I would like help with walking-on my schools Track program. (Emailing, times, etc,.)

keep it simple. Your name, high school, how long you've been running... "I'm interested in your program.. here are my times... would I be able to walk on.. I've been running x during the summer..."

You're not trying to persuade him. Either he will be interested in you based on your times, or he won't.

Pretty much what the poster above me said. You can email with some information or make an attempt to go see the coach face to face. That will get his attention.

Edward Yuen wrote:

Hello everyone!

I'm looking to walk-on and run for a D1 Track & Field Sprint Team (UCSB) and I'd like some advice on how I would go about doing that.

I know the first step is to always email the coach, but I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what the criteria of the email should be. Any suggestions, guidelines, or even a sample email would do me great justice and I'd be extremely thankful.

As for a little bit about myself, I'm a sprinter/hurdler, my times are:

110m HH : 15.22 (FAT)

300m IH : 39.97 (FAT)

400m : 53.34 (FAT)

If you need any more information, I can easily edit and provide it! I respond quick!!

There are guys on that team with times slower than yours. I assume walking on is likely. You will likely have to get faster to get money, but you can walk on it appears.

Are you starting at UCSB this fall or are you just applying?

Flagpole did you even look at their team? Don't get the guys hopes up too much. The 3 guys with marks that look slower all ran faster as prep athletes no one is a Decath.

Edward you can't just look at a roster and assume the coach will allow you on the team. I would reach out to the coach tell him your marks and ask if there is a walk-on policy.

CollegeCoach wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

There are guys on that team with times slower than yours. I assume walking on is likely. You will likely have to get faster to get money, but you can walk on it appears.

Flagpole did you even look at their team? Don't get the guys hopes up too much. The 3 guys with marks that look slower all ran faster as prep athletes no one is a Decath.

Edward you can't just look at a roster and assume the coach will allow you on the team. I would reach out to the coach tell him your marks and ask if there is a walk-on policy.

Ok...dude needs to contact the coach regardless. Walk on or don't walk on. Run club if there is one or go to another school.

Yeah I'll reach out for sure, thanks.

Oops, you can't edit posts. It's just I've never done this stuff before, I just assumed there were tryouts and/or there was like a "X" time requirement but I can't seem to find anything on the website. I'm not looking for any money, I just want to run for a track team (there's no club or intramural for sprinting at UCSB).

I've already got accepted and am attending the school in September, I came here for engineering and I just want to run while I'm here because I love the sport.

Edward Yuen wrote:

I've already got accepted and am attending the school in September, I came here for engineering and I just want to run while I'm here because I love the sport.

Good luck. I tried walking on at my school(Ohio State) with much faster times and didn't make the cut.

Thanks. If it doesn't work out, I'll just go to weightlifting for fun. I have asthma anyways, I'm pretty sure thats a no-go for most D1 Track Coaches. :(

Edward Yuen wrote:

Thanks. If it doesn't work out, I'll just go to weightlifting for fun. I have asthma anyways, I'm pretty sure thats a no-go for most D1 Track Coaches. :(

Don't give up though. At least give it a try and see what happens. Might be easier at a smaller school. Ohio State is a huge Big 10 school.

Contact the Coach(es), be persistent and follow up with them but don't be annoying, these D1 coaches are often busy (or at least insist to the athletes that they are busy) so an email they don't respond too doesn't necessarily mean they won't give you a try out. You should be able to find out each coach's responsibilities on the website so I would find the coach most responsible for recruiting and CC the coach for your event the head coach and the person responsible for most of the team logistics. Hopefully someone will give it the time of day and can give you info on walking-on or the tryouts process.

Honestly don't get your hopes too high but each school is different, depending on conference and need.

Contact the coach when you get there. Ask him/her what is the policy for walking on. Be persistent, but respectful (a fine line). Search out other members of the team. Ask them what they are doing in the off season (training wise). Once you have obtained a report with your peers you can gain an insight into what is needed. I have had some athletes with times about where you are say they want to run, but don't follow up. I would not recruit you, but if you showed me your desire to work hard, keep your grades up, stay out of trouble I would consider giving you a shot