A template is a message you write once — variables handle the rest. Instead of retyping your grad year, position, and GPA into every email, you write {{user.grad_year}} and ProductiveRecruit fills it in automatically for each coach you contact.
Your default template
As soon as your profile is set up, ProductiveRecruit generates a starter template for you called Introduction Email. It's built from your sport and profile info, so a club athlete and a high school athlete get slightly different wording, but both follow the same pattern: a quick intro, your grad year/position/GPA, a link to your profile, and a direct ask about roster fit.
You can send it as-is, edit it, or use it as a starting point for new templates.
How variables work
Variables are the {{tag.name}} tokens inside a template's subject or body. When you send an email, ProductiveRecruit swaps each one for real data: your profile info, and the coach/college you're contacting.
| Variable | Fills in with |
|---|---|
{{coach.first_name}} / {{coach.last_name}} |
The coach's name |
{{college.name}} |
The school you're emailing |
{{user.first_name}} / {{user.last_name}} |
Your name |
{{user.grad_year}} |
Your graduation year |
{{user.primary_position}} |
Your position |
{{user.gpa}} |
Your GPA |
{{user.height}} / {{user.weight}} |
Your height/weight |
{{user.club_team}} or {{user.high_school}} |
Your team |
{{user.city}} / {{user.state}} |
Your location |
{{user.email}} / {{user.phone}} |
Your contact info |
{{user.profile_url}} |
A link to your recruiting profile |
{{organization.name}} |
Your team/organization name, if you're part of one |
If a field is missing from your profile (say you haven't added a GPA), the tag is left showing in the preview instead of going blank, so you always know what to fill in before you send. {{user.profile_url}} is optional to include: ProductiveRecruit already appends a clickable link to your profile beneath your signature on every email you send, so most athletes skip adding it a second time in the body.
Creating a template
Open Templates and click Create. You'll land on Create with AI, which drafts a complete subject and body from what's already on your profile. It's the fastest way to a solid first draft and it's covered in full in AI email template generator.
To write one yourself, switch to the Create manually tab:
- Give the template a Name.
- Write your Subject and Body. Both have an Insert template tag picker, so you can drop in variables without typing them out by hand.
- Switch to the Preview tab to see it rendered with sample values (a placeholder coach at a placeholder school) before it ever reaches a real inbox.
- Click Save template.
Editing a template
Use the edit action on any row of the Templates list. Editing opens in a modal with the same Name, Editor, and Preview fields, plus its attachment. Nothing is locked in once saved, so a template the AI wrote is just as editable as one you typed yourself.
Organization staff create and edit templates from that same modal rather than the AI flow, and they get an extra Visibility setting for sharing a template across the org. See Shared templates.
How many templates you can keep depends on your plan:
| Plan | Templates |
|---|---|
| Trial | 2 (your default template + 1 you create) |
| No active subscription | 1 |
| Pro | Unlimited |
Attachments
Each template can carry one attachment: a PDF, image, or highlight reel cover, up to 7MB. It rides along automatically with every email sent from that template, including campaign sends, so you only upload it once. Full rules in Attachments.
What's next
- Connect your inbox in Connecting your Gmail account if you haven't already.
- Try the AI email template generator for a faster first draft.
- Send your first message in Sending a single email.
- Understand your daily send cap in Deliverability & sending limits.