Connections Lead To Court-Time

Jason
Nov 28, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Dec 22, 2023

"Court-Time" = How long a college coach hangs out at your court any given day of the tournaments; also, how many matches do they come to.

Connecting with college coaches is one of the BEST things you can do throughout your recruiting journey. Building relationships with coaches brings them to your court; and brings them more often. This is ultimately the goal right? If they don't come watch you, it makes it really hard to get recruited.

1 Email; 1 Phone call; 1 text message does NOT equal building a relationship. It takes multiple, regular connections to build those relationships. Those connections is what draws a college coach to your court vs someone else's court.

With all of that being said, I find that more and more athletes that "want to play in college" are NOT always willing to build those relationships. Athlete and parents both tend to think that this is a one-way transaction; "if they like my athlete, they will do all the work and keep coming back."

There are several reason's why this is incorrect thinking when it comes to volleyball:

Culture Matters

The team dynamic is SO VERY important to this sport. Trust within a team is built on those relationships that players have with one another and with the coaching staff. Ask 95% of women athletes why they chose a school and they will say, "the team" was their ultimate decision maker. This might be different for other male sports (football and basketball) in some ways, but I know that with all the college volleyball coaches I talk to, the team dynamic can make or break a recruiting visit. If you aren't willing to build those relationships with college coaches prior to getting on campus for a visit, what are you communicating to that coach?

There Is Always Someone Else

There are VERY few athletes that can do nothing and get recruited. By not doing your part and connecting with a college coach regularly you are communicating to them that you're not interested and you're pushing them towards a different athlete that is SHOWING MORE interest. At most levels of college volleyball there is more than one athlete that a coach can choose from. You have to stand out in that crowd or someone else will get that spot. Remember that there are 100,000 athletes playing high school volleyball across the country in your recruiting class and your level (D1, D2, D3) is realistically pulling about 1,000 (1%) of those to the college ranks. That's a really small group that makes it to the college level. You need to communicate that you are interested in a school, or they will move on to the next athlete. I might be a HUGE fan of you as an athlete, but if I'm a college coach and I don't get the sense that you're really interested in my program, I'm going to spend less time on your court and more time some place else.

Thanksgiving was just a few days ago. How many athletes took the opportunity to send a quick "Happy Thanksgiving!" to the college coaches they have been talking to? If you didn't, that's okay! Just remember to ask them about their Thanksgiving this next Monday when you get on the phone with them or shoot them a text and start the conversation with, "How was your Thanksgiving break?" Make sure that if they were playing over the break, you take a look at how they did :)

So, if you want college coaches to come watch you play, if you want them to watch more than warm-ups and if you want them to watch you for an entire match, do your best to connect with them as much as you can. Tell them how interested you are and show them how invested you are into their program.

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