Recruiting Timeline for the 2015 Club Season
I cannot believe club season is around the corner already! As we move into the season, you should be very focused on creating a strategy for exposure. I have created a timeline to follow that will help keep you on the right track.
Seniors:
Take a deep breath and relax if you haven’t been recruited. It’s all going to be OK! It doesn’t mean you will not be recruited, but we need to get moving quickly. If you have not registered for the Eligibility Center, you need to do so right away. Visit www.eligibilitycenter.org and begin completing the registration. This can take quite some time, so be sure to start this NOW. I’d recommend requesting a copy of your high school transcripts to keep electronically on your desktop computer. As coaches begin showing an interest, you will have your transcripts readily available to share. If you are interested in any of the NAIA programs, you need to visit www.playNAIA.org and complete their registration as well.
Sophomores & Juniors:
You need to begin the process more aggressively now! There is only so much time and so much money. Just ask the seniors who are still trying to get recruited. The benefit of beginning sooner, rather than later, is giving yourself an opportunity to travel to visit different campuses and identify what is most important to you in your college experience. I’d highly recommend visiting a few local campuses, which are different sizes, to get a feel of what is out there.
Freshman
You don’t need to worry about beginning all the steps I have outlined unless you are an athlete who is being heavily recruited. However, taking a career aptitude test, visiting college campuses, and registering for University Athlete, are things that will save you a tremendous amount of time down the line. Getting freshman athletes started in the recruiting process to prematurely can have some negative effects. If student athletes who have begun the recruiting process freshman year are not picked up by their junior year, many begin to lose confidence.
November/December:
- Register for University Athlete! This is a recruiting tool for college coaches to use at major tournaments.
- Create a highlight reel using high school footage, or if you have to club footage from last season. College coaches need to have video of you to do an evaluation. This is imperative! You can upload the video to YouTube for easy sharing. Just make sure your title includes your name, jersey, position, and recruiting class.
- Explore www.collegeboard.org and use the search filters to come up with a targeted list of schools that offer your major. You can use this list to research the volleyball programs to judge whether they are an appropriate athletic fit.
- Begin emailing college coaches with your video. Your email should only be between 6 & 8 sentences. Do not include any attachments, as they are likely to be ignored.
- As college coaches respond to emails, make sure you complete their online recruiting questionnaires. You need to be in their database to make it easier to recruit you.
- You need to call each program who responds to your email with interest at least once during the months of November and December. You want to work on building a relationship before the club season begins!
- Dead Period December 17-31st!
January:
- Email your tentative schedule for the club season. Let the college coaches know you will send them any updates as it changes.
- Send a highlight reel from either your first or second tournament of the season.
- Call the coaches prior to January 16th, as the evaluation period begins and you will want to stand out from the competition, to ensure an evaluation if the coaches are traveling to your area. (It’s important to understand, you are not going to be recruited from emails alone) College coaches are anxious about getting out and seeing athletes play live! You need to work the phone!
- Quiet Period January 1 – 16th 2015. Quiet period means no “off campus” evaluating.
February:
- Email updated highlight reel
- Phone call before February 13th! Las Vegas Classic Tournament is February 14-16th.
- Update University Athlete Profile
- Begin planning your college visits for the spring. The dead period is between April 13th – 16th 2015. You need to avoid getting on campuses on these dates, or you will be unable to meet with the coaching staff.
March:
- Send an updated highlight reel.
- Any changes to your schedule, you need to update the coaches now. If they haven’t had an opportunity to see you play live yet, you want to ensure they know where to find you.
- Update University Athlete Profile
- Monthly phone call – how is your season? What is your role on the team?
- Re-evaluate your list of schools. Do you need additional programs to your list?
April:
- Send your updated highlight reel and include schedule updates. Did you add a qualifier?
- Update your University Athlete profile.
- Dead Period April 13-16th 2015
- Monthly phone call – are you planning to visit, or go to summer camp?
- College visits during spring break. Whether schools are recruiting you or not, you need to get on campus and get a feel for what you want in your college experience.
May:
- Dead Period May 1-22nd 2015
- Preparing for end of season tournaments!
- Email updated highlight reel.
- Monthly phone call – what are your end of season tournament plans? AAU, Junior Nationals, Summer Soiree
- Re-evaluate your list of programs – do you need to add additional programs to your list?
June:
- Be sure your University Athlete profile is completely up to date! Don’t forget to include which end of season tournament you are competing in, and your updated highlight reel.
- Email footage from Regionals
- Monthly phone call
- Train, train, train!
- Are you playing beach?
July:
- Summer Camp
- Email footage from the end of season tournament
- Monthly phone call – explain your training plans for the summer
- Playing beach? You need video footage from the sand season to email the college coaches from the sand programs.
Do you see the redundancy in what you are doing on an on-going basis? This is a full time job. The highlight video footage is absolutely necessary. You are aiming for one video per month to show your growth and progression over time. If you aren’t getting a lot of play time, you’ve got to film club practice. Talk with your coach about filming while you scrimmage.
My passion is helping student athletes find the perfect fit in their college experience! To work together, email me at [email protected] or give me a call at (888) 354-0052. I’d love to get to know your family and help you through the recruiting process! I literally walk you step by step, ensuring you stay on track and succeed!
