Volleyball Recruiting Time Line: Sophomore Year

The Plan:

Meet with a high school guidance counselor

There are specific academic requirements, per the NCAA, that you need to meet in order to be eligible to play volleyball in college.  Meet with your high school guidance counselor to make sure you are on track to graduate with all the required core classes.  Visit the NCAA eligibility center to see a list of core requirements: http://eligibilitycenter.org.

Play Club Volleyball

From your Sophomore winter to your Junior winter is the time that tends have the biggest impact developmentally on female players.  During this period, players will make their biggest strives in terms of height, strength, coordination, and volleyball skills.  For the players that are not getting year around training at this level, by the time their Junior high school season rolls around, they are being passed by in skill.   Why? Well, by playing club volleyball, you dramatically increase the number of touches you will have on the ball, which translates into better ball control, which leads to more consistency, which gives you more self-confidence, which leads to more aggressive plays, and ultimately a better volleyball player.  Therefore, the player you were at the end of your sophomore high school season will be completely different than the better skilled athlete that you develop into by the end of your Sophomore club season.  It is also during this period “when the men (or women!) are separated from the boys (or ladies!)”, so to speak.  Meaning that on a 16’s (16 and Under) team there may be 6-8 players with DI potential, but by the time they reach their Junior year, there may only be 3-4 players with DI potential from that same team.  Some players will get much, much better, while other players will stay roughly the same. If you are not playing club volleyball then it’s almost impossible to improve at the same pace as the players who are.

Questionnaires

In the Sophomore year, players will start receiving questionnaires in the mail from college programs.  Again, be happy when you start receiving questionnaires, but also keep in mind this does not mean you are being actively recruited (you won’t know that until September 1st of your Junior year when coaches can legally contact you with specific recruiting information).  However, just because coaches are not actively recruiting you (yet) does not mean you should ignore this information. In fact, it is VERY important for you to fill out and return these questionnaires in a timely manner (even if you don’t have all the information yet (like your SAT/ACT scores) because this is how coaches know to keep you in their database of prospects. If you don’t fill out the questionnaire, the coach may assume you are not interested and take you off their recruiting list.

Consider Purchasing a Video Camera

Your Sophomore high school season is a great time to look into video cameras and TRIPODS for capturing match footage.  The tripod is extremely important because it’s really the only way you are able to take steady match footage.   By this point in your volleyball career you should know that at some point you are going to have to submit video to college coaches. Why wait?  The recruiting process (sadly) only gets faster with each recruiting class so be prepared with the equipment you need.   By investing in this equipment early in the Sophomore year, you give yourself time to become familiar with the camera/tripod and can practice shooting a few matches.

Get Match Footage

Some high schools video-tape sporting events, including volleyball matches.  If your high school is one of them, try to get that footage.  If not, don’t worry, you have plenty of opportunities to capture match footage during your Sophomore club season.

Some tips on shooting great match footage:

• USE A TRIPOD
• If possible, set up your camera in the middle of the court behind the side of the court the player is on (see drawing).  When the player switches sides, so should the videographer.  If you can’t get behind the court (this can be difficult at large club tournaments or in small gyms) then off to the side on a 45 degree angle is also a good angle to shoot from.
• Raise the tripod high enough so you can see both sides of the net.
• Zoom in until you can clearly see all the players and the entire court (you do not want to be zoomed in on one player only because coaches need to be able to see you’re the player in relation to what is happening on the court).
• DO NOT follow the player around the court, just set up the camera and leave it be.  Again, coaches need to have a full court perspective.
• Watch for flying balls!  They somehow always seem to be attracted to expensive cameras!
•  This is a suggestion, not a necessity - pause the filming to exclude down time including ball shagging, time outs, and time in-between games. Coaches will be forever grateful if you do this.   Watching a time out (or rather trying fast forward without missing the next play can get frustrating).

Research Schools

The Sophomore is a good time to start thinking about what is important to YOU from a college experience. Do you want to go to a large or small size school? Are you partial to a particular region in the country? Do you want a school that is academically very challenging or more lax? What division would you like to play in?

VolleyballRecruits.net makes it really easy for you to generate a list of schools, and gives you instant access college coaches contact information, which is by and large the hardest part of the recruiting process.  We encourage all players to keep an open mind and be realistic when selecting their list of schools. For example, if you are a 5’8” Middle Blocker, with a jump touch of 9’3” coaches from top DI programs (Stanford, Penn State, Nebraska, etc.) are not going to pay you much attention.  However, this player may be the perfect fit for a DIII program.  If you don’t know what programs might be a good fit for you athletically, ask for some feedback from your coaches.  They have seen hundreds of players go on the play at the various levels, and they will be able to offer you some good insight.

Here is a brief overview of the different programs and scholarships available at each division.  There are approximately 15,000 scholarships available in women’s volleyball.

• NCAA PROGRAMS (National Collegiate Athletic Association)

o Division I – There are 329 DI schools sponsoring women's volleyball. 12 full ride scholarships are available per team. DI women’s volleyball is considered a "head count" sport, meaning that the scholarships must be awarded in full to one athlete or not at all.
 
o Division II – There are 295 DII schools sponsoring women's volleyball.  8 full ride scholarships are available per team. DII women’s volleyball is considered an "equivalency sport", meaning the scholarships can be broken down and distributed among the team per the coach’s discretion.

o Division III – There are 428 DIII school’s sponsoring women’s volleyball. There are no athletic scholarships awarded at the DIII level. However, athletes can receive academic or need based scholarships. In addition, if you have good grades, the likelihood of you receiving academic aid is very high.

• NAIA PROGRAMS (National Athletic Intercollegiate Association)

o There are 243 NAIA schools sponsoring women's volleyball. 8 full ride scholarships are available per team.  There are no division separations between NAIA schools.

• NJCAA PROGRAMS: (National Junior College Athletic Association)

o Division I - There are 97 schools sponsoring women's volleyball. 14 full ride scholarships are available per team.  Scholarships at the NJCAA level can cover everything including tuition, fees, room, board, and books.

o Division II - There are 124 schools sponsoring women's volleyball. Like DI, 14 full ride scholarships are available per team.  Unlike DI, scholarships at the NJCAA level can cover only tuition, fees and books.  Room and board is not covered under the scholarship.

o Division III – There are 84 schools sponsoring women's volleyball. There are no athletic scholarships awarded at the DIII level.  However, athletes can receive academic or need based scholarships.

Introduction Letters

The end of the Sophomore club season (April – July) is the time when coaches will (generally) be taking their first looks at the Sophomore recruiting class. Therefore, you want them to know about you before this time so they can watch you play in person!   To do this, you first must determine a list (your target list) of 25 – 30 schools that you could see yourself attending.  Then send each program a brief introductory letter letting them know you are interested in their program.

It is extremely important to personalize your letter of interest.  If your writing is neat, you might get even more mileage out of a handwritten letter.  Make sure you spell the coach’s name and address correctly, and include something specific about their team like the team’s record, top rivals, academic strengths etc. so he/she knows your interest is based on knowing something about the program.  Coaches can see right through a blast/form email, so don’t do this!  If you want coaches to spend five minutes looking at your profile, spend 5 minutes researching each program. 

This introductory email should include some basic facts about you. For example, you play at this school, on this club team, you received these awards, you will attend these tournaments during the club season, your volleyball stats are this (height, jump touch), your grades are this, this is how you contact me/my parents/my coaches etc.  If possible, this email should link to your video (which is why you spent all that time gathering game footage!).  

When using VolleyballRecruits.net, with every email you send to coaches, there is an embedded link that will take coaches directly to your full profile (the facts) and video in one click. This sets you apart from other recruits because our system makes the evaluation process of players extremely easy for coaches – a good thing for you!

Example Introduction Letter:

Dear coach,

My name is _______________ .  I am a 6 ft. Outside Hitter, currently playing club for Texas Advantage Volleyball, 16- Elite (#7) out of Dallas, Texas.  I attend Carroll High School, and will be graduating in the spring of 2013.  Last season, I was named to the All-Tournament Team at JNCs and was an All-American nominee.

I am beginning to explore my college options and am very interested attending and playing volleyball at the University of Texas.   UT offers everything I am looking for in a college experience i.e. a University close to home, a world renowned business program, and most importantly an extremely competitive volleyball program with a winning tradition.  Therefore, I wanted to introduce myself and give you some information about my background both athletically in academically so you can decide whether to add me to your list of potential student athletes.

Please click on the link below to access all of my information including contact information, coach’s contact information, volleyball awards, travel schedule, volleyball statistics, and academic information.  You will also be able to watch my skills tape, highlight reel and an un-edited game from my Player Profile on VolleyballRecruits.net.

I hope you will have the opportunity to watch our team play this season.  I believe I have the ability to be a part of your team, and contribute to its future success.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Email Address
Your Phone Number
Your Address

Link to your information and video (this is generated automatically if you use VolleyballRecruits.net)

After you send out your introductions, just have fun and work on getting better every day. If you or your team does something noteworthy (I was named to the All-Tournament team, I was selected as the team captain, our team took 3rd place at one of the National Qualifiers and secured a bid to Nationals etc.), simply keep coaches updated on your achievements.  Per NCAA rules, coaches won’t be allowed to respond to your email with any recruiting-related information until September 1st of your Junior year.  Therefore, you’ll likely get a response (if at all) something like “Thank you. We have received your information”.  Don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear anything back, because coaches just simply are not allowed to talk to you yet.  Just control what you can control, which is keeping coaches in the loop about you and your success throughout the season.

If your club team is going to participate in a late season tournament (Junior National Championships, AAU’s, Volleyball Festival etc.) be sure to send all the coaches on your list an email with your tournament schedule so they can come see you play if they are recruiting at the tournament.  At this point in the season, many coaches will have wrapped up their Junior recruiting class and will be looking at the Sophomores. 

Summer Camps

You will most likely be bombarded with summer camp information from schools across the country.  Yes, summer camps are HUGE money makers for college program, but they are also a way for coaches to get extra looks at PSAs. We recommend you choose 3-5 (or as many as you can afford) schools you are interested in attending, and go to their summer camp.  There are a few huge benefits in doing so: 

a. You are able to spend time getting to know the program.  Depending on the length of camp (day or overnight camp), you have the opportunity to spend time on the school’s campus, check out the athletic facilities, eat in the cafeteria, meet the coaches and see their coaching styles (keeping in mind they will be on their best behavior), and maybe meet some players as often times current players will help coach camps. The more programs you visit the better understanding you will have of what you like in a program.

b. Coaches are able to spend time with you and can see what type of player you are.  Are you coachable?  Do you listen to direction? Do you work hard? Are you a team player? How do you react to mistakes?  Would you be a good fit at their program? 

c. Going to a camp tells a coach you are interested in their program, and if they think you may be a good fit, you will very likely climb upwards on their recruiting list. 

In Summary

The Sophomore year you should focus on getting game footage, developing your volleyball skills, and introducing yourself to the college coaching community.

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Have questions? Please contact Amanda Millard at 303-929-8587 or by email at Amanda@VolleyballRecruits.net to discuss how to we can help your son or daughter throughout the recruiting process.