The process for recruiting student-athletes first starts with identifying a large pool of potential prospects for the positions they need to fill. Many schools start collecting data on over 500 student-athletes per graduating class 3-4 years prior to actually needing to fill an open roster spot.
If your daughter falls into the top 5% of the elite players in the country, she will become a prospect by college coaches via national qualifying tournaments, regional tournaments, high performance teams and camps. These elite players will be actively pursued by collegiate coaching staffs.
If your daughter does not fall into the top 5%, you will have to take the initiative to contact college coaches and let them know who you are and what you have to offer their volleyball program. This includes a player profile sheet, emails, skills/playing tapes, time and effort.
Things to remember:
1. At national tournaments there are over 10,000+ players that will play in three days. It is impossible for a college coach to see and evaluate every player at that tournament. So, you can cross your fingers in hopes your daughter stands out enough to encourage a College coach to initiate contact, or you can become active in the process. By actively becoming a part of the recruiting process you will increase the chances your daughter will become a prospective student-athlete.
2. Many Colleges have a limited recruiting budget. Some may not be able to afford to travel to multiple (if any) national tournaments to evaluate potential prospects. They rely on potential prospects initiating contact with a player profile sheet and a skills tape.
3. Most Colleges with a larger recruiting budget, that are able to travel to multiple national tournaments, will actively recruit the elite 5%.
4. You will have to honestly evaluate how good of a player your daughter is. You have to be aware of where your daughter fits in the national volleyball scene. She may be good for her high school team and even her club team, but how does she match up nationally with other players in her position.
Recruiting is the way in which Collegiate volleyball programs locate, evaluate, and attain student-athletes for their volleyball programs. Each player is recruited to fill a role that is needed to create a team that will post a winning record and move into post season play in hopes of winning a National Championship.
