Is there a site or a way to find out what each college has in terms of scholarships if they aren't fully funded. I know D-l has 12 and D-ll has 8 if they are fully funded programs but how do we know which schools aren't fully funded and the amount that school offers as mandated by the school. Thanks. I enjoy your site!! Dennis
My quick answer would be to check www.richkern.com website. Many college coaches (along with many fans) use the Rich Kern site as the statistical database to find out so much about college volleyball. It is amazing the wealth of information that this site has and I would not be surprised if it does contain the answers to your questions.
As you know, Division I can be funded to 12 full scholarships and Division II can be funded to 8 full scholarships. It is then up to each institution or conference to determine at what level they will actually fund the volleyball programs.
There are a number of conferences at the Division II level that have determined that each member school can only fund the programs at a certain number that is less than the NCAA maximum. I do not understand has this cannot be a violation of gender equity or limiting the opportunities for female athletes, but it does happen. It gets a bit strange at the NCAA Division II level because private institutions have a number of different avenues to package a scholarship for athletes. These avenues (academic, athletic, merit, leadership, state, federal, religious, etc.) sometimes count toward the NCAA limit and sometimes not. The result is that some Division II programs actually have many more than 8 players on full scholarships - it is not illegal, it is just a quirk in the funding rules.
Finding out this scholarship funding information can be tough because NCAA Division I institutions are loath to announce that they are not funding a women's sport at the NCAA limit. Unlike Women's Basketball, which the NCAA allows for 15 scholarships (imagine going 18 in volleyball), if volleyball is one or two short on support, it can have a huge negative impact upon recruiting, season preparation and competitive ability. If Women's basketball is short a scholarship or two, then still have two deep and a couple in the bank for security. I don't even want to look at football's 85 (and they used to be at over a 100 in the not too distant past).
On average, the better ranked Division I volleyball conferences would be fully funded with their programs. When you step away from the upper conferences is where you would start to find a program or two that is short a scholarship. The bottom Division I ranked conferences are the ones where we could find a number of programs not operating at full scholarship support. These types of athletic departments like to say they are Division I, but they are shallow in their support of women's and Olympic category sports.
It is impossible to really generalize the Division II level because of all the variables with each conference, school and program.
November 17, 2008
November 13, 2008
Year In and Year Out Volleyball Advice
I was organizing my office a bit and came across an older Volleyball magazine. It had a section called "100 Things Every Player Should Know". This was just a listing of 100 Things with regards to playing-practicing-thinking volleyball - both beach and indoor. While I won't list each 100 Things, there are a few that are significant.
Some ideas/philosophies do stand the test of time. No matter what year, what season, what rules, some things are just standard for our sport. I believe they are worthy of being revisited because they can help you become a better volleyball player, coach and fan.
#4 - Forget the last play and get ready for the next. I call this short term memory; understand what went wrong and then move on. Too many players get into their own heads and allow a previous negative play to predetermine the next play.
#6 - Serve the front court passer. This is a simple strategy that is often overlooked. Instead of allowing a front court attacker to focus on one thing (hitting) make them focus on two things (passing and hitting). When you make a player do two things, odds are better they will mess one of those things up and this will result in point or point opportunity for your team.
#10 - Never tip a bad set. Good teams can see a tip coming from a mile away, because this is usually how far from being a good set an attacker is managing. When the set is poor, hit hard and deep (preferable to zone 1) - When the set is good, that is when the tip will be a kill.
#11 - Keep your love for the sport by not over-training. This Thing is something we all need to remember - players, coaches and parents. The body and the mind need to rest. Too much volleyball or volleyball related training will just lead to burn-out.
#19 - Play with the attitude that every ball is coming to you. This seems obvious, yet there are obvious times when players get surprised by the ball. In rally score (boo, hissss) there is no time to be surprised. It is all about focus and mental discipline.
#20 - If someone is struggling to pass your serve, stay on them. Another obvious suggestion, but how many times do we see a player absolutely shank the ball up to grandma in the 8th row, then the next serve misses her by 20 feet. Point runs in rally score are the difference between a W and a L - in 25 point games, it takes only one significant point run to achieve this difference. Point runs are powered by breaking the other team's serve receive.
