Is She Recruitable in Tomorrow's Market?

[ComPassion]

OK, it’s official, times have changed!

 

Since so many of you saw most of the state's best at this wkend's tourney maybe it's a good time to consider how our TN girls are tracking on a national perspective. (Please, it doesn't do us any good to talk over and over about the top 5 in the state ..at least on this thread. Let's look at the pack of 100 or so who are on the market.)

Below are some cumulative observations from watching a collegiate tourney this wkend and thinking back to how much things have changed just in the last 6 yrs. If your daughter wishes to play in college then you may wish to consider these generalizations ..and hopefully others will reply here with their perspectives too.

 

Tms in the event , in order of finish were:

Georgetown- Georgetown,Ky

Lee University- Cleveland, TN

Olivet Nazarene- Bourbannais, IL

Spring Hill- Mobile, AL

Faulkner- Montgomery, AL

 

Here is the summary- The number of easy scholarships to be claimed is few and getting fewer, you gotta be able to play now because the competition is for real. More and more small/medium colleges now recruit nationally at USAV National Qualifiers and Nationals. And, more and more recruit internationally as well. They have seen what is out there and are less and less inclined to “settle” for a descent local girl. The number of recruitable, experienced, fit, well-coached girls is greater than you may know. Are you listening to those who tell you that height doesn’t matter? Spend 30 minutes pulling up as many rosters as you can on the internet and decide for yourself! Rule of thumb- “for every inch under 6 ft. you are, you need to do something 10% better than most girls.”

*Serve Receive. If you can’t receive serve well under pressure then you don’t get to receive serve! Not at all in college.

 

*Setting. There are SO many good setters in the country now. Being the 2nd best in your city may not mean anything. There are about 500K girls who play HS ball. There are about 140K who play Jr. Olympics. If 1/7th of them are setters, then that’s a lot of good setters! You have to be able to set an offense, not just set the 2nd ball.

 

*Mentality. There are tens of thousands of gilrs who get that VB is about being fully present in the moment with an eye towards what is about to happen. Yet, how many TN players spend their game reliving, rejoicing, rehashing or regretting the LAST point? (And, how many coaches still coach the point that just ended rather than the points you can do something about?)

 

*Serving. It’s getting harder and harder because passing, setting and hitting are getting better and better. The days of “You gotta get your serve in” are over. If you want to compete for the t-shirts you MUST serve tough.

 

*Attacking. The days of being a good athlete and therefore being able to be an effective hitter are over. You now have to be a good athlete, who has proper mechanics, who has played with good setters, who has played against well-coached blks, who has played a lot! . If any one of those is missing then there are hundreds and hundreds of girls who have the whole package. And, if you can’t hit for a good % against tall, well-coached blkers then, duh, you don’t get to hit in college!

 

*Blocking. More ht, more discipline, more experience. The last college coach who didn’t get that you can’t leave your little setter in the front row or put the uncoordinated girl in to play rt. side ..that coach died last week …so, times have now changed. Sorry, but blking in TN is overall “bad” ..not avg, not pretty good ..it’s bad. So our hitters have no idea how much tougher it will be if you have a glitch in mechanics or control. And blkers, your competition for frnt row time is tougher and TALLER than you understand.

 

*Defense. More and more girls have played MANY seasons against good hitters and offenses. If you play DS in TN you prob. aren’t digging enough hard balls to be ready for mid-level college. And, with the libero rule, college tms don’t use as many DS’s. One girl now plays the spot where 2 used to play. So, the libero rule does NOT make it easier to get a scholarship as a DS, it makes it MUCH harder (no matter what some posters here have conjectured  )

 

I went up to a player y'day who was a very tall and talented blker from Chicago and asked her what we could say to parents and players who don’t know that they don’t know about how tough it is now to get a scholarship even at NAIA or DII schools. She said to show you video of the avg. tms so you could see just how good they really are. She also said, “Ye, in HS I thought I knew about everything. Boy was I wrong, I had no idea how much more there was to it.” And, this was maybe the 2nd best blker in the gym ..who was, as it turned out, a freshman!

 

Are there still colleges out there that wouldn’t break pool at the Choo Choo? Yes, but not nearly as many. And, do you want to play for a college tm that your HS tm could beat? Most mid-level and even below avg collegiate programs are now recruiting nationally. Are you training to be recruitable nationally?

 

So, what you do with this info is up to you. Can you still get a scholarship? Yes. Are you training hard enough to be able to keep your collegiate spot when tomorrow's more advanced crop comes in as freshamn? Will as many girls get a VB scholarship on the SB field as used to be able to? Well, there didn’t use to be 140,000 girls playing VB 9 months each yr instead of 3.5 months. If you are a good athlete who finishes HS having played 6 avg. VB seasons can you still outplay girls who have had 6 avg seasons like you AND 4, 5, 6, or 7 really competitive seasons on top of that?? I strongly believe girls should do what THEY want to do, not what some club or HS “needs” them to do, so I am NOT encouraging you to specialize ..I’m just pointing out that “It’s official, times have changed and the easy scholarships are harder and harder to come by.”

