Athlete Recruitment

I live all the way in Washington, D.C. and it is seldom that coaches from the academy are in the area to scout, how should i go about contacting them?
-I have already filled out a Questionnaire.



Any Help?

Hi
I guess it depends on the sport. For baseball my DS emailed the coach after getting his email from a teammate the coach was trying to get for his team. He invited the coach to see his college recruitment web site and invited him to see him play at several Perfect Game tournaments that he knew the coach would attend. I would email the coach and give yourself a good talk up. Let the coach know why you are special and why you stand out in your sport. If the coach feels you meet the needs of the Air Force and have something to bring to the table, they will contact you. If you have notable accomplishments in sports, don't be bashful about letting the coach know.
Regards
John

contact the coach they are on the athletic website email them. They will generally take it from there. They know how to evaluate you, that is part of their job. depending on what year you are you might look at attending camp at the academy between your junior and senior years. Coaches can generally contact you the summer between your soph and junior year, depending on the sport.

Good Luck

thanks for getting back so soon, and i will definitely use your advice.

I'm not sure how it is with your specific sport, but I would try getting in touch with them during the off season of your junior year. Often times the coaches do not put as much time and energy into recruiting when the season is in full swing. Send them an email and then if they are interested they will most likely invite you to fill out the questionaire.

FlyingFuzz said:

I'm not sure how it is with your specific sport, but I would try getting in touch with them during the off season of your junior year. Often times the coaches do not put as much time and energy into recruiting when the season is in full swing. Send them an email and then if they are interested they will most likely invite you to fill out the questionaire.

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Yea I think I'm a little late there, track season has started and wont stop till the summer. I'll try anyway, but thanks for the response.

Contact the coach, Tell him about yourself and that you are interested in the academy. Get yourself a Youtube channel and post some videos of you playing your sport. Develop a relationship with the coach and upload new videos throughout your season. Always pick your best video! In the old days of recruitment parents would hire a company to videotape their athlete and mail the videotape to the coaching staff. That all changed when parents could burn their own DVD's and mail them to coaches. Personal websites came next.

Cheap advice? For any school - go to the athletic department page of the school you are interested in. Look for the athletic department directory. Get the coaches email address and send him a message about your interest in his school and tell him you have a youtube channel. Very easy to do!

Our son is currently a C2C and was a recruited athlete for fencing. As a high school sophomore we attended the NCAA fencing championships. During a break in the action we went up and introduced ourselves to the USAFA head coach. It definitely helped that our son had just finished 8th out of 196 fencers in the Junior Olympics just two weeks prior. That really got his attention. We had a very nice, brief chat and the coach suggested that he stay in touch and fill out their recruiting questionnaire.

The following year he was invited to visit USAFA on a recruiting trip along with other fencing recruits. Once he got his ACT test scores and reported them to the coaching staff they determined that they wanted him. Of course, he was also heavily involved in student activities, had very good grades, etc. Ultimately, he ended up receiving an LOA (letter or assurance) and the rest is history.

I suppose it may be a little easier for a coach to evaluate athletic talent in an individual sport since results give such a direct indication of achievement so I really can't offer much advice for team sports athletes, but this is how our particular recruiting experience went. Our son is still on the fencing team and really enjoying it.

Thanks, i will definitely do that!

JMC0759 said:

Contact the coach, Tell him about yourself and that you are interested in the academy. Get yourself a Youtube channel and post some videos of you playing your sport. Develop a relationship with the coach and upload new videos throughout your season. Always pick your best video! In the old days of recruitment parents would hire a company to videotape their athlete and mail the videotape to the coaching staff. That all changed when parents could burn their own DVD's and mail them to coaches. Personal websites came next.

Cheap advice? For any school - go to the athletic department page of the school you are interested in. Look for the athletic department directory. Get the coaches email address and send him a message about your interest in his school and tell him you have a youtube channel. Very easy to do!

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I totally agree with my friend JMC...in addition, my daughter was NOT a recruited athlete and we live farther afield than you out here in Hawaii. Her personal initiative with the coach, her attitude and her academic and other achievements went a long way in getting on the coach's radar. Talk to your current coach and see if he can also put in a good word for you and perhaps contact the USAFA coaching staff on your behalf. Finding people willing to put in a good word also helped my daughter. You may not get a blue chip and you may have to gain an appointment on your own muscle, but you could still get on the team, which for my daughter has been a wonderful experience. Coaches worry all the time about losing kids to academics, injury and to the many challenges of the Academy, and demonstrating that you have the right attitude to work hard and succeed at the Academy, not just at your sport, could go a long way. Good luck as you go through the process!