Recruiting
The Recruiting Process
When does it begin? It already has. Every day, your actions reflect your desire of where you want to go and how successful you want to be, academically and athletically. For college coaches, they are evaluating everybody they see. Depending on the school, evaluation of a Potential Student-Athlete can begin as early as 13 or 14 years old. It is never too early to begin thinking about the recruiting process. Saying that, many factors (physical development as a player, general maturity, exposure to collegiate coaches) cause the process to begin later…and that’s okay. It is also never too late to begin the process.
What are the rules? There are too many to list but I will highlight a few below. To view a full rundown of the rules or to put yourself to sleep at night, read the NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete. This is actually a very good overview of academic requirements related to participation in college athletics. Beginning on page 20, there is also some very good practical information regarding permissible actions related to the recruiting process.
What is important in the recruiting process? My opinion is that it is important to do your homework on all of the important factors for YOU. One golden rule that I like to use is that if you were to take the sport away, would you still choose to go this school? For some individuals, volleyball will be the most important factor in the decision and there is nothing wrong with that…for others, location is more important. Here is a list of factors that you should consider when choosing a school (in no particular order…remember, everyone is different so some may have more important factors than others):
1. Academics
a. Do they have your intended college major?
b. Can you handle the academic workload at this school?
c. Does the school have a good reputation academically?
d. What are the class sizes?
e. What are the requirements academically? (i.e. Is there a lot of lab work or long hours of studio work involved?)
2. Athletics
a. What type of program is it? (notice I did not say what division is it? – Division 1, 2, or 3 – I will get into the differences later).
b. What is the coach like?
i. You must be willing to communicate with the coaches to get a feel for their philosophy and methods. All coaches are different. It’s important to find a coach who you are comfortable with.
ii. Has the coach been at this school for a long time/short time?
c. Does the program have an opportunity to participate in post-season play?
d. Will you have an opportunity to contribute? In what way? (I personally chose to go to a great program where I knew I may not have a lot of opportunities to play on the court…I was okay with that).
e. What level of competition does this program compete against?
f. What is the atmosphere surrounding the team? (i.e. are they a competitive bunch or do they just show up and go through the motions?)
3. Other factors to consider
a. Location and distance from home
b. Friends or family that attend the school
c. Do you know anybody on the team?
d. Is there scholarship money available?
i. Division 1 – Athletic Scholarship money is available. It is an incredible investment on the part of the coaches so they take the awarding of scholarships very seriously. Most Division 1 Teams have 12 full scholarships to award.
ii. Division 2 – In the state of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a very competitive conference for volleyball. Most schools have athletic scholarship money to award. In most cases, if there is money offered, it comes in the form of a partial scholarship. This athletic money can be combined with academic scholarship money as well.
iii. Division 3 – There is NO athletic scholarship money available…it is a Division 3 rule. However, it is very common for Division 3 schools to award a variety of academic scholarships.
iv. VERY IMPORTANT! Do not mistake Division for Level of Play. I have seen teams at both Division 2 and 3 who will beat Division 1 Programs on a consistent basis.
What can you do to find the right fit? Come up with a list of schools that fit the factors that are important to you. Research is easier than ever with a ton of information on school and volleyball websites. Also, it is important that the player begins communicating with the coaches so that they are aware of the player’s interest in their school. IMPORTANT – there are rules regarding the school’s method and timing of communication. Refer to the NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete for specific rules regarding how and when coaches can communicate with you.
You can also attend the school’s summer volleyball camp to get a better feel for the campus, the coach, the team, and the environment. If you feel that the school is a good fit for you and there is interest from that program, it is important that you visit the school to further investigate the important factors for YOU.
Should I videotape my matches? Terry Broadwater, former Revolution parent, has outlined some steps below that will help even the most amateur camera operators capture good video.
Be prepared to take footage of your daughter and her team at the first several tournaments. Ideally mini-dv or DVD video format is preferred. There is no need to go purchase a video camera, unless of course you do not presently own one. The club currently has its own video camera and we may use some footage that we take as well but we won’t be able to tape all matches of all teams. Our plan is to post some game footage from the various teams on our club website.
To video tape your daughter's volleyball performance we recommend the following:
1. At some point have your daughter introduce herself (ideally this should be shot from waist up for her comments. After her comments pan out to full length). Comments should include: name, team, position, years playing volleyball, desire to play volleyball in college, "brief" description of characteristics, academic area of study, etc. Again, keep this to 1-2 minutes at most.
2. For individual footage, video tape your daughter during the "warm ups"- passing, hitting, setting, all that apply. This can be done "zoomed" in on her- but be sure you can actually "see" what she is doing with the ball.
3. For game/match footage, set up the camera at the end line and tape an entire game/match from the endline. Atop a tripod is strongly preferred. You can certainly stop recording at the conclusion of a point, but make sure you do not miss any action or even the team reacting to the play that has just transpired. Coaches not only want to see your daughter in "game" situations, both when she has the ball and when she doesn't, but also how she reacts to good and bad plays by both herself and her teammates. There's no need to record timeouts, etc.
4. Resist the temptation to "zoom" in on your daughter for game/match footage. Maintain complete coverage of the court at a reasonable viewing frame. Keep in mind, college coaches want to watch your daughter in the context of the flow of the game/match as well as her reactions with and without the ball, etc.
5. Record as much game/match footage as you can during a tournament as there may be games/matches in which your daughter performs better than others- this is the footage you will want to use.