Recruiting Conversations - Meet The Team

I wanted to start sharing some more of the behind the scenes conversations that I have with college coaches about volleyball recruiting and the sport in general. Some of these concepts might be different or new to what I have talked about before. I want to make sure that I add as much context as I can or as needed for each of these topics or statements. Enjoy! I'm sure you will find these topics interesting and helpful :)

-Meet the girls-

"These will be your best friends, bridesmaids and people you are with 24/7 when in college. Once you arrive on campus your teammates will be your emotional and social lifeline."

Meeting the team is a huge part in the recruiting process. I talked about that a little bit HERE.

When I was coaching club the #1 reason that my players gave me for WHY they chose a school was "the team". It's one of the most important parts to the recruiting process and visit overall I think. It's something that we talked about at length with my program. The team is either going to have a positive or negative impact on your visit. There isn't a whole lot of middle ground on this one.

If you don't meet the team - This could be a red-flag. Is there something the coach isn't telling you? How is the culture, really? Who on the team does the staff NOT want you to meet and why? If you don't meet the team, then how interested are they?

Sometimes the structure of the visit can limit the exposure to the team as a whole. I would regularly have one athlete in Nursing School and so they would show up late if at all :) but would then quickly go meet whoever was visiting. Ask the question, "When do we get to meet the team?" after you receive your itinerary if it's not obvious from your schedule.

Meet the younger athletes - The underclassmen will be your future teammates. Do you gel well with them? How are their personalities? They will be YOUR upperclassmen and potentially captains once you get there. Get to know them the best you can.

This group will be the people you go to with problems, issues and concerns about volleyball, academics and life in general. I've been to plenty of weddings the last several years and usually the bridesmaid crew is full of volleyball players.

Ask probing questions. Find out what is going on within the program. Echo some of the things the staff has told you to the team and see if they all feel the same way. Coaches aren't perfect, although they can seem that way during a visit or throughout the recruiting process. Remember that coaches are people too. They have lives, families and 1,000 other things going on throughout the day that usually won't show up in your 2-3 hour visit. Get to know them the best you can during the process. That piece will really help you make a decision.

She's My Daughter (Middle)

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