Getting noticed as a hockey recruit can be a challenge. There are 62 Division 1 NCAA men's hockey programs and 90 Division II/III NCAA programs and in the United States, there are about 450,000 men's ice hockey players. On the women's side,there are 42 division 1 NCAA programs,72 division 3 NCAA programs, and about 210,000 women's ice hockey players worldwide, with over 170,000 of them competing in the United States and Canada alone.
As a growing sport, these numbers increase every year, which makes getting noticed by college programs very competitive and why it is important to stand out to these coaches. One way to get the attention of coaches is by reaching out via email. In many cases, you can find a coach's email on the team's website. Once you do, be sure to include the following seven components of a solid first email to a coach.
Subject Line
The subject line is the first thing that the coach will see when you send them an email, so it needs to grab the attention of the coach. A good subject line should include your graduation year, position, and your high school team. If you are on a club team, it's important to include that information in the subject line as well.
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Introduction
The email should start with you introducing yourself to the coach. The introduction should include your name, location, graduation year, GPA, high school and club team name. This gives the coach important information about you right away.
Athletic Information
Once you have introduced yourself to the coach, take the time to highlight your athletic abilities. At this point in the email, you should include your stats and any of your hockey accomplishments, but remember to keep it brief! This part of the email should just list highlights of the past couple of seasons and any interesting facts about you.
Related: 5 Important Email Tips During the Recruitment Process
What's Next?
You want to let the coach know what games you are playing next, any showcases or tournaments that you are going to be playing in, and what team you are going to be on during these games. You should include your schedule of your games with times and locations. It is also important to include what number jersey you will be wearing in these games.
Contact Information
Provide your contact information for the coach. This would include your phone number and email that is best to reach you at. This will make it easy for the coach if they want to contact you so that they do not have to go looking for the information.
Related: 6 Do's and Don'ts When Emailing Coaches During the Recruiting Process
Highlights/Video
If you have any video clips or a highlight video of you playing, this would be where you would include it in the email. Remember that these highlights should include more than just videos of you scoring goals–they should show off your hockey intelligence. You also should inform the coach that you are attaching a video clip to the email that includes highlights of you playing so they know it's there.
Review
Before you send any email, take the time to read it over. Make sure you are addressing the correct person pertaining to the team that you have interest in. Check to make sure you include any video in the email if you said you were going to. Finally, end the email by thanking the coach for their time and express how you are looking forward to hearing from them.
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* Originally published on November 29, 2022, by Marissa Massaro