#24 - Talk during the play, not between plays. I like to think of it as talking pre-play to identify hitters and quick review of what is going to happen (I have the middle, watch the short serve) then communicating with each other in play (she is coming in, my hitter is out, mine/yours, A, A,A,A). Too many times teams do the 'rah-rah' after a point, but during the play it is silent.
#33 - Keep in mind that you play volleyball with your feet. Very, very true. Players try to make up for lazy footwork with overactive arm work. If your feet are not correct, passing-blocking-defense-attacking-setting, all suffer badly. I hardly ever remind a player about their arms, but I am always talking about their feet.
#38 - Go beyond the ball with your arms when playing defense. Many players shorten their platform range or chicken wing the ball when trying to dig. This will result in off-target digs and shanked balls. Players must finish the ball, go through the ball, over manage the ball to make sure it is a transition attack dig.
#51 - If you're the setter, know who's hitting and who the blockers are. This is the difference between a setter and someone who is setting - big difference. A setter must understand which hitters should be getting sets in certain situations, along with which blockers can be targeted or avoided to ensure the best odds of the hitter getting a kill.
#58- Remember that teams usually win when they serve in and hit in. This Volleyball magazine article was written before the onset of rally score and with rally score (boo, hisssss again), and this Thing is even more applicable. Missed serve is a free point for the opponents and hitting the ball out allows for point runs which is the determining factor in rally score. Simply by serving the ball in (but not free ball serves) and hitting the ball in, it will extend rallies and allow the opportunity for any team against any opponent to challenge for a win.
#64 - Never give an opponent an easy ball. It drives me to drink diet soda when I see my team turn their back and pass a ball over the net. Never give a free ball - the only time you should pass the ball over the net is after you have sprinted halfway to Puerto Rico to chase down a ball on the second contact. Always hit the ball over the net and always try to hit the ball over the net into zone one - Don't allow the other team to load into their free ball attack.
#85- See the hitter hit the ball. With defense, if you cannot see the hitter hit the ball then you are out of position. No matter what defensive position you play, if you cannot see the attacker make contact then you are too wide, too shallow, too deep, too short, too something. You must always be able to see contact.
#100- Play for fun. Ultimately this is what we should all be doing. Professional volleyball is such a tiny fraction that it makes it an unreality. Whether a player or family is on scholarship, whether the coaching staff makes enough to eat steak or hamburger, we are still a sport that must be played for fun. If you (coaches, players, parents) are not enjoying what you are doing, then it is time to bow out of the game. Life is too short and you will negatively impact the experience for those that are playing volleyball because it is fun.
I sincerely believe that if I was to re-read the Volleyball magazine article in anther 10 years, the same things will still be true.
Some ideas/philosophies do stand the test of time. No matter what year, what season, what rules, some things are just standard for our sport. I believe they are worthy of being revisited because they can help you become a better volleyball player, coach and fan.
#4 - Forget the last play and get ready for the next. I call this short term memory; understand what went wrong and then move on. Too many players get into their own heads and allow a previous negative play to predetermine the next play.
#6 - Serve the front court passer. This is a simple strategy that is often overlooked. Instead of allowing a front court attacker to focus on one thing (hitting) make them focus on two things (passing and hitting). When you make a player do two things, odds are better they will mess one of those things up and this will result in point or point opportunity for your team.
#10 - Never tip a bad set. Good teams can see a tip coming from a mile away, because this is usually how far from being a good set an attacker is managing. When the set is poor, hit hard and deep (preferable to zone 1) - When the set is good, that is when the tip will be a kill.
#11 - Keep your love for the sport by not over-training. This Thing is something we all need to remember - players, coaches and parents. The body and the mind need to rest. Too much volleyball or volleyball related training will just lead to burn-out.
#19 - Play with the attitude that every ball is coming to you. This seems obvious, yet there are obvious times when players get surprised by the ball. In rally score (boo, hissss) there is no time to be surprised. It is all about focus and mental discipline.
