Not Playing High School Volleyball

 Hello Coach - We need your advice.

My daughter, a DS/L 2021, is likely going to be cut from her high school team this week.  This is a pretty big time high school program, with talent deep in her position, that the coach has the luxury of being able to play some favorites.  

Meanwhile, she is committed to a D3 program and she has been committed for awhile. 

But what does she tell the coach if she is cut from high school?  Is that going to raise red flags for the coach?  I am thinking that my daughter have a conf. call with the coach and just be very respectful and diplomatic and tell the truth, with no disparaging of the high school coach.  Should either me or my wife be on that video call, or should this be just my daughter and the college coach?   We hate to see the high school situation kill her college dream.   

It is largely due to your blog that she is committed to playing in college - we have used it as our "manual" for several years!  

Thank you, H.C.

Thank you for your email and the compliments on the site - Glad to hear that collegevolleyballcoach.com has helped your family!

When it comes to high school volleyball (and honestly, the odds of high school sports actually occurring this fall are not great because of COVID 19), college coaches are not overly concerned. Now, we say the right things about high school volleyball, as not to upset the high school coaches and seem like narcissistic jerks, but a recruit's success within the high school program is not a priority in our evaluation efforts.

We understand that high school volleyball is its own creature and that the combination of crazy players, crazy parents and crazy coaches can often make high school volleyball a trainwreck.  As a college coach, I only really wanted two things from my recruits when they played high school volleyball - Maximize the free touches (as opposed to the paid touches of club volleyball) and don't get hurt.

Because of the increased length of the club volleyball season, from November to July (if not even longer), club is the absolute driver of player development and recruiting.  When combined with the fact that high school and college volleyball competitive seasons are concurrent, college coaches don't have the time to focus on a recruit's high school results.

As to your question, I would not lend drama or energy to this situation with regards to the college coach.  College coaches are concerned about talent and specifically, does an incoming player have the ability to make their collegiate team better.  From the information in your email, it appears as if your daughter has impressed her future collegiate coach with her talent level.

I would suggest the following:

• Your daughter sends the coach an email, letting her know that she will not be on the high school team.
• Briefly explain it was a numbers situation, as it is a very large school and program, and this year's Senior class had an abundance of Libero/DS players.
• Tell the coach that she will be doing private lessons/clinics with her club team this fall, as to get her repetitions and keep her skills sharp, as she transitions into the club season.

Also, keep in mind that as a D3 program, there is no athletic scholarship associated with your daughter - The coach has not invested or allocated a scholarship.  

Keep the email brief and to the point; if the college coach has any concerns, she will reach out for a follow-up.  As long as your daughter is getting touches this fall and is full go with club volleyball later this year, then it will be all good.

Coach

June 15 and Volleyball Recruiting.

Hi Coach Sonnichsen,

How are you? I hope you are staying safe during this uncertain time. I have been a long time fan of your blog. Your blog is the most helpful blog that I've found in the internet and I've read through all of your posts. Thank you for your time and dedication in this matter. 

I'm a mother of a 2022 setter and she is 5'9" tall. She is currently a sophomore and her GPA is on track to be 4.0 by the end of this school term. My daughter has had some successes locally and got some individual awards at tournaments. We are located in Idaho and my daughter has started emailing coaches in the northwest to express interests since last October. She has had some responses (mostly Division III and Ivy Leagues) asking her to complete a questionnaire and two Division III schools have invited her to some Zoom meetings, along with other recruits, to have a conversations with the coaches and current teammates. She hasn't had any Division I responses asking her to complete questionnaires, despite having sent out 5 emails to those coaches since last year. 

These are my questions:

1. As June 15th is quickly approaching, I am wondering what the recruits should be expecting from the coaches by that date. I heard from someone that coaches would actually extend an offer on that date. This sounds odd to me because if theoretically the coaches haven't communicated directly to the recruit before June 15th, how would they know that the recruit is a "good fit" to the team (not just skill wise, but also personality-wise, etc)? Shouldn't there be an official visit prior to an offer? 

2. My daughter's club team does not travel much for competition. For the coming club season, should she change to a club that does travel to out of region for tournaments in order to increase exposure? We are on the west coast and the furthest that the local teams usually travel to are Washington and Oregon. They don't attend the big tournaments in Las Vegas etc. Do Division I coaches generally travel to the smaller tournaments in Washington or Oregon for recruiting purposes? 

