Reasons Why You Won't Get A Volleyball Scholarship

I'm NOT talking about the athletes that aren't putting in the work on and off the court. I will leave that for another blog and video later on.

I'm talking about the volleyball athletes that do ALL of the things at practice, in the classroom and everywhere else. Volleyball athletes, sometimes, still aren't getting the scholarship offer they want, or the dollar amount doesn't match up to what they really need to make school affordable.

I try and talk about volleyball scholarships with every team or club that I meet with and all the ways and reasons they might or might not be one of the few athletes in the country on athletic scholarship. It's important to understand how scholarships and scholarship dollars work at each level. Context matters. In each of these meetings I also mention that families need to figure out how they are going to pay for college. Very few athletes across the country are getting full-rides statistically. If expectations are not focused and realistic on the amount of scholarships available families can end up being disappointed in the end.

Division 3 Schools

This is a good place to start. D3 schools don't give athletic scholarship. They do give out academic or need-based aid to athletes in certain circumstances. The amount is going to be different from school to school in this situation. Net Price calculators can often give you a realistic view of how much school is going to cost you. I will also encourage families to chat with admissions and financial aid at a school. They can give you more insight into what's actually realistic financially; most families aren't paying the sticker price at most schools.

There Isn't Money Left In Your Class

Scholarships are sometimes based on value and sometimes based on what's left in the pot. Sometimes there isn't money (right away) to give a high a value athlete (starting middle or starting setter) a large scholarship or a full-ride. This happens particularly at smaller private schools that are not fully funded or even close, but plenty of schools fall into this category with athletes every year. There just isn't enough money because not all of these programs are fully funded.

There Isn't Money For Your Position

Similar to the post above, college coaches know how much money they for any given class based on the previous graduating class. If I have 3 athletes graduating and I'm giving all 3 of them 20k each, then for the next incoming (freshman) class I have 60k to give out. Depending on what positions I'm losing and what I still have on my roster (after the transfer portal) I might not need a setter, or a RS or maybe a libero. I'm looking at the pot of money and focusing on what positions I NEED to replace and those priority positions will get the majority of the scholarship that is available. That means, that if I already have 2 setters on my roster, I might not need to add a third or I might not a lot of scholarship available.

Please keep in mind that the amount of your scholarship does NOT always = how much you are valued by the coaching staff or their interest level. If you are thinking that half a scholarship means the school isn't as interested as another school, then read some of the above lines again. Hopefully college coaches will walk you through all of that and help you understand that piece, but they also might not.

You're a Libero

I have dove into this topic on my YouTube channel in depth. To watch that video click HERE!

In short, there is typically 1 libero or DS on scholarship at any given time for the majority of schools. Many D2 and NAIA schools will scholarship multiple athletes in those positions, but 1 athlete will typically have more scholarship than the others. This is extremely difficult to understand and grasp for many families out there which is why I try and talk about it as often as I can.

There Are Only In-State Scholarships

Why is a school recruiting an athlete from their state instead of going two states over to grab better athletes? As you are probably aware, in-state tuition is significantly less expensive than out-of-state tuition. This difference in cost DOES go back onto the program and athletic department. Lots of schools don't have the budget to bring in ANY out of stat athletes. Others have a limit on how many out of state athletes they can have on the roster. Many State schools in California are limited to 3 out of state scholarships and coaches often tell me that they want to use those on athletes that are more than likely coming in and starting as a freshman if they can.

Things to Remember

• Your value as an athlete is NOT attached to your scholarship $ amount

• Libero's are very difficult to find 4 year scholarships for

• Not all schools are fully funded and that reflects in how much money they are giving their athletes

• Sometimes there is only a certain amount of $ available in your class and at your position

• Not every school costs the same and not every school will actually cost you the full sticker price you see on the website.

If you have more recruiting questions, please let me know!