Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #41: Gill1918 presents Mike Petro "Cleaning Your Inbox"

Transcript

#41: Gill1918 presents Mike Petro "Cleaning Your Inbox" · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Gil 1918 Project, a podcast series by coaches, for
• 0:04
  coaches, powered by Gil Athletics.
• 0:06
  Think of this as the Ted Talks of track and field coaching.
• 0:09
  Short, insightful, and packed with valuable strategies to help
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  you grow as a coach. We'll bring in the once a year
• 0:15
  track clinic straight to your ears daily.
• 0:17
  Interested in creating your own episode?
• 0:19
  Everyone's welcome to participate.
• 0:21
  Check out the show notes below For more information.
• 0:23
  Now let's get into today's topic.
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  Hi there, my name is Mike Pietro.
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  I am a track and field recruiting coach at NCSA College
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  Recruiting and today's topic is cleaning your inbox.
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  How can we, you know, become more efficient in replying to
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  pertinent emails and take our time to reply to emails from
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  minutes to seconds? So a bit about me.
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  I spent 10 years as a college track and field coach, 10 years
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  in higher education where I balance a number of
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  responsibilities. I was an assistant cross country
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  track and field coach. I was a head cross country and
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  track and field coach. I served as a program track and
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  field cross country recruiting coordinator.
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  I've served as a strength and conditioning coach, whether that
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  is for my team or a number of other teams on our campus.
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  I also served as an adjunct instructor and primarily working
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  at smaller institutions, got bogged down with a a lot of
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  those emails about clubs and organizations that quite
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  frankly, I don't care about. But now transitioning into my
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  new role, I am a track and field recruiting coach here at NCSA
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  where I coach hundreds of student athletes in all facets
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  of recruiting and help those athletes find their next home at
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  the college level. Now, why is this presentation
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  important? Well, Simply put, you could be
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  like me and you get hundreds of emails per day.
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  And if you get all of those emails, it is very, very
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  difficult to respond to all of those emails and address those
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  emails accordingly. So if you can't get to those in
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  time, you miss important deadlines.
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  You keep people waiting, whether that is your blue chip recruit
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  that is expecting response from you in a timely manner.
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  The meet director for your upcoming championship meet as a
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  piece of legislation you need to review for your administrators
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  need some sort of update, whether that's financial or in
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  terms of, you know, sponsorship or eligibility.
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  Just ultimately you're putting yourself at A at a disadvantage
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  in being able to come off as an organized professional, both in
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  terms of, you know, a coach standpoint as well as a
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  representative of your organization.
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  And you know, Simply put, where I'm coming from with this, I've
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  seen it both ways. Like look, coach, I've been
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  there, I've done that. I've gotten all of those emails
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  and I did a terrible job replying to those recruits.
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  So I want to be a part of the solution.
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  And, and especially right now with my position, I'm helping
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  those recruits who want to compete for your program.
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  They meet your posted recruiting standards, they'll qualify for
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  your conference meet or score at your conference meet.
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  They have good grades, they're super excited to be in contact
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  with you. And then you don't do anything
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  with their e-mail. So how can we fix this problem
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  both for you as a professional to be, you know, a, an organized
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  individual to attend to all of the emails in your inbox, as
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  well as putting yourself in a positive light for anyone
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  reaching out to your organization.
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  And the tool that I want to show you today is Text Blaze.
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  Text Blaze is a free extension that I use for Google Chrome.
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  It also has a Windows or a Mac App.
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  I have not dove too much into those, but I use Text Place for
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  Google Chrome. It allows me to have some auto
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  templated responses or or common messages that I'll send that
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  instead of copying and pasting gives me the opportunity to
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  assign a phrase or a shortcut for that template to auto
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  populate. So once you download it, the
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  dashboard looks like this. You can see all of my templates
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  are over here. You know the example I'll use
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  back slash. Hello.
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  I came up with my beautiful title sequence for this
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  presentation. So coaches, I think this is
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  super valuable in terms of recruiting.
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  You can preload a bunch of stock responses and edit those as you
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  see fit. So, you know, first and
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  foremost, that blue chip recruit e-mail hits your inbox that that
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  student athlete has everything you're looking for.
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  Yeah, I definitely want to talk to that student athlete back
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  slash. Yes, the e-mail pops up ready to
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  go. One bonus tip that I have for
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  you, if you're going to have an e-mail template that you have to
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  edit in some capacity to make it personalized, always use TK or
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  TKTK as the placeholder. The reason being it's very
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  common thing to do in journalism, and that's because
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  the letters TK, when they are, you know, back-to-back or TKTK,
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  it's it's very rare to find a word in the English language
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  that has the letters T&K right next to each other, unless
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  you're talking about the Kitchuck brothers, if you're a
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  big ice hockey fan. Yeah.
