How to Get Recruited and Play College Volleyball
College Recruiting: What Are Coaches Looking For?
With so many of our athletes preparing to play college volleyball, now is a good time to think about what college coaches are looking for in prospective student athletes.
If you're serious about grabbing the attention of a recruiting coach, read on for the winning (and not-so-winning) characteristics you need to develop (or not), according to the college coaches themselves. It's never too early (or late) to begin developing the prized qualities of a successfully recruited student athlete and exhibiting them in practice and competition!
Movement
Whether described as fluid movement,
explosiveness,
or lateral quickness,
coaches routinely identify movement skills as high on their lists of qualities in recruited athletes.
Ball control
The ability to control the ball by passing and playing defense is another critical
skill in recruited athletes. To develop ball control skills athletes should practice good technique at all times and be aggressive! Playing volleyball on the beach is another excellent way of developing extraordinary ball control. Combine these behaviors and you'll be well on your way to being an eye-opening ball control volleyball player.
Hard Worker
Being a hard worker is probably the easiest way to grab the attention of a coach because everyone can work as hard as they can! I care about how hard a kid plays,
says Penn State head coach Russ Rose. If they play hard, I don't care if their technique is off. That impresses me a lot more than someone with great technique who doesn't play hard.
Working hard is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it. Develop a habit of working as hard as you can until it becomes who you are, not what you do.
Character
Be a person others want to be around and you'll get attention from college coaches. Stanford Head Coach John Dunning says it this way: If I recruit someone, they're going to be with me for four years . . . so I look for someone who cares for other people, someone who cares for the team. And when you watch people walk around the gym, you can tell.
Coaches don't want difficult people in their programs and really don't want to expend their scholarship resources on players who are going to get into trouble and not
