Recruiting Roadblocks - Misalignment of Goals and Expectations

This is a big one. It's one of the hardest roadblocks to overcome for so many athletes and families. This misalignment comes in two forms. First, it happens during the recruiting process. 2nd, it happens once the athlete arrives on campus.

This recruiting process is almost never easy. I have had parents admit to me, even after I have told them that this process will be difficult, "We didn't think it'd be this hard!" The truth is, anytime you are cutting the field of competition by almost 95% there are going to be a few bumps in the road. The process might take longer than you want or you might not get your "top" choice. There are so many variables during this process that many athletes don't account for. Sometimes families will ask me, "Do you think she can play D1?" In many instances that's really half the question we need to be asking. Even if she is 'good enough' to play D1, that's only 1 variable. We still have to look at 1) schools that are recruiting her position, 2) schools that have a scholarship for her position, 3) are there schools that meet those first two criteria located in an area she is interested in attending college, 4) Is she a good fit for that school or does she help that program.

So you can see how some of our goals and expectations might be off from the start. We might be starting off our college volleyball recruiting process in the wrong direction. I'm certainly ALL for having great goals, pushing yourself and trying to accomplish big things. I love that. Just look at someone like Brock Purdy; he was chosen LAST in his draft class and in his 2nd year has brought his team to their 2nd NFC Championship. I love stuff like that. Have goals! That's great. Just understand that some of those goals and aspirations might be left outside of your control. This process is difficult. Start going in a direction that is going to bring positive feedback, encouragement and a desire to keep going in the process.

The second area we see this misalignment is at the college level. Sometimes this materializes in the form of 'scholarship' and other times it can revolve around the idea of 'playing time'.

Playing time is something that is certainly earned by hard work and dedication, but it isn't promised. With 16 athletes on a roster there is an argument that ALL are working as hard as they can for the goals of the team. But, as I have written in other places, not everyone gets equal playing time. Your coach is still trying to do what is best for their team by winning. I know 0 coaches at the college level that are playing to lose and putting what they think is a losing roster on the court. Even if you are working as hard as you possible can and doing everything your coach is asking of you (which is great by the way) there isn't a promise of playing time attached to that effort. That's a tough pill to swallow sometimes. Hard work pays off, I believe, but it doesn't always pay off immediately.

When it comes to scholarship, this can be another tough conversation. When you get into the discussion with coaches about scholarship, if you aren't talking about specific years that they are planning on putting you on scholarship, then you need to plan to walk-on for 4 years. Any sort of conversation revolving around, "we will try" isn't one that's going to go in your favor. Again, back to the conversation about variables - a lot of things need to go your way for that 'try' to materialize into an actual scholarship. You need to hear, "We will be putting you on scholarship your ______ year." There is a specific plan. This idea that you can 'earn' a scholarship is admirable and I love the drive. You just need to understand that not all the dominoes might fall the way they need to in order for that to happen. Can it happen? Sure! But remember that only 12 athletes can be on scholarship at a time.

These can be hard conversations sometimes. But they are conversations that need to happen during the recruiting process. If you want to play D1 volleyball, that's great. Just remember that those coaches at that level are cutting out almost 99% of the other athletes in the country. Even if you make that cut, only 3 out of ever 4 athletes at that level are actually on a scholarship.

Have goals. Do what you can to accomplish them. Create expectations for yourself and excel in all that you do - wherever you end up playing college volleyball.

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