#20 - If someone is struggling to pass your serve, stay on them. Another obvious suggestion, but how many times do we see a player absolutely shank the ball up to grandma in the 8th row, then the next serve misses her by 20 feet. Point runs in rally score are the difference between a W and a L - in 25 point games, it takes only one significant point run to achieve this difference. Point runs are powered by breaking the other team's serve receive.
#24 - Talk during the play, not between plays. I like to think of it as talking pre-play to identify hitters and quick review of what is going to happen (I have the middle, watch the short serve) then communicating with each other in play (she is coming in, my hitter is out, mine/yours, A, A,A,A). Too many times teams do the 'rah-rah' after a point, but during the play it is silent.
#33 - Keep in mind that you play volleyball with your feet. Very, very true. Players try to make up for lazy footwork with overactive arm work. If your feet are not correct, passing-blocking-defense-attacking-setting, all suffer badly. I hardly ever remind a player about their arms, but I am always talking about their feet.
#38 - Go beyond the ball with your arms when playing defense. Many players shorten their platform range or chicken wing the ball when trying to dig. This will result in off-target digs and shanked balls. Players must finish the ball, go through the ball, over manage the ball to make sure it is a transition attack dig.
#51 - If you're the setter, know who's hitting and who the blockers are. This is the difference between a setter and someone who is setting - big difference. A setter must understand which hitters should be getting sets in certain situations, along with which blockers can be targeted or avoided to ensure the best odds of the hitter getting a kill.
#58- Remember that teams usually win when they serve in and hit in. This Volleyball magazine article was written before the onset of rally score and with rally score (boo, hisssss again), and this Thing is even more applicable. Missed serve is a free point for the opponents and hitting the ball out allows for point runs which is the determining factor in rally score. Simply by serving the ball in (but not free ball serves) and hitting the ball in, it will extend rallies and allow the opportunity for any team against any opponent to challenge for a win.
#64 - Never give an opponent an easy ball. It drives me to drink diet soda when I see my team turn their back and pass a ball over the net. Never give a free ball - the only time you should pass the ball over the net is after you have sprinted halfway to Puerto Rico to chase down a ball on the second contact. Always hit the ball over the net and always try to hit the ball over the net into zone one - Don't allow the other team to load into their free ball attack.
#85- See the hitter hit the ball. With defense, if you cannot see the hitter hit the ball then you are out of position. No matter what defensive position you play, if you cannot see the attacker make contact then you are too wide, too shallow, too deep, too short, too something. You must always be able to see contact.
#100- Play for fun. Ultimately this is what we should all be doing. Professional volleyball is such a tiny fraction that it makes it an unreality. Whether a player or family is on scholarship, whether the coaching staff makes enough to eat steak or hamburger, we are still a sport that must be played for fun. If you (coaches, players, parents) are not enjoying what you are doing, then it is time to bow out of the game. Life is too short and you will negatively impact the experience for those that are playing volleyball because it is fun.
I sincerely believe that if I was to re-read the Volleyball magazine article in anther 10 years, the same things will still be true.
November 11, 2008
Inner Ramblings of a College Volleyball Coach
Andrea has opened the door to let the inner me out:
What is the most discouraging/ frustrating thing for you as a coach, and what is the the most encouraging/ enjoyable thing for you as a coach? I ask this because I am a fairly new coach and I would love to hear your perspective! Thank You!! Andrea
I appreciate the question from Andrea, but don't think I could just provide a simple one 'thing' answer - It will need to be one plus a lengthy rant.
Most Discouraging/Frustrating Thing:
1. Watching our sport slide into mediocrity.
Our sport has become toothless - We are much like the old saying about children; to be seen and not heard. The NCAA and Athletic Departments like to roll us on out when they need to illustrate good grades, sportsmanship and ethics, but when we speak up about issues, suddenly we are a bother.
The playing rules have become a joke, it is slop volleyball and even the players are now frustrated - when the players know it is garbage ball, then something is not right.
The AVCA seems to be nothing more than a clicker group to tally up how many people they can say are members. Other than paying a hefty membership due, there is really no difference in service to me versus a junior high volleyball coach from northern Michigan or southern Texas.
