College Volleyball Recruiting Success Story

Hi Coach,

I wrote you last year when my daughter was a late developing Junior who had just moved into the power level with her club team. I wanted to thank you for all the good advice you give on
your website, since that made the path through the last year plus quite a bit easier. The best advice for us was for the student/athlete to find a school that was a good fit for their personality first and foremost, since are going to have to live with their choice of college.

My daughter did just that.

When she finished her high school season, she told everyone who asked that she would play varsity if she happened to find a D2 or D3 school which fit her needs, but would play club ball if she decided to go to a D1 school. Nine of the eleven schools my daughter applied to played in D1, so the odds were stacked against her playing anything but club. The school she was leaning to most heavily through most of the process was D3, and she had a standing offer to play on that team. But on her 7th accepted student day visit she found a school where the academic and social aspects were a perfect fit for her. She is thrilled to be going there, and feels club ball will be a great way to continue with the sport she loves.

One of the funniest things we saw on the visit to that school was when the assistant coach of the varsity crew team tracked my daughter down on the field, told her she had the perfect build for that sport, and asked if they could send her information about that team. That was the second time that happened on our visits, so there must be something about height that's good for that sport.

You were also bang on in your statements that plenty of spots were available for Seniors well into the spring. After my daughter's team played in the late winter tournaments, she received numerous emails from D2 and D3 coaches who were looking for players. However, she had already narrowed down her list of schools based on academics, so passed on following up with any of these schools. But numerous options were there if she were committed to picking
a school based on the chance to play volleyball at a higher level than club.

I also enjoyed seeing you talk about the importance of chemistry, since my daughter's club team had one toxic player on it. The poor coach had his hands tied, since he had to play her because that girl's family paid good money for the season. The team rarely played up to their talent level during the season, and there was nothing he could do except shake his head. I think most families were just glad that the season was over by the time the last tournament rolled around. That was a huge contrast to my daughter's high school team, which performed
much better with less talent. At least she has a league championship from that season to look back on fondly.

The last year has been a fun ride, and I looked forward to reading your new articles every week. One of the things I discovered during the last year was that once you are a VolleyFamily, you will always be a VolleyFamily. We never understood why parents whose child had graduated attended some of the high school matches, but we will be that childless family next HS season!

Thanks again!

K & D


It is good to know that I was able to provide some information that helped.  Now, let's just keep those pesky Crew coaches away from our Volleyball players!