Creating College Volleyball Recruiting Interest

Dear Coach,

My daughter is very interested in playing college volleyball but gets very limited play time on her 17s elite club team. Is there anything she can do to attract the attention of college recruits? We only have video from her high school team which is not high level play. Is there any camps she can attend that attract college recruiters? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you! L.S.

Thanks for your email and I am glad that you are thinking outside the box, and just not 'hoping' that something positive happens.

In your situation (limited playing time), you need to be very aggressive in your outreach and efforts to create exposure for your daughter:

1.  Reach out and contact many, many, and many collegiate programs that are within your daughter's desires and abilities - For instance, if she is not playing a bunch on her 17's team, then contacting Top 10 DI programs is not a good choice.

2.  To get more video, just film a couple of club practices, then edit/splice the good parts together - College coaches would rather see club video than high school video.

3.  Consider a recruiting service - I think NCSA should be your only choice (please link to them through my website).  NCSA has an unreal amount of resources and support; their point and click information, along with their outreach is amazing, plus their video services highlight a PSA's strengths.

4.  Showcases/Combines are becoming more readily available and tend to happen just before a major tourney.  I am not sure where you live, but for instance, at the Wisconsin Dells Tourney, there is a Showcase the night before.  In Houston, the night before the JVA World Challenge, there is a Showcase (I will be at both events courtesy of NCSA).  I know at a few President's Day tourneys there were  showcases the night before.  The way to find out about such opportunities is to visit the web pages of tourneys to see if they offer a showcase.

5.  Encourage your daughter to maximize her practice opportunities because volleyball is a sport where you get better in practice, not in competition.  She needs to use every minute of practice to push herself to get better, because then when she is on the court during a match, she can shine.  She cannot feel sorry for herself or dwell on what she is not getting in competition, but rather focus on getting better each day.

6.  Be patient and positive; yes, there is a bunch of commitments and interactive recruiting going on right now with the 17's class, but there are and will be many opportunities come the 18's year.

7.  College Camps are not a good use of time and money to attract coaches; the camp is only seen by that college's coaches.  Better to use that $ for showcases or a recruiting service.

In closing, as she will not be 'seen' because of her limited playing time, you have to create her 'air time' by reaching out to collegiate programs with contact info and video!

Coach