Women's Basketball assistant coaches double the salaries of Volleyball head coaches - They take buses and we drive the vans - They charter private planes and we have to get the cheapest commercial flight possible with a 3 hour layover in Detroit on a Sunday afternoon.
We have completely changed our sport to get two prime time games on ESPN/ESPN2 in December, which we had before the playing rules meltdown.
The NCAA only seeds 16 teams, so our 'Championship' is nothing more than a regional pre-season tournament and because of the economy, there is talk of not seeding at all.
We have zero non-NCAA post season opportunities - There are more football bowls than football bowl eligible teams, there is a post season men's and women's basketball NIT tournament (and unless I have just lost my marbles, I think there is another NIT type tournament available post-season for men's basketball), yet the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (anyone remember this event?) went out with hardly a hiccup from college volleyball in protest - I guess opportunities for females do not apply to volleyball.
We have allowed the sports world to associate gender equity solely with women's basketball, even though there are two head count team sports - Women's hoops has equal support then all women's sports must have equal support.
I still get asked when volleyball season is.
The playing rules have become a joke, it is slop volleyball and even the players are now frustrated - when the players know it is garbage ball, then something is not right.
The AVCA seems to be nothing more than a clicker group to tally up how many people they can say are members. Other than paying a hefty membership due, there is really no difference in service to me versus a junior high volleyball coach from northern Michigan or southern Texas.
Women's Basketball assistant coaches double the salaries of Volleyball head coaches - They take buses and we drive the vans - They charter private planes and we have to get the cheapest commercial flight possible with a 3 hour layover in Detroit on a Sunday afternoon.
We have completely changed our sport to get two prime time games on ESPN/ESPN2 in December, which we had before the playing rules meltdown.
The NCAA only seeds 16 teams, so our 'Championship' is nothing more than a regional pre-season tournament and because of the economy, there is talk of not seeding at all.
We have zero non-NCAA post season opportunities - There are more football bowls than football bowl eligible teams, there is a post season men's and women's basketball NIT tournament (and unless I have just lost my marbles, I think there is another NIT type tournament available post-season for men's basketball), yet the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (anyone remember this event?) went out with hardly a hiccup from college volleyball in protest - I guess opportunities for females do not apply to volleyball.
We have allowed the sports world to associate gender equity solely with women's basketball, even though there are two head count team sports - Women's hoops has equal support then all women's sports must have equal support.
I still get asked when volleyball season is.
Most Encouraging/Enjoyable Thing:
1. Special Wins.
Specials wins are rare. For me they are the result of a long effort to achieve a certain satisfaction that a special win represents.
I have been coaching for a long time and have won and lost my fair share of matches, yet I only count about 4 victories as special.
These tend to not be surprises - a surprise win can happen because another team has suffered an injury, or bad luck with travel, etc. They are against teams that are talented, traditionally better than my teams and played well during our win.
It is with great satisfaction that I look at the special wins because it means years of recruiting, training, player mental development, preaching, heart breaking losses and personal sacrifice have all been worth it.
For the amount of time and effort college volleyball coaches put into their craft, very few of us are paid accordingly - we are not talking the minimum million dollar packages that every football coach and basketball coach enjoys. Rather, when we consider the amount of time put into the volleyball routine (office work, practice preparation, films at home, video breakdown in the office, watching scout tape, official visits, home visits, unofficial visits, team travel, recruiting travel, more travel) we actually don't make too much per hour.
For me the payoff, the reward, the satisfaction is savoring those special wins that may only happen once every few years.
Andrea - It has taken me years to balance my passion with my frustration. But, in the end, I coach because I enjoy it and I am good at it.
I have been coaching for a long time and have won and lost my fair share of matches, yet I only count about 4 victories as special.
These tend to not be surprises - a surprise win can happen because another team has suffered an injury, or bad luck with travel, etc. They are against teams that are talented, traditionally better than my teams and played well during our win.
