even set up distribution lists based on region. My daughter played a national schedule and if she had a tournament in the Northeast, I had all of the coaches grouped that way as well. If she played in the South, there were distribution lists for that region too.
If she went to tournaments in areas that we hadn’t spoken to any colleges and letters showed up in the mailbox shortly after, I would do some research and add them in to the email address book to keep them updated. You never know which school could be “the one” and we never ignored anyone. We entertained all “D’s” and she kept relationships with them throughout the entire process.
Emailing is a no-cost way for your daughter’s name to remain in front of coaches. It is probably 1 of the easiest ways for your daughter to begin a relationship too.
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