The summer months are one of the most underutilized stretches of the recruiting calendar. Coaches have more bandwidth than during the fall season, communication restrictions for most divisions are at their most open, and live evaluation opportunities are at their peak. Most players treat summer as a waiting period. The ones who get recruited treat it as a working period.

Here are five specific moves worth making between now and August.

1. Update Your Highlight Video and Send It to Every Program on Your Target List

If you have not updated your highlight video since last fall, coaches are evaluating an older version of you. Summer is the right time to pull together your best recent footage, re-edit your reel, and send it to every program you are genuinely interested in.

When you send it, do not use a recruiting service. Send a direct personal email to each coach. Use their name. Reference something specific about their program. Attach the link. Coaches in survey data have consistently said personal email is their overwhelmingly preferred method of communication from recruits — and generic recruiting service messages are among the least effective.

2. Attend at Least One ID Camp

Summer is peak season for ID camps — and for good reason. It is one of the few times during the year when coaches can attend evaluation events, communicate with recruits directly, and make roster decisions without the demands of an active season competing for their attention.

At a well-run ID camp, you are not hoping to be noticed — you are being evaluated directly by coaches who came to the event specifically to identify players. That is a fundamentally different dynamic than a showcase tournament, and it is one of the most direct paths to creating real visibility with programs you care about.

3. Send Pre-Event Emails to Coaches Before Every Tournament or Showcase

If you are competing in any summer showcase or tournament where college coaches are expected to attend, email every coach on your target list who might be there. Do it at least one to two weeks before the event.

Tell them your team name, game schedule, jersey number, and position. Keep it short. Give them everything they need to find you without making them work for it. Coaches who are already planning their evaluation schedules will add you to their list if you give them a reason to — and most players competing at the same event will never send that email.

4. Take at Least One Unofficial Campus Visit

Summer is one of the best times to visit college campuses. Coaches are often available for informal meetings, the campus is quieter, and you can get a realistic sense of what day-to-day life actually looks like at a school — not just what it looks like on a highlight reel or admissions brochure.

An unofficial visit does not require a coach to host you formally, and it costs nothing beyond your own travel. It also gives you a natural reason to follow up with a coach afterward and move the conversation forward.

5. Email Programs You Have Been Curious About But Have Not Contacted Yet

Most players spend their recruiting energy on programs they already have a relationship with. Summer is the time to expand your list. If there are schools you have been thinking about — programs that might be a good academic fit, a good geographic fit, or a good competitive fit — this is the window to reach out.

A well-written introductory email to a coach who has never heard of you is more likely to be read and responded to in July than in October, when coaches are deep into their fall seasons. Do not wait for coaches to find you. Put yourself in front of them.

Future 500 ID Camp brings 50+ Division I, II, and III college coaches to each event specifically to evaluate players for their programs. Boston: July 17–18. Philadelphia: July 25–26. Both camps are filling now.