Facebook Turning into Reference Finder for Coaches

It’s Not Just You and Your Friends Any More

The popularity of Facebook and its impact on American culture continues to grow in unique ways.  College coaches are now using the world’s social media leader as a way to find out more about prospects.

With the growing trend of young people communicating more through Facebook than email, coaches have begun to observe and “friend” their recruits.  Through Facebook coaches are learning more about prospects than they ever possibly could through camps, combines, tournaments, games, matches and meets.  Facebook offers an inside view of potential signees’ lives, who their friends are, how they communicate and what they are doing outside their sport. 

College athletic prospects should keep this in mind as they send messages which could well land on the computer screens of coaches they want to impress.  A prospect’s posted pictures are perused carefully, too, giving coaches even more insight into the way prospects might behave when on campus and part of a college team.  It all mounts up, this information, and it’s there for every coach to view and make judgments about, fair or not.

As a college prospect, pay attention to what is on your wall.  If there is something which could make a college coach mark you off his or her “white board,” get it off your page at once.  Someone is always watching and it could be the very coach that controls your athletic future.