Wonderful feedback from a happy VolleyFamily. It just illustrates the opportunities which are available, outside of DI and outside of being an elite, tall player and outside of being on a super duper club team!
Coach Sonnichsen,
I just wanted to send a quick note to thank you for the information you provided on your website and that I have devoured over the last two years.
My daughter presented us with some unique issues (well, probably not for you). She is a very strong student and wanted a strong academic college. She was (and still is) undecided over her major and was looking at liberal arts colleges in the medium size to small range. To top it off, she wasn't sure at first if she even wanted to play volleyball in college. She was a first team all-district selection her senior year (and state all-academic) in a competitive Texas district so she had the skills to play at some level but the club scene always left a bad taste in her mouth.
In the end, once we decided that DIII was the right place for her the need to play her 18s year seemed less important. (We actually had a college coach come see one of her privates since she wasn't playing club.) Not playing her final year of club really showed her how much she missed the game and how much she wanted to play in college. This week she has decided to play for a wonderful liberal arts school in Texas that has a strong DIII VB program. The school is providing a very generous academic grant to attend.
The things we really learned (or I should say proved out from what you have written) are:
I just wanted to send a quick note to thank you for the information you provided on your website and that I have devoured over the last two years.
My daughter presented us with some unique issues (well, probably not for you). She is a very strong student and wanted a strong academic college. She was (and still is) undecided over her major and was looking at liberal arts colleges in the medium size to small range. To top it off, she wasn't sure at first if she even wanted to play volleyball in college. She was a first team all-district selection her senior year (and state all-academic) in a competitive Texas district so she had the skills to play at some level but the club scene always left a bad taste in her mouth.
In the end, once we decided that DIII was the right place for her the need to play her 18s year seemed less important. (We actually had a college coach come see one of her privates since she wasn't playing club.) Not playing her final year of club really showed her how much she missed the game and how much she wanted to play in college. This week she has decided to play for a wonderful liberal arts school in Texas that has a strong DIII VB program. The school is providing a very generous academic grant to attend.
The things we really learned (or I should say proved out from what you have written) are:
- Video! Tape the club and HS games and get them posted on youtube (game footage and highlights). Some schools will recruit from video alone. (She was offered a walk-on position to a DI program from video alone as well as receiving DII, DIII and NAIA inquiries/offers.)
- Academics! Opens up so many more options to the PSA.
- Parents have to stay active in the process or you need to farm it out to a recruiting service. (There are still so many parents that think the club will do the recruiting for them.)
- There are so many opportunities out there if your child is open to them. In our case, our options were some-what limited due to our daughter's academic desires but it was shocking to see how many coaches from schools I've never heard of looking for players. (To that point, we are still getting emails today for opportunities to play.)
This got more involved than I intended. Just thank you and know that your efforts are helping VB families everywhere!
RR
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please stay positive or at the minimum present constructive criticism - Negative comments or attacks upon other reader's opinions will not be posted.