3. My daughter also plays up this year in club because she enjoys playing with tougher competition and faster pace. She tends to improve more when she's older girls. She did well and was the starting setter and she was mature enough to socialize with girls who are one year older than she was. However I have read that for recruiting purposes, the player should play at their own age because the coaches may overlook the player if they are not in the right age group at the tournament. Should she continue to play up next year or should she go back to her own age group?

4. Do you have any recommendations in terms of coaches that do personal online coaching assessment? I think it would be beneficial if I can get a coach (who ideally has a setter background) to watch a game tape or two of my daughter and then critique her play and decision making.

Thanks!

Setter Mom

Thank you for the compliments on collegevolleyballcoach.com and I am glad to hear that it has been a good recruiting resource for your family!

Allow me to jump right into your questions:

1. After June 15th of Sophomore to Junior Summer, college coaches are allowed to communicate with Prospective Student Athletes (PSA) via email, text and telephone calls.  In a very real sense, July 15th of the Sophomore summer is when direct communication between college coaches and recruits can begin.  

Leading up to this date, college coaches will find ways to communicate with athletes via club coaches, high school coaches, camps/clinics (even though no recruiting is supposed to occur at camps/clinics).  Families can still engage with the Colleges/Universities outside of the athletics department as to gain information via admissions, financial aid, student life, etc.  

With the NCAA Division I recruiting pressure for obtaining the elite athletes, college coaches don't want to be late to the scholarship offer party. They will extend that scholarship to the 6'3" Outsider Hitter, who passes nails and has a great armswing, because they have been watching them play since 8th grade and they can see if the PSA has a good attitude, is hard working, is respectful to the coaches and supportive of her teammates.

But, these early scholarship offers and the resulting commitments, can often times lead to not the best fit between athlete, coach and college.  The result of this not best fit will be transferring.  The combination of early commitments, college coach staffing changes and DI Transfer Portal has lead to an increase in the number of college volleyball players transferring each year.

2. To gain maximum recruiting exposure, PSA's should be playing in the National Qualifiers and especially out of region National Qualifiers if they are open to playing outside of their current geographic footprint.  

Because of budget and time limitations, most college programs will stay within their greater area to recruit, except for National Qualifiers (and/or the really big MLK and President's Day weekend tournaments) because they can get more recruiting bang for their buck.  The sheer size of the tournament, the concentration of talented athletes and the use of technology, allows colleges coaches to effectively evaluate hundreds of PSA's at a large tournament and maximize their recruiting dollar; this is why the National Qualifiers and huge Holiday weekend tournaments draw hundreds of college volleyball programs.

In general, local tournaments are only attended by local college coaches.  Again, it is a matter of time and money for out of region college coaches, and with the COVID 19 impacts, college volleyball programs will see significant reductions to their recruiting budgets.

If your daughter's goal is to be on a college volleyball team, and she is open to more than just schools close near Idaho, then she needs to be on a club volleyball team which plays in a National Qualifier and/or Holiday mega tournaments, especially those outside of the northwest United States.

3.  Don't think about playing up in age in terms of recruiting, but rather in skill development.  A one year jump in age group is easily manageable for recruiting by making sure her graduation information is correctly listed on the team roster, and in your recruiting outreach she makes clear she is a 17's playing on an 18's team.  If by playing up, she can readily increase her setting skills, then playing up is the better choice because college coaches recruit on talent. The better your talent the better your collegiate opportunities.

4.  I am unaware of coaches that do online assessments; plus, the setting position is the most difficult to evaluate via video, as there are just too many nuances which must be seen in person.  The most honest assessment is response to recruiting outreach.  If she has contacted 10 mid-major DI programs with video, and none respond, then she is not a mid-major DI athlete.  Her club coaches should be telling her what she needs to improve upon, and by her watching elite level club and/or collegiate setters, she can see where she needs to get better.

Overall, with her height, graduation year and grade point average, she will be in a good position to have the luxury of many collegiate choices.  The key to greater opportunity is greater exposure via playing in large tournaments outside of your region!

Good luck!

Coach

Is the Club Volleyball worth it?

My daughter is a sophomore and is 5’9”. She plays front and back row on her high school team.  As she is attending a small school, she is forced to play front row as she hits hard and has a decent game vertical at about 2’ but her scrappiness is impressive in the back row. 

