Late Start in Boy's Volleyball and Recruiting

My 6’ 5” son is a middle hitter in his junior year of high school. He played year round basketball for 10 years. After sophomore year’s basketball season he decided to play volleyball for the first time with some friends. He fell in love with the sport and is all about volleyball now. 

During the summer he played weekly co-ed grass, wallyball and sand to improve his skills. He played on a local club team with friends rather than traveling to play at a higher level so he could stay on top of his grades and part time job. He has the grades and test scores to get into any college, but wants to stay in California. 

I am told that most colleges already have their 2021 class in mind. Is is worth paying money for recruiting help or should he just try to walk on to whatever college he gets into and/or play club?

Thanks for your advice.

A.H.

The good news is that men's collegiate volleyball operates on a slower recruiting timetable than women's collegiate volleyball, which I think is partly due to boy's physically maturing a slightly later age. The bad news is that men's collegiate volleyball has a fraction of the collegiate playing opportunities that women's collegiate volleyball has - maybe 240 for the men and 1800 plus for the women.

Men's volleyball will be well into their 2021 recruiting cycle with scholarships being offered and player commitments being received, but not every school (even the California schools) are done with recruiting and things are constantly changing with recruiting needs.

With the reduced number of collegiate programs, the recruiting equation for boys is quite competitive; there are a lot of good volleyball players trying to find a home on not so many teams.  Combined with the athletic scholarship limitations, the vast majority of players are getting a small partial athletic scholarship, if anything at all.

With your son's late start, the key to playing collegiate volleyball is playing on the best possible club team right now.  Unless he just has natural, gifted from the volleygods abilities, he needs to be training at a high level to compensate for his late start in volleyball.  His talent will determine his college volleyball opportunities.

I understand the desire to play in California, as I played at UCLA and wish I was living back in California right now, but the majority of men's college volleyball playing opportunities are outside of The Golden State.  

Encourage him to keep playing where and when he can, because each touch will make him better, then look to have him join an established, national level club program, and start the outreach process to colleges, with or without the help of a recruiting service.

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

Boy's Volleyball Recruiting Question

My 2 sons attending the [AVCA] KC showcase...really enjoyed listening to your insights you shared with the parents. 

I have 2 follow-up questions:

1) My older son just turned 18 and is a freshman in college, plays on the schools boys club team. He attended the showcase in hopes of being scouted, as he would now like to play for a collegiate VB program. He has not done the NCAA clearing house paperwork, will this prevent coaches from contacting him? Are we correct to assume we can always complete this once someone shows interest?

2) Say a coach identifies a talented prospect, yet he has no spot within his program. From your experience, do coaches spread the word by passing along the prospect with other coaches? Or do they just delete athlete.

Appreciate your feedback!



Thank you for the email and the compliments on my Recruiting Education Talk at the AVCA Boy's Showcase in Kansas City - A have a cool job with NCSA Next College Student Athlete because I get to share my experience with families and help them along the recruiting path!

As to your questions:

1)  He should start and complete the NCAA Eligibility Center process ASAP, along with the NAIA (playnaia.org) - This will be very important because it allows college coaches to quickly and accurately asses his academic standing and playing eligibility.  Since he is playing organized college volleyball (albeit men's college club), he may have burned one year of eligibility, but worst case, he would still have 3 years to compete at an intercollegiate program.  With his freshman academic status, he should have no academic transfer issues provided he has been enrolled in core classes and attained solid grades.

2) They would 95% of the time hit the delete button rather than pass along a player.  My guess is that this "pass-along" happens more in women's volleyball because of the sheer volume of players/college programs, but even this is not too often.

My direct advice is your eldest son needs to get registered with the NCAA and NAIA, get a current copy of his college transcript (including Spring Semester classes) and most importantly, generate current video to send to college coaches.  

As I mentioned (hopefully) during my Talk, if a player has the talent to make the collegiate team better, then the coach will recruit this player.  Ability creates opportunity, but the men's collegiate coaches must see video because they don't have the recruiting budgets of the women's teams!

Good luck and thank you once again for the nice email!

Coach

NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Wrap Up

And, the college volleyball season is over....3 surprises from the NCAA DI Championship - 1) #5 Kansas losing in the 2nd round, 2) Nebraska getting swept in the Semi Finals, 3) Stanford winning it all with 84 freshman on the court!


Since we have 8 months before the women's collegiate season begins, please enjoy the latest and concluding articles - http://www.espn.com/espnw/sport/ncaa-volleyball/


But, please remember there is another collegiate season beginning - Men's Volleyball!!! 
http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-men/nc/avca-division-i-ii-coaches

Boy's College Volleyball Recruiting

Dear Coach,

    I am a sophomore boy who attends a high school that does not have a men's volleyball team, and I haven't played on a club volleyball team because I do not have my license and getting to practices would be a struggle. I plan to try out next year for a club team, but what can I do for the next few months? I am a member of NCSA, but what should I do for a highlight video? I run cross country, track, and play basketball to keep in shape and establish teamwork, but I just do not what to do for volleyball right now.

                            - Thank you! T.O.

Thank you for your email and it can be a challenge as a boy volleyball player.  Not only a challenge to develop volleyball skills when you are in a part of the country which is not men's volleyball friendly, but also the opportunities to play collegiate volleyball do not number in the thousands.

As a high school sophomore, you still have plenty of time to manage the college volleyball recruiting process, so I would not worry about a high light video this year.  When you are participating on a club team next year, then start sending out recruiting videos; not only because you will be able to show a higher level of skill after playing club but also because you will be one year older/stronger/faster.

