The short answer
The form usually sits on the team's page under Recruiting or Prospects. Fill one out for every school you would seriously attend, then email the coach yourself.
A questionnaire is a record. An email is a conversation.
Draft the email to go with it
The free coach email generator writes your first email from your sport, stats and film link. No account needed.
What a recruiting questionnaire asks
Example: Brown football recruiting questionnaire, a Division I form on Teamworks. Brown's baseball form asks for 60-yard dash and velocity instead.
| Section | Required fields | Optional fields |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Name, email, cell phone, address, birth date, parents, coaches | Headshot, X handle, school counselor |
| Academic | Grad year, high school, GPA, NCAA ID | Transcript, SAT or ACT, class rank, major, honors |
| Athletic | Height, weight, positions, 40-yard dash, bench, power clean, squat, broad jump | Film links, other sports, honors, offers |
When a coach can send one (2026-27)
Since June 2024, a Division I coach cannot send you a questionnaire before your sport's first date: June 15 after sophomore year in most sports. Football uses the June 15 date too. You can fill out a posted one yourself at any age.
| Level and sport | First send date |
|---|---|
| D1: football and most sports | June 15 after sophomore year |
| D1: women's basketball | June 1 after sophomore year |
| D1: baseball | August 1 before junior year |
| D1: softball | September 1 of junior year |
| D2 and D3: every sport | Any time |
| NAIA and NJCAA junior colleges | No set date in their rules |
Does a questionnaire mean interest?
Not by itself. Filling one out does not guarantee a reply, and being sent one means you are on a list, often a long one.
How to fill one out
- 1Gather it first: NCAA ID, GPA, measurables, coach contacts, film.
- 2Put your own email and cell in the athlete fields, not a parent's.
- 3Double-check your grad year so you land in the right class.
- 4Paste your film link, even when the field is optional.
- 5Enter real numbers. A made-up 40 time will not survive a stopwatch.
- 6Email the position coach the same week. Send your film link and say you filled out the form.
- 7Update it after each season, a new best or a coaching change. Use the form's edit link, or email the coach your new numbers.
Baseball or softball? Skip the typing with Autofill
Brown's baseball questionnaire has 40 fields, and most schools ask for the same grades, stats and contacts. Questionnaire Autofill types your saved answers into the school's form, and you click submit yourself. Other sports: fill the form by hand, then put your time into the email.
Stop retyping the same answers for every school
Autofill is a Pro upgrade inside the app. The 7-day trial is on Varsity and does not include it. Autofill is in beta for baseball and softball and runs in Google Chrome on a computer, so sign up on your phone now and fill forms later.
Start My Free Trial7-day free trial. A refundable $1 card check is charged today and returned within 7 days. After day 7 the Varsity plan bills monthly at the price shown before you enter a card. Cancel in one click.
My take: do the form fast, then email
I treat the form as paperwork, so we built Autofill. The real effort is email: 82% of NextCommit athletes who emailed 50 or more coaches got at least one reply.
Put your time into coaches, not forms
NextCommit builds your coach list, writes a personal email to each coach from your stats and film, sends from your own inbox and tracks every reply.
Varsity plan: finish the 30-day outreach checklist and if no coach responds in 30 days, we refund your first month. Guarantee terms
Start My Free Trial7-day free trial. A refundable $1 card check is charged today and returned within 7 days. After day 7 the Varsity plan bills monthly at the price shown before you enter a card. Cancel in one click.
FAQ
Recruiting questionnaire FAQ
Should I fill out recruiting questionnaires?
Yes, for every school you would seriously attend. It is free, and some staffs build camp and contact lists from it. Then email the position coach the same week.
What is a recruiting questionnaire?
A form on a college team's website, usually under a Recruiting or Prospects link, that collects your contact details, graduation year, academics, position, measurables and coach contacts. Submitting it creates your record in the staff's recruiting database.
What does a football recruiting questionnaire ask?
