6 Reasons College Soccer Coaches Don’t Respond To Your Emails

Emailing college soccer coaches is an important aspect of your college soccer recruiting journey. Coaches receive hundreds of emails from interested soccer players every year but only have a limited amount of time to devote to email responses. The time constraints faced by college soccer coaches mean that they are only able to open a certain number of emails that they receive, and then only able to respond to a certain proportion of those that they open. Standing out and making a positive impression on a soccer coach through your emails can greatly affect your odds of getting recruited to that specific college. Below are 6 reasons college soccer coaches don’t respond to your emails.

1. You make the email about yourself 

If you want to stand out to a college coach in their email inbox, tell them about them! Send a personalized email that makes it clear to the coach that you have researched their college and are familiar with both their team and their academic programs. Telling a coach about his or her college shows them that you’ve done your homework, and that you’re genuinely interested in moving forward in the recruiting process with their college!

2. You don’t address the coach by name

It is fine to send your email to more than one coach from the same college, but make sure that you get their names right and that the spelling is always correct! Don’t use a generic title like ‘Coach’ because this tells the coach that you don’t care enough to send an individual email.

3. Your email is too long 

Remember – coaches have a limited amount of time to devote to email. They probably won’t look at your email for more than a minute or two, so keep it brief and to the point. It will take some time to compose emails that are both personal and concise, but it is worth the extra effort if you really want to stand out over other recruits in the coaches’ inbox. The goal is to show who you are, without forcing the coach to spend a significant amount of time and effort to get a good impression of you.

4. Your athletic resume and highlight video aren’t attached 

Don’t paste your college soccer resume in the body of the email or it will make your email too long. Instead, save it as a PDF and attach it to the email. The resume should include all of your academic information including grad year, GPA, class rank, etc as well as your athletic information. You should also include your soccer highlight video link in the actual email, because college coaches will most likely take a quick look if it’s easy to find.

5: You use a bad subject line or email address

It is important that you avoid having an inappropriate subject line or email address for your college coach emails. A subject line such as ‘Check my mad skillz’ or an email address name of ‘SoccerSkilzzzz’ is going to result in your email being ignored or sent to spam by the coach. Also, don’t BCC college coaches when you email them, as this will tell them that you are mass emailing coaches and are not interested in their program specifically. Many potential college soccer recruits take these minor details for granted when they are sending college coach emails.

6: You don’t follow up 

Following up with a college coach multiple times shows that you care. If you don’t hear back, follow up within 7-10 days. Make your subject line ‘Just checking in’ or ‘Follow up’ in order to differentiate yourself in a coach’s inbox. When you do get a response, don’t delay, follow up promptly within 24 hours!

NOTE: Emailing is easier when coaches begin the conversation!

Emailing college coaches is easier when the coach emails you first to express interest. In this case it is not a matter of trying to stand out in a crowded inbox but rather responding to genuine interest. Future 500 helps you do the following: