Recruiting has a calendar. Families who know it work it; families who don't wonder why nobody called.
Freshman year — build the base
- Development first: strength, size, and skills beat exposure at this age. Nobody signs a freshman off a showcase.
- Play a genuinely competitive schedule — club and school.
- Start the record now: season stats, measurables, film clips. Growth is your best future selling point, and growth needs a starting line.
- Genuinely projecting toward D1? A couple of winter prospect camps at realistic target schools put you on their radar years before they can call — and their staff sees you in person, on their field.
Sophomore year — open the conversation
- Begin emailing target schools the summer after sophomore year. Expect silence — rules limit what coaches can say back, but they are reading and taking notes.
- Know the dates: for most sports, D2 programs can start real communication June 15 after sophomore year; D1 programs August 1 before junior year. Other divisions are largely unrestricted.
- Attend one or two well-chosen events (see the showcases chapter before spending).
Junior year — the busy season
- This is when most D1-level commitments happen, and when D2/D3/NAIA conversations get serious.
- Send update emails to target schools roughly every three months — same email thread, so the coach sees the history.
- Send your full summer tournament schedule in February, and again in early May — coaches plan scouting trips off what's in their inbox, and the resend catches the ones who lost it.
- In season, send a short "here's where I'm playing this weekend" note early each week to the schools actively watching you. Pitchers: send it when you know you're throwing. (Clear it with your club coach before you blast a schedule.)
- Camp at your target schools where it makes sense — being on campus in front of that staff is worth ten anonymous showcases.
Senior year — finish the job
- Not committed? That's still normal at plenty of levels. D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO recruit hard through senior year — but know that most D1 rosters are largely set before senior year starts, so aim the energy where the doors are open.
- Email monthly, target uncommitted-senior events, and keep playing.
- Do not coast. Programs pull offers from seniors who stopped working — and find spring roster spots for the ones still improving.
Why the page matters at every step
Every one of those emails needs the same things: current stats, current measurables, schedule, film. On Players Look that's one link that's always up to date — so a coach who bookmarked you in October sees your March jumps automatically. That's the update email working while you sleep.