Here are some tips for parents and players that are interested in playing volleyball in college. The hope is for Maine Juniors players to have a better understanding of what goes into getting a college coach interested them as a potential player.
1) Start early. Visiting colleges, even just to see a match, can be done at any age. If you are interested in playing volleyball in college you should start reaching out to schools during your sophomore year (this is not to early) or at least, the start of your junior year. Many colleges are filling their rosters a few years out. Maine Juniors has seen many players not realize their interest in playing until their senior year. It is wise to consider this possibility earlier than that. Why not?!
2) College coaches want to hear from the athlete, not the parents! It is important that the athlete is the one reaching out to coaches and doing the communicating. Your daughter should be the one sending emails and talking with the coaches.
- Coaches want to get to know the athlete.
- When visiting a school, the athlete should be answering the questions, not the parent.
- Coaches are often turned off by over involved parents.
- Coaches need to get to know the athlete and understand if they fit with their program.
- Parents should be part of the process and help guide their child, but coaches are not recruiting parents. They are recruiting the athlete.
3) Emailing. If you are interested in a volleyball program, email the head and assistant coach coaches. Keep your emails short, bulleted and personal. Your first point of contact should include:
- You name and contact info
- Graduation year
- GPA and major interest
- Position
- Height
- Vertical jump
- Club and high school coaches’ names and contact info
- Stats, if they are good
- Tournament schedule
*You also want to include why you interested in their school
Be sure to respond to all emails, even if you are not interested. A simple “Thank you, I appreciate your interest in me. I’ll look into your program and see if it feels like a good fit for me.” It’s fine if you have no interest.
4) Go watch games of teams you are interested in. This will help you get a sense of whether you could play on that level or fit in on the team.
- This is good opportunity to say hello to the coach and show your interest.
- Let the coach know you are coming beforehand to show your interest.
- Be sure to say hello to the coach before or after the game.
5) Video: Coaches want to see unedited video of players during a game.
- They want to see your best skills, basically you playing your position.
- They don’t necessarily need to see you serving.
- Videos should be pretty short, no longer than 5min.
- There is no need to spend money on professional film.
- Sometimes coaches also like to see an entire set of play, if possible. It’s ok if you are not “perfect” during the set – they know players make mistakes.
Click here to watch a short video of college coaches speaking to high school players and how to get college coaches attention.
If you have any questions about recruiting you can reach out to:
- Louise at recruiting@mainejuniors.org
- John Razsa at director@mainejuniors.org
- Your Maine Juniors coach
