RecruitMyStarAthlete.com

The following information is an excerpt from the article:
“Recruiting Lessons From a Parent"
(Not all players can be in the Top 100!)
By Gerri Steadman

This article reviews some actions that Gerri took as a parent to make sure her daughter, who played volleyball, got noticed by college recruiters.

Top Five Keys For Selecting Potential Colleges To Promote Your Daughter

If the college coaches are not calling, it’s not necessarily because your daughter lacks talent. If she hasn’t had adequate exposure, you can become her personal Public Relations (P.R.) Agent.

1. Develop a Bio or Profile
Start a profile the first year your daughter plays. Update the profile every year thereafter.
Include the following information:

Name, Address, Phone Number, E-Mail
High School Name, Current GPA, And Graduation Year
Club Team Name
Jersey Number
Position Played
Awards And Achievements
Jumping/Reach Statistics Height

Send this profile to all colleges of interest and take copies to all tournaments to personally hand to college recruiters.

2. Talk to Your Daughter About Her Preferences
Talk with your daughter about her desires. What does she want to study? What size school would she feel comfortable attending? What part of the country would she like to live in? What’s important to her about the volleyball program? Would she play as a freshman on a less competitive team, or be willing to wait her turn on a more competitive team? How well has the team performed? How much experience does the coach have at that level of play? How often does the coaching turn over?

Make a list of priorities based on her answers. This will be used as research guidelines in checking out potential colleges.

3. Research, Research,Research
Websites such as NCAA.com and RichKern.com have many resources with links that will make this much easier to research colleges, teams and coaches. Look for conferences of interest and RPI’s rankings. Visit college websites to learn about academic programs and volleyball statistical team information. In what college year are the girls on the volleyball team that play your daughter’s position? How tall are they? (If the roster is filled with freshmen that are over 6’ and your daughter is 5’8”, it will make a difference and may not be a good possibility for her.)

4. Contact Colleges
Send your daughter’s profile to as many colleges as she might be interested in applying to. It’s always better to have more options to choose from, rather than not enough. Follow all letters with a phone call or e-mail to the coaches to see if they received the profile. These personal contacts and relationships developed are key!

5. Get Your Daughter Involved
If your daughter has the time and willingness to research colleges and volleyball programs, that’s great. It will definitely make your job easier. Many parents find, however, that it just doesn’t happen. While you can do the research, college coaches and admissions officers prefer to hear from the girls directly.