Early College Volleyball Scholarship Offer

Coach,

I enjoy your insight and realistic approach to those pursuing their dreams of playing volleyball at the Collegiate level. Our daughter, 16, is a Sophomore Libero in HS and has just been presented with a formal verbal offer with a partial scholarship to play D2 for a school that is one of her top 4 choices. 

She is very happy (as are we), for this opportunity-but we are unsure what to do next. She wants to see how the rest of this season and camps that she will be attending this summer go before she does anything more definitive with this offer. We know that until you sign a NLI, that nothing is final.   She would like to be in a position to sign an NLI before the end of this year so that he College plans are known.

I am a fan of taking a good opportunity and running with it, but we need some advice as to how to proceed.

Thanks!

G.H.

Thank you for your email and my apologies for the later reply.

First of all, congratulations on your daughter receiving a scholarship offer as a sophomore and as a Libero.  By the backstory which you have provided about your daughter, you have answered the question about how to proceed. 

It does not seem like she is mentally ready to commit to the scholarship offer, even though it is one of her top 4 choices.  I do think it is wise that she plays through the rest of the season and attends summer camps.  

If you have read through collegevolleyballcoach.com, you will remember that I say that Liberos are Last in the recruiting process.  While being that last player offered/selected during the recruiting process can be frustrating for Libero families, it can be a blessing in disguise when considering all the turnover in the coaching ranks today.

I also bring this timetable to your attention because if your daughter is receiving athletic scholarship offers as a sophomore, she still has 2 years on the recruiting clock to improve her skill sets and to also potential improve the scholarship garnered.

But, back to your question - My advice is to follow the path laid out by your daughter; keep playing volleyball and keep working the recruiting process.