In an effort to keep your touch on the ball, and realizing that you do not have a car, you need to maximize the high school  volleyball program.  Do you know any of the girl's players?  Ask them to pepper before/after school.  Go see the coach and ask if you can participate in open gym. 

While your high school does not have boy's volleyball (and a majority of high schools in the USA do not), you have to leverage the girl's team to get touches.  If you are respectful of the coach and the players, and are able to help them in some capacity, most coaches/players will be supportive of you because they will see you love the game.

Once you do get your drivers's license, then go find open gyms (YMCA, USAV Region, Recreational leagues) during the winter/spring months.  When the warm air arrives, get yourself out on the sand or grass courts by joining leagues, open play, doubles/triples/quads tournaments - Do whatever you can to get touches upon the ball.

Good luck and remember, you still have time to achieve your goals.

The Coach

Men's College Volleyball Question

Hi there coach,

I am currently a freshmen at a 4 year university and I am playing on the men’s club volleyball team here because that is the highest level of competition they offer in terms of men’s volleyball. I never had the opportunity to play club or in high school growing up because competitive programs were not offered in my area, however, I would take every opportunity I had to hit the court/sand to work on my fundamental skills.

 Now that I am playing with a club team on a regular basis, I notice a huge improvement in my game as I continue to work at it and get time in the gym with other players who grew up playing the game through their club/high school organizations. I know that many guys get late starts in volleyball because they were never introduced to it from a young age and then have to try to play catch up in terms of their development, so I was curious if it would be possible to make the transition from a few years of club onto an NCAA team. 

Although club isn’t nearly as competitive as the NCAA teams, we still get the opportunity to travel often and compete against many different universities, providing plenty of game experience and filming opportunities. Would it be at all possible to make the jump from a few years of college club to then transferring to an NCAA school to play there? And what would be the steps necessary to take if so? Any information would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you so much for your time! D.B.

Glad to help and happy to hear that you are enjoying a higher level of competition with men's volleyball. With Inside College Volleyball, I have written about the challenges of men's college volleyball; you may be able to find additional information about the topic!

The challenge in making the transition from club to NCAA is two fold:

1)  NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball has a supply versus demand scenario where supply is huge and demand is low.  There are just not too many DI programs for men's volleyball, but there are thousands of good players looking for a home.  With this situation, unless you are a very, very tall person or an athletic freak, your late start will put you at a disadvantage in recruiting when compared to those CA/HI/PA/PR players which have been competing since diapers.

2)  Since you are enrolled in a 4 year school, you have started your NCAA eligibility clock - you have 5 years to play four years, so by taking a couple of years to develop your skill sets with your club team, you are burning years of playing eligibility with a DI team (not too mention the challenges of being academically eligible because each year gets progressively more difficult to transfer as a result of the necessary minimum progress transfer unit count).

There are opportunities with DIII (non scholarship, expensive schools), I am not sure of exactly how they handle the eligibility clock, but I believe the 5 years to play 4 is valid at DIII also.  

NAIA has men's volleyball as an 'emerging sport' - Not sure what that means, but I would guess this results in a limited number of schools sponsoring men's volleyball and not too much athletic scholarship money if any.

My suggestion is that you focus on what you have - It sounds like you are in a good position with regards to skill development, competition level, ability to travel and you are enjoying what you are doing.  Remember that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the NCAA fence!

Coach Sonnichsen

Midwest Men's Volleyball College Recruiting Challenge

Matt,

I have enjoyed reading and learning from your insight over the years as we navigated my daughter thru the volleyball maze of club, HS and recruiting.  But now our son is going thru the process and I am curious if we should approach the mens volleyball process differently then we do the girl’s process.

Obviously the opportunities are fewer, scholarships less and coaches budgets to travel to tournaments lacking - so should we approach camps differently, are playing in nationals required, do college coaches rely more on HS coaches?

As background - we live in the midwest, our son is 6’6”, plays for an strong HS program (a few current D1 players), his coach expects him to play 6 rotations this year as a junior and for fun he plays beach (playing at nationals next week).

I know your forte is the women’s environment, but any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

T.S.

Thanks for the compliments and happy that I was able to assist in your daughter's recruiting process.

The process for the men is similar to the women, but the challenge is the limited number of playing opportunities.  Women's college volleyball has approximately 1,500 programs, while the men's program number under 200 - That is tough math for men's players.

I suggest maximizing technology to promote/market your son's ability.  With men's volleyball being smaller, you can really achieve 'leaving no stone unturned'. And, when a school does shoe interest, I suggest arranging a visit ASAP so you can evaluate them and they can evaluate you.

I am not familiar enough with Boy's Nationals to know the recruiting impact - I was actually at Boy's Nationals in Houston this year watching a friend of mine's son, but he was in the younger age group so I cannot provide you feedback on possible men's college coaches evaluating the older players.

As for camps, I am still not sold on them for recruiting but because of how coveted men's roster spots are, if a school expresses recruiting interest and you have a comfortable dialog with them, then it may be worth the cost - Again, you would want to be very aware of  that school's recruiting needs before committing to a camp.

In closing, the average men's volleyball recruit has to work harder on managing the recruiting process than the average women's volleyball recruit because of the limited collegiate opportunities - Use technology and video to provide maximum exposure!

Coach

Boy's Club Volleyball and College Volleyball Recruiting

My son is going to be a Junior this coming year and is finishing up his 16's year as an outside hitter on our local club. This is his second year with this club and it's nice that it is close and run by a great group.  His team, unfortunately, is not very good.  They rarely make it beyond the bronze pool. He is by far the best player on the team.  I'm constantly being told how good he is by other parents and coaches from other teams.  He wants to play beyond high school but knows he won't get looked at by many schools being on this club.  The club has had some players go on to play D3 but not many.  

