The Fall High School Season can be a busy time of year for a lot of high school volleyball players. Many players have limited communication with their club coaches and club recruiting staff. It’s also a busy time of year for college coaches as a lot of their daily focus is on training, scouting and other areas of weekly match prep. However, the fall can be a crucial time to stay on top of your recruiting efforts and continue to put your name in front of college coaches.

Here are a few suggestions on how to keep the recruiting process momentum going throughout the fall:

High School Freshmen
  • Watch College Volleyball Matches online and on TV. Start to identify the different levels of volleyball (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, ect) and think about where you might fit.
  • Attend a local college match, walk around the campus or maybe even set up a campus tour.
  • Start to identify what’s important to you: Academics, Campus, Volleyball, Coaches, Team.
  • Start thinking about summer camps and which camps might be a good fit for you. Be realistic.
High School Sophomores
  • Meet with your high school counselor to be sure you’re on the right track to meet your academic goals in college. Are you taking enough AP courses if you have high academic aspirations, etc.? Have you registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center?
  • Create or update your recruiting profile with all your latest information.
  • Attend Intro Recruiting Meeting with your club or connect with your club recruiting staff/coaches to gain advice on starting the process if you’re new.
  • Identify a range of schools to target and begin sending monthly email updates.
  • Update your highlight video every other month to include in your email. If your high school team isn’t competitive, consider creating a skills video.
  • Continue to educate yourself on what’s important to you and identify the different types of college environments out there.
High School Juniors
  • Check in with your high school counselor to review your academic goals.
  • If you’re new to your club, schedule a time to meet with your club recruiting staff or club coaches to seek advice on starting your process.
  • Returning club players, reevaluate your process after the summer. Which schools have shown genuine interest through emails/texts/phone calls. If you have little momentum going, reassess your list.
  • Target a small group of schools you can manage and plan to email bi-weekly. Keep the emails brief but try to stand out. Pictures are great. Show you’re a real person and show you have connection with that school.
  • Update your high school highlights monthly
  • The goal is to receive answers from the small group you’re targeting. Can you turn those emails into texts/phone calls/evals/visits? You will hear no. Keep going…
High School Seniors
  • Stay the course, there are still opportunities out there for you.
  • Continue to Target a small group of schools you can manage and plan to email bi-weekly. Keep the emails brief but try to stand out. Pictures are great. Show you’re a real person and show you have connection with that school.
  • Update your high school highlights monthly.
  • Ask your club recruiting contact or coaches for help if you need it.

Although the fall is a busy time for college coaches, it’s still a time you can gain momentum in your process. Your email might just hit the coach’s inbox at the perfect time. Maybe they’re bored on a 6-hour bus ride…or maybe they just lost a match and seeing your highlights after the tough loss gave them something to be excited about. Stay the course and an opportunity will come along!

View more recruiting education and resources.

About the Author

Meghan Keck is the 18s Lead, Recruiting Director, and Setting Director at 1st Alliance Volleyball, a JVA member club in LaGrange, Illinois. She has 17 years of experience coaching at the Division I level with 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and six conference championships. She coached several NCAA Top 25 ranked teams. Meghan was a four year starting setter at Auburn University and UIC, where she holds the school record for hitting percentage in a match.