Next Phase Rugby

We (Babson College Men’s Rugby) were introduced to Next Phase after 2022 CRC & I regret not paying it much attention then!!! We landed 3 very good players for the Fall of 2023 without much “recruiting” and I realized we needed to step it up or we would have a couple great years and fall into the typical cycle. I started putting in effort to recruit in Jan 23 by attending a few ID camps, but the real progress came from Next Phase!! Babson/Olin are very niche colleges and have very tough admission standards - which is why I didn’t put much energy into recruiting as I felt the ROI was very low. However, with Next Phase’s ability to set parameters for GPA/ACT/SAT and Major (along with several key data sets) allowed me to target prospects with a realistic ability to be admitted AND who would be likely to have an interest in Business or Engineering. This provided the ability for me to search and contact players while in “idle” time during the week (in line at grocery store, grabbing a bagel, riding as a passenger or just taking a break from regular work…3-5 minutes a day. Every Sunday I sent template emails to those players who accepted my request to contact; that allowed me to start a more personal conversation with those players. Through out the 2023 year, we had interactions with over 150 potential prospects. Most of whom I would never have known about!!! We managed to go from 3 prospects applying in for fall 2023 to 22 prospects applying for Fall 2024!!! We had 13 prospects do overnight visits and all but 1 (Philippines) do campus tours. The biggest testimony to Next Phase is that the majority of our current prospects wouldn’t have dreamed about Babson/Olin due to not knowing how unique and amazing each of their academic programs are for their ultimate goals. Both colleges admissions teams have been blown away by how many students we’ve introduced to the college through Next Phase!! DM me at Babsonrugby for more specific testimony! Next Phase we be a critical component in our goal to continue to build upon our recent success!

Next Phase Rugby is the primary online tool we use to connect with student/athletes for our rugby program. It allows us to reach players nationally and overseas. It also allows players to reach out to us. A fantastic tool for our recruiting efforts.

Next Phase Rugby has been a useful tool in discovering and connecting with high school rugby players from around the country that I would otherwise not have knowledge of or access to. It allows our coaching staff to actively search outside of our geographical region and identify candidates who have the qualities and ambition that we look for (Experience Level/GPA/Interested Major), while also giving players a platform to view their variety of options.