INTRODUCING THE DTS VIRTUAL SHOWCASE!

INFORMATION

Since 1997, Donovan Tennis Strategies (DTS) has been the leader in college recruitment consulting for tennis players.  For the last 20 of those years, DTS has also run the biggest and most successful recruiting showcases anywhere in the world. The Covid-19 crisis has created unprecedented challenges to all aspects of life, including college tennis recruiting, and we initiated a creative effective and helpful response for recruits and college coaches alike. Our first ever DTS Virtual Showcase in July, 2020 was a rousing success, with 125 players worldwide participating, and college coaches from 115 women’s programs, and 102 men’s programs taking part.  Our next one will take place January 9-10, 2021.  The cost is $199 (clients get the discounted rate of $129).

Currently, the Division 1 “dead period” has been extended to April 15, 2021.  Division 1 coaches are therefore prohibited from attending tournaments and live showcases prior to that date.  Some of the most prominent Division 3 conferences have indefinite dead periods that prohibit coaches from watching recruits play live. Other schools have initiated budget freezes, so recruiting trips paid for by the school are prohibited for the time being.  Some recruits and their families remain reluctant to travel during the pandemic.  To counter these recruiting challenges, we are bringing one DTS exposure opportunity straight to the coaches and players!

We will replicate what our live showcases offer in the best way possible, with participants able to take part in a webinar version of our popular college coaches panel, our enlightening admissions presentation, and a presentation on “Recruiting in the Covid-19 Era”.  We’ll offer “Meet the Coaches”, short video clips where coaches can introduce themselves and provide a little info on their programs.  The playing portion of the event will be done through video.  Once a participant is registered for this virtual showcase, DTS will provide the instructions for creating and submitting the match video (one unedited set).

The 700 college coaches on our contact list will receive the same profiles of the participants as they get with our live showcases, with contact information, school attended, GPA, test scores (if available), intended area of study in college (if known), along with ranking and rating information.  What’s different about the DTS Virtual Showcase is that we will also provide a match video. Watching videos of recruits and corresponding with them via phone, e-mail or text is currently all that coaches are permitted to do.  Most importantly, recruits can participate in the DTS Virtual Showcase without the expense of traveling to the event, and without the safety concerns some have about traveling during the pandemic.

DTS has developed the leading brand when it comes to tennis recruiting showcases, and will not only tap into the large number of college coaches who typically attend our showcases, but will extend our reach to coaches who have been unable to come in the past, due to scheduling conflicts or budget restrictions.  We are excited about the response to our first Virtual Showcase, and are excited about offering the next one!

Again, after we receive the registration form from players, we will forward detailed instructions on how to do the match video, along with the schedule of the “virtual” seminar offerings as part of this creative new DTS event.