I know you’re thinking….what the hec? Is she crazy? You have posted your best highlights on your volleyball Instagram account and you have sooooo many followers! You get a ton of comments and likes every time you post on Instagram, TikTok, SnapChat, or Twitter!
It does NOT matter for the college VOLLEYBALL recruiting process and this is why…
College volleyball coaches do not have the time or the energy to scroll through social media watching players highlight videos. In my opinion, college coaches don’t really care about how many followers you have and the response you get from your posts. Social media helps the college FOOTBALL recruiting process and some other sports, but it’s NOT the same for volleyball players.
Along with social media comes “building your brand” in the business world, for influencers, and for companies. You do NOT need to “build your brand” in order to be recruited to play volleyball in college. You are a high school age student-athlete and college coaches don’t have the time or energy to figure out what your “brand” is AND what that even means for each volleyball recruit!
Volleyball players who want to be collegiate student-athletes ARE who they ARE. Coaches care A LOT about your academics, your work ethic, your skill level, and your potential as a player. They care even more about your character as a person and also if you can make their team better. They will not scroll through social media looking for this, they want to get to know the REAL you and it takes time.
GOOD TO KNOW: College coaches are putting many pieces of a puzzle together, each year, as they determine their recruiting needs and the athletic money they have available for each roster spot in each recruiting class. It gets pretty complicated! Especially, when they need to consider the unexpected like injuries, players transferring, and the extra COVID year available to players. Every college volleyball coaching staff, as a whole, is working really hard to put together a team of great people AND great student-athletes that will work together like a well oiled machine…AND WIN. They determine this during the recruiting process...this is what the recruiting process is for.
You must go back to the basics, be proactive and contact college coaches on your target list consistently, as I always say…keep emailing, keep working to add new schools to your target list, and stay positive!
RECRUITING TIP: The ONE MOMENT when your social media matters in your recruiting process is when a college coach checks it for RED FLAGS. This happens when the coaching staff thinks you could help their program and they know your grades are good. They have seen your highlight video, talked to you on the phone and watched you play live. They are not anticipating any problems, but they check your social media, just as a precaution. They will look for anything that would make them question you being on their roster. You want your social media to be clean, without drinking, partying, swearing, anything hateful or rude etc. If there is anything you don’t want your parents to see, then you probably don’t want your potential coach to see it either!
ACTION STEP: I like players to use Instagram and social media to follow the teams and the schools on their target list. So, you can see what a day in the life of the volleyball players is like at each school you are emailing! “Liking” the volleyball team posts also shows your interest in their program and can’t hurt. The bottom line is, if you don’t have ANY social media at all, you can still find the perfect fit for you to play volleyball in college!
SO, WHAT DO YOU DO….WHAT ACTION CAN YOU TAKE?
- The best way to start the recruiting process is emailing coaches to introduce yourself with a link to good highlight video housed in your volleyball channel on YouTube, then keep moving forward in the process with consistent check-in emails after that.
- Always ask if they need your position in your grad year in the closing paragraph of your emails (as they put their roster puzzle together!) and ask if they think you are a possible fit for their program. If so, they will respond and begin back and forth communication. They will watch you play live and you can also ask to set up a phone call with them.
- Watch their team play online and live when they are near your town (let the coaches know you will be there)!
- Eventually, take an unofficial or official visit and you are moving through the recruiting process!
- Work to get to this point with as many schools on your target list as possible.
What I’m saying is don’t RELY on your volleyball Instagram or social media for recruiting. It’s a “nice-to-have”, but you do NOT need it to start the recruiting process and play volleyball in college. As long as your social media is clean, it can’t hurt your process either!
I wish you the best on your recruiting journey. Keep your head up and stay strong towards your goal of playing volleyball in college. You got this!