She has a hudl account and keeps on getting emails from ncsa, which she is hoping that it means colleges are interested but it’s more likely that paid recruiters want our money. She has been offered to play on a travel team but there is so few girls on the team that are college level girls and the cost is over $3000. Are we better to save that money for our daughter’s college or investing it toward her getting a scholarship? 

My daughter also is a softball pitcher and a basketball player and has a perfect gpa. She managed to play varsity as a freshman in all three sports.  She’s also a kind and a terrific team player.  She does love volleyball. 

I don’t know if contacting coaches is a good option. Should she get attend a camp to get some data on her athletic abilities?  Should we spend the money on her playing on a travel team?  Is she tall enough to make a D1 team?  Is her making a D2 or D3 team even worth the cost of travel volleyball?

K.O.

Thank you for your email and there are a number of questions to work through - Before answering, I will provide some additional context and information.

Club volleyball is looked at as the entry into college volleyball, but that is a little bit like "putting cart in-front of the horse".  Talent determines an athlete's ability to play college volleyball and club volleyball provides the opportunity for athletes to develop their talents.  Because an athlete will receive a significant amount of extra repetitions and hundreds of extra matches versus just playing high school volleyball, club volleyball is the dominant vehicle to increase a player's abilities.

As college athletic scholarships are limited in numbers and/or amounts, it is a competitive situation to obtain an athletic scholarship.  A player's talent will determine the opportunity to receive an athletic scholarship and the amount of such a scholarship.

Traditionally, club volleyball is commonly viewed as the pathway to college volleyball because of all the college coaches which attend club volleyball tournaments to evaluate/scout recruits.  If college coaches can't see an athlete in person, it can be uncomfortable for them to offer roster positions and scholarships to players via video tape.  Club volleyball tournaments allow college coaches to evaluate hundreds of players over the course of 2 to 3 days.  From January to the end of April, there is a large club volleyball tournament every weekend in the more populous states, which allows college coaches to constantly evaluate athletes in person!

NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball has 12 scholarships to award and since women's volleyball in DI is a 'head count' sport and only 12 heads can be on a scholarship, each player gets a full scholarship (provided the program is fully funded with scholarships, which the majority of DI women's teams are) - Obviously, the DI Full Scholarship, especially considering the crazy cost of college these days, is a huge motivation for families to participate in club volleyball.  

Families need to be aware that NCAA DI Women's Volleyball rosters are larger than 12 - Take a look at the roster page on the school's athletic website in the fall season, and you will see Volleyball teams with 16, 18 or 20 players.  This means that all the players outside of the Golden (like Greenwood) Ticket holders, are not receiving an athletic scholarship; they may well be receiving academic and/or merit scholarships, but these are not influenced or controlled by the athletic department.

NCAA Division II and NAIA have 8 scholarships (if the school fully funds the volleyball program) and these type of scholarships are called 'equivalency'.  A coach can take those 8 scholarships and divide them among 20 players, as long as the total amount awarded is equivalent to 8 full scholarships.  In Division II and NAIA volleyball, athletic scholarships are rarely awarded in full amounts, but rather in partial scholarship amounts.  But, unlike NCAA Division I, DII and NAIA schools can stack or package a variety of scholarships together; a player can receive an academic, an athletic, a merit and/or need based scholarships.  Often times, especially if the player has very good academics, the scholarship package at DII/NAIA schools can total out to a Full Scholarship.

NCAA Division III does not offer athletic scholarships.  Doesn't matter how great of a volleyball player, the division rules do not allow the awarding of an athletic scholarship. However, players can receive academic, merit and/or need based scholarships, but they cannot be influenced at all by athletic ability or the athletic department.

Junior College has a variety of athletic scholarship opportunities, depending upon the category of JC.  Junior Colleges have 3 divisions or categories of athletic programs, much like the NCAA.  DI Junior Colleges have full scholarships and the limit is 14 full scholarships if the program is fully funded.  DII gives out partial athletic scholarships, and DIII Junior College is not allowed to provide athletic scholarships.

That should provide some background information to move into your questions - As you have a number of important questions, let me break them out, along with a few other lines from your email which merit comment: 

• .....she is forced to play front row as she hits hard and has a decent game vertical....

