What you can you do to help the recruiting process:
Getting the information you need.
Assuming you possess some of the tools we talked about in the previous chapter you are now going to go to work marketing them. Remember you do not have to possess all five tools, only a small percentage of players in the history of the big leagues possess them. What you have to do is figure out your strengths (be honest with yourself) and then figure out which programs value those strengths. This is actually not that hard to do, a simple email will get you some valuable information. You can find most coach’s email on the schools website. Their email is usually on the baseball page in the athletic section of the website. If it is not directly on the page check the coach’s bio. Keep your email short and concise in order to prompt a return with the answers you are looking for. Check the sample email below.
“Coach Johnson, my name is Joe Smith, and I am looking at schools in which I fit in academically and that value the tools in which I possess on the field. I was wondering what your schools academic standards are in relation to GPA, SAT, and ACT, I am also wondering what physical tools you value most in a player. I appreciate your time as I know you are busy, and I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, Joe Smith.”
You should save this email as a draft so you can use it for every coach you want to email. Obviously do not forget to change the coach’s name. When you get emails back and you see schools that value what you have to offer you can start to further market yourself to the schools that fit your skill set. One of my players got in contact with the University of Florida using this strategy. He sent an email and received a very prompt response and the coach was very detailed in telling the player what he looked for. Also, if a coach does not get back to you right away or even at all do not get discouraged some coaches may be very busy or simply do not return any unsolicited emails, that is OK just keep trying.
