Prep school athlete recruiting happens in a few different ways. In this article, we will discuss the top three.
1) Direct Recruiting
Very established schools can sit back and build a roster based on the players and coaches that reach out. This is a luxury. As a result, most prep school coaches will research websites, go to camps/live events, call college/AAU coaches, or work with prep school placement consultants i.e. PREP Athletics. When a coach does this, he only reaches out to players with certain criteria. That means he thinks the player will be able to academically get accepted into his school and be a good fit for their program. In some instances, a prep program will be the only option that players are looking at. By being proactive in these situations, these coaches can occasionally get a player for a steal.
2) Players Reaching Out
Everyday, prep school coaches receive emails from players around the world wanting to attend their school. Coaches evaluate these emails and decide which student athletes to pursue. If you are a player reaching out, be sure to include all of the information that a prep school coach would want to see. This information includes highlights, transcripts, date of birth, why you want to go to prep school, etc. Coaches will filter through these emails, then they reach out to players who have the grades to get into their schools, as well as talent. These players will need to fill openings in a grad or position.
3) School
In some instances a player will reach out to a school directly and apply. Whether the player is someone a coach wants or not, the connection will be made this way. I always suggest to families to reach out to the coach first. If they do not think you are good enough or they don’t need your position, then you can save a lot of time by not reaching out to the school in the first place.
If you’re looking for more insights into process of prep school athlete recruiting, then check out the PREP Athletics Podcast!
