VolleyParent Recruiting Feedback!

Please see the below email from a VolleyParent which has gone through the craziness of collegiate recruiting, and now is enjoying watching their Collegiate Student Athlete!!!

Coach,

I emailed you a number of times throughout my DD’s last couple of years in HS for advice.  I really appreciated your encouragement and the thought you put into your responses.  I’m glad you have this new forum where you’re not so constrained in what you can talk about.

Having “been there and done that” and having had a year of college ball to reflect on; I just wanted to provide some reassurance and a reality check to parents if their DD is not the tallest – been recruited since 8^th grade – only plays Open player.

DD played 8 years of Club VB – always on a second-tier team, never went to Nationals.

School?   9^th Grade – Freshman Team, 10^th Grade – Sophomore Team, 11^th Grade – JV, Senior – Varsity.

Oh, and she is 5’7”.

So, what’s the point?  Even though DD was a solid player, no one was going to come searching for her for their college team.  She’s not tall, didn’t play for the “best” clubs and didn’t play Open.

What we did do was market, market, market.  Signed up for every single free service available: University Athlete, Recruiting Registry, Be Recruited.  Sent tons of emails.  I bought a $99 video camera and filmed matches.  Edited footage on the home computer and posted it to You Tube. Although frankly, if I had known about NCSA I would have probably used it…..

Ultimately, she had offers ranging from Full Rides to Walk-Ons; from D1 through JCs.  She didn’t even commit until April of her Senior year.

DD is now happily in the midst of “3-a-Days” again as a Sophomore at a great school.  Excellent academics, winning VB program, teammates she loves, and a coach that really connects with his players.  And we all love the fact that scholarships (athletic and academic package) almost cover everything.

Was she ever going to be recruited to a Top 20 D1 school?  No, but there are over 1600 schools (D1,D2,D3,NAIA,NCCAA,NJCAA) that offer volleyball programs.  So if someone’s DD really wants to play at the next level.  They can make it happen.  It just takes desire, a solid skill-set, and a willingness to put in the time and effort to make themselves known.

Again, thanks for all your advice and reassurance as we went through this process.    It is so worth it to be able to sit in the stands at a University match and proudly say “that’s my kid!”

K.S.

I have written many times on collegevolleyballcoach.com and in my book Inside College Volleyball, about how effort and openness can lead to wonderful collegiate opportunities and memories!