Thoughts from Orlando, 2024

This past weekend in Orlando was a good trip. It felt like a quick trip because of my late flight in on Friday night and my early flight back Monday morning. It was still a good trip though. I got to spend a bunch of time at various courts throughout the weekend. One benefit of traveling more than I have in past years is that I get to see my teams play more!

I have been doing these "Thoughts from..." blog posts since last year as consistently as I can and typically I have some "thoughts". However, this weekend I was left with more of a question.

How much can you get done this fall?

With college coaches from Triple Crown to the Sunshine Qualifier communicating that they still need specific positions for the 2025 class (usually middles and outsides), I'm surprised with the notion that they are searching so blindly; they know they need something but they aren't sure if it's out there or not. For those athletes that are still trying to get recruited, shouldn't they be reaching out to college coaches, basically jumping up and down saying, "HERE I AM! HERE I AM!"? It's entirely possible that athletes are doing that right now. My question after this weekend is how much of that was happening this fall?

"But Jason, what about the portal?"

Sure. The portal causes some issues with recruiting that junior class. But that's a variable that is outside of your control. Reaching out and communicating with schools is something that is under your control.

"How are we supposed to know what school's need?" or "Schools don't respond during the season"

Yes and yes. Again, you can't know everything. If I were to look back through my needs list over the last 6 months, you would probably see some schools that were done with their 25 class and are now looking again. Think about how this club season might look different if you were already on their list. What if you had been keeping up with college coaches all fall season and at the beginning of the club season? Most clubs have tournaments in December and early January now. What if you were their first court to watch on Day 1 of Triple Crown because they knew you were interested and they liked your film. Maybe their needs changed or maybe something just opened up and you are going to be a great fit. There are lots of situations here. I also understand that it is difficult to talk to yourself through months and months of emails.

College coaches are looking for someone. They are going to find someone. Is that someone you?

95% percent of high school volleyball athlete's aren't playing college volleyball. Are you willing to do the work to get into that 5%?

If you are in the 2026 class, your recruiting could potentially spill over into next club season. It's not a bad thing if it does. It's just how your process happened to turn out. If you want to play college volleyball and you're willing to compete, there is a place for you. Just think about how you manage your process going forward and how much work you can do this fall to make next club season (potentially) easier on yourself.

Be proactive. It helps!