College coaches get far more emails from athletes than they can read closely. A recruiting profile is the page that helps a coach decide, in a minute or two, whether to watch your video and keep you on a list. It doesn't need to be fancy. It needs to be accurate, complete and easy to scan. Here is how to put one together, step by step.
Step 1: Gather the basics
Start with what every coach needs to identify you:
- Full name and graduation year
- Sport, primary position and any secondary positions
- High school and club or travel team, with jersey numbers for each
- City and state
Put the graduation year near the top. Coaches recruit by class, and it is often the first thing they look for.
Step 2: Add measurables, and keep them honest
Every sport has its own: height, weight and wingspan; a 40-yard dash or 60-yard time; vertical jump; pitching velocity; event times or marks. List the ones that matter in your sport, and note where each came from, such as a camp, a combine or a timed team testing day. Coaches will see you in person eventually. Rounding a number up does more harm than leaving it off.
Step 3: Show your stats season by season
List stats for each season rather than only career totals, so a coach can see you improving. Add context: varsity or junior varsity, the level of competition, and any honors such as all-conference or team captain. If your club season is where you play your best competition, include it.
Step 4: Include academics
Coaches need to know you can be admitted and stay eligible. Include your GPA (say whether it is weighted or unweighted), test scores if you have taken them, honors or advanced classes, and an intended field of study if you have one. Strong grades widen the list of schools that can recruit you.
Step 5: Make a highlight video worth opening
Most coaches will tell you to keep highlights short and put the best plays first. A few tips that come up again and again:
- Identify yourself before each clip with a circle or arrow, so the coach isn't hunting for your number.
- Lead with your strongest plays. Many coaches decide in the first minute.
- Show the skills your position requires, not only the flashy ones.
- Have a full game film ready to send when a coach asks for one.
Upload the video somewhere it can be watched without signing in, and test the link from another device.
Step 6: Write a few lines in your own words
Two or three sentences about who you are as a player and teammate, what you are working on, and what you want in a college program. Write it yourself. Coaches can tell when a parent wrote it.
Step 7: Add contact information and references
- Your own email address (a simple one with your name) and phone number
- A parent or guardian's contact
- Your high school coach and club coach, with phone and email, after asking them first
Leave off your home address and anything you would not want forwarded. Most athletes building a profile are minors, so a parent should review what gets shared.
Step 8: List your upcoming schedule
Coaches want to see you play. List your next tournaments, showcases or meets with dates and locations, and update the profile when the schedule changes.
Step 9: Put it on one page
A single page that prints cleanly and opens as a PDF is easiest for a coach to save and share with other staff. The Recruiting Profile is built around exactly this layout: name, number, position, school and class year at the top, the measurables across a bar, season-by-season stats, honors, GPA and test scores, a few lines in the athlete's own words, contact and a coach reference, and a QR code that opens the highlight video. You supply the information, and it is laid out in clean type with the school as words you type, never a logo. From $29.
Step 10: Send it the right way
Email each coach individually, by name, with a short note about why their program interests you, your profile attached and your video link in the message. Follow up after a few weeks or after a tournament where they might have seen you. Rules on when college coaches may reply to or contact athletes depend on the sport, the division and your grade, and they change, so check the current recruiting rules for your sport before you read anything into silence.
When the decision comes
When you choose a school, The Commitment Reveal is a 10-second vertical video with matching posts announcing where you are playing next, from $29. The Signing Day Print puts your name and the college you signed with on a print for the signing table and the wall afterward, from $45.
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Recruiting Profile
The Commitment Reveal
Signing Day PrintOrdering
Fill in the details on the product page. Every order is checked by hand against what you entered, and you approve a proof before the final files or prints are made. Allow about two weeks for prints. Update and reorder the profile as your stats and schedule change.