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  So, you know, if I'm looking for all of this information that I
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  need to edit specifically for that specific e-mail, I can
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  control FTKTK. And that opportunity comes up to
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  be able to edit that selection, you know, and the last thing you
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  want to do is if you are a copy pastor and you know, you send an
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  e-mail to Johnny and you copy paste it and you go to send it
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  to Timmy and you don't take all the Johnnies out.
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  It doesn't look good for you as a coach or an organization.
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  So again, you know, just a little bonus tip, use use some
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  sort of phrase that that's going to be very unique and very
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  uncommon that you can use as a control F search.
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  So here's my my yes, template. Yes, that recruited someone that
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  that meets my standards. Well, hey, you know, I get it.
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  You know, a lot of student athletes aren't what you're
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  looking for and it's OK. Please let them know.
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  Please let them know that it's that you're, they're not what
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  you're looking for and that's OK.
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  You know, something like this. Thank you for reaching out.
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  You did not meet our poster recruiting standards, but I have
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  posted those standards here for you.
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  Please keep me posted on your progress.
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  So what I recommend is if you have anything that has your
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  recruiting standards as a copy paste, you know, don't put the
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  standards in the temple itself. Create a new phrase just for
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  your standards. So here's my no reply but back
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  slash standards. And then my recruiting standards
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  pop up. So I only have to edit the
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  recruiting standards in the event that a student athlete
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  reaches out to me and I need to send those in that information.
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  So that is my no reply for for an athlete that's not a good
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  fit. Hey, you know it's June 2nd.
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  The 2020 Fives are trying to find a home.
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  It's OK to tell them that you're no longer recruiting the 2025
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  class. This is my too late template, so
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  back slash too late. You know, on the flip side, you
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  know what if you have that, that freshman or sophomore recruit
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  that's super eager to talk with you Division One coaches, I'm
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  looking at you. You know it's before June 15th.
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  You think I know you can go ahead and send this really,
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  really brief response. Thank you for reaching out.
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  Due to legislation, I'm not able to connect with you about
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  recruiting until June 15th. So go ahead, you can send that
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  out to the recruit super fast and easy.
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  Hey, you know, along the same lines, Division One coaches,
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  you're in a position where your roster is becoming full.
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  You go ahead and tell those athletes that you know.
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  Hey, coach, hey, student athlete, thank you for reaching
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  out. My roster is full and we are no
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  longer able to take athletes in your event if things change and
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  we'll let you know. So again, you know, being
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  proactive with those communications to those athletes
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  who you know, for one reason or another may come across your
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  desk in the future. Now, again, for some of those
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  programs that are not a full program, you know, I'm talking
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  about like a Towson University or a Jacksonville State, I'm
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  looking at you. You can say back slash no men.
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  If any of those men's recruits come across your desk, could be
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  good to just get a quick reply out to those.
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  You know, conversely, you know, my my friend Coach Haber up at
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  Alaska Fairbanks, I know you guys don't have sprinters or
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  throwers. What if you get an e-mail like
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  that? You can say back slash XC.
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  Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, we only carry
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  distance runners on our roster. You know, we compete primarily
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  in cross country and have a modified track season.
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  So again, you're just getting responses out to the door to
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  those student athletes on the last one that I think is super
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  pivotal for a coach to have is recruits are hitting your inbox.
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  They you are interested in them, but now is just not a good time.
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  That is OK. Let the student athlete know
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  that back slash future. Hello, thank you very much for
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  reaching out. Yes, I am interested in speaking
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  with you about running here at Mike Petro University.
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  I have you on my list and I will contact you in TKTK.
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  Please just set that date. Especially now Coaches, I know
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  you're finishing 2025 recruiting, you're finishing
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  your transfer portal recruiting. Your 2026 are waiting for you
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  just let them know when you're going to be in contact just a
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  quick little reply like this control FTKTK, and you get a
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  nice little e-mail going out the door.
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  So what I'm going to do next, I have a collection of 10 emails
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  that have hit my inbox. I want to see how quickly I can
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  respond to all of these emails using my little you know phrases
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  that I have inputted automatically to text blaze.
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  So 10 emails, apologies, my, you know, my subjects aren't super
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  creative, so it kind of all condensed together, but I'll go
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  through 1 by 1. So here I have a hurdler
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  graduating in 2028, wants to run Division One.
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  Hey, that's a pretty easy 1 reply. back slash early.
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  Can't talk to you until after June 15th.
