College Recruiting: 2 Mistakes Athletes Make With Their School List

*Originally Posted 4/15/2024

One of the hardest things to do is take schools OFF your list. We typically make two mistakes in this category when when it comes to your list of schools as an athlete:

1. We don't have the right schools on our list in the beginning.

2. We take schools off our list when we shouldn't.
   

We don't have the right schools on our list in the beginning

This is normal. I see this all the time. Even when I suggest where athletes should be focusing their time and energy (schools, conferences, locations) many will still send emails off to their "reach schools". I've discussed this before along with how important it is to focus on the schools where you are going to be a good athletic fit. You can read those two blogs in the links below.

Aim For The Middle

What Is A Reach School?

When we don't have the right schools on our list, we waste what is valuable time and energy. We also miss out on opportunities. We miss out on opportunities for scholarships at other schools because we aren't communicating our interest level to those schools. We have limited opportunities for college coaches to come watch us live. If we wait too long we might have missed the only qualifier where that staff would be able to watch us play live. Now, our last chance is camp. How many camps can you go to in one summer?

We Take Schools Off Our List When We Shouldn't

Usually this happens when we are still chasing schools that may or may not be interested in us. Or at least AS interested. We choose to "move on" from an option and find that by the time we have circled back around to that school, they have moved on to other athletes. College coaches are typically not lacking athletes to choose from. Athletes, on the other hand, have limited options. If you are in a position to focus your search a little bit on some schools, great! Just don't forget about the other schools. Someone is showing more interest than you potentially.

What does this all mean?

When it comes to getting recruited to play college volleyball, your list of schools you're reaching out to is extremely important and often overlooked.

It certainly feels like college coaches are narrowing down their list. With multiple qualifiers happening on the same weekend, college coaches are splitting their time between locations. Only spending one day here and another day there.

What does that mean exactly?

It means that they have narrowed or are in the process of narrowing down their list. Many coaches seem to be spending LESS time "finding" athletes and are focused on a small group they have already isolated as their top group. Deciding who in that top group should be at the TOP seems to be more of a focus. If that means they are flying between three different locations or more to watch those top 10 athletes on their list, that's what they are doing.

Not every school is doing that obviously. But as I stated above, as we work our way down the divisions, those college coaches are going to fewer and fewer qualifiers. Local tournaments for local schools? Sure thing! But coaches are extremely limited in how far away they go and how often.

Make sure your list makes sense. Keep schools on your list if they make sense.

If you stop communicating with a school they will more than likely assume you are no longer interested.

Need help getting to where you want to go? Look not further! Now with all of your recruiting tools, resources and connections at your fingertips!