There is another club that will involve driving at least an hour for practices 2-3 times a week that he wants to play for next season.  That team has been together for at least 3 years and consistently challenges for tournament championships.  I'm worried that if he does try out and make that club he won't get the playing time needed over others that have been with the team even though he performs better than them.  He could be perceived as the "outsider".

So my question is do we stay with the local club team where he can shine but consistently get knocked out early of tournaments or do we go long distance and risk the playing time?  What questions would I ask of the new club to ensure that he will get the playing time that he needs?  

Thanks,

J.C.

When considering club teams and how they impact a player's opportunity to move into college volleyball, families must focus on the training.  The reality is that talent creates opportunities.  If a volleyball player is good, and manages the recruiting process, then they will have the opportunities they seek.

Too many families think that by joining club super duper, that a Top 10 program will come knocking at their inbox because they are now with club super duper.  

As you consider your club situation, try to determine which club will develop your son's volleyball abilities and take playing time out of the equation.  Your question seems to be is it better to sit or play?  Your question should be, which club does the better job of developing player skill sets in practice and reinforcing those developed skill sets in competition.

Don't worry so much about playing time because with the use of technology, you can market and promote your son to collegiate programs.  College coaches understand when a good player is surrounded by not so good players, or they are new on a team with the long standing players staying on the court.  We are just looking for talent and if need be, we can handicap the other parameters to properly evaluate a player's talent.

Coach

Boy's College Volleyball and Recruiting

Hello Coach Matt,

I just got your book and can't put it down! Thank you for very
valuable information.

But it's geared more toward girl's volleyball, so I have I few questions.

My son is the freshman. He's been playing on club team for two
seasons, first year in HS.

In your book  Recruiting Plan Part I , it's " improving your skills
and have fun ". And that's exactly what he's doing.


But in Part II ( Sophomore year ) it's club season first for boys and
then HS season and then short club season again with two tournament
including Nationals.

So, my questions are:
1) do we send introductory  letters to colleges in the fall ?
2) do I start taping him now , that we have a video by fall ?
3) when do we send a second letter ?

Thank you very much.  O.S.

Inside College Volleyball is more geared for women, which reflects the unfortunate imbalance between college volleyball for men and women.  I find it interesting that volleyball could be the only collegiate sport in which the men are supported significantly worse than the women.

I am glad that Inside College Volleyball is of value and that you are applying/reflecting the recruiting plan in your process.  The men's club season is broken into pieces, which can disrupt the protocol a bit.  

As to your specific questions:

1.  I would send introductory letters to college coaches in the late fall/early winter.  Men's volleyball tends to recruit a bit slower than women's volleyball; which may be due to the young ladies physically maturing quicker than the guys, or that the men's college volleyball coaches still have a sense of balance.

2.  Wait to take video as late as possible in the late fall/early winter.  Men's volleyball is so physical (when compared to women's) and the college coaches want to see/evaluate the level of physicality.  Again, as young men mature a bit later (there was a huge difference in my physical stature between end of freshman year and start of junior year), you want to wait as long as possible on the video to adequately reflect this physicality.

3.  I would send a second letter just before the start of the National Championships; like a reminder letter.  With this second letter, include the most recent video possible; from practice just before the tournament.

Glad to help and I should be able to provide a bit more background on men's volleyball in these coming months, as I am producing a boys' volleyball recruiting combine down in Puerto Rico in August.  As we will be promoting this event heavily to men's collegiate coaches and the local players, this should assist in my continuing education!

In closing, I would also strongly suggest NCSA Athletic Recruiting as an invaluable resource/support for male VolleyFamilies - Men's College Volleyball provides such limited opportunities (when compared to women's) that the competition is fierce for scholarships and roster spots; any advantage or leg up is well worth it!

Coach Matt

Men's Volleyball Position Question

Coach,

My grandson is/was a freshman this last spring and his (very good) volleyball playing senior sister talked him into going out for volleyball back in February.  He loved it.  He is 15 and is really and truly 6’ 4” and still growing.  He is a lefty and is very athletic (starting QB on the varsity team this fall).  He made varsity as opposite and started for his high school team, lettered and was selected to play in the SoCal All Star game and was selected to the second team CIF All-League.  In the final set of the All Star game, he made three blocks for points, including the final point of the match.  I have been encouraging him to focus on being a setter because I feel that he is much more likely to get financial help via volleyball as a setter rather than as opposite.  I am very dismayed at the dismal number of schools which have men’s volleyball programs and it would seem to me that a tall, athletic, left-handed setter would attract more recruiting attention.

Here’s the problem.  His sister is an amazing OH and has already accepted an offer to play at a very nice college.  She wants him to have the “glory” of kills as does his mother.  We went to the USC v UC Irvine finals this year and he saw that opposite (lefty) (I can’t remember his name) for Irvine take over and dominate.  I kept trying to get him to notice the setter. But as you can imagine, all the cheers came for the hitters.  He went to Club tryouts today and my daughter said that his Approach Jump was 10’ 9”, Block Jump 10’ 5” and Standing Reach 8’ 4”.  I know what’s good for girls but have no idea if he is average or above.

I’m saying all of that to build up to my question:  Am I wrong to insist that his Club focus on training him as a setter?  My daughter is a single mom and I’m the main financier for club and camps and combines, etc.  He will really need financial aid for college and if it going to come from volleyball, am I wrong to think his best chance is as a setter.  I guess that I’m just naturally assuming that he will be a good one because he is so gifted in everything he has tried.  So if I get him lessons and if the club gives him plenty of touches at setter and he replaces last year’s senior setter in high school, what do you think?

