What’s Your Elevator Pitch?
Why Being More than Just Your UTR is So Important and How to Tell Your Story Effectively
There’s no denying the importance of ranking systems like Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) and World Tennis Number (WTN) when it comes to college tennis recruiting. Coaches know the level of players they’re capable of bringing in, and if your ranking is way out of range it is unlikely they will be interested in you as a recruit. As I’ve previously discussed, analyzing the UTRs of current players on a team is a good way for junior tennis players to identify programs that are “safeties”, “targets”, and “reaches.”
But your UTR isn’t everything. Maybe there’s a reason why your UTR doesn’t capture your true potential as a college tennis player. Or maybe there’s a reason why a coach should recruit you specifically over all of the other junior tennis players with similar UTRs. Being able to effectively communicate these reasons is essential to your recruiting success. And given how busy college coaches are, effective communication means succinct communication. What’s your elevator pitch - the case for why a coach should recruit you that you can make in the time it takes to ride an elevator to an upper floor?