Club Volleyball and Your Recruiting

Club volleyball tryouts are over and teams have been made. Every player is excited to start practice with her new team because this will be the year she will be recruited, or will it?

We see and hear it over and over again. “My daughter plays club volleyball so she will get seen. Her club coach is well connected and will get her recruited. She only is looking at a few schools so we’ve got this.” Every athlete’s recruiting experience is different from the next athlete. 6’4” will have a different experience than 5’9”. But even 5’9” can be getting more interest than 6’4” if she’s doing all the right things.

Have you ever been to a large tournament like Colorado Crossroads, Northern Lights, or Big South, just to name a couple? Those tournaments are filled with college coaches walking around with their school name on their chest, evaluating athletes that are on their list to watch. But what if you’re not on a list? What if a coach is walking by your court and you don’t get the set or the dig or you just made a mistake? Will they stop? With thousands of other athletes in the venue at the same time, how will you get noticed?

Club volleyball will get her recruited? Really? It’s not up to a club coach to send hundreds of emails out for each kid on the team before each tournament. It’s not up to the club coach to put together video and keep it updated for each kid on the team. It’s not up to the club coach to call college coaches for each of their kids. Club and high school coaches are amazing. So many of them are getting paid very little to do this but do it anyway because they love the kids and the sport. Usually they have families of their own, jobs, and other responsibilities. They do not have the time to do all the extra work to get their athletes recruited to multiple colleges around the country. Too many parents put too much pressure on the club to get their kids recruited. The coach’s job is to coach and make the players better.

Only a few schools? Yikes. What if you’re not a perfect fit for those few schools? Are you going to put all your eggs in one basket hoping that you are one of 3 or 4 new athletes added to that college roster? What if they are not recruiting your position in your class? What if you’re just not the right fit for the team? What if you’re just not being realistic on the level of program you’re looking at?

Club volleyball season is the most important time of the recruiting process. This process starts as early as the 8^th grade. So don’t wait. College coaches are out early and often. Do not rely on just being at a tournament, or for the club coach to get you recruited. Talk to a qualified NSR scout to start your process now before you waste recruiting opportunities.