Tip #2: Academics, Academics, Academics!

Let’s not forget that in the recruiting process, you are not just being recruited for your athletic abilities on the court. You are being recruited as a student-athlete. And this means that as much as you focus on the volleyball court, you need to be able to focus in the classroom as well.

I personally was (and still am) competitive in every realm of my life. And I carried my competitiveness from sports over into academics. Just like in volleyball, I had to work hard for my good grades. I had to sacrifice fun for studying after volleyball practice. I was just as much of a perfectionist and over-achiever in the classroom as I was on the volleyball court. And I cannot be more thankful for my hard work my freshman, sophomore, and junior year of high school, because I honestly don’t think I realized at the time the impact that my grades and GPA would have on my choices of universities and my life path.

While yes they vary among different universities, there are academic expectations that must be met, even for those receiving full athletic scholarships. For universities such as Rice where I attend, and Stanford, they heavily weighed my academics when recruiting me because they have to follow a more strict process with their recruits similar to the Ivy Leagues, where their desired recruits have to be approved through general school admissions. Basically, at top academic universities it DOESN’T matter if you’re a stud athlete if you don’t have the grades, and the coaches cannot do anything about it. At many universities, you are at the mercy of the admissions process.

Granted, I am not trying to scare you. And I understand that many universities are able to work the system for getting their desired recruits in, as long as they meet the minimum NCAA requirements for grades and SAT scores. But why risk making your chances smaller for receiving a scholarship when you could offer coaches more reasons for why YOU deserve to go to their school?

What I want you readers to get from this post is that even though you are working towards earning an athletic scholarship for a Division I volleyball program, your academics not only reflect to coaches your ability to get good grades, but your over-all work ethic, as well as your likeliness to meet academic expectations in college to stay eligible as a student-athlete.

While some universities have different standards, NCAA requires all potential student athlete recruits to meet the following academic requirements in high school:

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/af238a804e0b869285bcf51ad6f8b25/Quick+Reference+Sheet+for+IE+Standards+-+6-18-09.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=af238a804e0b869285bcf51ad6fc8b25

            On top of the requirements to get into a university as a student-athlete, there are NCAA requirements for remaining eligible as a student-athlete once you are attending:

http://www.bsubeavers.com/media/pdf/NCAA_Requirements_for_continuing_eligibility.pdf

            Aside from NCAA expectations, different universities often have their own expectations as well. Rice for example, states that their student-athletes must have a 1.667 semester GPA and cumulative GPA at the end of each semester to remain in good academic standing (off probation and suspension). They also state that any semester GPA below a 1.00 will result in an academic suspension, except for your first semester on campus.

            Again, I am not trying to overwhelm you readers and I want you to know that as long as you are as disciplined and dedicated in the classroom as you are on the court, everything will fall into place and you will be find the university that is perfect for you.

So remember, before you hit that gym floor make sure to hit those books as well!

Tip #1: Find Something to Separate you From the Pack

My club coach called me a “true athlete.” I had the natural athleticism: quick feet, flexibility, power, agility, and explosiveness, combined with polished, well-crafted skills that I’d perfected throughout many years of practice and private volleyball training lessons. But I also had an intangible factor, one coaches couldn’t teach. I thrived in competition. I had a killer instinct. As soon as I looked through the net and saw my opponents on the other side, I possessed a feeling similar to what I imagine a lion feels when stalking its prey. I turned into a different person when I stepped onto the court. My teammates often joked that when they first met me, they never expected the reserved, sensitive, caring person they met to transform into such a ruthless animal on the court. Digging, diving, scraping up balls from hitting the ground that to most would have seemed impossible. Sacrificing my body for the ball, accepting the punishment of the jarring wooden floor. Coaches and parents came up to me after matches throughout the years at tournaments and told me that when I hit the volleyball, “It just made a different sound than everyone else.” Like a crack of a gunshot. I was powerful, reputed to be the most powerful player in the gym. Yet power wasn’t enough. I had to be a smart player. I was 5’10’’ and considered a shrub among hundreds of redwoods. Most of the girls I played against stretched from 6 feet and above.

So, how did I convince Division I volleyball programs that I was worth recruiting despite my height?

I had an arsenal of different shots to make up for my lack of size: the deep corner shot, the quick tip right over the 6’4’’ blocker who was too slow to understand what was going on, the deep line shot, the tricky shot where I faced one way and hit another, the nasty sharp cross angle shot, oh, and let’s not forget the hell yes there is no blocker up, please, allow me to shove this ball straight down your throat shot. “Shank you very much.”

I demanded perfection, or at least as close to perfection as a human could attain, every time I played. Not because anyone told me to, but because I hated the feeling that I got after a game when I felt like I hadn’t done everything in my power to win, that I hadn’t played every play to the best of my ability.

These are the intangibles that I am talking about that will separate you from the rest of the pack. That pure desire to compete and to win. That never say die attitude. The ability to get the most out of yourself as well as your teammates. A leader. That’s what will make college coaches notice you. Sure, you have a leg up if you’re 6’4’’ and can jump over the moon, but these intangibles are what can help players like me or you go to the same college volleyball programs as the 6’4’’ high jumper.

So, get out there and show everyone what you’re made of! Play with heart, have a good attitude, and never say never. 

Let's Get it Started!

I juggle college academics with what basically is a full time job. I often have to sacrifice fun for discipline and going to bed early. I travel weekly during season. My body most of the time is bruised and beat up. Yet I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am a Division I college volleyball player at Rice University. I am a scholarship athlete. How did I get where I am today?

A lot of dedication, discipline, and hard work. As well as some very important steps between my hard work on the court in high school, to my hard work on the court here at Rice. Those important steps in between revolved around the college recruiting process. The process where you have to sell your product to college volleyball coaches across the country. And that product is you.

So, you may be asking what is this blog about?

I created this blog to offer insight and tips to help high school volleyball players (as well as their family members and anyone else in their support system) put themselves in the best position possible to be recruited for a college volleyball scholarship. I am aware that there are currently websites out there for college recruiting, but I feel that I can offer a unique spin to the recruiting experience by offering personal experiences mixed in with my recruiting tips.

I know what qualities college coaches are looking for in their future athletes, the process and timeline of when one is allowed to contact coaches, when coaches are allowed to contact you, how to send a standard e-mail to the coaches at the top universities you want to go to, how to go about setting up an unofficial visit, how to prepare for an official visit, what questions to ask in a meeting or interview with a college coach, what qualities you want in a college athletic program, what qualities you want in a university, and much more.

I had a very successful and positive experience with the college recruiting process and felt that I had a pretty good grasp on the certain steps to take in the process thanks to my parents helping me out, but now looking back I wish I would have known everything that was ahead of me at the time, and I would have loved to know of a personal, relatable blog of someone just like me to help me through the process.

I hope you as my readers find this helpful and informative! Let’s take the college recruiting process journey together.