Recruiting

What you need to be recruited

Recruiting Rules
This is a general guide. Please refer to additional sources for exact rules.

It is always legal for you to phone, e-mail or write a college coach.
It is always legal for you to pay your own way to visit a school. This is an unofficial visit. Depending on when, the coaches may not be able to visit with you.
If a school pays for you to visit, you are making an Official Visit. See additional resources for rules regarding official visits.
Whenever you or your parents talk to a college coach in person, it is a contact. College coaches are not allowed to contact you off their campus until after your junior year is completed. There are a few exceptions to this, see additional resources.
It is not legal for a college coach to phone you until July 1 after your junior year in high school. E-mail rules vary by division and association. Please see additional resources.

Additional Resources and Links
NCAA Rules
NAIA Rules
NCAA Guide for Student Athlete

Example Recruiting Timeline
Sophomore Year

List the schools that interest you. Send them an introductory letter, including your e-mail address, club schedule, and your coach’s phone number and e-mail address.
Complete and return any information sheets that schools send you.
Reply to any e-mail you receive from schools on your list.
Register with free sources such as University Athlete or Rich Kern.
Consider attending a volleyball camp at schools on your list to get to know the coaching staff.

Junior Year

Make an Athletic Resume and videotape to send to coaches who are not able to come see you play.
Make unofficial visits to any schools you are seriously considering.
Refine your list, adding new schools and dropping schools as needed.
Many top players will make verbal commitments during the spring and summer of their Junior Year.
Continue to respond to e-mails. If you have made a commitment respond appropriately.
Take the SAT or ACT test and inform schools of your results. If you don’t like your results, retake the SAT only.
Attend a volleyball camp at schools on your list to get to know the coaching staff.
Register for the NCAA Clearinghouse.( www.ncaa.org )

Senior Year

Narrow your list to schools interested in you. As schools receive commitments, those schools will drop the rest of their recruits. This is the most difficult part of the process, since schools that have recruited you for more than a year may suddenly drop you.
Although some players will begin committing as Juniors, many players do not commit until their Senior year.
Apply to the schools on your final list.
Make a verbal commitment when you are ready.
Sign a National Letter-of-Intent if required.

PSA Questionnaires / Student Athlete Resume
The Athletic Resume plays an important part in the recruiting process. Time and care should be exercised in the preparation of this document. The purpose of the resume is to highlight the student-athletes accomplishments and goals. This is generally the first contact that a coach might have with PSAs. As with job resumes, use your imagination but don’t get too carried away. A typical athletic resume will consist of the following items, usually 1 page total plus reference letters.

Letter of Introduction
Athletic Profile
Athletic Accomplishments and Honors
Academic and Extra-Curricular Profile
Current high school or club game schedule
Letters of reference from coaches.

One of the key concepts on this is to make yourself look good. A little bragging is appropriate as long as you can prove whatever you say. You do not want to tell a coach you can touch 10 feet when, in fact, you can’t. Be honest with the coach, as they will find out sooner or later.
Use this information as a guide for filling out PSA questionnaires, now common at all programs web sites. This web interface allows you to enter your information in the colleges databases to begin the process of focusing the colleges recruiting efforts on players interested in their school and those that meet the Athletic departments’ requirements.

Additional Resources and Links
The Student Athlete Resume
You should also register with free recruiting services:
Be Recruited
University Athlete
Rich Kern

Website
Another method of getting your resume to a large group of recruiters is to create a web site. Many of the same guidelines to the student athlete resume apply to the athlete’s web site. The biggest difference is that you can create a dynamic resume that changes with new accomplishments and changes in status of the athlete. One idea can be to find a site you like and mimic their style.

Video
One of the first items that may be requested by a recruiter will be a video of you playing. They use this to determine if you possess the basic skill level for their program. The biggest guideline is that this is NOT a “highlight reel” of your best moments.

Video Guidelines:

2 minutes or less skills video. Best if coordinated with a coach to fine tune skills as they are taped. Edit out the best 4 to 5 repetitions for each skill relevant to the athlete’s position.
1 full set UNEDITED.
> Even if you do not play the entire time, DO NOT EDIT the set. Recruiters are interested in: how well you pay attention when you are not in the game; how you handled adversity; how you respond when the coach yells at you, etc.
> Try to include the entire team and some of the other team as well. They are looking for how you react to other action on the court.
When recruiters request a video, send them the video in a timely manner.
PUT YOUR NAME on each of the items sent. They will get separated and lost, so it is important that they can be linked back together.

College Volleyball Programs

Types of College Volleyball Programs

NCAA Division I
Usually larger schools with 12 full athletic scholarships

NCAA Division II
Medium sized schools with 6-8 athletic scholarships

NCAA Division III
Smaller schools (usually private schools) that do not offer athletic scholarships, but may have academic and needs-based scholarships available.

NJCAA
Two year schools that offer some athletic scholarships

NAIA
Smaller schools similar to Division III. See NAIA website and schools for specifics on financial assistance at these schools.

Additional Resources and Links
NCAA Colleges by Division
NJCAA Schools by Region
NAIA Schools by Conference

Help with Picking the Right College
How to Find the Right College by Collegeboard.com
College Volleyball Update

Important Questions to ask

Download our List of Home Visit Questions.

This comprehensive list includes questions you will need to answer at some point in the recruitment process. You may already know the answers to some of these, and you may find the answers to others before the home visit. Some will seem inappropriate for a particular visit, so use your best judgment. Make several copies and go through this list with your parents before the home visit, highlighting those questions you want to ask of a particular coach. Most of all, relax and enjoy the experience!

Topics Include:
Academics
Campus
Scholarships
Sports Program
The Coach
Medical Services
The Season
The Athletic Department
Financial Questions
Team and Program Issues
Campus Questions

Houston Prime Recruiting services

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU

HPA performs many services for PSAs at no additional fee.
We will have a page for each player on our website to showcase Prospective Student Athletes (PSAs). In the Recruiters‘ Corner section, we will maintain, and update as requested, basic information on PSAs. It is your responsibility to make sure we have the correct information for the website.

Skills Video posted online
A basic skills video is available upon request. This will be edited so that each athlete is shown individually, so we and you can post it online for public accessibility and ease of viewing by coaches and recruiters.

EMAILING LIST
We will provide every athlete interested in playing on the next level a current email list with all colleges coaches of every division.

Honest, objective feedback to recruiters
We gladly provide information to college coaches and recruiters who have contacted us as a reference. If you are being recruited and are receiving letters from any school, it is important to inform the Club Director immediately, so that he or she will be prepared to discuss you with that coach.

Gabi Carbone and some of our current coaches have a lot of network within the coaches and they are constantly in contact about players.