Originally posted on March 14th, 2009, BOTN thought that reviewing some of our rules covering the DOs and DON'Ts for your cover letters might be appropriate.

The introductory letter or cover letter on a player resume is that first impression that the young player can make on a possible coach. Let's take a look at some of the "do"s and "don't"s for that letter.

[1] DO NOT address the letter as "Dear Coach", "Coach", "Sir/Mam", or a popular salutation with young people, "Hey". Address the coach by his/her surname as in "Dear Coach Smith", "Mrs. Jones", or "Dr. Roberts". The surest way to make your introductory letter seem like a form letter is to have a generic salutation.

[2] When writing, DO NOT construct the letter as if it was intended for your "BFF on IM or Facebook". DO spell every word out completely, use a spell or grammar checker, and proofread your writing. DO ask a parent, teacher, or trusted adult to reread your final draft. Schools that expect a 550+ on the SAT Critical Reading section are not looking for incorrect usage of to/too, there/their/they're, its/it's, and so forth.

[3] In the opening paragraph, DO include your name, high school, academic interests, soccer interests/awards, and one sentence telling the coach why you are writing to him/her. DO actually name the target college in the opening paragraph to show that each letter is unique and targetted.

[4] The second paragraph should provide a four to five sentence summary of your interest in the college or university. DO make it clear that you have done your research and know something about the school. Use the school nickname, the league or conference in which the school participates or their home field/stadium name. DO know something about the roster (boys/girls from New York or the region), individuals you might know who could give you a positive reference that are on the team, or information about the team's regular season. DO include a possible non-soccer point as to why the school is on your target list.

[5] In paragraph three, DO really show how you want to attend the program, play for the coach and school, and why your profile might be a match to the school. Include a summary of your resume in a couple of sentence to entice the coach to learn more.

[6] The closing paragraph should be open ended, perhaps by asking some simple questions. "Would it be convenient for me to contact you next week to schedule a visit?" "Please let me know if you can attend any of my next three Spring showcases." "Can I have my club coach call you to arrange an additional discussion about my fit with your program?"

[7] The closing salutation should include your name, address, home phone number, and e-mail address. You can attach your profile to the e-mail in order to give more background on yourself.

Hopefully, these seven simple steps will get your son or daughter started on the right foot with their letter writing campaign.

That's great advice on the letter, but how would you change it for freshmen? Can you say "look forward to hearing from you" if they aren't allowed to contact for a year?

For a freshman year High School player, clearly point [2] and [6] from our BOTN template will need to be slightly changed.

Your grade point average (GPA) will only be of interest to a college coach if it reflects high school work, demonstrating progress on the NCAA Academic Clearing House points. Also, it is highly unlikely that a freshman student will have seen a PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN exam as yet, much less the SAT or ACT. Hence, just provide indicative grades if you are an "A" student.

Instead of closing with an open ended question, a fine approach would be to close with an invitation to the coach. One example might be "I look forward to playing for you at the ABC Tournament in November and the XYZ Tournament in December". Another example might be, "Since my premier team expects to be playing in the New England area in the Spring, I will certainly keep you up to date on my premier schedule in addition to upcoming tournaments".

Both sentences lead the reader (the college coach) into knowing that there will be additional follow-up from your side and that your interest remains strong.

Add University of Pittsburgh to the list. It seems the head coach left and the assistant made some commitments and now he is out. No staff there currently. Not known if the admin will stand behind the promises.

Sorry, I put this in the wrong spot.

Add University of Pittsburgh to the list. It seems the head coach left and the assistant made some commitments and now he is out. No staff there currently. Not known if the admin will stand behind the promises.

Girls who committed there should check their status with the AD.

The University of Pittsburgh has really struggled in recent years. The Panthers wrap up their season with records of 2-13-4 overall and 1-8-3 in the Big East. Aside from their 6-1 win over St. John's, Pitt only scored three goals since Labor Day.

Remember that this is now the time of year where college coaches will most often submit their resignations. Always choose your college based on where you want to be educated, not exclusively due to your relationship with the head coach.

