ATHLETE RECRUITING TIMELINE
Things to do as a Freshman:
Academic Plan: Speak with your Guidance Counselor and let her know that you would like to pursue athletics after high school (make sure you develop a 4-year plan to meet NCAA academic eligibility requirements.
Criteria: Start thinking about some of the broad aspects that are important to you in selecting a college.
Correspondence: Send initial letters and e-mails introducing yourself and making it known that you have an interest in pursuing volleyball at the college level,
Development & Recruitment: Start attending summer camps that meet your broad-based criteria.
Things to do as a Sophomore:
Continue Academic Plan.
Add some more detailed criteria to your list of important factors in selecting a college.
Start doing research and begin putting together an initial list of schools that fit the criteria that you have established.
Start putting together a recruitment plan beyond academics (research staff, rosters, schedules).
Start taking unofficial visits.
Put together an athletic resume, send e-mail updates and start making phone contact with coaches (send schedule, put together and send a skills video, invite coaches to come watch you play).
Become more selective with your choice of summer camps based on schools that will be recruiting your position and institutions that you may like to attend.
Things to do as a Junior:
Continue to send schedules, send updates and begin more consistent correspondence with the college coaches.
Register with the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Continue taking unofficial visits.
Become more aggressive with phone contact.
Send updated skills video.
Narrow your list of schools to a top 5-10 list.
Only attend summer camps of schools where you are a top 2 or 3 recruit.
IMPORTANT STARTING ADVICE:
- Players become prospective student-athletes in their freshman year. Many athletes are identified early. Then their progress is tracked and evaluated throughout their high school career. Recruiting is highly competitive, so you are never at a disadvantage by starting the process early.
- Just because you have received a letter from one or more colleges does not necessarily mean that you are “being recruited.” Many athletes receive the same initial letter early in the process. This is a letter of interest and indicates that you have been identified as a person of interest. How you progress and manage the recruiting process from this point will determine the direction that your recruitment will take.
- Keep your options open. There are many different opportunities available to student-athletes. You don’t have to be one of the top 50 players in the country to receive an athletic scholarship or other financial assistance. NCAA Division I and II, NAIA, and some Junior Colleges can offer athletic scholarships. Some of these programs are fully funded athletically, and other programs combine athletic scholarship money with academic awards and other need-based financial aid. NCAA Division III does not offer any athletically-based aid; however, don’t let that fool you into thinking that their financial packages aren’t competitive. Many DIII schools offer very good academic grants that can be very comparable to the financial packages that non fully-funded programs that have some athletic money can offer. The reality is that less than 1% of the volleyball population per class will receive a Division I scholarship. Don’t close any doors before fully examining all of the options.
NCAA Division I: Maximum of 12 Scholarships
NCAA Division II: Maximum of 8 Scholarships
NCAA Division III: No scholarships
NAIA: Maximum of 12 Scholarships
JC: Maximum of 14 Scholarships (only DI and DII)
- Market yourself! There are approximately 100,000 volleyball players in the country in each academic class. There are thousands of people looking for the same opportunities that you are.What are you doing to separate yourself from those players? Yes, the college coaches are out watching and identifying players, but do you want to leave your future up to the possibility that you are one of the players that they happened to “find?” The more you do to market yourself to the colleges that you are interested in, the better chance you have that those coaches will take the time to come and evaluate you as a potential athlete for their program.
KEYS TO BEING RECRUITED:
Work Ethic & Attitude: College coaches spend a lot of time assessing the intangibles. They are constantly watching your effort, communication skills, leadership qualities, court demeanor, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills. They watch the way you treat your teammates, officials, opponents and your parents. They want players who are coachable, willing to take feedback and able to make rapid and productive changes.
Academics: The NCAA starts tracking and calculating your grades in your freshman year. Poor grades early in your high school career DO NOT disappear and can negatively affect your eligibility to play college sports. Beyond eligibility, there are VERY FEW professional opportunities after college to play volleyball. Academics will lead the way to successful life opportunities.
Take ownership: For the most part, recruiting doesn’t just take care of itself. Unless you are one of the most sought after student-athletes in the country, you will need to be accountable and active during this process. Take control, be diligent, return interest and correspondence, do your research, take time to make visits, be prepared when speaking to coaches, ask questions and develop relationships.
