The college recruiting process is very stressful, yet just as rewarding. Once coaches are able to contact you, many athletes will see an influx of emails and calls from various coaches around the country. It is extremely important to answer coaches who have taken the time to reach out to you regardless of if you would like to attend the school or not. 

Related: How To Respectfully Turn Down a Coach as an Introvert

The college athletic world is extremely small. You do not want to burn bridges with a coach by not answering their email, because you don't know where they could end up. Coaches are constantly moving from school to school, and there is no telling where a coach might end up that could help you throughout your process. A coach may be at one university one year as an assistant and the next year a head coach at a different school that you may be interested in. Similarly, coaches have a lot of connections with other college coaches. You never want coaches to be talking about you where one has a very good experience and the other you ghosted; this will concern the coach who is interested in recruiting you. 

One of the most important reasons you need to respond to every coach is because that school could be the perfect fit for you. For my undergrad, I attended a school that I had never heard of. If I hadn't answered my coach's email, I would have never had the experience I did. Just because it's not a big name school doesn't mean their program and university isn't the right fit for you. It's cliche, but “don't judge a book by its cover.” Answer the coach and learn about what they have to offer because it could be the perfect option for you. 

Related: Picking a School and Team You Love

At first it's important to entertain as many coaches as possible, really sell yourself and what you can offer to their school. But as the process slims down, you want to still be respectable to the coaches you're not interested in and thank them for their time because down the road, you don't know who you'll run into. For example, when I decided to transfer, I had coaches reach out to me whom I spoke to during my high school recruiting process, so being respectful encouraged them to reach out again when I was available. 

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* Originally published on February 28, 2022, by Andrea Leitner