So Many Questions - So Much Time!!!

Ok, I want to make sure I don't break any rules so I will just give you a little bit of personal info. I have 2 daughters...One in 8th grade, one in 6th grade. They have taken quite a passion for VB and I had a couple of questions while they are still young. What would be your best advice to develop my daughters for potential college play? We have the opportunity to play Club VB but with the price X2 (I don't want to leave out the younger one if she enjoys it too) it's quite expensive. Do colleges look more at high school play or Club play? Also, we live in a small town w/the smallest division in Idaho. We have decided to drive them 30 mins to a charter school (Boise area) then next year to a bigger school for 1. More academic options, and 2. possibly better recruitment. (The school district we live in has no CP classes and to take one you'd have to pay $100+ for an on-line course, per semester!) They are both 3.8 or higher GPA. I should mention that both still have plenty of growing, I myself am 5'9 and husband is 6'1 so I think they will both at least be as tall as me. My 8th grader now is 5'5 w/ mostly arms and legs...lol. I've also heard that Idaho girls don't get recruited as much as California or other states regardless of the division?

So, with them being so young what should my approach be as a parent to better prepare them for their future?

Thanks! LT

LT - Thank you for your e-mail and I am still trying to digest the staccato pace of the questions. I congratulate you on taking a proactive approach to the athletic and academic future of your daughters and I strongly encourage you to not get too far ahead of the process.

I am going to break down your e-mail into a number of parts, as to be able to answer and hopefully provide some direction.

• What would be your best advice to develop my daughters for potential college play? Encourage an environment which emphases correct techniques, yet allows for learning play. A rather not simple answer I have provided! OK, I will be more specific. Since your daughters are 6th and 8th grade, they are young in the great scheme of volleyball. Because of all the camps I do, along with the recruiting tournaments I attend, you can always see the high school players which have great athleticism, a positive attitude and the ability to physically work hard, but they look to not have received good skill instruction at a young age - Their footwork is backward, they are not comfortable playing defense, they cannot manage their passing platform as well as one would like. There is a tremendous amount of motor memory or muscle memory with regards to volleyball and having those patterns correctly established at a young age can create a higher level of play in later years. Yet, we want to make sure that young players also have the opportunity to participate in a more organic or free environment by just playing volleyball. There are any number of situations or nuances that can only be learned and experienced in actually just playing the game of volleyball (either full team or 2 on 2, 3 on 3, etc.). Next step? Combination of school and club volleyball. By and large, club volleyball is a higher level play/training and may offer more choices for picking the type and quality of volleyball teaching. Take time to go visit practices of potential clubs and schools; your eyes will tell you the truth. Is is skill oriented or just play? Does the coach teach passing or just tell them to pass? Lastly, I would encourage you to keep your daughters active in other sports because there are definite benefits to playing other sports. For instance, swimmers tend to have strong shoulder muscles, dancers and soccer players seem to adapt to the footwork demands of volleyball easier, softball players can develop good off-shoulder/foot movement which translates to a powerful attack, etc.

• We have the opportunity to play Club VB but with the price X2 (I don't want to leave out the younger one if she enjoys it too) it's quite expensive. That is one of the negatives to the club volleyball model for skill improvement - cost. Many families could potentially pay for their child's college education by investing that club money into a bank account or stock market account (well, given the financial meltdown of last year, maybe in the cookie jar is a better spot to stash the cash!). To ease the pain a bit, many clubs will offer a second child discount and a few of the clubs have 'scholarship' or need based opportunities to offset the costs.

• Do colleges look more at high school play or Club play? Club by an overwhelmingly huge margin. As I had written about in a recent post, the majority of college programs just don't have the fall season time and staffing to recruit the high school arena. On the occasion when a college coach is at a high school event, it is because the player is well established with regards that college's recruiting efforts.
  

• Also, we live in a small town w/the smallest division in Idaho. We have decided to drive them 30 mins to a charter school (Boise area) then next year to a bigger school for 1. More academic options, and 2. possibly better recruitment. (The school district we live in has no CP classes and to take one you'd have to pay $100+ for an on-line course, per semester!) They are both 3.8 or higher GPA. I wanted to make a comment on how this may or may not relate to the volleyball future of your daughters (I will purposefully ignore the obvious benefits of putting your daughters into a better learning environment for their academic interests and intellect). NCAA Division I athletics has a sliding scale of qualification which lends itself to ensuring admittance of a broad range of academic abilities. The last thing the NCAA wants is for some star football running back or the next Micheal Jordan of basketball not to get into NCAA Division I athletics because they did not score well on their SAT/ACT. Regardless of all the NCAA propaganda which is annually disseminated, Division I football and men's basketball is all about generating revenue for the association, conferences and member schools. How this affects Division I volleyball is that there really is no direct admissions benefit for achieving a 1200 instead of a 1000 on the SAT or grinding out a 3.8 versus 3.3 gpa. For Division II and III, there is a significant benefit to those additional academic achievements because of the awarding of scholarship monies based on academic performance. I mention this because as your daughters mature, you may wish to revisit the emphasis you place on academics based upon what level of NCAA play best suits them.
  

• I should mention that both still have plenty of growing, I myself am 5'9 and husband is 6'1 so I think they will both at least be as tall as me. My 8th grader now is 5'5 w/ mostly arms and legs...lol. But, how tall are Grandpa and Grandma? Height can be a tough thing to calculate, yet you would think that 5'10'ish is achievable. With that being said, volleyball is moving up the height charts at such a rapid pace that 5'10 is not that tall for Division I volleyball now, much less 5 years from now. Again, these things can affect what NCAA level is the best fit for your daughter. In general, the less "I's" after the NCAA, the taller the player must be.

• I've also heard that Idaho girls don't get recruited as much as California or other states regardless of the division? Well, California girls get recruited more than just about any other state's girls (maybe the Beach Boys song was actually written by club volleyball parents from another state?). On average, there are three dominant recruiting areas in the USA - California, the Great Lakes region and Texas. Again, this is on average because there are other states (Utah, Florida, Arizona, etc.) which produce tremendous volleyball players, but California holds a certain reputation for having high quality volleyball recruits. This is one of the reasons that Long Beach State, Cal Poly, San Diego, Pepperdine, etc. enjoy great success year in and year out - Lots of good volleyball players to recruit in the state. But, college coaches are paid to find good volleyball players and they/we do a good job of finding talent in whatever state a player may call home. I encourage parents/players to help us (help us help you!) by getting out information and video, especially if you happen to be from a state which is not synonymous for high school or club volleyball.

• So, with them being so young what should my approach be as a parent to better prepare them for their future? Lots of leafy greens and stay away from reality television. With regards to volleyball? Try to find the volleyball environment which combines technique, with play. If the idea of playing in college is broached by your daughters, please keep it positive and light; no kid ever needs the parental pressure of college volleyball expectations placed upon them. Encourage them to play other sports. Take them to college volleyball matches - This is a great chance for them to see what college volleyball looks like, for them to mentally take college volleyball out for a ride to see how it feels, to see what tall athletic female volleyball players look like, etc. I would also encourage you to read my Recruiting Plan once they get into high school, but you are not allowed to click that link until your daughter is at Christmas of her Freshman year - think of it as my present to you (and before anyone asks my identity, I am not Santa Claus).

Well, I hope that helped some and I more than anything hope you can enjoy this wonderful time in your daughter's lives while they play the greatest sport invented with a ball.