CHECKLIST: EMAIL kevin@tampaunitedvolleyball.com TO POST AN EMAIL ADDRESS ON YOUR ROSTER PAGE RESEARCH AND LIST BIO SHEET FIRST WAVE OF EMAILS VIDEO VISITS
Team Sting ref You may begin your research on collegiate volleyball programs at www.volleyball.org/college or www.ncaa.org then go to member institutions and you can view schools by division. You can also go to www.naia.org and www.njcaa.org to locate member institutions. Full ride scholarships actually run for one year, renewable annually. Most colleges renew them since they don t want a bad reputation. Each division is different. For example, DII may share 8 full rides with its entire roster. Some Jucos can give tuition, housing, and a stipend. Do your homework. A big part is how much effort that you put into the recruiting effort to tell coaches about where you are and show interest in THEIR school. Review the college websites. Look at their volleyball rosters. See what positions are coming open. If you are a high school junior, look at their juniors. Are the statistics low on the backup players in those positions? Do you want to play right away or wait behind a current player? Note recent accomplishments of the team. Learn as much as you can about their program for future conversation or an email to the coach. College coaches look at athletes, not teams. It doesn t matter if your high school or club team is not one of the top names. Your job is harder, but not impossible. College coaches look for: Athleticism (to play the level they play) Attitude (will you emotionally fit in their program?) Academic ability (can you make grades in college?) Work ethic Passion for the game IT S NOT ALL ABOUT VOLLEYBALL! WHEN YOU ARE DONE PLAYING COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL, YOU NEED TO COME OUT WITH A GOOD EDUCATION! Team Sting ref
Key Tips and Advice from college coaches: As a starting point, consider using your club coaches and high school coaches to ask what level they might see as a best fit for your volleyball ability (Division I, II, III, NAIA, etc.) Go see a practice and matches at a local university. See what system they run. Let the coaches know in advance that you are coming. College coaches don t want to hear from the parents. An e-mail should come from the player when inquiring about their program or introducing themselves. It is OK for a player to show some personality, too. Start e-mailing college coaches (i.e. In your sophomore year), letting them know where you will be playing, your number, etc. It is recommended to include your club coach s e-mail address, to whom they can reply through if NCAA rules prevent correspondence until your Junior year (such as for Division 1). When you play in a major tournament (a Qualifier, Regionals, etc.) know that college coaches may be watching you at all times. That includes your warm-up before a match: o Don t goof around in warm-ups or look like you are going through the motions. Coaches are looking if you are a fit in their quality of program. o Remove a warm-up shirt so your number is visible at warm-up time. o Don t turn to your mom that you need water as a Junior have your own bag and water, etc. when preparing to play. o College coaches won t talk to you at a tournament some aren t allowed to. Don t misunderstand their interest level by this. o Wins and losses at the tournament are not the concern to a college coach. They are looking if you lift everyone up when losing and looking at your skill level. Your e-mails or cover letter for a DVD can show creativity and awareness of THEIR program never hurts to stroke a college coach s ego congratulating them about a recent big victory or a player honor announced. As a player, you need to be assertive and talk with the coach if they call, e-mail, etc. It is not a problem for parents to make a list of questions for the player to get answers for.
Have your volleyball resume ready by your Junior year. It should be only one-side of a page. Good to include a player picture. Include your player number! DVD and video tapes are not as big a deal as they used to be. Some never get looked at. Older generation coaches tend to like them. Some prefer a skills tape of no longer than 8 minutes. Some like game film. Some prefer unedited, while others don t want to waste much time watching your teammates finish a play on your DVD. Most players now use www.youtube.com to post video clips or e-mail the link to the clips directly to a coach. Take the ACT test several times, since your subject scores can be raised. Don t wait until your senior year. Some colleges may require the SAT test instead, so do your research. Narrow to 5 college choices to visit. Break your initial list into: o 60% average schools (where I know I can play) o o 20% dream schools (would be a stretch for my level of play) 20% locks which may not be strong in volleyball, but I can go there for a match on my academic interests and also play *DON T FORGET: Register with the NCAA Clearinghouse. (Your high school guidance counselor should have these forms.)
