If you haven’t been directly impacted by COVID-19, you certainly have felt the trickle down effects in just about every part of your day-to-day life. If you’re a baseball player, you’ve probably experienced a season suspension or even a cancellation at this point. While it’s certainly tough to find the ‘good’ in this situation, the positive news is that athletes are prepared to have success with this new, temporary lifestyle. Through years of competition, athletes are used to ever-changing environments and uncomfortable situations, all while facing a variety of challenges. The competitive nature that is instilled in every athlete will prepare them to overcome these challenges, adapt to this new-norm, and come out the other side stronger. Having said this, it’s important to understand the impact of COVID-19 on college baseball recruiting, so you can set yourself up for a successful college baseball search during these difficult times.
With high school baseball seasons being suspended on a massive scale, along with showcases, and even group workouts, many players have put their college baseball searches on hold. The interesting part is that college coaches will have more time to focus on the recruiting aspect of their program during this time. College seasons have been suspended almost entirely, so many coaches will no longer have to balance a rigorous in-season schedule with their recruiting duties. For someone that is interested in playing at the next level, it’s important to recognize that this presents itself as an opportunity. In a world where we must social distance, how could a player possibly take advantage of this?
This is a perfect time to proactively reach out to college coaches, knowing that they will likely have a higher level of engagement during this time. Many companies are reporting significant increases in customer response rates through email during COVID-19. Generally speaking, people have more free time with fewer distractions, so they are able to pay more attention to their email. This same principal applies to college coaches too. You can take this opportunity to share your background, player profile, or even video footage, if you have that available. Strong relationships are built during the toughest of times, and being human during these interactions can go a long way. If nothing else, you’ve sent your well wishes to a coach during incredibly difficult times, and that’s an interaction that gets remembered.
It’s also a great time for you to look into tools that can assist you throughout the recruiting process. You may have realized that you have had some additional free time recently, so researching some of these tools is time well spent. With additional challenges added to the recruiting process, having a tool to assist you could be extremely beneficial. While some of these tools are only helpful for when baseball is in motion, others can still be used during this hiatus. For example, we offer an affordable data-driven tool that allows players to evaluate the key components of any NCAA baseball program. You can quickly search and filter any metric, so you can find programs that are a good fit for you.
As college baseball recruits, we need to ensure that when we come out of the other side of this, we’ve put ourselves in the best possible position from a recruitment standpoint. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the college baseball recruiting process is a great starting point. Players are up against a shortened recruiting timeline and potentially fewer open roster spots, but the actions that are taken during this hiatus will have a huge impact on your situation as we return back to baseball as we know it.