Allison Benning from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, is one of our outstanding student-athlete bloggers who regularly contribute as part of our Inside Pitch series.
Allison, signed with the University of Oregon in November, and is a tall and dominating pitcher who was ranked as a Top 15 overall selection in the 2021 Extra Elite 100 and was one of four in the Top 30 for the Ducks.
She also was named as the 2020 Minnesota Gatorade Softball Player of the Year and made the Extra Inning Softball 2020 All-Summer Team.
We’ve known about Allison’s on-field talents for a while now and did a recruiting spotlight on her titled: Oregon-Bound Pitcher Allison Benning is “Looking for Redemption” last December.
A talented writer as well as standout softball player, the Midwest senior wants to major in Journalism at Oregon.
Be sure to check out her previous Inside Pitch articles Softball in the Midwest is On the Rise! and Allison Benning Recaps This Weekend’s Bolts 5-Star Showcase.
A power arm from the Midwest leads off our ‘21 signing class 💪.@allisonbenning_ joins the flock as the No. 1️⃣3️⃣ recruit nationally and the Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/RqcMb6yfgp
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) November 11, 2020
Today, Allison—who can speak successfully from having gone through the recruiting process—shares her thoughts on what worked, and didn’t work, for her….
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Do’s and Don’ts of Recruiting
The recruiting process is one of the hardest, yet most rewarding aspects of softball. However, COVID-19 has made it a lot more difficult with tournament cancelations and constant extensions of the dead period.
My personal experience with the recruiting process was fun, stressful, exhilarating and
exhausting all at the same time! I feel very fortunate to have been able to commit before the COVID mess began and can only imagine how difficult it’s been for the 2022 and 2023 class. So, I am happy to share some things I learned myself having gone through the process last fall.
DO your homework
The starting point may be the most important piece to the recruiting process puzzle. Who are you interested in? Is there a particular conference or region of the country you want to stay in? Ask yourself how far are you willing to move to go to school. Be honest in your answer!
Then, start making a list. Personally, I put it all on a spreadsheet. Once you have a list, research the schools that you are interested in, as well as schools that become interested in you. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do they have my major?
- What is their softball program like?
- How big is the school?
- How is the competition in their conference?
It’s critical that you know a lot about the schools that are interested to begin forming a ranking of them and that you also learn about the coaches you will be talking to. Figure out what’s important to you in a school and softball program.
Note: this list is supposed to be fluid and constantly changing. Don’t make a stagnant list that stays the same no matter what. A lot of things could happen that makes you change your list: the school could not have enough scholarships, you could lose interest, or even the fact that some colleges may not be recruiting anyone in your position. You also should be adding schools that develop interest.
Try to cast as wide of a net as possible, so you have a lot of options. There may be schools that you end up liking that you had not considered! However, don’t add schools that you know you would not want to go to or does not meet the criteria you have set (ie. it’s too far from home).
DO make your emails stand out
College coaches get thousands of emails every single day, and there simply isn’t enough time for them to look at them all. Ask yourself, how can I differentiate myself? This all starts with the subject line. I would make sure to include your name, graduation year, position, and club team. For example, mine would be “2021 P/IF Allison Benning, Top Gun 18U National.” You can also include your height if you would like, I did because I’m 6’1”, so it was to my benefit as a pitcher that they know I am tall.
Be sure your emails are specific to the school and coaches you are sending them to. You do not want them thinking they got the same email from you that 10 other coaches did. Personalize it so they know that isn’t the case! For example, when I emailed the University of Oregon last year, I mentioned that I watched them upset #1 UCLA.
Also, this is really important. If it is your first time emailing a college coach, MAKE SURE you send an introductory email, giving them some information about you. Once you have done that, then you can send out a variety of emails such as your summer schedule, fall schedule etc. or how you did in a HS game, or club tournament.
Try to email college coaches often to keep your name in front of them. You can find many reasons to email besides what I just listed – for example, letting them know when you are taking the ACT/SAT or telling them your score, giving them your semester grades etc. Be creative!
DON’T forget to proofread your emails
I often sent very similar emails to many coaches. Meaning, the basic message and information was the same (like how a tournament went, or whatever the main point of the email was), so I was able to do some cutting and pasting, which was a huge time saver.
However, that comes with two critical caveats you must remember.
First, as I mentioned earlier, it’s important to personalize your emails. So, add in one or two comments that are only applicable to that program and/or coach.
Secondly, and even more importantly, MAKE SURE YOUR EMAILS ARE THOROUGHLY PROOFREAD! Can you imagine sending an email to the University of XYZ that was intended for ABC State University? Or addressing it to Coach ABC when it is Coach DEF that is the head coach?! This would be a huge mistake that likely could result in your name being crossed off the list.
Additionally, make sure you have all names spelled correctly. Some college coaches may have last names that are difficult to spell, so make sure you are 100% correct on spelling. Make sure your grammar and spelling in general is on point.
DO set goals for your calls
My dad helped me in how I should approach every call with coaches. He said I needed to have three goals in mind.
First, I wanted to make the coach be interested in me as a recruit. I wanted to convey to him/her that I am a dedicated and serious player who LOVES softball, takes academics seriously and is an excellent teammate.
Secondly, I wanted garner information from the coach to help me form my opinion on if this could be the right place for me. I needed to be a detective and find out what they had to offer to begin making decisions if I was offered.
Lastly, I really needed to make the coach believe I am very interested in their program, at least until I no longer was interested, in which case then I would be honest and not keep anyone hanging. His point on this goal was that I could not possibly know if I was or was not interested until I have talked to the coach a time or two, so make sure to show the interest and ensure they believe I am interested, at least until I knew I was not interested.
*** Scroll down to read more great recruiting do’s and don’ts from someone who’s headed to the Pac-12!