 

Play hard, have fun.

 

*Others please pitch in your perspective. Thank you.

[clifford20]

OK, it’s official, times have changed!

 

Since so many of you saw most of the state's best at this wkend's tourney maybe it's a good time to consider how our TN girls are tracking on a national perspective.  (Please, it doesn't do us any good to talk over and over about the top 5 in the state ..at least on this thread.  Let's look at the pack of 100 or so who are on the market.)

Below are some cumulative observations from watching a collegiate tourney this wkend and thinking back to how much things have changed just in the last 6 yrs.  If your daughter wishes to play in college then you may wish to consider these generalizations ..and hopefully others will reply here with their perspectives too.

 

Tms in the event , in order of finish were:

Georgetown- Georgetown,Ky

Lee University- Cleveland, TN

Olivet Nazarene- Bourbannais, IL

Spring Hill- Mobile, AL

Faulkner- Montgomery, AL

 

Here is the summary- The number of easy scholarships to be claimed is few and getting fewer, you gotta be able to play now because the competition is for real.  More and more small/medium colleges now recruit nationally at USAV National Qualifiers and Nationals.  And, more and more recruit internationally as well. They have seen what is out there and are less and less inclined to “settle” for a descent local girl.  The number of recruitable, experienced, fit, well-coached girls is greater than you may know.  Are you listening to those who tell you that height doesn’t matter?  Spend 30 minutes pulling up as many rosters as you can on the internet and decide for yourself!  Rule of thumb- “for every inch under 6 ft. you are, you need to do something 10% better than most girls.”

*Serve Receive. If you can’t receive serve well under pressure then you don’t get to receive serve!  Not at all in college.

 

*Setting. There are SO many good setters in the country now. Being the 2nd best in your city may not mean anything.  There are about 500K girls who play HS ball.  There are about 140K who play Jr. Olympics.  If 1/7th of them are setters, then that’s a lot of good setters!  You have to be able to set an offense, not just set the 2nd ball.

 

*Mentality.  There are tens of thousands of gilrs who get that VB is about being fully present in the moment with an eye towards what is about to happen.  Yet, how many TN players spend their game reliving, rejoicing, rehashing or regretting the LAST point?  (And, how many coaches still coach the point that just ended rather than the points you can do something about?)

 

*Serving. It’s getting harder and harder because passing, setting and hitting are getting better and better.  The days of “You gotta get your serve in” are over.  If you want to compete for the t-shirts you MUST serve tough.

 

*Attacking. The days of being a good athlete and therefore being able to be an effective hitter are over.  You now have to be a good athlete, who has proper mechanics, who has played with good setters, who has played against well-coached blks, who has played a lot!  .  If any one of those is missing then there are hundreds and hundreds of girls who have the whole package.  And, if you can’t hit for a good % against tall, well-coached blkers then, duh, you don’t get to hit in college!

 

*Blocking. More ht, more discipline, more experience.  The last college coach who didn’t get that you can’t leave your little setter in the front row or put the uncoordinated girl in to play rt. side ..that coach died last week …so, times have now changed.  Sorry, but blking in TN is overall “bad” ..not avg, not pretty good ..it’s bad.  So our hitters have no idea how much tougher it will be if you have a glitch in mechanics or control.  And blkers, your competition for frnt row time is tougher and TALLER than you understand.

 

*Defense.  More and more girls have played MANY seasons against good hitters and offenses.  If you play DS in TN you prob. aren’t digging enough hard balls to be ready for mid-level college.  And, with the libero rule, college tms don’t use as many DS’s.  One girl now plays the spot where 2 used to play.  So, the libero rule does NOT make it easier to get a scholarship as a DS, it makes it MUCH harder (no matter what some posters here have conjectured  )

 

I went up to a player y'day who was a very tall and talented blker from Chicago and asked her what we could say to parents and players who don’t know that they don’t know about how tough it is now to get a scholarship even at NAIA or DII schools.  She said to show you video of the avg. tms so you could see just how good they really are.  She also said, “Ye, in HS I thought I knew about everything.  Boy was I wrong, I had no idea how much more there was to it.”  And, this was maybe the 2nd best blker in the gym ..who was, as it turned out, a freshman!

 

Are there still colleges out there that wouldn’t break pool at the Choo Choo?  Yes, but not nearly as many.  And, do you want to play for a college tm that your HS tm could beat?  Most mid-level and even below avg collegiate programs are now recruiting nationally.  Are you training to be recruitable nationally?