I have really appreciated all the insight you so kindly provide with your blog.  I think I read every single word and used your advice to help my granddaughter realize her dream to keep playing after high school.  Thank you for your spirit to share.

BS Grandpa

Glad to hear collegevolleyballcoach.com helped in your Granddaughter's path into collegiate volleyball!  The men's game is a different beast; beyond the physicality of the game, in the USA, there are more talented players than there are roster spots (much less scholarships).  Too many sports fans believe that Title IX limits the growth/support of the Olympic Sports for male athletes, when it is a matter of the unreal funding put into football and men's basketball.  I am also disappointed about the lack of collegiate opportunities for men's volleyball.

Please note that NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball (and there are a number of DII athletic departments which field men's volleyball teams, but they play up in DI conferences), only provides 4.5 scholarships; and the decision to budget 4.5 scholarships is up to the athletic department.  Men's Volleyball is an Equivalency Sport, which means these 4.5 athletic scholarships can be divided among any number of players, and packaged with academic, merit and need based scholarships.  Compare that to DI Women's Volleyball, which provides 12 scholarships, but is a Head Count sport where the NCAA says that only 12 'heads' can be on an athletic scholarship, and there is no packaging of non-athletic scholarship monies.

By your information, he may not (?) be physical enough to play NCAA DI as an opposite.  If you look at the rosters of the California DI's, the OP players are tall (6'6"+++) and they jump out of the gym.  Sure, there are examples of 'shorter' OP players being successful, but the men's game is now one of giants.  

You are correct in believing he will have more opportunities as a 6'4+ lefty setter, than as an OP, provided he has talent.  Many PSA's can set, but they are not a Setter.  There is so much mental in setting (hitter decisions, staying within the parameters of the offense, applying what the coach wants, feeding the hot hitter, using poor hitters early to decoy, team leadership, emotional control, back row attack options versus front row, etc).  Caution yourself from thinking that setting lessons and high school will develop him into a DI setting recruit.

I suggest that you talk to his high school coach, and/or club coach for a honest evaluation of his skills and potential within the OP or Setting position.  Just lay it out, that you are trying to determine which position he is best suited to go to the next level at.  

If he is going to be a setter, then he needs to go full tilt as a setter; run a team in club and in high school, additional skill development through lessons and camps.  If he is going to be an OP, then he needs to go full tilt in that position; work on his vertical, work on his armswing, work on his blocking and defense; he needs to maximize all the skills within the OP position (because he can't control his growth).  The sophomore year is the critical year for recruiting evaluations, and it is this year which he will/can make that good first impression.

Let me close by saying this; you know by reading the site that I am no great fan of college football but NCAA Division I Football offers 85 full scholarships and support which would make the Pope jealous.  

Coach Matt Sonnichsen

Male Practice Players in Women's Collegiate Volleyball

My daughter is on her preferred D1 college volleyball team.  She is very happy with classes, teammates, campus, study tables, dorm, even likes the coaches.

Here's the question:  how does a player (yes, on scholarship) get the chance to improve during practice when they stand along the sideline watching the starters get all the touches while those starters are playing against the giant BOYS brought in to play as the scout team?  The non-starters do not even get to scrimmage the starters to prove themselves because the coaches have brought in some strong 6'4" boys who play volleyball.  During drills, about 5 of the players are told to stay out of line.  How can they improve and develop throughout the season to get more playing time?

I did some personal interviewing of parents from college players in other D1 programs and learned the same thing  ( that we didn't know during the recruiting process) - but now know first hand:  No matter your class year (frosh, soph, jr. etc.) if you are not a starter, you most likely will not get equal opportunity to participate in practice, which can last about 2 hours a day, then lifting/conditioning. 

As a remote parent, it becomes a challenge to keep the daughter's mind focused and committed to the sport / team when they feel rather helpless to help themselves.  

From the stands watching warm-ups, the entire team performs at a top-notch powerful level and those starters certainly do not standout as the best performing volleyball athletes (composure, mental game, athleticism).  

Naturally, this would seem to be a question to ask the Head Coach, but I'm seeing too many timid players who are afraid of those 'running events' i.e., punishments, to ask.  And the obvious answer is 'GET BETTER' to take a starter's position - but when those standing/watching do not get the touches, how do they improve?    We are learning this is rather typical and wonder if there is a solution.  Our family (player and parents) plan after the season concludes is to meet with the Head Coach to ask if she is a practice player for life, or what are his performance /  playing stats expectations of her (those little playing time girls have tiny weeny stats).

Would I be imaging that coaches have 'favorites' and are not really playing the best players?  
Shouldn't he be preparing the other players to replace those that graduate?

Your thoughts and guidance, please - again?  K.




This is a tough situation and was actually put forward to the NCAA membership for a vote; using male practice players in female sports (most notably in Volleyball and Basketball).  I voted against, but it passed anyways.

I voted against for two reasons; 1) Why are men participating with a female NCAA team, even in practice, 2) Not every school has the luxury of having competent male practice players; this is a huge advantage for those schools which are geographically located in a region which supports male volleyball.  Women's Basketball can scrounge up 5 male practice players just about at any NCAA school, but that is not the case for Volleyball.

In terms of your concerns, they are valid.  How can players improve if they are sitting out important parts of practice?  This forces these non-starting players to try to gain their skill improvements during the early drill segments of training.