As she is only a sophomore and she is 5'9", it is a good thing that she is playing all the way around.  The most competitive collegiate recruiting position is the Libero/DS/Back Row player because there are so many talented players and not a lot of opportunity.  All to often, the back row players don't receive much of an athletic scholarship, if any at all.  I believe 'good' all around Outside Hitters have more recruiting opportunities, than 'good' back row players.

• ....but it’s more likely that paid recruiters want our money....

Recruiting Services are businesses and they have well developed systems to encourage families to sign up for their support.  Some families do need a recruiting service and this can be a wise investment to manage the collegiate recruiting process.  

• She has been offered to play on a travel team but there is so few girls on the team that are college level girls and the cost is over $3000.

Club volleyball is expensive, but it is the protocol to increase ability and to be effectively seen by college coaches.  College coaches don't recruit the club team, we focus on the player were are evaluating.  The majority of time, we don't even know the score of the game much less stay for the entire match.  We don't judge a player by the abilities of her teammates; we judge her interaction with team mates though.

• Are we better to save that money for our daughter’s college or investing it toward her getting a scholarship?

The current club season has ground to a stop with the COVID 19 pandemic, so we will consider the Junior and Senior year of high school playing club volleyball - If we look at this from a return on investment viewpoint; $3000 per year for the next 2 years of club volleyball, plus related expenses of equipment, travel, meals, etc: say....$8,000.

If an athlete plays for 4 years and graduates in 4 years (we won't consider the possibility of a redshirt year), the per college year investment is $2,000.  To make the math work, a player would want to receive at least a $2,000 per year athletic scholarship.  There is a certain in-college value to playing collegiate sports (academic support, priority scheduling, athletic clothing and equipment, representing something larger than yourself, developing lifelong friendships through a common experience, etc.), not to mention post college life of having athletics on your resume and potential employers rating you higher.

Because of my experience as a collegiate player and as a collegiate coach, I feel that eight thousand dollars is a good investment.

• ....and has a perfect gpa....

If her ACT/SAT test scores will reflect this great g.p.a., she will be in a good position to garner academic scholarships.  For the majority of non-Division I players, the academic scholarship will be the largest scholarship award and, as long as you keep up the college mandated g.p.a, this academic award will continue until graduation!

• I don’t know if contacting coaches is a good option.

It is not only a good option, it is the only option to reach your recruiting goals.  As presented above, college volleyball recruiting is competitive - Your 5'9", all around outside hitter daughter, with the great gpa and personality, is competing against thousands of other 5'9" all around outside hitters with great grades and personalities.  Waiting for college coaches to find a player is not a plan, it is a dream.  Because there are so many talented players of average height, it is absolutely necessary for players/families to reach out to college coaches via email with player information and current video.  Even if a player is participating in club volleyball, they still need to reach out to college coaches to convince them to come to court #52 in the Dallas Convention Center during the MLK Classic tournament.

• Should she get attend a camp to get some data on her athletic abilities?

Camps are generally not designed for recruiting, unless the camp specifically says it is for recruiting and has the itinerary to support such a statement; a college camp where the only coaches are from one school (the host college) is not a recruiting camp.  A better option would be recruiting combines or showcases, where a bunch of college coaches attend and would contact an athlete if interested.  The best, but most expensive option, is club volleyball, in which the team plays in large tournaments and the player/family can easily see how they stack up!

• Should we spend the money on her playing on a travel team? 

Yes, if she does want to play in college, she needs to have the training and repetitions needed to develop her talent, along with putting herself into the live view of college coaches attending big tournaments.  There are rare occasions that a gifted volleyball athlete can secure a collegiate opportunity by playing only high school volleyball.

• Is she tall enough to make a D1 team?

Yes, but not at the Power Conference or upper mid major level.  There are plenty of 5'9"-5'10" outside hitters at the mid to lower level NCAA Division I programs.  Her ball control/passing, attacking ability and volleyball intelligence will be more of a deciding factor for these type of DI programs, rather than just her height.

• Is her making a D2 or D3 team even worth the cost of travel volleyball?

I believe so - Think of DII/NAIA in terms of a combination of scholarships and collegiate experience.  Even a partial D2/NAIA 'partial scholarship' will routinely be more than $2,000 per month.  Again, the packaging of D2/NAIA school scholarships can approach and easily total a full scholarship.

