One of the most perplexing aspects of the college recruiting-and-marketing process is knowing whether or not you’re doing everything that needs to be done, taking all the right steps in the right order, and moving in a positive way towards your goal of a college softball career.

You will have many opportunities throughout your high school years to maximize your exposure to college coaches, and to help yourself become a more attractive and interesting potential recruit.

You need to organize your marketing game plan to take advantage of these opportunities.

 By following the Year-by-Year Marketing Timetable, you can stay one step ahead of the recruiting-and-marketing process (and a step ahead of the competition), and you’ll be able to take advantage of any opportunity that appears along the way.

YEAR-BY-YEAR MARKETING TIMETABLE

The purpose of this “Marketing Timetable” is to guide you year-by-year and step-by-step through the recruiting-and-marketing process, to show you what needs to be accomplished, and when it needs to be done. Use this timetable as your basic guide, but also keep in touch with your high school or junior college guidance counselor to be sure that you’re fulfilling all necessary academic requirements as well. Situations might arise during the next few months or years that are not covered in this Timetable. Use your best judgment based on the knowledge of the recruiting process and marketing principles that you’ve learned. Use what works best for you.

FRESHMAN YEAR

__Get settled in high school.

Take the most challenging courses that you can handle. Honors, AP (Advanced Placement), and college-level courses are a definite plus in the recruiting process.

Talk with your high school guidance counselor, and tell him/her your hopes and plans for the future. Guidance counselors can keep you pointed in the right direction academically, and can  offer advice and support, as things get a little more hectic in your junior and senior years.

Take nothing for granted, however. Some high school guidance counselors have little or no knowledge of the athletic recruiting process, scholarships, or athletic eligibility requirements. If necessary, be prepared to function as your own guidance counselor.

__Start a detailed record of your high school athletic activities.

You should start keeping a detailed record of your athletic activities the minute you begin high school. Your record should include:

(1) all relevant statistics, awards, and accomplishments;

(2) your improvements, including batting average, fielding percentage, running speed, pitching speed;

(3) your personal development, such as height, weight, and strength. Also start to keep a file of all newspaper articles. Keep a copy of everything in which your name appears, even articles from the high school paper, and even if your name appears only in tiny print in the box score.

__If you’re not already on a travel team, get on one.

Many travel teams have their own web site, so check out the team’s schedule, record, roster, and philosophy, and contact the coaches of the teams that interest you. Make arrangements to watch a practice or a game, or arrange a tryout. Talk to the coach and to members of the team, and take it from there. Travel teams generally hold tryouts in late summer or early fall, and again in January or February. Players can often get a coach to “take a look at them” at other times of the year. If you’re currently playing for a rec ball or high school team, ask the travel ball coach to come and watch you play, or arrange for a personal tryout.

__Get your Online Player Profile up and running on the Internet, so that college coaches and other interested people can view your personal, academic, and athletic information.

__Start your “Top 25” college selection program.

__If you’re a top prospect, send a brief introduction letter to the coaches at your top ten colleges of choice. This might seem a little premature. For most players, it is, but for those players who know that they will one day be a top prospect, it’s time to start getting the word out. Don’t put all of your marketing eggs in one basket. Even if you really want to go to UCLA, and only UCLA, and absolutely refuse to consider or discuss any other school, you still need to send letters to a number of different colleges...just in case.

__Attend college softball games, and continue to do so throughout your high school years.

__Start a College Softball File.

Get a large file folder, and start collecting information related to your college softball career.

Organize the information into sub-files, such as “Top 25 College Choices,” “Correspondence,” “Press Items,” “Reference Letters,” and so on, so that you can locate whatever you need quickly and easily.

__Keep up with correspondence.

As you know, follow-up is essential to a successful marketing effort. Once you write to a coach, you need to maintain contact on a fairly regular basis until you (or the coach) decide that the school or team is not for you. Keep the coach posted on all upcoming major games and tournaments, any recruiting camps or recruiting tournaments that you attend, and anything significant that happens to you along the way.

__Send a brief profile update to coaches at the end of the high school season, along with your travel team schedule for the summer.

SOPHOMORE YEAR

In the Fall of Your Sophomore Year

__Stay active with your travel team.

If you play “fall ball” or “winter ball,” send a note to coaches about your activities, game and tournament schedule, and so on.

__Send a letter or email.

“Top” prospects: Send an update letter or email to your top ten schools, and include a copy of your high school and travel ball schedules, if it’s available (or send it separately later). Send an introduction letter to the balance of your “Top 25” schools. “Regular” prospects: Send an introduction letter to your “Top 25” schools.

__Keep your College Softball File up-to-date.

__Your Online Player Profile should be up-and-running no later than the beginning of your junior year, preferably by the end of your sophomore year. If you haven’t started on your online profile yet, get moving.

__Take the PSAT/NMSQT (the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) if you plan to take the SAT.

The PSAT is a practice test for the SAT that you’ll take in your junior year. The PSAT also puts you in contention for National Merit Scholarship recognition and scholarship awards. This kind of academic recognition is very attractive to college coaches. It tells a coach that you’ll probably be able to handle college-level academics, and it helps the coach work with the financial aids office to put together a financial aid “package” for you. You can find information about the PSAT and SAT at www.collegeboard.com (click on “Taking the Tests”). The ACT web site is www.act.org (click on “ACT Online Registration”). A college search, financial aid estimator, and other college-related information is available at both sites. You can also register for the SAT and ACT online. (Online registration can take up to an hour or so, but you don't have to do the entire registration all at once.) Refer to the admissions policy of your colleges of choice to determine if the school prefers the SAT or ACT for incoming student academic assessment.

In the Spring of Your Sophomore Year

__Prepare your Player Marketing Package.

__Update, revise, and reconsider your “Top 25.”

You don’t want to get to the middle of your junior or senior year and find out that you’ve spent a lot of time, energy, and money courting coaches at the wrong schools. Take a good, hard look at every school on your “Top 25” list. Has your attitude changed towards any of these schools? Is this really where you want to go to school? Is this really the best possible choice for you? Do you really have a chance to play for Fresno State, Oklahoma, or UCLA?

Is there a school that you rejected previously that looks a little better now? Is there a school that has come to your attention since you first made up your list that might be a good opportunity for you? Have you received interest from coaches at schools that you hadn’t thought about before?

Have your academic interests changed? How are your grades and test scores? Is Stanford or Northwestern looking like more of an academic long shot?

__Send your Player Marketing Package to the newly-revised-and-updated “Top 25” colleges of interest. Too soon? Not really. It’s time to get those college coaches paying attention to you.

Coaches can’t watch you or write to you until they know you exist. You want the coaches to start to look at you during the summer, then be able to write to you in the fall of your junior year.

Give yourself the luxury of a little extra time. If you wait until next year to send out your information to coaches, you’ll be under that much more pressure to find a school and a team during your senior year. You want to be signed in your senior year, not still hustling to find a team.

__Make follow-up phone calls to the coaches at your “Top 25” colleges within a week to ten days of mailing your Player Marketing Package to them. This is important. Make those calls! Most players will sit back and wait for the coaches to respond to their mailing. What if the coach didn’t get your package? What if your package is still sitting unread on the coach’s desk with a hundred other player packages? Don’t leave your college softball career to chance, or to an undelivered or misplaced player package. Be pro-active, always. Follow up. You won’t be able to chat very much with the coach, since you’re a sophomore. Just ask if he/she got your package, and let it go at that.

Once you send out your Player Marketing Package, you need to maintain contact with your “Top 25” coaches until you get a reply, an offer, or a rejection.

__Send your summer travel ball schedule to coaches at your “Top 25” schools. Many coaches prefer to start looking at players in the summer between the sophomore and junior years, rather than wait until the summer after the junior year. Coaches want to be contacting players in their junior year, not finding out about them for the first time.

__If possible, make unofficial campus visits to colleges during spring break or in the summer before junior year. There is no substitute for experiencing a college campus in person. A campus visit allows you to have direct contact with teachers and students, and will give you a good overall sense of the school itself.

When is the best time to take a Campus Visit?

The best time to visit a college is during the regular school year, when you can get a good look at the students, professors, and coaches “in action.” Second best is a visit when summer school is in session. A visit to a college during a vacation or “break” period might not be as productive, but it’s better than no visit at all.

Call the admissions office at least two weeks in advance to schedule your visit and to arrange a campus tour. Take advantage of escorted tours and student information sessions. Also ask if you can arrange to meet with faculty members in your area of interest and with admissions staff to review admission requirements, college costs, and financial aid. schedule your meetings with faculty and staff to take place after the campus tour and information session. You’ll know more about the school, and you’ll be able to ask better questions.

Virtual Tours

Some schools offer online “virtual tours.” These are no substitute for a live, in-person tour, of course, but a “virtual tour” can give you good idea of what the campus looks like, and what athletic facilities, housing options, and on-campus social events and cultural activities are available. Some virtual tours also offer a look at the surrounding community.

By the time you actually visit a campus, you won’t feel quite so overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds and information overload, and you can focus on the areas of the campus and campus life that interest you.

JUNIOR YEAR

Most recruiting experts recommend that you begin your marketing efforts in your junior year. You’re already ahead of the game. If you’re just beginning the recruiting process, welcome aboard! Now get to work. Review the Freshman and Sophomore year activities, and bring yourself up-to-date in all areas. From here on out, you need to stay on top of everything related to the recruiting process and your marketing efforts. Take nothing for granted. Your recruiting situation can change quickly, even overnight, and you need to be ready to take advantage of any situation or opportunity that arises. After September 1 of your junior year, college coaches can contact you by letter or other written correspondence. Be prepared to respond. Don’t let up athletically or academically. Continue to improve your grades and develop your softball skills. What you accomplish this year could very well make the difference in whether or not you get a scholarship or even make a team at all.

In the Fall of Your Junior Year

__If you’ll be participating in any fall “exposure” tournaments or recruiting camps, send a postcard or email to the coaches on your “Top 25” list. The fall/winter travel ball season at the beginning of your junior year can be particularly productive if you can get college coaches to come and watch you play. If you’re involved in “fall ball” or “winter ball” during your junior year (or at any time during your high school years), be sure to keep college coaches advised of your fall and winter activities.

__Take the SAT or ACT test.

Arrange to take the test in the fall, so there is no conflict with your spring softball schedule. If you don’t do well on the test, you can take it again in the early spring. In those parts of the country where high school softball season is in the fall, take the test as early in the spring as possible, before travel ball season gets started. Most recruiting professionals suggest that you be prepared to take the SAT or ACT twice. Many students score higher on the second test. You can choose which scores you wish to report to colleges. As with many other aspects of your marketing efforts, you want to have choices.

__Update your Online Player Profile with any new academic and athletic information.

__Arrange for videotaping of high school season games and tournaments for your game/skills video.

__Keep your College Softball File up-to-date.

Mid-Junior Year Evaluation

As you already know, NCAA coaches can contact high school athletes personally after September 1 of a player’s junior year. But don’t sit around your whole junior year waiting for coaches to call. If you’re not receiving questionnaires or other contacts by the middle of your junior year, and you firmly believe that you’re a legitimate college prospect, you might be in danger of being overlooked.

You’ll need to “light a fire” under your “Top 25” college coaches. Send a reminder letter or email to every coach on your “Top 25” list. Ask your high school coach to follow up with a phone call, or call the college coach yourself, and ask if the coach has received your promotional material (or checked out your web site). Ask about the current recruiting situation. Ask if he/she is still looking for players. Don’t press for answers. Just inquire. If you don’t get much positive response, you’ll need to expand your “Top 25” to include other schools, and you’ll need to re-double your efforts on your own behalf.

In the Early Spring of Your Junior Year

__Send a “reminder” letter to the coaches at your “Top 25” colleges, advising them of your activities.

__If possible, arrange to make unofficial campus visits on your spring break. Combine trips to different colleges in the same area. You might be up to your ears in softball or other activities, but if you get a few days off, try to get to college within driving distance. Save the long-distance travel for the summer.

During Junior Year Softball Season

__Update your Online Player Profile with high school softball statistics and weekly updates of upcoming games and tournaments.