It is with great satisfaction that I look at the special wins because it means years of recruiting, training, player mental development, preaching, heart breaking losses and personal sacrifice have all been worth it.
For the amount of time and effort college volleyball coaches put into their craft, very few of us are paid accordingly - we are not talking the minimum million dollar packages that every football coach and basketball coach enjoys. Rather, when we consider the amount of time put into the volleyball routine (office work, practice preparation, films at home, video breakdown in the office, watching scout tape, official visits, home visits, unofficial visits, team travel, recruiting travel, more travel) we actually don't make too much per hour.
For me the payoff, the reward, the satisfaction is savoring those special wins that may only happen once every few years.
Andrea - It has taken me years to balance my passion with my frustration. But, in the end, I coach because I enjoy it and I am good at it.
November 10, 2008
Playing Up in Age for Club Volleyball
A good question from a reader about playing up in age groups:
Thanks for all of the great information you provide in this forum. I’d like you opinion on “playing up”. Is it always best to play up in age group if your ability allows, or would it be best to play your own age group and be on a potentially very good team in your own age bracket? What would you consider more important for a players long term development. Greg
For long term physical development, one would always wish to play against the best possible competition at all times. If you are 15 and can hold your own against 18 year olds, then 18's is the age group that you should be playing; if you are just considering volleyball skill/ability development.
Yet, I feel that there are two other considerations to keep in mind - Mental development and recruiting opportunities.
Mental development is the ability to handle competitive situations maturely and to enhance leadership ability. If a player has the physical ability to play beyond his/her age group and does, it can sometimes limit their mental development. The reality is that an 18 year old is more mature than a 15 or 16 year old just because of life's experiences (in general) and it can be tough for a 15 year old to relate/interact. When we combine this with team chemistry, most young kids that play up are not going to be the team leaders emotionally and in fact, can be a bit precocious in their attitudes. They don't have the social, family and personal pressure of transitioning from high school to college within the next 6 months like a 18 year old club player.
I feel these particulars tend to create an athlete, that when he or she does become an older club player and is playing with athletes their own age, they may not have the mental development to provide appropriate leadership and maturity within their team; don't get me wrong, they may be great kids, but are they mature leaders and a positive/stabilizing presence on the court?
If Club Volleyball is a means to secure a roster spot and a scholarship with a college program, then we must consider the recruiting ramifications of playing up. My belief is that a player should play up to 16's (at the most 17's) if physically able and then stay with their own age group. Remember that college coaches are compiling their recruiting database for each recruiting class in the 16's age group and then finish this class evaluation very early in the 17's age group - Please note this is a broad statement because each program has different recruiting parameters and priorities.
Part of the recruiting process is evaluation of a player's mental abilities. The physical abilities are rather easy to discern, but the mental abilities will make all the difference in college volleyball. In collegiate volleyball, there are tons of players with physically dynamic skill, but the good ones are the players that posses the mental focus to succeed.
While it can be argued that a player may limit their physical development by staying with their age group from 16's/17's up, it will enhance their mental-leadership skills which are very important to college coaches. I like to see how a player relates to and leads players that are her own age and to evaluate this characteristic, I need to see them within their age group.
Back to the physical side, it is also good for Prospective Student-Athlete (PSA) to display her skills against those within her own age group. If one plays up, the college coaches will be trying to guesstimate what her abilities would be if she was playing against others her own age. We do this because the majority of our recruiting class is playing against their own age. As we rank players to determine who gets the first offer of a scholarship, we constantly contrast and compare the overall impression of each PSA.
In short, play up to 16's/17's, then spend the last two or three years with the appropriate age group.
Thanks for all of the great information you provide in this forum. I’d like you opinion on “playing up”. Is it always best to play up in age group if your ability allows, or would it be best to play your own age group and be on a potentially very good team in your own age bracket? What would you consider more important for a players long term development. Greg
For long term physical development, one would always wish to play against the best possible competition at all times. If you are 15 and can hold your own against 18 year olds, then 18's is the age group that you should be playing; if you are just considering volleyball skill/ability development.
Yet, I feel that there are two other considerations to keep in mind - Mental development and recruiting opportunities.