Take time to learn the process: “I didn’t know” isn’t a good excuse for losing valuable opportunities. Make the effort to be educated. Know what the academic requirements are to be eligible, read and understand the recruiting rules & definitions (different divisions have different rules), do your best to understand the recruiting timelines and talk to people who have been through the process before or have helped other people with the process. There is no substitute for knowledge and preparation.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
Questions to ask yourself:
Academics: Do they have the major that I am interested in?
Location: How close or far away from home do I want to be?
Size of School: Do I want to be 1 in a classroom of 400 people, or 1 in a classroom of 15 people?
What do I want in a school? How is the campus life and living conditions? How important is the “social aspect” of my college experience? Do they have groups or organizations that I might be interested in outside of athletics? How much time do I want to spend on volleyball? What competitive level would I like to play at? What is important to me if I don’t get, or maintain, a scholarship?
Questions to ask the college coach:
What is the head coach’s philosophy for the program?
What do you see as my role?
What position are you recruiting me for?
Feel free to ask about team chemistry, assistant coach training responsibilities, administrative support, training schedules, offense systems, defensive systems, academic support/resources, curriculum, social environment, training rules, policy for missing classes, academic history of the team, team travel, scholarship renewal, financial aid and the head coach’s career plan. Find out if the university assists with priority registration, job placement, graduate schools, etc.
SOME IMPORTANT TERMS TO BE FAMILIAR WITH:
Contact Period:College coaches may have in-person contact with both you and your parents, on or off the institution’s campus. Coaches can watch you play, evaluate you and visit your high school. Coaches can write, e-mail and make phone calls during this period.
Evaluation Period: College coaches can watch you play, evaluate you and visit your high school. Coaches may NOT have any in-person, off-campus conversations with either you or your parents. Coaches CAN write, e-mail, and make phone calls during this period, and you and your parents can visit the school and have on-campus, in-person conversations with the coach.
Quiet Period: College coaches may not have any off-campus, in-person contact with you or your parents. Coaches may NOT watch you play, evaluate you, or visit your high school during this period. You and your parents CAN visit the campus, and coaches can still write, e-mail, and make phone calls.
Dead Period:College coaches may not have ANY in-person contact with either you or your parents during this period either on or off-campus; however, the coach can still write, e-mail, and make phone calls.
E-mails:You may send correspondence, letters, and e-mails to college coaches; however, the coaches may not send you personal notes or e-mail you until September 1 of your junior year in high school.
Phone Calls:
Division I: Once per week starting July 1 after athlete's junior year.
Division II: A college coach may call athletes once per week beginning June 15 between the athlete's junior and senior year.
Division III: No limit on number of calls or when they can be made by the college coach.
Official Visit:You can have one expense-paid (official) visit to a particular campus beginning on the opening day of classes of your senior year. During your official visit (which may not exceed 48 hours), you may receive round-trip transportation between your home (or high school) and the campus, and you (and your parents) may receive meals, lodging and complimentary admissions to campus athletics events. A coach may only accompany you on your official visit when the transportation occurs by automobile and all transportation occurs within the 48-hour period. Meals provided to you (and/or your parents) on an official visit may be provided either on or off the institution's campus.
Unofficial Visit: A prospect can make any number of unofficial visits (at the prospect’s own expense), and may visit a particular institution unofficially as often as she likes. She may receive up to three complimentary admissions to a home contest during the unofficial visit.
THINGS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR ATHLETIC RESUME:
Personal Info:
– Name
– Contact Info
– Website
– E-mail address
Academic Info:
– GPA
– Class Rank/Class Total
– High School
– Courses taken to meet eligibility
– Probable Major
– ACT/SAT Scores
Volleyball Info:
– Height, Weight
– Standing reach, approach jump, block jump
– Positions played
– Uniform number (HS/Club)
– Dominant hand
– Playing history, HS, & club
– Present club team
– NCAA Clearinghouse number
Honors:
– Academics
– Athletics
References
SKILLS TAPES:
- Skills video should be approximately 5-8 minutes long.
- Make a brief introductory statement about who you are and what your goal is.
- Have coaches involved to help manage the drills for better efficiency.
- Focus mainly on taping position specific skills.
- Do something within the first minute that will catch the college coach’s attention and hold her interest.
- Individual highlights are encouraged, however; also include footage of at least one complete unedited game.
- Make sure that you are easily identifiable in the video
IMPORTANT WEBSITE LINKS:
NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete:
NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse:
National Athletic Intercollegiate Association:
USA Volleyball:
Rich Kern:
University Athlete:
Prep Volleyball: