Recruiting during a pandemic

By Braden Weinel//

Coaches at Hood College are relying on Zoom this fall to recruit prospective student-athletes as an alternative to on-campus meetings.

Kyle Bulgarelli, an assistant men’s soccer coach and admissions counselor at Hood, said that some recruits are still coming to campus, but the experience is not the same as before the pandemic.

With the cancellation of fall sports, recruits are unable to watch games and team practices. Hood’s COVID-19 restrictions limit what prospects can do while on campus. This season, there have been no overnight visits and fewer campus tours than in years prior.

Due to the COVID-19 regulations among recreational and club sports, college coaches have also not been able to see prospects play as much on their own respective teams.

In December Hood men’s soccer will be hosting a recruiting clinic where the coaches can get another opportunity to watch prospective students play. This will be the first time the men’s soccer program has put on a recruiting clinic since 2012.

From a coach’s perspective, there are some advantages to the changes in recruiting this season, Bulgarelli said. Technology has allowed for more constant contact between coaches and recruits. This year also gives coaches the opportunity to recruit players from further away, he said.

“We’re now recruiting students from Tennessee. We have some prospective students from Georgia, from Mississippi, from Alabama, and because everything’s become virtual, they’re getting the same experience with us as they are with the schools close to them,” Bulgarelli said.

While COVID-19 restrictions have affected both the coaches’ and students’ experiences, the initial part of the recruiting process, reaching out to players, has remained the same.