There is much to digest when it comes to today's college volleyball recruiting environment.  Hopefully my answers and background information will provide some direction as your daughter moves forward with her volleyball career!!!

Plight of the Short Outside Hitter

Hi Coach:

    I’m an 8th grader right now and I’m 5’3. I have played outside for the last two years I have been playing but i’m not expected to grow any taller. My standing block is 8’5 1/2 and with an approach I am able to reach 8’11. 

Is there any possible way i could play outside in college or no? Do you have any tips? 

Thank you!

L.M.

You can play in college but the challenge will be your position.  Even the smallest collegiate outside hitters tend to be in the 5'6"+ range; recruiting for the attack positions is height driven.

The silver lining is your athleticism - at 5'3" and in 8th grade, it is fantastic that you are blocking a full foot above the net and over 18 inches above with your attack!  This athleticism, combined with your outside hitter experience can translate well to another position for college volleyball - The Libero.

If playing in college is your goal, then you will need to switch to the libero position - Statistically speaking, 5'3" collegiate outside hitters don't exist.  But there are collegiate opportunities for 5'3", great passing and athletic liberos!

To this end, for the next club season, your freshman year, you should move to the Libero position.  

If you are absolutely and without a doubt, only want to play Outside Hitter - Then your collegiate options would tend to be at the NCAA Division III and lower NAIA levels.

Good luck!

Volleyball Recruiting and Academically Elite Schools

Hello;

I came across your website and QAs. I am not sure if your site is still active. I enjoyed reading your answers to other parents and find them very informative. 

I would like to receive some insight from you about my daughter’s options. 

She will be a junior soon. She has a 4.0 GPA with many AP classes. She has a good record volunteering. She’s been playing volleyball since 4^th grade and has been in variety of clubs since 5^thgrade (U11), most of those clubs were well known in our state of Washington but she was not in the top teams. We tried different clubs each other and she had many summer camps as well. She’s been playing varsity at her high school since freshman year. However, her school is relatively small and though it should have been under D3 category, they actually compete in D2 since there aren’t any other similar schools around, hence they always rank low in the region. She’s been one of the top players in that school and captain of the team. She’s 5’5”, has been playing as a left OH and her hits are consistent. She’s a great server. Her secondary position is DS which she’s good at. She can also set and is a back up setter. She’s not great at jumping though. 

Academics are more important to her. But we wonder if applying for volleyball D3 would increase her chances of getting into an exceptionally good school. What Elite schools and Ivy Leagues have D3 and D2 that she would be a good fit for and we should consider? Would volleyball help her get an acceptance over other similarly honored tudets? Any comments, suggestions, and ideas are welcome. 

Thank you,

F.D.

Thank you for your email question and I have been quite lax on keeping the website updated - My day job with NCSA = Next College Student Athlete was a bit nuts through the club season but now I am back answering questions!

The first thing that college coaches look at is talent; does a player have the talent to make their team better.  All the other attributes of a player (grades, personality, work ethic, hair style, etc) are secondary to talent when coaches take that first look at a recruit.  Recruiting elite talent allows coaches to keep cashing a paycheck, and hopefully jump to another better paycheck.  

Because of your daughter's height and her average jumping ability, she would need to focus on the Defensive Specialist/Libero position if she wishes to play college volleyball at any level.  Her talent level will determine what collegiate level she can play at.

In terms of admission to academically elite schools, it depends upon the admission criteria of each school.  Some schools take athletics into account when reviewing a prospective student, while others pay no attention.  

My suggestions:

1) Have your daughter focus on the Libero/DS position moving forward with club (high school is a situation where she needs to play where the coach needs her to play), and then concentrate on skill development.  The better her talent the more numerous her collegiate options will be.

2) By using the web or NCSA's Free or Premium site, you can start researching which schools are academically elite, along with fitting any geographic and financial preferences of your family.

Because of her position, she needs to cast a wide net (all divisions/all organizations - NCAA and NAIA) when considering schools and then she must use email/videos to reach out to college programs as to promote herself.  

The Libero/DS position is arguably the most competitive recruiting position as a result of the sheer volume of players within this position.  Sitting back and hoping that something works out just because you play club is not going to get the job done; club is the vehicle but the player/family must be the one doing the driving!

Good luck!

Coach

Too late to play college volleyball?

I am in my Spring semester of my Freshman year of college. 