But, the reality for the college coaches is that the starters playing against a male practice team will get better than playing against the second unit.  For many schools, because of injury or youth, the second unit is not very strong and will not challenge the starters to improve during scrimmage situations.  When the starters are going against tall, athletic, strong male players, they will improve. 

I speak from experience because a school which I was an assistant at, used male practice players and it made a huge difference in the speed of the game, and the reaction times of the starters. 

What can be done by your VolleySA?  During the season she needs to work very hard to maximize the early part of practice to keep her skills sharp and to work on improving her skills.  This is usually the reverse of the common mentality for practice where players move through the repetition drills rather mindlessly, waiting for the scrimmage part of practice to really shine.  She needs to flip her mental approach to shine early, because there may be no later.

Out of season, or Non-Traditional Season, she will have more opportunity because most programs will not use a male team as much as in the Traditional Season.  This is her window of opportunity to rapidly improve skill sets while demonstrating her ability to try and garner a starting role.  The Non-Traditional season has two components; the group and/or individual segment which focuses on skill development and begins when the Spring Semester starts; and the Team Training segment which runs approximately 6 weeks and closes out the Spring season with a few Saturdays of competition.

You asked about when the coach would develop talent for next year; two ways.  The Spring season is where he/she/it will begin the process for next year's team with training and group development.  The other way the coach will develop talent is to recruit and employ the ever more popular One and Done (read about it on the site by Searching "One and Done") - Easiest/quickest way to make a team better is to cut players and bring in more talented replacement.

I would NOT go see the coach, no matter how many parents rally to the flag.  This is the recipe for disaster and potential bias against your daughter.  The reality is the coach is the dictator and he/she/it is going to do what he/she/it feels is best to win and to keep their job.  As the coach controls the roster/scholarships, parents will have zero influence over the process.

Much better for your daughter to approach the coach (which she may well have done on many occasions) to ask what she needs to do to become a starter because she wants to be active in practice.  This is a big change from Club to College Volleyball; the parental voice carries zero weight in college volleyball.  Players must step up and ask how they can improve, ask what they need to achieve to gain court time, to ask for feedback.

College coaches are human and as so, will let personality of players come into play when making playing time decisions; not so much an either or decision, but allowing a struggling player to play their way back into positive stats.  Playing a "favorite" and not a better player, may well happen, but I don't think it is that common. The competitive level and demands of college volleyball are such that coaches cannot afford to have better players not in the game; that is career suicide.

Ultimately, if your daughter is not happy with the situation, she can transfer; she only gets one chance at being a college athlete and it is tough enough sitting the bench during matches and to do this for practices would be even tougher. 

I wish I could give you the magic answer because this is a tough situation.  Basic advice is for your VolleySA to keep working hard, to ask questions of the coach, and then she must make a decision to stay in or move out.

Coach

College Volleyball Questions Answered!

I will be a senior in high school and I was wondering if it is possible to walk on at a college even though I quit club volleyball after my freshman year. I still play high school volleyball and would like to play in college next year. Thanks. S.C.

It is, but you will be starting from behind because you have missed out on 3 years of elite level training.  If you want to play in college, I suggest you join a club team your senior year because this will jump start your training and put you into the environment for college coaches to see you.

The reality is that walk-on positions are now coveted because total number of high school/club volleyball players keeps increasing but the number of college volleyball roster spots is not growing.  This results in very good players trying to find a place to play, scholarship or not.  I have seen this development first hand, as my program now enjoys 4 solid walk-on players, which we could not have garnered 5 years ago.

As for the walk-on option, I suggest you read through the collegevolleyballcoach site under the label Walk-On, as I have answered many questions regarding players considering the how to of becoming a walk on student athlete.

Coach,

It looks like my daughter 2012 may have to go back to sending out letters this fall. If she does, does she need to change the content of the introduction letter any to reflect her being a rising senior?

Thanks and good luck in your upcoming season!!

RLH


 Don't sweat jumping back into the recruiting storm - I have seen it work out better for PSA's many times!

More of an update to the letter to reflect current status on graduation/recruiting class, grades, test scores, volleyball accomplishments over the club season, etc.

Remember that for college volleyball coaches, this is a very slow time for recruiting because we are all focused intensely on our volleyball team and working through season start issues.  This results in recruiting taking a back seat and our recruiting communication slowing down. 
 
Update your contact list for schools and don't be afraid to widen your net to include a region or school size or classification you earlier did not consider.  When you send out your intro letters, make sure to include, via link or attachment, current video, even if it is just a minute or two.  Video is worth a thousand and a half words.

I remind you to be patient with the recruiting process right now.  After the Holidays, with the close of the college volleyball season, and the ramp'ing up of the club season, you will see a sharp increase in the recruiting activity of college volleyball coaches as they push to add graduating seniors to their rosters for the 2012 college volleyball season.


Hello, 

Our son will be starting his senior year in high school, has played club volleyball for a number of years.
After nationals, he received an invitation to attend a DI volleyball camp via an email from the assistant coach at the college.

The email basically was addressed to him and said at camp they train individual players at their chosen position and gives them the unique opportunity to get to know you as a player and as a person while coaching you on the court. It also gives you, the player, the opportunity to see our campus/facilities and get to know our staff & players.

Do you think they are just trying to fill their camp?   The email did not give any phone number for us to contact them. Is it OK for us to contact them and ask if they see our son fitting into their program? I thought if they were at all interested, they would have provided contact info, or is the camp where they evaluate potential players that they may be interested in having on their team, but cannot offer scholarship money to?

Thanks - N.K.
 