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  I'll send that. All right, second one junior
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  graduating in 2026. Hey, I have a 55 second 400
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  hurdler, 15 second 110 hurdler. You know, that's definitely
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  someone that I am wanting to talk to.
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  But hey, I'm going to say it's not a good time.
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  I'm just going to go ahead and and use that as my example
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  there. Hi Mike, thank you for reaching
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  out. I will contact you and I think
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  August will be a good time to talk to the student athlete send
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  and where's my last one? I think it is right here.
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  My coach Mike Pietro, 400 hurdler run 85 seconds in the
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  400 hurdles, also ran 25 seconds in the one 10s.
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  I unfortunately that student athletes not meeting my
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  recruiting standards. So back slash.
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  Nope. And then in the body of that
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  e-mail I'm going to say back slash standards just for that
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  student athlete to be aware of. So good to go there. 3 emails
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  there. Let's go to my throwers.
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  All right, we have a thrower. Yeah, this student athlete does
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  meet my postal recruiting standards.
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  So I'll say hello, Mike. Let's go ahead and get a call
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  set up. Put the ball in that recruits
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  court. 2027 graduate, PR 110 and the javelin.
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  Yeah, that student athlete meets my standards as well.
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  So I'll go ahead and say yes, but you know, maybe let's talk
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  in in the future. So again, not a good time, but
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  you know, I'll prioritize my throwers.
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  I'll put them in July. So second e-mail is out and then
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  the last e-mail I have here, Mike Petro, 2026 grad meets my
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  timeline. I have a 203 foot discus so I
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  definitely want to talk to that kid 100%.
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  Awesome, 6 down 4 to go go to my sprinters.
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  I coach on side 2025 good PRS. Am I still recruiting for the
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  2025 class? Unfortunately, no, I'm not.
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  You know, I have a school that you know works with early
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  decision and it and it's going to be a little bit too late.
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  So back slash too late. Sent to that recruit.
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  I have a man looking to run at Towson University.
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  Dead giveaway I put Towson in there.
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  Doesn't matter what his times are, I just don't have those.
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  So I'll go no men. So thank you for reaching out.
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  We're a women's only ex ETF program.
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  Cool, cool. Unsigned 2025 sprinter.
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  Are you still recruiting for the 2025 class?
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  If so, do you have space for me? Unfortunately, no, I'm not.
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  I'm full right now. So full.
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  And then my last e-mail here, 2026 sprinter Mike Petro
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  interested in Alaska Fairbanks. And you know, as as you all
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  know, you know, I do not carry sprinters or throwers on my
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  roster. I'm XE only.
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  So I can't really help that student at the at this time.
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  So there you have it, 10 emails out the door, one to two minutes
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  or so, you know, we're able to get those punctual replies out
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  to the student athletes, you know, make sure that we are
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  putting ourselves in a great position to answer those emails
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  and just, you know, be on top of our organizational items that we
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  need to check off when we are in the office.
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  So that said, I want to thank you all for your time.
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  You know, I hope this was super helpful.
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  I want to thank Mike Cunningham for this opportunity.
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  I want to thank him for everything he does for our
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  coaching network. I think it's fantastic to have
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  someone like Mike in our corner. And now again, I can't thank you
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  enough for everything. And I want to thank you coaches,
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  you know, thank you for everything that you're doing for
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  your student athletes. Thank you for the opportunities
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  that you provide and and your impact goes a long way more than
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  just your sport. So if you want to connect with
• 14:07
  me, you can go ahead. Follow me on Instagram at coach
• 14:10
  under score Mike under score Petro.
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  Otherwise, feel free to connect with me.
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  If it's a professional inquiry, mike.petro@ncsasports.org is a
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  great way to reach me. Otherwise, if you want to
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  connect with me on a personal level, you know, Petro,
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  mikej@gmail.com, no problem sending my personal e-mail to
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  you guys. So again, thank you so much for
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  your time. Hope you enjoy this and yeah,
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  looking forward to hearing from you.
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  Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here. Hey, I hope you enjoyed this
• 14:37
  episode of the Guild 1918 Project series.
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  That's really my mission, my passion to bring you massive
• 14:44
  amounts of value and I hope this one hit the mark.
• 14:47
  The Gill 1918 Project is really dependent on you if for you to
• 14:52
  build your own episode, to hear your voice, to have your voice
• 14:55
  heard you have something to say and teach other coaches out
• 14:59
  there. So please get a hold of me,
• 15:01
  E-mail, text message, Twitter, smoke signals, get a hold of me
• 15:06
  and let's help create your episode of the Guild 1918
• 15:09
  Project. Hope you enjoy the day, they
• 15:11
  will see you tomorrow.