College Volleyball Recruiting - Club or High School

First of all thank you for getting back to me so quickly, I really appreciate that. First of all I found out about you while reading an email from a discouraged mom talking about her 6' 2" middle hitter from I believe 2009 or 2010. I found your response honest and straight forward, not part of a company line that we so often hear in life. 

My daughter is not a 6' 2" middle hitter, she is 5' 5" and an DS, OH, RS. for her small local high school. My daughter played for a large local club this past spring on the 17-1's team. She played very well, as a pin hitter, even though height wise most would say too small to play outside hitter. Well she is a powerful hitter, and lead her team in kills, second overall club wide, passing stats according to the passing chart, and serving, as well as aces.

She has had a goal to play in college ever since she was 9 years old, and her club coaches and the college recruiting coordinator at her club all think she has the ability to play in college, and are helping whatever way they can.

Here comes the but, her high school coach, thinks differently. For some reason she does not like our daughter, and we aren't the only ones to notice it. If something goes wrong the finger gets pointed at her even if she wasn't in the area of the mistake. My daughter get's taken out if she makes one mistake, while all the favorite (yes her reputation is of playing favorites) stay in no matter how many balls they shank.  

The coach has told her in no uncertain terms even though she's one of the top two players on the team that her playing time will be very limited. Now we have taught our daughter to finish what you start, but she is becoming discouraged and thinks her chances to play college ball are being sabotaged. 

How important is High School verses club, if a coach asks for film, what do we tell them, or better yet what do we give them? Should we let the recruiting coordinator know what's going on? We don't want to come off as bitter parents, we just want the best for our daughter and for her senior year to be a happy one. Any suggestions?

Again thank you for your time, we greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely; 

Anonymous

Quick answer is that High School does not matter for college volleyball recruiting and I say that broadly, as there are no absolutes in life other than my daughter's love.  As a college volleyball coach, we are in our season and focused on keeping our jobs.  We understand that HS is a mixed bag of coaches, players, locations and facilities.  More and more HS athletes are stepping away from their HS season.  While they may miss a few touches, the length and quality of the club season more than makes up for a couple months of down time.

For any young player, you want their sport experience to be enjoyable.  Granted, sports are not always fun, but the summary experience should be enjoyable.  If your daughter is in a no win, negative situation, then the healthy thing to do is just graciously step away.  The only other choice, is to emotionally disconnect and just view the high school playing time as free touches on the ball and being with team mates.

With regards to college coaches, again, we don't put a lot of weight into the high school season.  We are much more focused on the club season, club film, watching club matches and speaking with club coaches/recruiting coordinators.

Also, as you read through the site, the fall is the slowest time for college volleyball recruiting and a time segment where the players should also be slow in their recruiting outreach.  There are just so many changes which occur in the late fall in college volleyball, that to actively outreach or stress during this time segment is illogical.  I now advise families to use this fall period to regroup and reevaluate their recruiting standing, to encourage the athlete to get healthy physically and recharge emotionally and prepare for the club season.

I don't want to discount the high school season because it can be a great experience representing your school and being with players you see in class every day.  But, for college volleyball recruiting, club is the dominant vehicle and that should be the focus for families focused on the transition to collegiate athletics!

Coach