By my read, this is just a marketing effort by the DI coach to generate camp numbers.  If your son, as a senior, has only received a camp invite from this school, and no other university/program information, then I would be very suspect. 

 

From a business perspective, I am stunned the email did not include contact information for any questions regarding the camp.  From a recruiting perspective, it is downright silly to not include contact information....this is key in recruiting; communication!

 

No harm in looking up their contact information and getting a hold of them to ask some questions.  Because of the limited college roster spots in relation to club/high school men's volleyball, it can be a huge challenge to find a place to play as a men's volleyball psa.  Go ahead and call, but ask very specific questions and listen for specific answers.  If the coach or assistant coach is giving you a general answer and does not reference your son or their specific recruiting needs, then they are not focused on him as a PSA, just a camper.

 

That being said, if the camp is not too far away, and the cost is not too expensive, and your son likes the school, then give the camp some consideration.  Worst case, he will get some volleyball touches and have (potentially) a good experience being on a college campus

 

Again, sounds like camp marketing to me and not recruiting for their program..  If he goes to camp, the mindset is to attend to become a better volleyball player, even though the school has shaded it as a recruiting opportunity.

Men's Volleyball Recruiting

Hi, my name is Z.G.  I have came to you before for some volleyball related questions and I just need one more answered. I e-mailed various college head coaches of schools I'm interested in, and none of them answered back. Do college coaches not check their athletic emails during the summer? Or is this normal? I just need to start looking at colleges and would prefer to play volleyball.


Both of your guesses are correct.  Summer is the slower time for Men's College Volleyball; the season ended in May and Men's Volleyball is a winter starting sport, so they don't have the time crunch right now of the Women's Volleyball coaches.  Also, I believe the Men's Volleyball Junior Olympic Championships had just finished, so coaches were on the road.

Remember that college coaches can get hundreds of emails a day and sometimes things just get lost or put on the 'to do later' list.  Men's Volleyball programs don't have the support of Women's, so the coaches can have a much longer list of chores.  Men's Club Volleyball continues to grow all across the country, but there are not increasing college playing opportunities.  This translates into a huge number of PSA's contacting a relatively few number of coaches.

Make sure you broaden your contact list and be sure to include video in your email. No video in an email is like apple pie without the ice cream..you gotta have the ice cream!

Men's College Volleyball Question and a Question and a Thank you and a Question and a Thank you!!

It can be a big challenge for Men's College Volleyball PSA's to find a roster spot, much less a scholarship.  There are just not a lot of schools sponsoring Intercollegiate Men's Volleyball, when compared to Women's Volleyball.

And now, on to Zach!

Hello,

My name is Zack, im currently a Junior and high school, I play Middle Hitter and have some questions regarding college volleyball. My main question is if I will be able to get a scholarship and how. Or am i too late? Ive been the Captain of my team and leader and kills for 2 years. Im 6''4' and i know thats not big for a middle hitter i can also play outside. Im going to a volleyball camp in the summer at penn state and hope to find out if im good enough there i just really want to play in college its my dream.

Thanks,

Zack

It is tougher for male players than female players to obtain college volleyball roster spots, much less a scholarship.  The number of colleges sponsoring a Men's Volleyball team is small compared to women's volleyball, and then NCAA DI has limited Men's Volleyball to 4.5 scholarships for the entire team.

6'4" you will need to go to a passing OH - For DI, you will be too small for MB and Opposite.

Camps for recruiting can be tough, but as a male player, you don't have a lot of options.  I suggest you follow my Recruiting Plan for Junior and Senior year, it was written for the female players, but the plan works for the male players - Again, it is just that the male players don't have the sheer number of teams to choose from like the female players.  A walk-on could be your best option, if you can find a team to accept you; just because of the negative numbers.

Good luck and keep working!

Coach,

Thanks alot for responding it helped very much. I have one or two more questions if you dont mind me asking. First is not being on a Club Team look bad to colleges? As far as i know there is not a single mens club volleyball team i could join in a 50 plus mile radius from where i live. And also, how should i approach a college coach in an email. what should i tell him and ask him?  Zach

Glad to help.  Club Volleyball is key to the development of elite level skills necessary to play in college.  College coaches won't ignore you, but they will note that you did not play club.  Since you are not playing club, you need to make sure you have plenty of video, since these coaches won't see you at club events where they recruit.

The email is rather straight forward - Title it Prospective Student Athlete Zack, then in the body of the email briefly introduce who you are, your height, weight, position, and attack/block jump touch and all of your contact information.  It is important to link a number of videos to the email which you can do via youtube or some other host service. 

The key is the video - Put together a skills video which shows you as a passing OH going through all the different skill sets, then try to cut in some game video, but game is not as important as skill video.

You should sent this email out to every college which sponsors Men's Volleyball - this will include DI/II (which are combined), DIII and NAIA.  You can put together a list of these college coach emails by going to the ncaa.com (not .org, because .com will have a link for championships and rpi which will list all sponsoring schools) and the naia.org page.  It takes time to cull the email lists but this is what you must do.

Don't be fancy or stress about it - Basically, this is who I am, here is my contact and here are my videos.

Good Luck!

I cant tell you how thankful i am for this information, thank you very much!

 

 

Also what would be some good clips to show in my video? obviously hitting. should i have someone serve at me and then go take my approach? spot serving? what all should i put?

 

Hitting from Toss, all zones on the net as an OH.
Pass and attack from Free ball, all zones.
Pass and attack from Serve receive, all zones.
Serve - Only jump serve.
Block jump - End blocking near antennas and using MB footwork to close to outside.
Swing Block - only if you know how.
2 person Pepper
Serve receive.

