When it comes to sports recruiting, social media posting is one of the top ways to gain exposure and show coaches who you are and what you can offer to their program. Posting alone won't do the trick, you need to carefully research the schools that you are interested in and that have your major or area of study. You are going to college after all, so as much as you love your sport, make sure it is the right school for you. Think of your social media posts as a foundation for establishing a relationship, coupled with emails to coaches, camps and exposure through showcases and tournaments. Here are some tailored guidelines for sports recruiting and social media posts specifically:
Highlight Your Achievements:
Showcase your current gains and achievements. This can include game highlights, personal and team records broken, or personal achievements based on goals you set for yourself. There is a balance between "Look at me! I am awesome." and "I was able to help my team out this weekend by going 6-9 at the plate and making this great double-play". Balance the "you" with the "we" if it is a team sport.
Showcase Training and Behind-the-Scenes: Provide a behind-the-scenes look at training sessions and practices. This gives coaches an idea of what you are doing to improve. Don't be overbearing about the workouts, just short clips of a few reps or drills. No one is going to watch you do squats for 4 minutes. For example, if your game is about speed, show some agility drills to flash your fast feet.
Live Events and Game Updates: Share live updates during games or events. This could include scores, notable plays, and reactions from players and fans. These clips should compliment the post you send a few days before a tournament detailing who you will be playing with dates, locations and times.
Recruitment Stories and Testimonials: Share success stories of other athletes! Show your support for others accomplishments. It is a great way to show you are great teammate.
Interactive Content: The use of interactive content to engage with your audience is a great way to get someone's attention. Something like "caption this" or "was I safe or out?" gets others engaged in comments.
Recruitment Videos: Create clear, simple videos that highlight your talents and share them consistently. If you don't have any highlights to share, don't share a mediocre performance. You can share how you overcame a mistake (no one is perfect), but don't manipulate your videos to look like you did more than you really did. There is nothing worse than a clip of a shot that went wide but was cut off before you could see that; or a hit to the outfield that was easily caught, but cut off to look like it went over the fence. Coaches know the difference. Also, limit the extras like music, stickers, weird transitions or effects. They are just annoying when trying to actually look at the player.
The use of a video editing tool is very beneficial in creating clear videos. You may need to zoom in on an outfielder or lighten the video if it is too dark.
Share Academic Achievements: Highlight academic achievements and be proud of the work you do in the classroom. You are a STUDENT/Athlete. This can be particularly important for athletes who prioritize both their athletic and academic pursuits.
Engage with Recruits Directly: Respond promptly to inquiries and messages from coaches if you are eligible to speak with them based on your grad year. (see NCAA rules for recruitment periods) Direct engagement from a Coach is a complete honor and you should respond timely and professionally. If you don't know a lot about the school, do you research to see if it would be potential fit. On the contrary, if it isn't a fit (location, major, size, etc.), be upfront with the Coach so they can move onto other recruits.
Utilize Athlete Takeovers or Mic'd up players:
This is a fun way to provide an authentic view of the athlete experience within your program and how you interact with your teammates. It also gives insight into the "self-talk" while out on the field and how you mentally prepare for the action.
Use Relevant Hashtags: Utilize sports-specific and recruiting-related hashtags to increase the discoverability of your content. Don't tag fast food restaurants or random creators. It just distracts from the post.
Tagging Coaches:
This topic is a bit controversial. I have heard from college coaches who say it could hurt you if you are tagging certain coaches and not others. It also deters coaches in DII, DIII, NAIA and State Colleges if you have only tagged D1 schools. We see a lot of younger athletes tag huge D1 schools of their dreams, but for most it is unrealistic. If you have already established a relationship with a Coach or school and you want them to specifically see something, send them the video in their DM's or via email.
As with all social media, be careful about what you post. Big Dreams can be crushed over an inappropriate social post. This includes the choice of music, the language, the interactions with others and the comments you leave on other posts. Regularly analyze the performance of your posts, adjust your content based on engagement metrics, and stay adaptable to changes in the social media landscape. You are your own brand of athlete. Show how you are unique and what makes you amazing!
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