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.
Travelling through the backroads of recruiting can be adventuresome, exciting, packed with twists and turns and can sometimes look like Candyland the board game. You start out by crossing your fingers hoping to draw a card that catapults you to...
Your child is having a great season as the post-season approaches. He is worried. He asks you the question, “What if I lose?” What is your response?
As club programs are selecting their players and families are trying to decide which club/team to join, there is a common concern of which team to choose, a 1’s team at one club or a 2’s team at another...
Now more than ever, parents are very involved (some would say "over-involved") with their sons and daughters club careers that you must be ready for just about anything. But in order to maintain a positive club culture a positive relationship...