FURTHER RECRUITING TIPS BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF AND MAKE A FEW REACHES USE VOLLEYBALL FOR YOUR EDUCATIONAL GOALS RESEARCH THE SCHOOLS, LOCATIONS, AND PROGRAMS CAREFULLY BE AGGRESSIVE LOOK FOR COLLEGES THAT NEED YOUR POSITION RETURN COMMUNICATION PROMPTLY AND BE ENTHUSIASTIC; THIS MAY BE YOUR FIRST REAL INTERVIEW; YOU ARE TRYING TO BE HIRED BE PREPARED TO HEAR NO; DO NOT LET IT GET YOU DOWN TRY TO PERSONALLY BE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE; DON T FULLY DEPEND ON PARENTS KNOW THAT COACHES LIKE TO WATCH YOU WHEN YOU MESS UP, YOUR TEAMMATE MESSES UP, OR WHEN THE TEAM IS DOWN DO NOT FAIL TO PLAY A POINT TO THE WHISTLE; A FAILURE TO PURSUE MAY BE THE END OF A COLLEGE S INTEREST ATTEND A COLLEGE S CAMP IF YOU AND THE SCHOOL ARE SERIOUS UNDERSTAND FINANCIAL ABILITIES OF A GIVEN SCHOOL AND DECIDE WHAT YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO CONTRIBUTE RESEARCH AN ENTIRE CONFERENCE IF THE LEVEL FITS SEND BRIEF SKILLS TAPES; YOU MAY INCLUDE 15 CONSECUTIVE POINTS CHOOSE YOUR VISITS CAREFULLY; USE YOUR UNOFFICIALS FEEL FREE TO INVITE COACHES TO TRAINING SESSIONS COLLEGE S HAVE MANY LINES IN THE WATER FOR EACH POSITION THEY ARE RECRUITING; YOU SHOULD TOO! DO NOT ASK YOUR CLUB COACH TO COACH DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE SOMEONE IS THERE TO SEE YOU YOU MUST BE COMFORTABLE WITH 3 THINGS: THE CAMPUS (YOU WILL BE GOING TO CLASS THERE EVERY DAY), THE TEAM (THEY WILL BE YOUR FIRST FRIENDS), AND THE COACH (THE COACH IS YOUR NEW BOSS PAYING YOU TO PLAY).
STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS Step 1: List 10-20 schools you will contact. (They all must have your course of study; choose schools of various volleyball levels.) Step 2: Prepare your bio sheet which includes the following: a little background info, playing aspirations, playing experience, physical data, current club team and schedule, ALL contact information for you as well as your coaches, and a picture. Step 3: Send personal emails to the schools on your list. Include your bio sheet. Step 4: Prepare one folder per school who contacts you back. Include all communication in these folders. It is your job to keep the communication going by providing updates concerning results, awards, etc. Step 5: Prepare your 8 min. skills video. Upload it as well as game footage to a sharing site such as youtube.com, so you can include it as a link in your introductory letter/bio sheet. Send that link to all schools, which have demonstrated positive communication or requested it. Attaching 15-25 consecutive points of game footage is fine. You may use any video production company for your skills tape or game footage, or you may book a 30-minute private session with one of our coaches. This may be booked through Nitta. You must bring the filming equipment. It will cost $50, and all money goes to the coach assisting you. Step 6: Plan official visits and plan unofficial visits. Prior to this step, you should clearly understand their interest in you as well as the type of package they could offer. At this stage, you may be more direct with your questions. *Repeat the process as needed. *Our club will assist you with your skills video only after you have completed steps 1-3.
My Video: If you or your high school coach makes it, make sure the camera focuses on you, not the flight of the ball. You have many college coaches in this club. We know what coaches look for. They usually do not even watch the full 8 minutes! They look for footwork, athleticism, armswing, and floor defense fundamentals. Game footage is especially useful for setters and liberos due to frequency of touches. Game footage also shows how you react to success and failure, your defensive attitude, and how you act as a teammate. THE GOAL OF THE VIDEO IS MERELY TO CONVINCE THEM TO COME SEE YOU PLAY. Sample content: OHs intro: 1 minute ballhandling: 1 minute blocking movement and block jumps: 1 minute hitting (sets of 3): 3 minutes SR: 1 minute defense (dig+run through): 1 minute Serve: 1 minute Setters intro: 1 minute setting triangles: 3 minutes ballhandling: 1 minute blocking movement and block jumps: 1 minute dumping (sets of 3): 1 minute defense (dig+run through): 1 minute Serve: 1 minute Liberos intro: 1 minute ballhandling: 2 minute SR: 2 minute defense (dig+run through): 3 minute Serve: 1 minute
*Go to ncaa.org and search schools by level, conference, region, etc. SCHOOLS OF INTEREST COLLEGE: COACH: EMAIL: PHONE: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Sample Bio Sheet Address Email Phone Mobile NAME POSITION/GRADUATION YEAR Picture Height Reach Approach Touch Block Touch R/L Handed Recruiting Director Recruiting Director email Club Coach Club Coach email High School Coach High School Coach email Brief paragraphs on the following: A. Experience: select teams, club, high school, camps B. Awards: C. Aspirations: athletic and academic Upcoming Playing Schedule
For your records: make copies CONTACT SHEET DATE: TO/FROM: RE: FOLLOW UP PLAN: CONTACT SHEET DATE: TO/FROM: RE: FOLLOW UP PLAN: