Hey everyone. I have a question that'd I'd really appreciate a response to if anyone has any insight on the subject. About 4 days ago or so, I recieved my first actual personalized "letter" from a college. I'm a junior and the letter was dated Sept. 1st, the first day college coaches can contact juniors by letter. My question is here: the letter has some background information about the college, they seek competitive players and students, etc... and then the last paragraph goes on to state: We are in receipt of your recent online questionarre submission (which i did fill out). The questionarre provides us with a blueprint of your abilities. I appreciate your time.. etc., Now that this first step is complete, we can properly and intelligently begin the recruitment process . He then thanks me and leaves a phone number.

My question is: What exactly does this mean? If someone could help me and provide some more insight, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Welcome to the HSBBW and congratulations! IMO this is the school acknowledging receipt of your online questionnaire. This is normal. The fact that the coach has also provided his phone number is a positive sign. Call Soon! As an '08 the coach cannot call but can talk with you if you initiate the contact. Take this opportunity to introduce yourself.

This is a good reminder for players to also take advantage of the online profiles provided on many college baseball websites.

thanks to both of you.. my next question would be: if i call a coach and leave him a message, is he allowed to return my call based on the fact that i initiated contact, or do i always have to actually talk to him thru my initation?

There are differnt rules for different divisions. I am assuming this is a D1 coach, you can call him all you want, he cannot return your phone calls.
Best time to reach coaches are usually early am. By giving you his phone number I would assume he wants you to call him.

Emails and text messeging are not included! I would go onto the schools website and see if you can contact him by email.

Best of luck and enjoy!

Provi Celtics- I am also an '08 grad.

Every letter has pretty much those exact words in it. It is just telling you to fill out the questionnaire. If all of a sudden you fill it out and you have a 1.4 gpa with 670 boards or something, chances are they won't further pursue you. But in reality the words they use are very choice words just for the people who are picky about those things.

As for contacting a coach, no matter what the circumstance a division 1 coach cannot call you until July 1st, 2007 I believe (although some people have been saying March 1st as a date, I might be getting them confused. If someone knows just let me know). What you can do is call the baseball office. At this point in time most programs are just starting up their fall league (ie: getting scholarshipped players accustomed to the program and their teammates; holding tryouts for walk-ons, etc.). Try to determine when you feel like the best time to call is. Tiger Paw Mom is correct, the AM is probably the best time, or during sometime that you would assume the majority of class time is going on and therefore he doesn't schedule a practice and is in his office.

Worst comes to worse a secretary will pick up (which, depending on the size of the school, is what will most likely happen anyway). Then just simply state your name and ask if you could leave a message for the coach. Leave the message and let him know you are going to e-mail him. When you do, ask him when the best possible time for you to reach him by phone is, thank him very much, etc. There is no limit on e-mails regulated by the NCAA (I e-mailed with coaches during my freshman year). Once he does that, make sure that you call him at that time within the next few days.

JH,
Good job!

Welcome to the website! You will soon become addicted. Another thought is when you speak with the coach (or begin emailing) is ask which showcases he'll be attending and when his school has camps, if any.

Provi- Just one more word of advice, something I'm doing. The first questionnaire you fill out, make a copy of it and keep it always. Therefore you'll have a basis for what you write in others. You won't have to look up your social security number every time, think of all your athletic honors or your gpa/class rank. Have it all set there for you to make your life as easy as possible. Every questionnaire is different, some are very laid out for you (like, for example, the one from UConn that I received), telling you exactly what they want in specific places. Others (like the Vanderbilt one) are more writing, expressing who the most influencial person in your life is, what other accomplishments you've had, etc. Outside of the typical section that is the same from every coach, there's more general questions they ask about you. Make sure you take note of those questions so that in any contact with the coach in the future, you will know what the coach is specifically interested in.

Mail them back as soon as you're done. Don't kill yourself to finish it the very first night (if you're like me you've realized junior year brings quite a bit of homework), but don't put it off either. After you mail it out, call the coach later on that week, maybe 4 or 5 days after, and just say you're checking in to see if he received the questionnaire and thank him very much again, etc. Be polite, show the respect and the letters/interest will keep coming, they already see that the skill is potentially there.