BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO COLLEGE TENNIS

RECRUITING

10 STEPS TO GET  STARTED

ON THE COLLEGE TENNIS PATHWAY

BY MARIANNE WERDEL

Are you starting the college tennis recruiting

process? The college recruiting process can be a

stressful and time-consuming experience for

many families. If you are organized, follow the

right steps, and take the initiative to be

proactive, it can be much easier to tackle.

Here are 10 steps to help you navigate the

college tennis recruiting process more

efficiently. 

1. Know the NCAA Rules

2. Set Goals

3. Plan Your Academic Schedule

4. Plan Your Tennis Schedule

5. Build Your Resume

6. Clean Up All Your Social Media Platforms

7. Contact Schools

8. Take Visits

9. Ask the Right Questions

10. Find the Right Fit

Introduction

Knowing the NCAA rules and regulations will help

you navigate the process more efficiently.

A student-athlete can make phone calls and send

emails to coaches but the coach can't always reply. 

A student-athlete can tour the campus but can't

meet with coaches or athletic staff until their Junior

year of high school.

Coaches can make verbal offers at any point but

National Letters of Intent are not signed until

designated periods of a recruit's senior year.

Click here to go to the NCAA Eligibility Center and

register by junior year.

1. KNOW THE NCAA RULES

1. September 1st of Junior Year:

D 1 coaches may send recruiting emails, make phone

calls, send texts and any other electronic

communication to contact a  student-athlete. 

(June 15th after Sophomore year for DII coaches).

*New policy put into effect April 2018: recruits may

take official visits starting on Sept 1 of Junior year with

a max of 5 official visits. 

2. July 1 after Junior Year:

Coaches can make off-campus contact with recruits

and their parents, with a maximum of  3 total

contacts during senior year.

(June 15th after sophomore year for D II coaches)

NCAA Eligibility Center

Two Important Dates to Know

2. SET GOALSGoals will help you better prioritize your time and stay on

track. Set goals and the process steps along the way to

help you reach your target.

Make Recruiting Plan Goals and Stick to It!

1. Know how many letters you want to send to coaches.

2. Make a schedule to follow up with the coaches. 

3. Pick a date to reassess your list of schools.

4. Take ownership of the process! 

Do Your Homework

Know what sectional, national or UTR rankings are

needed for a wide variety of schools. Set a target ranking

goal for each high school year.

Know the Steps to Get There

Now that you have your goals, map out the steps you

need to do each day to reach your target.  Set your goals

based on what steps you need to be doing NOW. The

outcome will take care of itself if you commit to fully

working towards it each day.

Set Goals for All Areas

Don’t just set goals for your tennis. Set goals for

academics,  the college process, and any extracurriculars. 

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

GOAL: ______________________________

3. PLAN YOUR ACADEMICSAcademic planning is a critical part of the college

recruiting process. Meet with your high school counselor

or advisor early to map out all 4 years of classes.

Know the Academic Requirements

If you plan on attending a top academic school, know

their academic requirements. You don't want to find out

too late that you don't have all the required classes.

1. How many AP classes are needed?

2. How rigorous of a class schedule is required?

3. What test scores (SAT/ACT) are required?

4. How many years of math and foreign language are

required?

Home School 

If you chose to do a homeschool program, make sure it

has the proper accreditation. Many colleges do not

accept all the homeschool programs.

Test Prep

Plan to spend time your junior year on SAT or ACT test

prep.  There are many options online, local area test prep

centers, or private test tutoring.

Community Service

Many schools have community service hours

requirements. Find out if your schools of choice have

requirements for the application process.

4. PLAN YOUR TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Tournament planning is part of your long-term

developmental plan. You should have a planning meeting

with your coach and parents every six months to plan

your tournament schedule.

How to Plan Your Tournaments

1. Play a variety of levels of tournaments.  You should be

winning 60%-65% of your matches. 

2. Play the tournaments where the coaches will be able to

see you compete.

3. Play a smaller tournament before a national

tournament so you are match ready in the bigger event.

4. Make sure you aren't playing too many tournaments.

You need breaks in the calendar to continue developing

your game. You should have two breaks a year with 3-4

weeks of no tournaments.

Think About Academics 

Make sure you look at your academic schedule before you

sign up for tournaments. Don't play a big tournament the

weekend before exams when you need to study or the

weekend after when you haven't had the time to prepare

on the court.

Showcase Camps

The showcase camps are an excellent way for players to

meet coaches and be on a college campus but they do

not replace a coach seeing you in action competing in a

tournament.

5. Build Your Resume

While your tournament results will speak for you as a

player, your resume will be the first insight a coach has

into you as a student-athlete.

Having an online or ONE PAGE pdf version that contains

all of the necessary information is extremely important to

start this process off on the right foot. The information

must be accessible and easy to navigate. You don’t want a

coach to have to go out of their way to find the

information they need to know about you. Their time is

very limited and valuable.

