Just 10 years ago, college coaches were watching the top recruits in the country during their sophomore year. The players spent their junior year visiting campuses, attending college camps and looking for the best fit. That calendar, at least for the...
The regular season of club volleyball has ended, and while many teams are still training in preparation for the national championships, summer is rapidly approaching. With summer, comes summer camps and unofficial visit opportunities. Here is some advice to help...
With the ever increasing number of talented high school age volleyball players, combined with the constant in college volleyball programs, it has created a situation where many families are considering 'walking on' to a college volleyball team. For many talented walk on players, who were the best on their high school or club team, this can be a tough transition.
This time of year, the sports media attention is focused on March Madness and NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships. A couple of months ago, it was the Bowl Season. NCAA Division I athletics have become synonymous with collegiate sports; so many student-athletes and families are raised upon DI sports and understandably feel DI is the best choice for being a collegiate athlete. Let's shine a light on why Division II, III and NAIA are also excellent options for junior volleyball athletes.
Over the past year, I have been leading 'Recruiting Sessions' for parents whose athletes attended various college showcases. As I was planning these sessions, my goal was to simplify the process and give parents 'real tools' to pass on to their athletes. Below is an outline that I use to begin each session, I like to call it 'Recruiting 101'.
When I talk to Club Directors and ask them "What keeps you up a night?" The #1 response I hear most often is "Parents". I had the good fortune to meet and talk with an amazing woman, Ruth Nelson, this past...
Tournament time has begun, which means club directors and coaches are beginning to identify the over-involved and over-bearing parents. It's easy to say that our focus needs to be on the kids and ignore the parents, but as we all know, the parents are as much our customers as the players are; in some cases, even more so. Here are some practices your club can apply to establish a healthy relationship between your club, coaches, and parents.
As illustrated by a recent espnW article, early recruiting in women's sports is not limited to volleyball. For a variety of reasons, the recruiting cycle now begins as early as Junior High, and this trend will most likely continue until rules and regulations are adjusted for NCAA Division I volleyball programs, which is where the majority of early recruiting is noted. Many collegiate volleyball coaches are offering and receiving scholarship commitments from players who have yet to spend one day in high school.
Let's examine three myths that aim to detour the athletes from achieving maximum success in the recruiting process. The goal here is to uncover a few 'facts' that spur on not only athletes but also Club Directors and Recruiting Coordinators to heed the 'call to action'. Action that leads to results.
Today's club volleyball world has grown to proportions which are staggering. Who knew 25 years ago that there would be clubs sponsoring 75+ teams, entire convention centers packed wall to wall with courts and hundreds of college coaches descending upon these events to recruit? With the professionalism of club volleyball and the amount of money families pay to participate, there can be certain spoken or unspoken expectations of the coach's role.