Coaches at the NCAA Div. 1 and Div. 2 levels have strict rules about when they can contact students. At the Div,. 3 level, those rules are more relaxed. Even so, YOU can contact THEM at any time, and it doesn't hurt to do so even if it's too early for them to legally recruit you.
Many colleges now have athletic contact forms right on their Web site ... so that's a good place to start ... assuming that you can find these forms without a treasure map, They have different names ... most obvious ("Prospective Athlete Form," "Recruit Me," etc.) but there's not one specific form that you can search for. Likewise, sometimes there is an obvious link right on the college's main athletics page. Sometimes you need to first find a specific sport and then look for links from there. The form you find may pertain only to your sport alone or may be for any potential athletics participant.
Once you've filled out the form (or if there's no form in the first place), it's fine to write to the coach, either by snail mail or email. The benefit of snail mail is that you can send enclosures ... DVD's, news clips, etc. (Only send the latter if it really focuses on you, not on your whole team, and makes you sound like a stand-out.) E-mail, on the other hand, can be a good bet because it facilitates a speedy reply.
Your initial letter (or e-mail message) should include both your athletic and academic strengths. Coaches do not like to waste time on prospects who don't have a prayer of being admissible. So if you know that your grades, rank, and test scores definitely put you in that school's admit range, be sure to say so.
If you are writing to a Div. 1 or Div. 2 coach before the official recruiting period has begun, you may get a generic reply that focuses more on admissions and the college in general and not on sports. ("We offer 32 majors ... "). If, however, the coach is legally free to write to you and still you get only a generic response--whether about the college as a whole or about the team itself ("The Red Raiders have enjoyed three straight conference championships ..")--then read between the lines. The coach may not feel that you are a likely prospect. (At that point, you don't have to give up ... but do recalibrate your goals and look for other schools where you may be very much wanted.)
There is a lot of helpful, specific information about athletic recruiting on another CC forum. See:
Athletic Recruits - College Confidential
If you can't find answers to your questions already posted there, then start a new thread.
Good luck!
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