Twitter is a powerful part of the recruiting process. Athletes can promote themselves in a positive way to a wide audience of coaches and others in the softball community. The most basic part of Twitter is a user’s profile. Optimizing your Twitter profile is critical to getting the largest possible benefit from your efforts. Simply, you want to:
- Make your basic information easily accessible:
- Name
- Grad year
- High School & Travel Team
- Give people to opportunity to take action:
- Email address
- Profile or YouTube link
Here are specific suggestions for what you should have in each area of your Twitter profile.
Username: Your Username should include your first name, last name and grad year (example: @SusieSmith2026). However, twitter limits you to 15 characters so you may need to be creative. It is best to always keep your grad year in your username but possibly use a first or last initial to stay within the limits (@SusieS2026 for example)
Name: Include your first name, last name and grad year. This is not the place to be cute, stick to the facts. Use the first name that people refer to you by. If your name is Madison, but everyone calls you Maddie, put Maddie as your first name. If you go by a nickname, just refer to it in quotes “” between your first and last name.
Profile Picture: make sure your profile picture shows your face! You want a coach to be able to recognize you from your profile picture.
Background Picture: good to have something softball related: action shot, team photo, etc.
Location: Make sure to indicate the city, state you live in.
Website: Link to an online profile or YouTube channel. Give coaches the opportunity to learn more about you.
Bio: a good bio packs a lot of important information into it:
- Grad Year (yes, repeat it again)
- Uniform #
- Position(s)
- Travel Team
- High School
Example:
2026 – #15 – 3B/RHP Best Travel Team in the World – Anytown High School
Other items to consider in your Bio
- GPA and/or SAT/ACT score
- recognition/awards
- Cell Phone # (if you are past Sept 1 of your Junior year)
- Other interests
Bonus: Make sure you have a pinned tweet on your profile. This is an easy way to control what content coaches see when they first come across your information. What post from your Twitter past best showcases yourself? Pin it so it stands front and center on your profile!
