A great question for this time of the Senior recruiting cycle:
My senior daughter had a rough year in volleyball this past season. She started about ½ of the season (the first half) and then, she was rarely played. After the season concluded, she continued playing during open gyms and, she signed up for club volleyball. Her coach approached her a month ago and told her he had been watching her and that she could play at a community college for a year or two and with that under her belt, easily move into a four year college. She’s been offered two scholarships however, those colleges don’t offer courses that will transfer to the college of choice for her four year. Our question to you … is it too late for her to find a junior/community college that is looking for an 08/09 recruit? Would we be wasting our time at this point to contact other colleges?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Curious in the Northwest
The quick answer is that, NO, it is not too late to find a Junior College. Each year, I have a number of Junior College coaches contact me to find out if I know of any available seniors. It is my impression that many programs will keep recruiting right up until the start of practice.
On the hierarchy of college volleyball recruiting, Junior Colleges are at the bottom. This means that they must wait until all the other divisions/classifications select their incoming players. What makes it doubly tough on JC's, is that they are the back-up plans for many Prospective Student Athletes. Again, I hear from JC coaches that such and such a player will come to them, only if they don't score high enough on the SAT/ACT or if they can't get into a certain 4 year school.
I strongly encourage PSA's to look at JC's because of the positives - well funded scholarships that approach full rides (if not full), competitive matches, slightly less academic pressure and the ability to play immediately. Let's not forget, that the JC avenue gets you halfway to the diploma of a 4 year school, while someone paid for the gas.
But, the clock is ticking because a number of solid PSA's are probably coming to the same conclusion - What about Junior Colleges? Don't wait any longer - quickly put together a list of potential JC's to contact (make the list longer than you think you need), look up their contact information on the web and start shooting out e-mails with PSA information ASAP.
Complete listings of Junior Colleges can be found at www.njcaa.org for the majority of the USA. California Junior Colleges play in an different organization, which can be found at www.coasports.org.
Be prepared to send out videos or have a link to a website hosted video - this late in the club season, there may not be any other tournaments for coaches to watch your daughter. Remember that Junior Colleges allow for tryouts, so don't hesitate to go to a campus to play some volleyball on a visit, if invited to a school of interest.
I think that you are making a wise choice to pursue a Junior College scholarship and I encourage you to move very quickly!