After visiting my best friend who plays D3 volleyball up north this past weekend, I wish I decided to play in college as well. I had some schools that were interested in me but I just always wanted to go to he big school and focus on my academics. 

However, at this point I want to play college volleyball. For the past 13 years of my life I have always been playing it and I miss it so deeply even if I play inter murals 3 times a week, it just isn’t the same. 

So my question is just if it is too late if I wanted to play D3 college volleyball? 

EM

Not at all; you have used one year of college, but you can retroactively redshirt this year, so you may not have used one year of eligibility.

The solution is simple; 1) make a video from your current college recreation play, 2) reach out via email to the D3 schools you are interested in, with your VB experience, current academic standings and your video. That is all there is to it.

If a college program thinks you can make them better, then they will respond.  If not, they won't.

But, college programs can only know about you and your desire to play, if you send them an email with your volleyball video!

Good luck!

Coach

NCAA Volleyball Recruiting Calendar and Recruiting Rules

Thanks to NCSA Next College Student Athlete for the below NCAA recruiting information!

NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Recruiting Calendar (2017-2018) - http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017-18DIREC_Women%27sVolleyballRecruitingCalendar_20170711.pdf

NCAA Division I Women's Beach Volleyball Recruiting Calendar (2017-2018) - http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017-18DIREC_Women%27sBeachVolleyballRecruitingCalendar_20170711.pdf

NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Recruiting Calendar (2017-2018) - http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017-18DIIREC_OtherSportsRecCal_20175031.pdf

NCAA Division III/NAIA/JC's do not have recruiting calendars.


Terminology:

Contact Period - A coach may leave campus to evaluate players (watch matches/practices) and speak with players/families if they are Senior.

Evaluation Period - A coach may leave campus to evaluate players (watch matches/practices) but not make contact with a player/family.

Quiet Period - A coach may not leave campus, but can host players/families on campus.

Dead Period - No off campus watching players or contact and no on campus contact.


NCAA Guide for the College Bound Athlete (2017-2018) - http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CBSA18.pdf

New SAT scoring and how to match to NCAA Sliding Scale - 
http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2016EC_SAT_Score_Procedures_20170414.pdf


Once again, many thanks to NCSA for sharing this information with Volleyball families!

Collegiate Volleyball Start Up Program

Good Morning Coach,

First off - Thank you!!! Your words of wisdom are truly inspiring!

What are your thoughts on a college which is offering volleyball for the first time? There is a DII program just starting at a school that looks interesting to my daughter but we are torn whether or not to jump into the unknown.  She has been offered a MB position at 3 DIII schools (for Fall 2018) which all have long established programs.

While we are not focusing on athletic scholarship money (we are fortunate that she is an exceptional student and are concentrating on the academic aspect of that) it wouldn't hurt to possibly get some $$ for volleyball.


Thoughts?

K.S.

Thank you for the nice compliments about collegevolleyballcoach.com and glad to help!

With start up volleyball programs, which are rare these days, the most important factor to look at is how they are starting up.  Having interviewed with, and had coaching friends interview with, start up programs, there is a wide range of how athletic departments will support the new volleyball program.  Some will scholarship, staff and fund immediately, while others will present a timetable for implementation of support and other schools will say they are working on it.

With a new program, athletes have the chance to be in the unique position of establishing the culture of the program, of being the pioneers of the sport which will go into the athletic department's record books, of coming in with a clean slate and all positive possibilities in front of them.

Of course, the downside is they are the first team and may not have the history of success to draw upon as they develop the program, and depending upon funding, they may not have the resources to garner a winning season anytime soon.

Per NCAA Division II rules, schools are allowed to fund up to 8 athletic scholarships (provided the conference does not have limitations on volleyball scholarships, which some do), which can be packaged with non-athletic scholarships.

I immediately mention athletic scholarships, because that is the critical piece of building any successful DII volleyball program.  If you don't have the scholarship money, you are not going to secure the necessary talented recruits to succeed.  

After scholarship money, you should review how the department is staffing the program.  Are they just going with a head coach for a couple of years or are they allowing for an assistant coach to be hired (not graduate assistant but real assistant coach).  It is tough for a head coach to juggle all the balls necessary to run a successful program; head coaches need assistants!

Lastly, how does the operating budget compare to the other programs in the conference?  No matter year 1 or year 20, a team needs financial support for competition travel, recruiting, equipment, etc.