Mental development is the ability to handle competitive situations maturely and to enhance leadership ability. If a player has the physical ability to play beyond his/her age group and does, it can sometimes limit their mental development. The reality is that an 18 year old is more mature than a 15 or 16 year old just because of life's experiences (in general) and it can be tough for a 15 year old to relate/interact. When we combine this with team chemistry, most young kids that play up are not going to be the team leaders emotionally and in fact, can be a bit precocious in their attitudes. They don't have the social, family and personal pressure of transitioning from high school to college within the next 6 months like a 18 year old club player.
I feel these particulars tend to create an athlete, that when he or she does become an older club player and is playing with athletes their own age, they may not have the mental development to provide appropriate leadership and maturity within their team; don't get me wrong, they may be great kids, but are they mature leaders and a positive/stabilizing presence on the court?
If Club Volleyball is a means to secure a roster spot and a scholarship with a college program, then we must consider the recruiting ramifications of playing up. My belief is that a player should play up to 16's (at the most 17's) if physically able and then stay with their own age group. Remember that college coaches are compiling their recruiting database for each recruiting class in the 16's age group and then finish this class evaluation very early in the 17's age group - Please note this is a broad statement because each program has different recruiting parameters and priorities.
Part of the recruiting process is evaluation of a player's mental abilities. The physical abilities are rather easy to discern, but the mental abilities will make all the difference in college volleyball. In collegiate volleyball, there are tons of players with physically dynamic skill, but the good ones are the players that posses the mental focus to succeed.
While it can be argued that a player may limit their physical development by staying with their age group from 16's/17's up, it will enhance their mental-leadership skills which are very important to college coaches. I like to see how a player relates to and leads players that are her own age and to evaluate this characteristic, I need to see them within their age group.
Back to the physical side, it is also good for Prospective Student-Athlete (PSA) to display her skills against those within her own age group. If one plays up, the college coaches will be trying to guesstimate what her abilities would be if she was playing against others her own age. We do this because the majority of our recruiting class is playing against their own age. As we rank players to determine who gets the first offer of a scholarship, we constantly contrast and compare the overall impression of each PSA.
In short, play up to 16's/17's, then spend the last two or three years with the appropriate age group.
November 7, 2008
Ivy League Volleyball Question
My daughter is a junior and is planning on applying to four Ivy League schools based on her academic goals, and would also love to play volleyball in college. She is a 6’ tall strong player. My question is, as I understand it, these schools offer no scholarships, but being on the team can make admission a bit more attainable. Are there any nuances in approaching Ivy League coaches with interest in their volleyball programs? Thanks for any insight and suggestions about how to approach these programs, or what to expect. All the best! Barbara
I will admit that my overall knowledge of the Ivy League is limited. It is my understanding that the league rules do not allow funding of athletically based scholarships. In this regard, it is like Division III volleyball-athletics. What I am not sure about, is the influence of volleyball upon the other forms of scholarship and/or admission.
My suggestion is to approach the Ivy League schools in the same manner as you would approach any other school. Be proactive in contacting schools, be proactive in illustrating your daughter's academic and athletic ability and be absolutely without hesitation about asking questions.
The Ivy League is full of great academic institutions that enjoy a certain reverence within the world of higher education. But, do not be afraid to ask direct questions and expect to receive direct answers. While the Admissions staff at these schools may be high brow, or elitist (or incredible approachable - only interaction will tell), the volleyball coaches are volleyball coaches. They love the sport, they want good players and good people in their program and their job is to recruit to build winning teams.
Many universities will publish the freshman class academic profile (gpa, class rank and test scores) on their websites. With this information, you can get a general picture of where your daughter stands. This also allows you to speak with the coaches in a knowledgeable manner. The athletic part should be self evident; if they are recruiting your daughter seriously, then they are seriously interested.
If the Ivy League schools are not recruiting your daughter then you have to ask yourself a question - Do they know about her? If the answer is yes, and they are not recruiting her, then she should consider just walking on to participate in college volleyball, but I would hesitate to believe any support for admission and/or financial aid would accrue from the volleyball program.