I take it you saw the NCAA Men's Championship last week?  Well, you want to look like one of those OH's on your tape!

 

Alright thank you very much, I will start working on the video with my brother asap!

Men's College Volleyball Part II

Hello Coach,

Just checked out your website...good stuff. We are the parents of a high school senior, a young man who is 6'7" and 190 pounds of very good athlete. He has focused on football and being a very good quarterback over the years but now is starting to reconsider a decision he made a year or so ago.

A little background.....As a freshman and sophomore, he competed at a different high school here in central Florida on the volleyball team. He was a quick study and became one of the Varsity starters as a sophomore. The team went on to win the state title and complete the perfect season at 30-0. He left that school because a new school was built and unfortunately left volleyball as well.

He is now reconsidering that decision and attending open gym at his high school. The varsity coach noticed his skill quickly and he has had conversation with her about playing volleyball at the next level.

He was asked as a sophomore to try out with a high profile club team but stayed with football. As we begin to research the volleyball recruiting game, I see that most of it occurs at the club level.

Is it too late.....should we search out a club team.....advice?

Thanks,

Confused Parents


1. Not too late, but you need to hustle if you are to find a roster spot for a college team.

2. Go to this link to see every NCAA Men's Volleyball Division I team - http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec/sponsorship?sortOrder=0&division=1&sport=MVB and here for Division II - http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec/sponsorship?sortOrder=0&division=2&sport=MVB. Please remember that some DII Men's Volleyball teams will play in a DI Men's Volleyball conference.

3. The NCAA caps Men's Volleyball at 4 full scholarships, so the players are usually on a partial scholarship and it tends to be a mix of athletic and academic awards.

4. There are about 80 teams total for Men's Volleyball in DI/II (contrasted with 600 in Women's DI/II Volleyball) - The impact is that there are less roster spots available for Men's Volleyball and securing a spot can be a challenge because there are many, many high school boys playing the sport.

5. I don't know how good your son is in football, but football has 85 scholarships per school in DI and DII also supports a very large number.

6. If the passion is there for NCAA Men's Volleyball, then he would probably be an Outside Hitter because of his height (Middle Blockers in Men's College Volleyball are clocking 6'10"+ now). A club team is paramount if he is going to secure a roster spot and I know Men's Club Volleyball is cranking right now.

7. Go to this link to find Men's Club Volleyball teams in Florida - http://www.usavfl.org/IndoorFP.htm and contact teams asap.

Honestly, he has an uphill battle because of how late he is arriving to the recruiting game and he is directly competing for a college roster spot with players from Southern California, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast - all areas which routinely produce large numbers of talented players.

If you are going to do it, you need to jump off the cliff and go all in.

Good luck.

Men's College Volleyball

Hello I am the mother to a Sr. who up to this point had played v-ball in Cali in both high school and club. This year we were transferred to NJ...Brick to be exact. There is no boys v-ball at the high school he is currently attending and we were told he could go to another local school. But once we got here, what we found was that we could go to a school that offered v-ball but we would have to pay for the spot, even thought it is a public school.

V-ball is his passion and he is highly upset. We found a club here but it isn't the kind of club that really competes at a high level. My question is what can I do to help him to get to play at the collegiate level which has always been his dream. Right now there is no way for anyone to see what his abilities are or how to make him be seen! Your direction is greatly appreciated! W.D.U.


Tough spot having to go coast to coast during a senior year, but today's economy demands such circumstances.

High School Boy's Volleyball is still rather rationalized - California, Great Lakes regions and maybe a good footprint in the north eastern USA and Puerto Rico, but it is nothing like Girl's Volleyball.

I suggest you read my Recruiting Plan label/link and focus on the Senior year. Even though this was written for female PSA's, it is applicable to your situation - Basically, he has got to get his name in front of college coaches by using email and video. Since it is already his senior year, don't worry about paying money to go to a different school, just focus on trying to get with the strongest possible club team. I understand the level may be much lower than what he played with in California, but even a lower team will still allow him to get touches on the ball.

Go to this link: http://www.geva.org/juniors to get more information about Junior volleyball in your region. Also, you might be able to find an adult team for your son to play on, if the junior level is not at the ability he wishes.

The reality is that there are lots of boys playing and not a lot of volleyball roster spots open - Even if he was on an elite club team (even in California) he still needs to market himself to get name recognition. The mathematics of college Men's Volleyball is not good for players. My belief is that male volleyball PSA's have to be even more proactive in pursuing a roster position - I say roster position because NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball funds at only 4 scholarships (maybe 4.5 - I should probably confirm which one!), and as a Equivalency Sport, the players are on partial scholarships or nothing at all.

Read the Senior plan, start getting his information and video out to NCAA Men's Volleyball schools and be aggressive. It does stink having to move away from a prime Boy's Volleyball region, but that is behind him now and the challenge of his future is ahead!

Men's Volleyball Measurements?

Hi,

My son is a junior. His high school coach just pulled up some stats for him on approach, block, reach and pro-agility. How can I find out what are 'good' numbers?

Thanks, Sue


That is a good question for which I really don't know if I can provide an accurate answer. I am rather well versed on the women's physical stats, but I really could not tell you averages for what the men are physically able to do.

When I look at the men's volleyball game, I am amazed by how high everyone jumps - Even the Liberos seem to jump over the moon. But, that is relative to the women's game and what I may be seeing in a men's college match could well be two not very physical teams going at it.

