As tryouts for club season creep up on us, I have been thinking a lot about the last year and a half I've been at Top Flight. When I coached college, I would hear terrible stories about the experiences coaches would have with "Helicopter Parents" - however, once I got to Top Flight, I found that a) there weren't as many situations as I thought there would be b) while many of them were different in nature, they all started with the same concept: "I DON'T UNDERSTAND..." Below is a list of things that came up a lot in my college seminars/meetings that I think all parents/players need to know as they're beginning their search process.
1) Club should NOT be looked at as an investment for Athletic Scholarship money.
Of all the things I've been told clubs do to sell their programs to families, I think this one is the most damaging. If every school in the country used every scholarship slot that was available (which isn't the case due to lower budgets at some schools), 1.4% of athletes would have the opportunity to get an athletic scholarship. Many of those athletes are what I've called "Genetic Outliers" - the reality is, there are some athletes that work as hard as they can and have a great skill-set, but if they aren't a certain height or can only jump-touch high enough, college coaches will typically take the freak athlete that they can redshirt and train to be a better player. To give you a reference point, when I coached at Mercer University, our LOWEST jump touch was 9'4 and that was one of our Liberos!
2) Should an athlete want to get the athletic scholarship, they should realize they'll work for every penny of it.
People glorify the Athletic Scholarship without realizing the responsibility that's going to come with it. 6am weights, go to class, individual practice, team practice, going to the trainer to take care of the body, film study sessions, making up classes when you have away trips.. While this may not like to hear this, the idea that there's a true student-athlete balance at that level is a stretch.
I've sat with so many players that tell me they want to play Division I... until I tell them the workload that comes with it. The reality is, it's completely normal to hear of what the expectations are for that level of volleyball and to decide that maybe it's not for you. Consider this statistic: Of all the players that participate in Division I volleyball, 0.3% of them actually go overseas and make their living playing professionally!
Talent aside, I tell athletes: If you can't look yourself in the mirror and say you truly enjoy the challenge of giving every workout your all and enjoy that grind every single day, then you probably won't enjoy playing Division I volleyball (and that's completely normal/acceptable).
3) Division III Athletics does not have to be "low-level".
I ask players that come to me saying they want to play Division I "Why do you want Division I instead of Division III?" and almost always I get a variation of "I just feel Division III is too low". I follow up by asking if they've ever seen Division III volleyball, and most of the time they say no! It's very easy to get caught up in things other people say, but make sure to do your own research and come to your own conclusions! In the Chicago suburbs, we have a wonderful example of what a Division III program can be in Elmhurst College. I have always appreciated the attention to detail the coaching staff has incorporated in that program - the kids move like a well-oiled machine. Their system is as complex as Division I, and it shows as they're nationally-ranked every year and always in the hunt for a National Championship. What's the difference between their program and Division I programs? It isn't the skill-set, it's the physical attributes of the players. Middles are 5'10-6'0 instead of 6'2+. Outsides/Opposites are typically 5'8-5'11 instead of 5'10+. You may have superior athletes lacking a little on the fundamentals side, or vice versa. The quality of ball is great - it's just played a little closer to the ground in regards to the attack/block! Before ruling out Division III, either go see a game in person or webcast some of the top teams in the country, then make your decision.
4) Just because Division III does not offer Athletic Scholarships does not mean that athletes cannot utilize playing a sport to help find more merit aid.
This is one of if not the biggest reason I felt the urge to create Progression Volleyball Consulting. Truth be told, if someone has the talent to play Division I, they will be found - the amount of time coaches put into the recruiting grind is staggering, and with the internet, it's never been easier to watch more players with less time and find all the diamonds in the rough. However, what about the other 98% of kids?
I had a 3.5 GPA in high school. I was a member of the National Honors Society. I was part of various clubs and played sports at my school. However, I didn't get a lot of scholarship money for how well-rounded I looked on paper? Why? Because I was a STEALTH APPLICANT.
Stealth Applicants are people that apply to a school without interacting with someone on campus. It could be an admissions counselor, someone from registrar, OR, it can be a coach. Truth be told, there are a lot of intelligent, well-rounded kids looking to go to college. By not contacting anyone at the school, they had no idea if I was truly interested in attending, or if I was just applying to a bunch of schools. Any person that had the same grades I had but actually developed a relationship with someone at that school was going to get a better look, just like having someone at a company that can help you get your foot in the door for an interview.
As an athlete, this is a HUGE advantage for you. When I transferred to my institution to play Division III sports, you better believe I was able to get more $ than I would have as a stealth applicant. Let me clarify that statement before whistle blowers misinterpret it: Being an athlete does not get you money you aren't eligible for/don't deserve - being an athlete can help you promote yourself to get EVERYTHING you deserve. A coach can look at your profile and help you sculpt it in a manner that speaks loudest to the institution as they know what the school values better than you do. And that is something that every single athlete should utilize when looking at schools!
5) If you play Club Volleyball and have a love/passion for the game, there is an opportunity to play in college somewhere!
One of the most enjoyable experiences for me is to see the look in a player's eye when I tell them they're capable of playing college volleyball when they truly didn't think the opportunity was there. Truth be told, if a player has a basic skill-set and a work ethic, there are schools out there that would appreciate their services!
I mentioned Elmhurst College above - there are also schools on the other end of the spectrum. I've seen schools pulling kids from their basketball/soccer teams to fill their volleyball rosters - perhaps their coach from the year before left and didn't recruit, perhaps the academic standards / financial obligations are higher than the norm and make it difficult to recruit. There are many Division III/Junior College programs that offer a great education but are a little more raw in the athletic department - an athlete has to make sure it meets both their on/off the court wants, but if a player TRULY wants to play and has played organized volleyball throughout high school, I firmly believe there is a school out there for them. It just takes a little legwork/research to find them!
The key word in #5 is "Opportunity". Players have to recognize that the school may not meet ALL of their wants. I went to a school that to this day still doesn't have a gym on campus. There were only 1,000 students that attended. We had to raise funds and work concessions for a local Division I school in the off-season to keep the program afloat. But we were a hungry group of individuals excited for the opportunity to play the sport we loved, and it was an experience I'd do all over again in a heartbeat. Players will need to weigh their desire to play vs. everything else that does (and should) matter to them when choosing an institution.
That was a lot of information regarding the college level! Tomorrow, I'll discuss things that are in relation more to an athlete's club experience. Should anyone have any questions/topics they'd like to see more information on, please contact me at ProgressionVBConsulting@gmail.com . Have a good Tuesday!
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