If the answer is no, then you must act quickly to get her on the radar of the college coaches. Please follow my Recruiting Plan, but limit the colleges/universities to those within the Ivy League. Even though your daughter is just a junior, the elite institutions start their evaluation process (Latin for making cuts) much, much earlier than one would think.
The Reader's Digest answer to your question is don't do anything special, just be proactive to communicate and gather information.
Good luck and I hope your daughter is able to achieve her academic and athletic goals!
I will admit that my overall knowledge of the Ivy League is limited. It is my understanding that the league rules do not allow funding of athletically based scholarships. In this regard, it is like Division III volleyball-athletics. What I am not sure about, is the influence of volleyball upon the other forms of scholarship and/or admission.
My suggestion is to approach the Ivy League schools in the same manner as you would approach any other school. Be proactive in contacting schools, be proactive in illustrating your daughter's academic and athletic ability and be absolutely without hesitation about asking questions.
The Ivy League is full of great academic institutions that enjoy a certain reverence within the world of higher education. But, do not be afraid to ask direct questions and expect to receive direct answers. While the Admissions staff at these schools may be high brow, or elitist (or incredible approachable - only interaction will tell), the volleyball coaches are volleyball coaches. They love the sport, they want good players and good people in their program and their job is to recruit to build winning teams.
Many universities will publish the freshman class academic profile (gpa, class rank and test scores) on their websites. With this information, you can get a general picture of where your daughter stands. This also allows you to speak with the coaches in a knowledgeable manner. The athletic part should be self evident; if they are recruiting your daughter seriously, then they are seriously interested.
If the Ivy League schools are not recruiting your daughter then you have to ask yourself a question - Do they know about her? If the answer is yes, and they are not recruiting her, then she should consider just walking on to participate in college volleyball, but I would hesitate to believe any support for admission and/or financial aid would accrue from the volleyball program.
If the answer is no, then you must act quickly to get her on the radar of the college coaches. Please follow my Recruiting Plan, but limit the colleges/universities to those within the Ivy League. Even though your daughter is just a junior, the elite institutions start their evaluation process (Latin for making cuts) much, much earlier than one would think.
The Reader's Digest answer to your question is don't do anything special, just be proactive to communicate and gather information.
Good luck and I hope your daughter is able to achieve her academic and athletic goals!
November 3, 2008
Multi-Sport Athlete Question
A short and simple question from a reader:
What percentage of college coaches would allow a scholarship player to participate in two sports? Wayne
A simple question that has a complicated answer. Within the structure of NCAA athletics, there is a hierarchy of sport scholarships. For example, a male student athlete cannot be on a track scholarship and participate in football - A female student athlete cannot be on a soccer scholarship and play basketball. This is a protective measure that does not allow some sports to benefit by pressuring or arranging for their athletes to be carried on scholarships funded by other sports.
In Volleyball, we are second behind women's basketball in the women's sports hierarchy. In terms of playing multiple sports, basketball and track/field are the two most referenced for Division I athletes. It would be possible to play tennis, golf and softball because of the seasons, but these situations happen mostly within the Division II or III structure. A nice opportunity that Division III holds for athletes is the comfortable chance to play multiple sports.
Back to DI - Track and Basketball are the most common sports that a volleyball player would play. For basketball, the benefit is that the player has to be carried on the basketball scholarship and the basketball season ends in time for the player to participate in the volleyball spring season. The negative issues would be no rest time for the player in between seasons, the pressure from the basketball staff to have the volleyball player double dip in practices in October/November, and being exposed to the 'have versus have not' mentality - there is a significant difference between how women's basketball and women's volleyball is supported in Division I athletics.
For Track, the athlete is still carried on the volleyball scholarship, so this is a free athlete for the track program. The benefits would be two separate seasons with rest time between, the opportunity to stay physically fit along with allowing a player to pursue an individually focused as opposed to team focused event (some kids just like to do their own thing without worrying about the team). Some drawbacks include not maximizing the spring volleyball season and exposing a current scholarship athlete to potential repetitive stress related injuries.