__Send your summer travel team schedule to your “Top 25” coaches.

__Arrange for videotaping of summer travel ball games and tournaments for your game/skills video.

After Junior Year Softball Season

__If you’ve received no substantial response from the your “Top 25,” send a “reminder letter” to the “Top 25,” and mail your Player Marketing Package to your “Fall-back” and “If All Else Fails” choices.

__Update your summer travel team schedule, and send it to all the coaches you’ve contacted previously.

__If you plan to play college softball for an NCAA Division I or a Division II school, register with the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.

The NCAA has created the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse in order to certify that prospective student-athletes have satisfied NCAA academic eligibility requirements. If you fail to register with the Clearinghouse, you will not be certified to play Division I or Division II softball.The Clearinghouse only certifies your academic eligibility to participate in collegiate sports. It has no bearing or influence on your admission to a Division I or Division II school.

How do I register for the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse?

Contact your high school guidance counselor for information and registration materials,

which include a student-release form and a brochure, entitled Making Sure You Are Eligible to Participate in College Sports.

A Clearinghouse registration form is enclosed in the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound

Student Athlete, from your high school counselor, or by calling the NCAA toll-free automated information line at 1-800-638-3731.

Is there a deadline to register for the Clearinghouse?

There is no deadline to register, but you must be certified by the Clearinghouse before you can receive an athletic scholarship, and before you can practice or compete at a Division I or Division II college or university.

During Summer Travel Ball Season, after Junior Year

After July 1, college coaches and recruiters can contact you by phone and in person. Be ready. If you attend an exposure tournament that extends past the July 1 deadline, for example, be prepared for coaches waiting to talk with you after games, or following you out to the parking lot, or calling you at all hours, hoping to get a jump on other coaches.

__Update your Online Player Profile with travel ball statistics, as available. Also provide weekly updates on upcoming games and tournaments.

__Arrange for videotaping of games and tournaments for your game/skills video.

After Junior Year Travel Ball Season

__Initiate your follow-up campaign to your “Top 25.” Include a follow-up letter, current articles, updated player profile, and so on. You need to keep your name in front of as many coaches as possible, for as long as necessary. Also advise coaches if you plan to attend any “exposure” tournaments or recruiting camps in the fall of your senior year.

__Compile Game/Skills Video (and make copies) for coaches who will request it.

SENIOR YEAR

__Fill all video requests as soon as possible.

__Send out your Player Profile Package, with your video, to any new schools of interest. You might learn about a school that you might never have heard about or thought about before. If the school fits your skills and interests, send them your information.

__Review “Letter of Intent” dates and deadlines.

__If you have not already done so, register with the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.

__Take advantage of college-paid official visits, if offered. It is very important to take these trips. You need to evaluate a school, coaches, and team in person. You are going to spend four (maybe five) years at this school. You need to be absolutely sure that this is the school for you before you make that kind of commitment. You might find that some schools will ask you to verbally commit to their school as soon as possible. Resist the pressure (from outside or from within yourself) to make a quick decision. A verbal commitment is not binding until a National Letter of Intent (NLI) is signed. You can change your mind about attending a school after you’ve made a verbal commitment, but not after you’ve signed the NLI.

Be certain about every aspect of a school and team before you sign. If you change your mind and don’t attend the school for which you signed the NLI (or if you transfer to another NCAA school before one year is completed), you’ll lose at least a year of playing eligibility.

__Send follow-up letters to your “Top 25” colleges and any other schools of interest.

Let’s be realistic. Unless a coach from one of your “Reach” or “Dream” schools has

contacted you by mid-fall of your senior year, it’s probably not going to happen. Most of the top-level schools have already identified their top prospects, and are in the process of arranging on campus visits and early signings. If Arizona, Northwestern, or UCLA hasn’t called by now, they’re probably not going to. Sorry, but you’ve got to swallow your disappointment, and move on.

Concentrate your efforts on your “Can Do” colleges. If, in the meantime, one of your “Dream” schools happens to come through for you, that’s great. But don’t hold your breath, and don’t sit by the phone waiting and hoping for the call that never comes. There are plenty of coaches out there who are still looking for players, and some of those coaches have just started actively recruiting.

