For athletes considering continuing to compete in the sport of volleyball after High School they may want to learn more about the recruiting process.
https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-volleyball
Division 1, Division 2, NAIA and junior college levels could offer volleyball scholarships, depending on how well-funded their program is. Though Division 3 schools don’t provide athletic scholarships, they do help connect athletes with other forms of financial aid that can pay for a portion—or all—of the cost of tuition.
There are about 1,802 women’s varsity volleyball programs across the US:
- 334 Division 1 volleyball colleges
- 298 Division 2 volleyball colleges
- 437 Division 3 volleyball colleges
- 220 NAIA volleyball colleges
- 67 four-year colleges outside of the above divisions
- 313 NJCAA volleyball colleges
- 133 two-year colleges outside of the NJCAA
https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-volleyball/colleges
At the Division 1 level, volleyball is considered a headcount sport, which means that every scholarship is a full ride to the school. D1 teams are allowed to provide a maximum of 12 full-ride scholarships to talented volleyball recruits. At the other division levels, coaches can divide up their scholarship dollars however they want, usually giving the most money to athletes who have the potential to make an immediate, positive impact on the success of the team.
D1 coaches begin searching for talent the earliest of the division levels, with the majority starting when prospects are in 9th grade. For coaches in power conferences (think: the Pac-12, Big Ten, ACC), coaches scout out talented 8th graders, as well as freshmen in high school. D2 and D3 coaches reported that they begin evaluating recruits in 10th grade, and the majority of junior college coaches kick off their evaluations in 11th grade.
NCAA Division I volleyball coaches can not contact athletes until June 15th after their sophomore year of High School.
See the club experience, approach jump and other position specific skills for collegiate volleyball players to help determine which division level an athlete may qualify for.
Review the average requirements for each division level by position.
A volleyball recruiting video is a compilation of an athlete’s best plays to showcase her volleyball skillset. While only 3–5 minutes in length, volleyball recruiting videos have to pack a punch, as college coaches use recruiting videos to determine if they will reach out to a volleyball recruit—or move on to the next athlete. In fact, most coaches say that they can tell within the first 25 seconds of a recruiting video if they are interested in that athlete or not.
Create a recruiting video that will capture college coaches’ interest.
There are a few major club tournaments that volleyball recruits must attend if they want to get recruited by volleyball coaches. National Qualifier tournaments take place almost every weekend in March and April.
Always focus your search for colleges based on location, size, financial fit based on your program of study.
Oftentimes you may hear this selection process referred to as the broken leg test. Basically would you still attend this school even if you were not playing volleyball, could no longer play volleyball, if you were not offered any scholarship opportunity or lost your scholarship.
Start searching for schools that are the best fit academically, athletically and socially.