My advice is to go through the process of evaluating the start up Division II program because it could be a great opportunity.  Just having the opportunity of an athletic scholarship to compliment her academics is worth the effort! 

As with any VolleyFamily and with any potential program, constantly review what is important for your daughter/family (these details change; academics, geographic location, size of school, etc), and then evaluate potential schools in view of your priorities.  

Remember that it is always good to say no thank you to a number of schools before you say yes to that one school.

Coach

College Volleyball Championships

VolleyFans - We are now into the Championship seasons of college volleyball.  


Please go see a Championship match in your area - Great entertainment for the family and a heck of a lot cheaper than football or basketball game!


NCAA Division I Championship - http://www.ncaa.com/championships/volleyball-women/d1/road-to-the-championship


NCAA Division II Championship - http://www.ncaa.com/content/division-ii-womens-volleyball-championship-guide


NCAA Division III Championships - http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/volleyball-women/d3


NAIA Championships - http://www.naia.org/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=27900&SPID=96227&SPSID=640698


Junior College Championships - http://www.njcaacasper.net

Rising Senior Volleyball Recruiting Question

Hi Coach

You have helped me in the past with my older daughter who is now the starting setter at a NCAA DIII school.  Now my younger daughter, rising high school senior and also a setter, is being recruited by some of the same DIII schools that we looked at 4 years ago. 

There is one DI, Big East Conference school that is local to us that has continually viewed her profile and video on her recruiting page. The school is very local to us and she has attended some clinics and camps there over the past couple of years and may go back for one more this year. 

They have not officially reached out to her but have viewed her page more than a dozen times this past year. Can she ask the coach about the interest? If she attends a clinic this summer can she discuss recruitment and her continued review of her film etc? Are we reading too much into this?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Regards,

P.E.

Glad to have helped with Daughter Number One and hope that she is enjoying her college volleyball experience.

With regards to Daughter Number Two, never hesitate to request clarity from the college coaches.  By all means, have your daughter shoot them an email asking if they are recruiting a setter for her grad year?  And if so, is she one of their top 3 prospects?

I would not attend their camp/clinic for recruiting unless they express a clear interest in her (and not the, "yes, we like you and you should come to our camp" interest).  If your daughter enjoys the setting training and the overall experience, then that is a different slant on their camp.  

If they are interested, then that interest should be enforced with an invite for an Unofficial Visit - Camps are not unofficial visits.  An Unofficial Visit provides a much better opportunity for the recruit and family to evaluate the program, school and campus than the unrealistic camp atmosphere.

Assistant volleyball coaches will do a lot of back up work, as part of the recruiting process.  If they don't get the commitment that the head coach wants from Recruit #1, then they need to have Recruit #2-#5 ready to be queued up for a serious press.

I would be concerned that this DI has not reached out, as your baby girl is a rising senior and DI's are not shy about making contact with a 'just in case' recruit; that is why I suggest your daughter email them.

If they don't respond or give her the non-answer answer, then drop that school.  If that DI does express a sincere interest, then keep up the communication and immediately reach out to similar preference DI's.  The local DI is giving you valuable feedback on her collegiate evaluation and potential - Use this information to contact similar DI's, so you can have the luxury of choice that may well come with a Full Athletic Scholarship.

Coach

Rising Senior College Volleyball Recruiting

Dear Coach,

My daughter is receiving a lot interest and offers from D3 schools - she is 5'10" setter with a 9'6" approach.  The majority of them are great academic insitutions and will serve her well in the future.  She plays for a top rank HS and her club team is highley ranked nationally.  However, intitially she was focused on the Ivy's because they are D1 and had great academics - very few are recruiting a setter for her year.  As she enters into the summer before her senior year she hasnt received offers from D1 schools other than a couple of walk on positions.  The questions is whether she should wait and see if offers come in or accept an offer from a D3 program.  It seems most D1 schools have already finished their recruiting for her year.  She is great player, however patience is not her strong suit.  

Additonally, I have read your thoughts on walk on position and it seems to be a very confusing process, but I see more and more kids accepting these positions.  Since my daughter was looking at schools that do not offer scholarships. is this something she should pursue? and if so what is the best approach to do so? 

Thanks so much for your help and the service you provide.  