What to Include in Your Resume

1. Name, Birthdate, Home address

2. High School Name and Grad Year

3. Academic Information, GPA, and any test scores

4. Current Sectional, USTA, UTR, and ITF rankings

5. High School Tennis Stats (if you play HS Tennis)

6. Highlight your past tournament results

7. Upcoming tournament schedule

8. Link to an online video. Be Brief!

9. All extracurricular activities (community service, etc.)

10. Your coach's contact information. 

11. Your contact Information with email and cell number,

NOT your parent's contact info. 

6. Clean Up Your Social Media

You may be a top recruit and an honor student with a

good heart, but for those who don't know you personally,

first impressions are found online. Some high schoolers

may not think their online image is a big deal, coaches

and colleges DO! 

1. Make Sure All Posts Say Something Positive.

We know how tempting it can be to post anything and

everything on social media. However, a good piece of

advice is to make sure every image you post represents

something good about you!

2. Stay away from posting anything related to partying,

drinking, nudity, profanity and excess negativity.

Just don’t do it. Literally. Ever. In no way is this ever a

good idea. 

3. Keep In Mind Private isn't Always Private.

 Keep in mind that anyone can look at your social media

profiles, even when set to private. Many corporations have

access to tools and programs that can easily get around

privacy settings. 

7. Contact SchoolsThe better-ranked players can be more selective in the

schools they contact, but the majority of players need to

contact as many coaches as possible.

1. NEVER HAVE ONE OF YOUR PARENTS WRITE TO A

COACH. You are the one the coach is recruiting, so they

want to hear from you directly. (If the relationship develops

and it appears that you might be attending that college,

 your parents will have time to  contact the coaching staff.)

2. Make It Personal- DO NOT mass email a bunch of

coaches. This comes across as lazy and shows the coach

that you didn’t take your time to personalize for them.

Make sure to address the letter: Dear Coach [[last name]].

3. Provide Contact Information for Yourself and Your

Coaches. Nothing is worse for a college coach than to have

to track down your coach’s e-mail or phone number. By

having both an e-mail address and a phone number listed

after his/her name, it allows for the college coach to quickly

e-mail or call your private and/or high school coach to

follow up.

4. Always Include Basic Information about yourself such as

grad year, high school, athletic history, GPA, SAT/ACT

scores.

5. BE BRIEF!  Coaches at all levels receive dozens and

dozens of e-mails/letters from high school-aged players.

6. DETAIL IS IMPORTANT! Be sure to use spell check and

PROPER GRAMMAR. Grammarly.com is a great website to

begin your edits.

8. Visit Schools

College visits are when the recruiting process begins to

come together. Make sure to take a campus tour, visit a

class, and meet the players on the team.

After the visit, you and the coaches will both have a

better idea if you and their program are the right fit.

Due to an updated NCAA policy on April 2018, college

coaches and athletic staff can meet with student-athletes

on campus after September 1 of their Junior year.   

Plan in Advance

1. Plan a trip to see multiple schools.

2. Check the school schedules for the week you want to

visit. (Campus isn't all that exciting during exam week.)

3. Keep a journal so you can remember things you liked

and disliked about a school.

4. Do your research and find out the academic majors

offered in your area of interest.

5. Sign up for a tour through the admissions department

if the coach is not able to organize a tour.

6. Research the average ranking and UTR for the players

on the team.

9. Ask the Right QuestionsTips for Meeting the Coach:

1. Turn off your cell phone and leave it in your purse or

backpack.

2. Look the coach in the eye and shake their hand.

3. Sit up straight in the chair. 

4. Be enthusiastic

5. Do your research on the school and the tennis program.

Come prepared and have questions to ask the coach!

6. Speak for yourself, don't look at your parents for

questions or answers.

7. Be gracious. Coaches are very busy so thank them for

taking time out of their schedule to meet with you.

8. Send a handwritten thank you note following the visit.

Ask the Right Questions:

1. What is a typical week of practice and workouts?

2. What are the admissions requirements?

3. Where do I fit on your recruiting list?

4. How do you see me contributing to your team?

5. Are there common majors for the tennis players?

6. How do you handle tournaments outside of school?

7. Are your players able to do a semester abroad?

8. Do you have summer tennis requirements?

9. I am interested in "XYZ" major, what does that look like

here at your school?

10. What information do you need about me to know if I

am a right fit for your team?

11. What are your expectations of your team members?

12. Is there academic support for the student-athletes?

10. Find the Right FitThe ultimate goal through the college recruiting process

is to find the right fit with both the school and the tennis

program. Even if you take a lot of visits, do the research

and ask all the right questions, it can still be a tough

decision.

1. Am I compatible with the coaches and the team?

2. Will I get playing time?

3. What are the coach's expectations?

4. Does the school have a major in my area of interest?

5. Am I comfortable with the geographic location of the

school?

6. Am I comfortable with the size of the school and the

size of the classrooms?

7. Will I get the opportunity to play tournaments outside

of school?

8. Will I have the ability to do a semester abroad?

9. Am I comfortable with the daily time commitment for

the tennis?

10. Lastly- Is this the right school for me even if I end up

not playing tennis all four years.

Adapted from Brandi Jackson Golf Recruiting 101