__Have your high school and/or travel ball coach make follow-up calls to your top colleges of interest. Again, make a list for your coach with phone numbers, coaches’ names, and all necessary and relevant information.

__Take advantage of “Windows of Opportunity.”

You should take advantage of every possible opportunity to market yourself to coaches, of course. There are, however, special “windows of opportunity” that arise during a player’s career, and you should take full advantage of these kinds of events and occurrences:

__ Any state, regional, or national-level team competition.

Send a postcard or a short email to your “Top 25” coaches advising them of your participation in the tournament. Include the name, dates, times, location, and competitive level of the tournament, your name, jersey number, position, and team name. Also include a contact phone number or email address for the tournament (or for your coach), so the college coach can obtain additional tournament information (game times, field locations, and so on).

Arrange for videotaping of your participation in the tournament, particularly if it occurs during your junior year or in the summer between your junior and senior years. Videotape of you playing at a national-level tournament, in front of an enthusiastic crowd (not the usual scattered handful of parents and die-hard fans), on a well-manicured field (not the usual high school gravel pit) is particularly valuable.

__ Any recruiting camp or “exposure” tournament that you attend.

__ Any state, regional, or national-level athletic recognition.

In the marketing game, you cannot blow your own horn too loudly. Any MVP, Golden Glove, hitting, or pitching award that you earn above the local level holds increased importance to college coaches. As long as you’ve got the “goods” to back up your claims to greatness, there is nothing immodest or unethical about using your hard-earned recognition to further your goal of a college softball career. In fact, you’ll find that a less-accomplished but highly marketed player often receives offers that should go to a better player. The trouble is that the college coaches don’t know about the better player, because the better player was reluctant to “make a big deal” about her skills and accomplishments.

__ Any state, regional, or national-level academic recognition.

Notice the recurring emphasis on “state, regional, or national-level” activities and recognition.

The higher up the academic or athletic ladder that you receive recognition, the more significant it is to college coaches and recruiters. You needn’t send a postcard or email about every little exceptional thing you do. Overloading the coach will actually have a detrimental effect. After a few too many “updates,” the coach will simply ignore your correspondence. It’s enough to include your noteworthy activities in the periodic update of your Online Player Profile, with a bullet or asterisk for emphasis. Send a letter, postcard, or email only for activities where the coach can actually see you perform on the field.

__Stay Pro-Active.

You need to stay in control of every aspect of your marketing and recruiting efforts. The

opportunity to play college softball can slip away if you become passive, disinterested, or inattentive. You’ve simply got to stay on top of every little thing until you sign your name on the dotted line. Just because you get an offer to play on a college softball team, or an offer of a scholarship, doesn’t mean that your job is over. Don’t settle for anything less than an offer to play ball (or a scholarship, if that’s your goal) from one of your top five choices unless you absolutely have no other choice, no other potential offers, and you have no more time to make a decision. Unless and until you receive an offer from one of your top choices, keep up with all correspondence and phone calls. Keep sending out information. Keep your name in front of the coaches for as long as you can. If you get an offer from a school, by all means let the coaches at your other top choices know about it. An offer from a rival school might prompt a coach to take another look at your qualifications.

__Follow up on contacts.

Always, always, always follow up on any legitimate contact. You never know where a contact will lead. If it turns out to be nothing, fine. But a seemingly not-so-special contact might lead to another contact, and to another, which might ultimately lead to the softball field at UCLA. You never know.

__Answer all correspondence.

Somebody took the time to write to you. It’s only common courtesy to respond to them.

__Return all phone calls within 24 hours.

If you don’t have an answering machine, get one, and use it. A coach who is seriously interested in you will very likely call back, but a coach who might be interested, or who could prove to be a good contact, might not be as persistent. They could simply hang up, and move on to the next name on the list. Also, once you’ve talked to a coach who has expressed a moderate level of interest in you, be sure to keep in touch with that coach on a regular basis until he/she decides whether or not to make on offer to you. Don’t let the coach forget about you, and don’t let them think you’re not interested.

Keep all player/coach relationships alive and all communication active until you have no more reason to do so.