RB

The time segment, from the end of the Junior year club season until the start of the Senior Year club season, is very tough on rising Senior athletes who are still searching for their college.  Each year, I receive a number of emails from rising Senior families which are concerned (and panicked) about what to do - They have been active in the recruiting process, they have had some interactions with desired collegiate programs, they have a some serious interest but not at the collegiate playing level that whey had hoped for.  

What families are not privy to, is the mindset of the college coaches during this time segment.  Many college programs will state that they are done recruiting for the grad year but some are telling a white lie, and some truly think they are done, but not really.

A number of coaches (all divisions/classifications, from NCAA DI to JC) will have a scholarship available, but they hold that scholarship for a number of reasons - To balance out their recruiting classes, to wait until after the start of the fall collegiate season to determine where best to use this scholarship, possibly use it on a collegiate transfer, hold it for a late bloomer club volleyball player, etc.  

And, there are any number of instances where the program has committed its available scholarships, but after the the collegiate season, a scholarship will become open - This happens quite often in today's collegiate world.   Coaches getting fired/taking new jobs, athletes quitting/transferring, players not returning from serious injuries, players flunking out, etc.  These situations generating scholarship opportunities happen more often than families realize.

As I have written before, now is the time segment in which families must have patience and I strongly suggest not "taking" a scholarship/roster spot out of panic.  It can be hard to believe, but this time segment is one of the slowest periods in the recruiting cycle (summer into early fall), because college coaches are trying to recharge their batteries after a long spring of recruiting and conducting their own spring season.  Then they gear up for summer camps and the final, pesky details of the rapidly approaching collegiate season.  

Too many families will grab an opportunity, only to have buyer's remorse come the late fall because of so many school reengaging in the Senior graduating class recruiting process.

My strong advice to families, believing that they are realistic about their daughter's ability (please, please families, be realistic about your daughter's ability, even if that means having a tough conversation with your baby girl), is slow down and wait until the next club season begins before committing anywhere.  When January rolls around, college volleyball programs will be very aggressive with finding available Senior talent.

I can say this, because each year, I get many emails from my coaching friends (from power DI to JC) asking about available Senior players.  Why, because as I illustrated above, these are crazy days in college volleyball recruiting and there are so many changes which affect scholarship opportunities.

During this slow period of recruiting, take advantage of the opportunity to get healthy (rest/rehab after the long club season), and then improve those areas upon which you need to improve.  You have a 5 month window, inclusive of the high school season, to make some big jumps in skills, athletic ability, game management, etc., which will make you a much more attractive recruit to colleges when they come in full tilt next January.

Walk On opportunities - With the ever increasing talent pool of recruits, versus the not growing college volleyball programs, there is an over supply of quality players.  This results in many players pursuing the walk on route.  To be clear, the term "walk on" refers to not receiving any athletic scholarship money, and the college coach not being involved in any scholarship discussions - NCAA Division I programs are the most pursued walk on positions because they only offer 12 scholarships (head count sport, so only 12 heads can be on any amount of athletic scholarship money) but they have zero influence over the awarding of non athletic scholarship monies.

All other classifications of college volleyball will award scholarship packages (athletic, academic, merit and need based) and work closely with admissions/financial aid to generate these package offers.  Even though a recruit may not receive athletic as part of their package, they are receiving scholarships which have been gathered/presented by the college volleyball coach, so I hesitate to call these players "walk ons".

Back to DI, the Walk On route can be precarious.  As a walk on, you are completely at the mercy of the program and if they don't like how you practice, they are not impressed with your skill development, then they will find a better walk on next year and you will no longer be a member of the program.  

A number of families will accept a "Walk On to Scholarship" offer - Walk on in year #1 and/or year #2 and/or year #3, and then you will/may/hopefully receive an athletic scholarship.  Again you are at the mercy of the college coach, because what you have is just a promise, not a legal agreement to receive an athletic scholarship.  If that coach gets fired or takes another job, your walk onto scholarship offer just vacated with the coach.  In addition, since the promise is just verbal, if there is a more important team need, then the team will use your promised scholarship.

I only recommend accepting a DI walk on offer, if the school is the absolute perfect fit and you would still attend if the volleyball program disappeared.  The ego stroke of being a DI player, is rarely worth the financial load the family will assume and spending your career as a practice player.

In closing, I suggest that your daughter focus on improving her skills and physicality, then reengage in the outreach to college programs in November/December to set the table for open scholarships.

Coach