Please explain process that should follow after some of your 12 to 15 schools you contacted respond back after seeing you play.
5 to 6 schools have written back to us saying they were very impressed with level of play. They want us to choose dates for visit. Is this basic for everyone that contacts soccer programs to see them play? Should this be considered serious interest by a coach? If so, next step?
Questions we should ask coach before deciding to visit? Also questions that should be asked during visit.
She is a junior.

With the Thanksgiving weekend now behind us, BOTN reminds our College Board readers (particularly parents of juniors and sophomores) to be sure that there is follow-up contact with the invited college coaches that saw your student-athlete play this weekend.

[1] Thank You Letters : Be sure to have your players/children send thank-you letters to the coaches that came to see them play. Remember, the coaches that came to see you play were still giving up time from their holiday weekend!. A note expressing your continuing interest is quite important at this time of year.

[2] Visit Lists : Your team parents positioned at the corners of the field should have been keeping records on the coaches that came to see your team. Be sure that the team members (parents and players) are aware of that information.

[3] December Showcase Preparation : Remember that now is the time to start your December e-mail campaign for coaching attendance the upcoming December showcases in Florida and elsewhere.

[4] Planning College Visits/Tours : December is typically an awful time to visit college campuses along the east coast as most of the student body is locked up studying for finals. Now is the time to think about your February-break college tours. Start making contact with the coaches regarding tours and visits to campus.

[5] Questions? : As always, BOTN remains here to answer any of your recruitment questions. Feel free to ask us anything that is unclear with anything in the recruitment cycle.

First and foremost (per our previous posting in this thread), each invited coach should receive a follow-up letter from your student-athlete. Second, those coaches that saw your daughter/son play should be specifically acknowledged as having been at a specific game if possible. Finally, all coaches should be reminded of your next showcases events if the planning is already in place at the team level.

From a single tournament, this is a solid yield of coaching interesting, particularly if these are all schools that are in your academic and athletic target lists. As a junior year player, your daughter will not be eligible for an official visit as yet, so you will be scheduling unofficial visits. If planned for February break or Easter break, you will get the best chance to see the individual campuses in action. You can schedule unofficial visits any time; it just depends on whether you are seeking soccer-based information or getting a real feel for the campus.

This could be a sign of genuine interest. As a result, contact the coach via telephone (the only way to have verbal contact) will help your student-athlete gain direct insight on the coach's interest. Be sure that you have a cheat-sheet available next to the phone when your son or daughter calls with specific questions to be considered.

We will cover some sample questions in our next several postings. Thanks for your contribution.

Many times, families that reach the point of a coach expressing interest in a student-athlete are very excited that the recruiting chase is reaching its peak. It is at this point that the discussion becomes more real than previously understood - you are effectively deciding on where your son/daughter will be spending the next four years of their lives.

As we have discussed many times, this is when the preparation work to identify your top ten academic and athletic choices is really put to the test. Before meeting with the college coach, a family meeting is needed to talk about some serious issues covering location, finances, commitment, and ultimately desire. BOTN Industries has found that these areas are well covered with the following questions to be asked over a family dinner.

• What travel distance from home are we willing to accept?
• Should we restrict our search to be within X hours of our home? (Translation : Do we want to see her play and how often can she come home during the year?)
• What financial planning have we done for her college career? (Translation : Can we afford to have her dorm away from home? Can we afford $30,000 per year for the academic bill? What is our financial limit?)
• What finanial aid is required? (Translation : Do we have more than $100,000 in cash assets? Is our combined income in excess of $150,000 per year?)
• What area of the country interests our student-athlete?
• What competitive level is he/she truly capable of achieving? (Translation : Are we looking at UNC or Duke with an average player? Have we seen a collegiate game to know what is to be expected - FOX/Soccer channel is great for seeing women's collegiate games though not in person of course.)
• Is he/she considering a NCAA Division I, II, or III caliber commitment?

Once you are all on the same page, getting ready with the questions for the college coach are that much simpler. More details on the college coaching discussions to follow.