My suggestion is to drop an e-mail to the assistants in the Top 10 Men's VB programs and just ask what numbers they are looking for in the recruiting process. You should have a few respond, if not all of them. To find the top programs, the ncaa.org site should have a link to men's volleyball with current rankings - then just go to that school's website, find the link for Staff Directory and they usually have an e-mail link to each coach on this page.

Go right to the source to get the answer!

Volleyball Practice/Training Suggestions

Great blog, absolutely love what you're doing (even though I'm more involved in the men's game!)

My question is this. As the manager\player for a D1 collegiate Men's club team, our first 5 practices this semester have been pretty flat. We have a great balance between drills and scrimmaging, talented players and GREAT motivation (Weird seeing as flatness is our problem).

We have VERY limited court time and have to combine our A and B team practices, thus we have about 20 guys at each practice. We start with a drill called pacific (down balls down the line, passed to a setter at the net who sets the passer for another line hit, then passer goes to down ball) then move to triples, hitting lines, defensive drills which let hitters swing on our D/s's, scrimmage based drills (sometimes wash) then full on scrimmage.

Sounds like a good balance, but every missed serve or hitting the ball into the net just seems to deflate our practice intensity, which we struggle to recover and motivational sideline yelling just turns into frustrated "Come on guys!" How can we make our practices more effective and keep everyone happy? They range from 90 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. Thanks, Kendall


You are stuck with a challenging training situation in that you have limited time and a large number of players on the court. Unfortunately for you, the players are a combination of an A and B team, thus the talent level can drop noticeably from the 1st to the 2nd level. Volleyball is such a team oriented sport, that one player who is not at a comparable talent level with the rest of the team can be a 'drill kill'.

By your example, you are using more of the Latin Style of volleyball in which players manage the drills (deep court ball control team pepper, attacking at defensive players, etc.), but you have included your lesser players in these drills, thus the odds of these type of drills being sustainable are not plausible.

If you intend to stay with the Latin Style (which most men's teams employ), then you need to separate your A and B teams. The A team will better equipped to run the type of drills you are using and will benefit more from these drills without the B team involved - Too many drill kills on the B team. It would be better to take a 2 hour block of time, tell the players to be warmed up before stepping on the court and give the A team 1 hour and the B team 1 hour. They can do the same exact drills and while the B team may flatten out in development because they are not being pushed by the A team, there is a reason the B team is called the B team. Don't let the development of the B team become more important than the competitive ability of the A team.

As a younger coach, I was too caught up in the 'weakest link' mentality in developing a team. You know the old adage from coaches that says your team is only as good as the Weakest Link. Because of this, I used to spend a bunch of time/effort trying to get our weaker players up in ability, trying to make our Weakest Link not so weak. The golf coach and I were talking shop one day, and he explained how he used to subscribe to the Weakest Link theory but moved away from that when he realized (in golf at least) that you don't win because of your Weakest Link not being weak, but rather your best players being great. In golf, some players have the ability to 'go low', to shoot really low golf scores, and these players are the ones who empower a golf team to win tournaments. The golf coach realized that his teams were going to win because two of the top players went low (they had the ability to shoot low scores), not because a weaker player played well (playing at their best, they still could not go low). After coming to this conclusion, he shifted his training/attention focus from the weaker players to the stronger players. In golf, the players are rated 1 through 6 (as I understand it), so the coach gave just enough attention to keep players 3-6 moving forward, but he made sure that the top 3 golfers were constantly being challenged, coached and empowered to shoot low scores.

When I looked at this from a volleyball view point, I think it held a lot of value. Volleyball teams win consistently because the better players play very well, not because the weaker players put together good games. We win because the #1 OH hits .350 every match, not because the #2 MB is able to suddenly put together a match of hitting .250 when her usual line is .100. Not every team has Penn State's luxury of having talented players in every position, so when Hodge only achieves a .125 attack percentage, there are 4 other hitters who are at .300 to fill the gap. Too many other teams must have their #1 OH and their #1 MB at .300 to win, no matter if the other players are hitting positive or negative.

Back to your team, you must focus on your #1's and not let the #2's bring down the drills.

If you get into a court time situation where you cannot separate the A and B team, then I suggest you shift your training to more of an Asian Style. More small group training and coach directed drills. For instance, instead of over the net pepper where one mistake can shut down the drill for 8 people, put the players into 2 and 3 person pepper with rotating partners every few minutes - the ability to play good pepper is very underrated; if you can't master 2 or 3 person regular pepper, then it is fruitless to move onto anything else. Also, use basic hitting lines, but dictate where the hitters need to attack the ball - You can create line/angle hitting challenges without it being a drill kill situation. Think more in terms of breaking down the game into very small parts, where the coach implements the ball, thus allowing the players to achieve a limited, but important, skill improvement.

In team situations, I strongly suggest you stay away from just playing games. A versus B will not be constructive because A will just coast to the win. You don't want to mix the teams, because this will not help the A players get better. I think that using wash games or rotation drills (have your A team in rotation 1 defense and then punch an easy free ball to the B team so they can put together a solid attack to make your A team better) are better situations to provide the on court full team training desired. You can make the B team 'better' by creating easy situations for them to manage (thus presenting a better challenge to the A team), or you can create very tough situations for the A team by a multi-ball wash drill that demands concentration and performance no matter if they are playing a B team or the Biology department (known for being bad volleyball players on any campus).

The last thing you need to worry about is keeping everyone happy. Your job is to develop good training situations which make your teams better while focusing on what is most important. If the players are happy that is a bonus, but if the drills do not make them happy or they are not having fun (but your team is getting better), then they should join the YMCA and just play in recreation or church leagues.

Good luck!