Capital City Articles
Communication: The Foundation of a Positive Recruiting Experience | By Mike Bryant, Assistant Coach, University of Idaho
Recruiting at the DI level is very complex and is one of the most important components of the operation of our program, especially when considering our efforts to compete and find success among the best teams in the country. As NCAA regulations dictate what can happen regarding recruiting practices, for us, at the University of Idaho, we are also faced with some unique challenges being a university located in a rural community. The communication aspects with potential prospects are extremely crucial to our program's recruiting. Typically, each year, our staff initiates our recruiting plan by first identifying potential recruits, followed by us communicating our interest in them and their abilities. Once we establish a mutual interest with a recruit and her family, we are then able to move forward in the communication process, sharing what our volleyball program and university entail athletically and academically. Under the premise that we are not a campus that can be as easily visited as others (due to our rural location), the communication facets are very important in our establishment of setting the recruiting foundation with a prospective student-athlete and her family. The following is some helpful information for you to consider as a potential recruit, and as you are establishing communications with collegiate volleyball programs.
First and foremost, it is important to enter your recruiting efforts with a general understanding of the rules and regulations set in place by the NCAA, as this will better the recruiting process for everyone involved. Particularly important are the communication aspects. Be knowledgeable of what college coaches are and are not allowed to do. Keep in mind also that these NCAA rules and regulations will vary among division (DI, DII, DIII) within the NCAA.
With limited contact and evaluation opportunities available to college coaches, it is important for you as the recruit to communicate consistently from your end. Keep in contact with coaches of schools that you are interested in with updates on you and your team's progress and competition schedule. One example of the NCAA recruiting regulations entails that college coaches are very limited in when and how many times they can contact a recruit through a phone call. However, for a recruit, they are allowed to initiate and make phone calls to college coaches an unlimited amount of times. If you phone a coach and are unable to reach them, keep in mind that NCAA regulations may prohibit them from returning that phone call. Leave them a message and inform them that you will try to call them again so they are aware and can expect to receive another phone call from you. Keep trying to reach them until they answer the phone.
Most programs will utilize some fashion of a prospective student-athlete questionnaire. Typically this is a tool that is initially provided when establishing an interest, whether initiated by the coaching staff or the recruit herself. For instance, our questionnaire is located online and can be downloaded, filled out, and sent in by the recruit. As well, if we identify individuals that we would like to initiate contact with, we will send the questionnaire directly to them. By us receiving a completed questionnaire from a recruit, not only does this provide some personalized athletic and academic information about the individual, this also indicates to us that this individual has an interest in our program. With that established, we then schedule in moving forward in evaluating her skills by watching her play, hopefully through video/DVD and/or at tournament sites, and getting to know her personally.
Putting film together to either host online or to mail to the coaching staff is a very helpful tool. For us at Idaho, we like film footage that includes general skills, but most importantly, continuous game play. As coaches are limited in their opportunities to see each recruit play at every event, continuous game footage on film allows us the opportunity to breakdown elements more thoroughly. Coaches cannot get to every tournament to evaluate you. As well, once they are in the gym, there are many other athletes they need to see there as well.
Be mindful that recruiting happens in both directions. As the coaching staff is recruiting an individual, it is important to consider that as a prospective student-athlete, you are recruiting an institution as well. We pride our recruiting efforts on being as thorough as possible in providing information about our university, our community, and our volleyball program. The more assistance and information we can provide to a recruit and her family allows for a much more educated and informed decision on whether our institution is one at which she would like to attend for academic and athletic purposes. For us, making sure the "fit" is right for our program and for the prospect is of utmost importance. Therefore, thorough and complete communication is important, as well as a visit to campus. Visiting allows for the opportunity to really examine the institution, up close and personal, meet with academic and athletic personnel, tour the local community, as well as meet with current student-athletes to see what their daily lives entail on campus.
Ten helpful hints in communicating through the recruiting process:
- Establish a level of criteria for yourself in identifying schools in which you are interested (re: size of school, location, academic opportunities, your potential role within the program, willingness to walk-on, etc.).
- Provide personalized athletic/academic/contact information (i.e. questionnaire, personal resume).
- Communicate consistently with schools in which you are interested.
- Get to know the coaching staff (re: update your progress and competition schedule).
- Be thorough in asking questions (re: the university, the athletics department, the local community). Make sure the fit is right!
- Provide access to film (re: online streaming, DVD of skills and/or continuous game footage).
- Get your club coaches involved with the communication process. College coaches can communicate with club coaches regularly with fewer limitations and regulations.
- Schedule a campus visit.
- Go see the team compete if you are able to.
- Keep in mind that because you may not have heard from a coaching staff as much as you might like, this does not necessarily mean they are not interested in you (i.e. this could be due to the NCAA limitations, etc.). Keep in touch with them.
