If June 15 comes and goes quietly

What a slow start does and doesn’t mean - and what to do next

It’s June, and if you’re in the recruiting class of 2028, you’be been waiting a while for this month to roll around.

For some of you, the phone is going to ring on June 15. Maybe a lot. Maybe from programs you’ve been hoping to hear from for two years. That’s going to feel as good as you’ve imagined.

For others, it’s going to be quieter than you hoped. Maybe one or two calls from programs that weren’t at the top of your list. Maybe nothing at all from the school you’ve been dreaming about. Maybe just… silence.

This piece is for that second group. And if you’re honest with yourself, you’re probably not sure which group you’re in yet.

Interpreting the silence

Let’s start with what a quiet June 15 doesn’t mean.

It doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. It doesn’t mean your recruiting process is over. It doesn’t mean the last two years of work, travel, tournaments, and emails were wasted. It doesn’t mean you’re behind.

What it usually means is one of a few things, none of which are permanent.

You might be on programs’ lists but not at the top of them. Coaches contact their highest-priority recruits first. If a program is genuinely interested but has others they’re pursuing more urgently, you might not hear from them on June 15 itself - but you might hear from them in the days or weeks that follow.

You might be targeting programs that recruit on a different timeline. Some programs - particularly those with more resources and more certainty about their top targets - move fast. Others are more deliberate, waiting to see how their preferred conversations develop before expanding their list. A quiet June 15 from a program you want isn’t necessarily a no. It might be a not yet.

You might need to adjust your list. This is the harder one to hear, but it’s worth saying honestly. If June 15 passes and programs at your target level aren’t calling, that’s information. It doesn’t mean you can’t play in college. It might mean the level you’ve been targeting and the level coaches are placing you at aren’t aligned yet - and that’s something you can work with.

What the data actually shows

According to Allison Keefe at The Field Hockey Analyst, most D1 players commit in September of their junior year - not June. For D3, it’s the following June.

And in each of the last two recruiting classes, roughly 88-89 players committed to D1 programs after May 1st of their junior year, dispelling the myth that the D1 spots are gone in a matter of months. June 15 opens the contact window. It doesn’t close it.

The handful of players committing on June 15 or in the days immediately after are typically the ones who have done extensive campus visits, built deep relationships with programs over two years, and are ready to say yes the moment the call comes.

That’s a small group. Most recruiting happens in the months that follow - through the summer tournaments, the fall high school season, the official visit period that starts August 1.

If your phone is quieter than you hoped, you are in the majority. You are not behind.

What to do next

Don’t spiral. The worst thing you can do in the 48 hours after June 15 is sit with a quiet phone and let your brain construct a narrative about what it means.

Take stock of who did reach out. Even programs that weren’t your first choice are worth a real conversation. Sometimes the program you weren’t sure about becomes an option when you actually talk to the coaches. Don’t dismiss anything before you’ve given it a fair look.

Reach out to programs on your list that didn’t contact you. June 15 opens the contact window in both directions. If a program has been on your radar and you haven’t heard from them, you can email and express your continued interest. You can ask where you stand. The answer might be disappointing, but it’s better than spending the summer wondering.

Go back to your club coach. If June 15 was quieter than expected, this is the moment to have an honest conversation about where you’re at, what programs might be a better fit, and what the path forward looks like. A good club coach will tell you the truth.

Keep playing well. June 15 is not the last time coaches will watch you play. Summer tournaments are still ahead. The evaluation window doesn’t close because the contact window opened.

The tough stuff

Recruiting is hard in a way that’s difficult to explain to people who haven’t been through it. The uncertainty, the waiting, the trying to read signals from people who aren’t always being fully transparent — it takes a toll. And June 15 has a way of concentrating all of that into a single day in a way that isn’t entirely healthy.

Part of what makes a quiet June 15 hard isn’t just the silence - it’s watching other people’s noise. The commitment posts start going up. Your feed fills with announcements. It can feel like everyone is moving forward while you’re standing still. They’re not. They’re just louder.

Your athletic identity is not determined by how many coaches call you on one day in June. The players I’ve watched handle quiet June 15s well are the ones who treat it as a data point rather than a verdict - who adjust, keep working, and stay in the process long enough for it to play out.

Most recruiting stories don’t end on June 15. They’re usually just beginning.

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If you want help navigating what comes next - whether that’s reading the signals from programs or communicating with coaches through the process - I have two $25 resources that can help: