How to Email a College Coach for the First Time (Without Wasting the Opportunity)

Most introductory emails fail because they aim too high, try too hard, or misunderstand how coaches read email in the first place. Here's how to set the right tone.

Every year, high school players send hundreds of first emails to college coaches.

Most of them never get read. Some get skimmed. A small number get replies. And an even smaller number are remembered or acted upon by the coaches. The difference often lies in how that first email is constructed.

A first email to a college coach has one job only: Start a co…