Technology has changed the manner in which we carry out various everyday tasks at home, at work and interacting socially with friends and family. The easy access to information and ability to "shrink" the world has affected so many areas. Yes in many ways things have become easier but sometimes too easy doesn't equate to better.
Technology has definitely impacted how college and university coaches are able to connect with and recruit potential student-athletes. There are still very specific regulations in place to control and monitor have coaches go out and communicate with potential recruits, but the ability to reach out and accumulate information, do the due diligence to look into a potential players statistics, background and even social media footprint has really changed how the practice of recruiting is carried out. We have come a long way for the endless road trip to games, showcases, home visits, sending out letters via traditional mail, getting video footage sent to us via courier to we can catch a glimpse of some footage, not to mention having rack up long distances charges reaching out to the player and their coaches. These changes aren't something that has taken place over the last 20 or so years but rather has changed exponentially in recent times. I have been in my position as a university coach for the last 15 years and I have seen a significant change. In the last ten years, the university recruiting game has developed tremendously, bringing many new opportunities and challenges to having athletes commit to play at the university level. Between finding prospects at an earlier age, learning new rules and regulations each season, and the emergence of social media, there are now so many ways coaches can communicate with a recruit. In turn, technology has really stepped up in order to help coaches keep pace. There are multiple systems that track athletes through the recruiting process, others that help monitor social media and those that help identify athletes and their skill levels. Recruiting services that build date bases of athletes with their personal information, statistics, video footage but coaches in touch with potential players, but also create an expectation by the athlete themselves that they are being looked at by numerous coaches. Athletes are more willing to reach out to coaches via their school's athletic web page, send great personalized recruiting profiles. In the world of Facebook and Twitter, it is one thing to create initial interest and spark a conversation with a prospect that would help fill a roster. It is another thing to get that conversation to go deeper and help build a connection. One way to do this is through finding out more information about what a particular recruit is looking for out of a university experience and what kind of person they are now. It is also important to understand their academic objectives and what they hope to do as a career once their schooling and time of the playing field is done. If you can find out their personal goals, what size university they’re looking for, or if they want an urban or rural environment and you match that with what kind of athlete they are, it will only help identify those that are the right fit for your program. This information can then be used to build up a solid level of trust with the prospect. By using technology, this search and discovery process becomes easy and won’t cost you or your staff valuable time in the fast-paced recruiting process. The flip side to all of the above is that it is impossible for athletes to hide or embellish their athletic background and achievements. It is quite easy to fact check information given to you by prospective student-athletes, what teams they played for, their achievements, and potential information that might affect your interest in them as an addition to your program. I have had a number of prospective student-athletes send me information, claiming to have played with their provincial team, or in same case with international students, that they were members of some high level club or even their national team. However this can all be checked now. As a coach, you can put together a fully comprehensive profile of a recruit before even having the chance to meet them in person. I don't think technology is a bad thing, not at all, but I think that while it can help enhance and facilitate the recruiting process, there is no substitute for meeting a player face to face, interacting with them, listening to them lay out their plans and objectives, seeing if they defer to their parents or take charge of selling themselves to the coach. Recruiting is about finding the right individuals who will be part of your team and who you as a coach will interact with quite frequently over a 3 to 5 year time span. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't but certainly technology had changed the recruiting game.
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
January 2023
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