Contact details, grades and football numbers. Brown University's Division I form, for example, requires grad year, GPA, NCAA ID, height, weight, positions, 40-yard dash, bench, power clean, squat and broad jump, with film links optional. A Division I football coach can send you one starting June 15 after sophomore year (2026-27).
Do colleges look at recruiting questionnaires?
Staffs use them to track recruits and build mailing lists, but how closely each one gets read varies by program. A questionnaire helps most when a coach looks you up after your email, your film or a camp and finds a complete record with accurate numbers.
Does a recruiting questionnaire mean a coach is interested?
Not by itself. If a Division I coach sends you one after your sport's first date for recruiting materials, you are on a list, often a long one. Real interest looks like a personal email, a call, a request for your schedule or an invitation to visit.
When should I fill out a recruiting questionnaire?
As soon as a school is on your list, freshman and sophomore year included. You can complete a posted questionnaire at any age. Division I coaches cannot send you one until your sport's first date, which is June 15 after sophomore year in football and most sports (2026-27).
Can you autofill recruiting questionnaires?
Yes, for baseball and softball. NextCommit's Questionnaire Autofill types your saved answers into a school's form in Google Chrome on a computer, and you review and submit it yourself. It is in beta on the Pro plan, which the 7-day trial does not include.
Next step
Now reach the coach
Your coach list, your emails and every reply in one place.
Start My Free TrialWritten by
Adam Paganelli
Co-founder, NextCommit
Adam Paganelli is a co-founder of NextCommit. He played college baseball at Green River College, Sacramento City College, and Northwest Nazarene University after graduating from Tahoma High School in 2018, and he builds the AI outreach, Recruit Score, and coach database tools athletes use on NextCommit.
More guides by Adam and the editorial policy.
Sources (14)
- NCAA Division I Bylaw 13.4.1: recruiting materials and electronic correspondence First dates by sport. Football has no exception, so it follows the general June 15 date. Baseball, softball, women's basketball, lacrosse, ice hockey and wrestling have their own (13.4.1.1 to 13.4.1.9). Also what a coach may reply before that date (13.4.1.13) and what may be sent at any time (13.4.1.14).
- NCAA Division I Council report, June 2024 (PDF) Removed questionnaires from what coaches may send before the first date.
- AVCA: updates on Division I recruiting rules Tells coaches that questionnaires can no longer go out early.
- NCAA: 2026-27 Division II coaches off-campus recruiting guide (PDF) Athletically related recruiting materials may be sent at any time.
- NCAA Division III Manual 2026-27 Bylaw 13.4.1.1: no restrictions on the timing of recruiting materials.
- NAIA: information for parents High school students have no recruiting calendar restrictions. Checked November 12, 2026.
- NJCAA Handbook: Bylaws 2026-27 (PDF) Article VI, Section 4 covers visits and contact with NJCAA athletes. It sets no date for sending recruiting materials.
- Brown University Athletics: information for prospective student-athletes Prospects of any age may complete a posted questionnaire.
- Brown University football recruiting questionnaire (Teamworks) The form behind the field list: 40 fields, 20 of them required. Checked November 12, 2026.
- Brown University Athletics: recruiting questionnaires Links the form for every Brown sport. The baseball form has 40 fields and the softball form 39, counted November 12, 2026.
- Abilene Christian Athletics: prospect questionnaires Submissions go into the staff's recruiting database.
- Wittenberg University Athletics: recruiting questionnaires A Division III example: forms go to the head coach and admission staff.
- NextCommit: what gets college coaches to reply (2026 platform data) NextCommit athletes who emailed 50 or more coaches heard back from at least one 82% of the time, April 2025 to September 2026.
- NCAA Division II Manual 2026-27 (Legislative Services Database) Bylaw 13.1.3.1: Division II coaches may call, text, email and send recruiting materials at any time (since August 1, 2024). In-person contact starts June 15 before junior year.