I seem to hear of more examples of volleyball players having been on the basketball squads - Williams and Young at UCLA, Willoughby at Hawaii, Foekle (spelling) at Stanford. I would think there are a few that have doubled up with track (the player at the U. of Texas), but they don't seem to garner as much attention.
To answer Wayne's question - I would hazard a guess that the percentage is low. Even with the positives of carrying the player on another sport's scholarship count or the physical conditioning aspect, there are just too many negative variables. The risk of injury in basketball would be cause enough to say no.
The few programs that do support such duality would probably have been told early in the recruiting process that the Prospective Student-Athlete wanted to play both and was just amazing in both sports.
Within my program, I don't believe I would support such a two sport athlete and my reason's are different than listed above. I feel it is important that my players have balance within their collegiate experience and quality academic time. Playing two Division I sports would just demand too much of an academic and experience sacrifice in my opinion.
I would not want a player to average B grades when they could average an A, I want my players to have down time from the physical pounding, I would want them to broaden their non-athletic experience by getting involved in student government or academic-social clubs, as opposed to participating in a second sport.
But, then again, I could be way off on my answer. Ultimately, it comes down to the opinion of each head coach and what they feel is best for their program and players!
What percentage of college coaches would allow a scholarship player to participate in two sports? Wayne
A simple question that has a complicated answer. Within the structure of NCAA athletics, there is a hierarchy of sport scholarships. For example, a male student athlete cannot be on a track scholarship and participate in football - A female student athlete cannot be on a soccer scholarship and play basketball. This is a protective measure that does not allow some sports to benefit by pressuring or arranging for their athletes to be carried on scholarships funded by other sports.
In Volleyball, we are second behind women's basketball in the women's sports hierarchy. In terms of playing multiple sports, basketball and track/field are the two most referenced for Division I athletes. It would be possible to play tennis, golf and softball because of the seasons, but these situations happen mostly within the Division II or III structure. A nice opportunity that Division III holds for athletes is the comfortable chance to play multiple sports.
Back to DI - Track and Basketball are the most common sports that a volleyball player would play. For basketball, the benefit is that the player has to be carried on the basketball scholarship and the basketball season ends in time for the player to participate in the volleyball spring season. The negative issues would be no rest time for the player in between seasons, the pressure from the basketball staff to have the volleyball player double dip in practices in October/November, and being exposed to the 'have versus have not' mentality - there is a significant difference between how women's basketball and women's volleyball is supported in Division I athletics.
For Track, the athlete is still carried on the volleyball scholarship, so this is a free athlete for the track program. The benefits would be two separate seasons with rest time between, the opportunity to stay physically fit along with allowing a player to pursue an individually focused as opposed to team focused event (some kids just like to do their own thing without worrying about the team). Some drawbacks include not maximizing the spring volleyball season and exposing a current scholarship athlete to potential repetitive stress related injuries.
I seem to hear of more examples of volleyball players having been on the basketball squads - Williams and Young at UCLA, Willoughby at Hawaii, Foekle (spelling) at Stanford. I would think there are a few that have doubled up with track (the player at the U. of Texas), but they don't seem to garner as much attention.
To answer Wayne's question - I would hazard a guess that the percentage is low. Even with the positives of carrying the player on another sport's scholarship count or the physical conditioning aspect, there are just too many negative variables. The risk of injury in basketball would be cause enough to say no.
The few programs that do support such duality would probably have been told early in the recruiting process that the Prospective Student-Athlete wanted to play both and was just amazing in both sports.
Within my program, I don't believe I would support such a two sport athlete and my reason's are different than listed above. I feel it is important that my players have balance within their collegiate experience and quality academic time. Playing two Division I sports would just demand too much of an academic and experience sacrifice in my opinion.
I would not want a player to average B grades when they could average an A, I want my players to have down time from the physical pounding, I would want them to broaden their non-athletic experience by getting involved in student government or academic-social clubs, as opposed to participating in a second sport.
But, then again, I could be way off on my answer. Ultimately, it comes down to the opinion of each head coach and what they feel is best for their program and players!
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