College Volleyball Recruiting

1. College Volleyball Recruiting A Parent’s Point of View Bill Babilon wjbabilon@gmail.com

2. Agenda • RCHS’s Past Players • Hard Facts Regarding College Volleyball • NCAA Rules • It’s a Job • Erin’s Timeline • How to get started What I learned

3. RCHS Alumni who played in college • 08 – Kia K. • 09 – Nicole R. • 10 – Ashley N., Meredith R., Kenzi M. • 11 – Allison K., Megan T. • 12 – Lauren H. • 13 – Aima E. • 14 – Erin B.

4. Hard Facts Regarding College Volleyball • 15-18 - The average roster size • 12/8/0 – number of full athletic vball scholarships available at Div 1/2/3 • Not all schools can or are allowed to fully fund all the scholarships • Most top Div 1 teams and big state schools do the following: • Full scholarships for their starters (7-8 players) • Many do NOT offer much athletic aid to freshman • You can be replaced by a ‘better’ player (5’9” outside just became a DS) • Nothing is guaranteed - 4 year, full ride is mostly a myth • The NLI (National Letter of Intent) is the ‘contract’ between the player and the school • Verbals are un-enforceable • Many Div 2 schools offer combined packages of athletic and academic aid (especially private schools) • They really like athletes with high GPA’s and/or ACT/SAT scores • Div 3 schools can NOT offer athletic aid

5. It is a ‘job’ • 20 hrs/week of ‘contact time’ in season (fall) • 8 hrs/week of ‘contact time’ out of season (spring/summer) • Contact time: • Practice with coaches • Meeting with coaches to review your individual skills/improvement areas/academic performance • Basically, anything run by the coach • Does Not include • 5:00 am weight training/conditioning • Playing time or time spent traveling to competitions • Time spent reviewing tape or scouting reports (independent study) • Team meals • Supporting other teams/programs at the school (mostly out of season) • Really, in the fall, you will be spending 30-40 hours/wk. doing something related to volleyball

6. NCAA Rules • IMPORTANT WEB SITES • www.ncaa.org • Eligibility center : www.eligibilitycenter.org • NAIA: http://www.naia.org • Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete (on the NCAA website) (http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CBSA.pdf) • Academic eligibility rules (required courses and min GPA) • Combination of GPA and SAT/ACT score • Changes on Aug 1, 2016 for Div 1 (impacts Soph class and later) • Key terms – evaluation and ‘contact’ (initiation and frequency varies by year) • Note: Contact rules for college coaches change in your Jr year • Fresh/Soph – coaches can talk with just about anyone but the player and/or parents • HS coaches/Club coaches/’others’ are all okay

7. Getting Started • Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center • Research some of the schools you are interested in • Recent record, length on tenure of coaching staff (new coach can imply scholarships/offers are cancelled) • Look at their current roster (size of players, number of upper classman in your position, When do these players graduate? Where are the players from) • Look at past rosters (How many ‘one and done’ players in the past?) • Look at statisctcs (Who played? Which class? When did they start playing? • Does the school offer your 1st, 2nd,3rd choices in degrees? • Would you go to this school if the did NOT offer you a scholarship? • Do they offer a camp you can attend? • Post videos • Highlight reel (Think about what is important for your position) • One unedited game • Google ‘Erin Babilon volleyball’ for examples • Yes, editing videos is WAY easier on a Mac • Send a simple, introductory e-mail to the schools you are interested • Register with the school to received camp/program information (prospective athletes link off of their volleyball page) • Answer this question: Would you go to this school if the did NOT offer you a volleyball scholarship? • Be able to hold a 30 minute phone conversation with the assistant coach. (Think of this as an interview) • Why are you interested in XX university? • Why do you like playing volleyball? • What do you add to you team? • What are your strengths/weaknesses? • What are you looing to study? • What do you see yourself doing after volleyball?

8. Timeline For Erin • Junior year • Sept/Oct – researched schools, collected game tape, created videos(Do this sooner!!!) • Nov/Dec – Sent e-mails to schools, tracked which schools where looking for liberos, toured schools (unofficial visits) • Dec/Jan/Feb - was contacted by interested schools, passed along qualifier schedule, talked with assistant coaches • Early March - sent reminder e-mail to schools with Cross Roads schedule • March – met with interested schools at Cross Roads (this is where I learned that most ‘top’ schools had already filled their spots) • Late March - invited by Queens to view a practice, meet team/coaches (unofficial visit) • Late March – sent reminder e-mail to schools with Big South schedule • Late March - talked with interested schools at Big South Qualifier • Early-April, received verbal offer from Queens (just after Big South) • July met with Queens coaching staff, received updated offer (verbal) • Senior year • Sept - Updated NCAA Eligibility center on academics, submitted application to Queens • Nov – received written offer, signed NLI • Dec-now – began weekly correspondence with Queens (uniform/show size, roommate./dorm selection, weekly conditioning schedule) • June - send final HS transcripts to NCAA

9. What I learned • Start sooner – get something out there during your Soph year • The whole ‘pick a college’ process is accelerated by 6-12 months • Don’t just depend on clubs directors/recruiting coordinators • Consider a ‘recruiting coach’ for guidance • Being a college athlete is like having a ‘job’ – 30+ hours a week in addition to course work. Treat your recruiting process like a job search. • The athlete needs to be able to deal with all the other ‘stuff’ related to college athletics • 5 am weight training, Sat morning breakfast • Set curfew, team rules, coach is a serious authority figure • Every other weekend travel for playing (it is like 3 months of qualifiers)