When Do We Start Marketing Ourselves to Colleges?

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

The title of this blog is a common question I am asked by parents when I am attending a Baseball Factory Player Development event. To start, there are a lot of factors to consider, but the main ones to focus on are the player’s academic achievement to date, his current baseball aptitude, and his physical maturity. Assuming that all three of these items are not considered to be a limiting factor in any way, then my best advice is for players to start marketing themselves to colleges as a rising sophomore in high school.

Now some parents may say that is way too young. I have heard comments like, “he just got through his first year of high school and college is almost three plus years away. Our son is focused on just making his high school team and we can’t even think about college yet.” While it may be a few years away, the reality is that the time flies by very quickly. Plus, most parents that I speak with in our program that elect to start this process when their son is a rising senior say “gosh, I wish we would have known this information sooner and started marketing him to college a few years ago.” So, with time on your side, it pays to start getting active early in this process.

In my mind, the main benefits are the following:

1. Education – starting the marketing process at this point in his career will get your son (and you as parents) familiar with the college search process and different baseball programs earlier in the timeline, which will be valuable downstream.
2. Exposure – college coaches will begin a file on your son and can track his development over the next three years.
3. Communication – your family will begin to discuss what is important to your son in the college selection process and that will foster communication amongst your family which will create good dialogue and points to consider.

To effectively market yourself to a college, you need three things:

1. An edited video of your son performing. 2. An unbiased evaluation of his baseball skills. 3. A well written cover letter.

At Baseball Factory, we provide a video and evaluation within a personal player webpage for each participant so they can email a link to the webpage and a nice cover letter directly to the coach. This will serve as a good introduction to the coaching staff.

Starting the marketing process this early will give you a leg up on your competition in the long run. However, as you start this journey, remember to keep your expectations intact. A sophomore will not get the same recruiting attention from college coaches as a rising senior. However, since college coaches are now starting their recruiting process earlier and earlier to gain an edge, it pays for your son to get his name out there!


Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.