 

So, what you do with this info is up to you.  Can you still get a scholarship?  Yes.  Are you training hard enough to be able to keep your collegiate spot when tomorrow's more advanced crop comes in as freshamn?  Will as many girls get a VB scholarship on the SB field as used to be able to?  Well, there didn’t use to be 140,000 girls playing VB 9 months each yr instead of 3.5 months.  If you are a good athlete who finishes HS having played 6 avg. VB seasons can you still outplay girls who have had 6 avg seasons like you AND 4, 5, 6, or 7 really competitive seasons on top of that??  I strongly believe girls should do what THEY want to do, not what some club or HS “needs” them to do, so I am NOT encouraging you to specialize ..I’m just pointing out that “It’s official, times have changed and the easy scholarships are harder and harder to come by.” 

 

Play hard, have fun.

 

*Others please pitch in your perspective.  Thank you.

825755409[/snapback]

 

Here is the crazy thing Compassion. Many of the girls in our state would scoff at the thought of going to LEE or Georgetown, because they are not "D-1" and they have never heard of them. Little do they know how incredible both of those programs are. They can hang with and beat many D-1 programs and most D2 programs.

 

You didn't mention attitude on the court either... it means so much.

 

I would love it if girls were able to watch Lee and G-town play just to see how good NAIA ball is...as well as Div-2.

 

Georgetown has a new coach...sounds like the tradition is continuing.

[TheGreatLineJudge]

To comment on what Clifford said, I got a real eye opener a few years ago when I saw Lee for the first time. They are always an incredibly solid team and are more than capable of demolishing a lot of Division I schools.

[Harris' hooligans]

Here is the summary- The number of easy scholarships to be claimed is few and getting fewer, you gotta be able to play now because the competition is for real. More and more small/medium colleges now recruit nationally at USAV National Qualifiers and Nationals. And, more and more recruit internationally as well.

thats becoming true in a lot of sports...tennis, volleyball, soccer, basketball periodically are all seeking international players now

[SHS1]

According to info on Coach T only 12 girls in Tn. signed to play Volleyball at the next level last year.

[clifford20]

According to info on Coach T only 12 girls in Tn. signed to play Volleyball at the next level last year.

825756986[/snapback]

 

 

THere are more then that. Many people don't update it.

[ComPassion]

7 from Dig To Win last yr are playing in college.

 

*Newberry did not play club her sr. yr but had played 2.5 seasons prior to that. She is the exception to exceptions, she was so gifted that she could not have played in HS either and still been a standout in college. But, other than lara, I know of 2 local girls in the last 6 yrs who did not play club but went on to play in college (for tms their HS team could beat).

[SHS1]

Some interesting info. from the TSSAA News mag.

1. 96,817 participates in all sports in Tennessee

2. Volleyball and softball are tied for 3rd in the most popular sport for girls nationwide. (Basketball and track & field are 1 & 2 respectively)

3 Tennessee had 284 schools paricipating in Volleyball, with 5,117 students playing.

4. Volleyball had the 3rd most participates in girls sports in Tennessee.

5. Tennessee ranks 23rd in total number of participates in sports with other states.

[clifford20]

7 from Dig To Win last yr are playing in college.

 

*Newberry did not play club her sr. yr but had played 2.5 seasons prior to that.  She is the exception to exceptions, she was so gifted that she could not have played in HS either and still been a standout in college.  But, other than lara, I know of 2 local girls in the last 6 yrs who did not play club but went on to play in college (for tms their HS team could beat).

825757096[/snapback]

 

 

Ashley Asbury at MTSU did not play club, but she is one of the best athletes I have ever seen. According to Coach at MTSU she can touch 10'4 on a running jump.

 

Give a year of Volleyball and she will be an impact player at MTSU (16-1).

[play4keeps]

7 from Dig To Win last yr are playing in college.

 

825757096[/snapback]

 

I believe that Impact had 11 going on to play in college (class of 05).

 

That's 18 just from 2 clubs and there are many more I'm sure.

 

Amanda Twomey from Wilson Central didn't play club but is playing for Cumberland this season...

 

Asbury also didn't play club and is at MTSU...

 

So that's 20...

 

I know there are more.

[catuballer]

NAIA and D-II ball can be good. I'm not sure why people think that players wouldn't play at that level. Please clarify? Are there players out there that would turn down a scholarship to play for an NAIA school? I would be surprised.

[catuballer]

Here is the crazy thing Compassion. Many of the girls in our state would scoff at the thought of going to LEE or Georgetown, because they are not "D-1" and they have never heard of them. Little do they know how incredible both of those programs are. They can hang with and beat many D-1 programs and most D2 programs.

 

You didn't mention attitude on the court either... it means so much.

 

I would love it if girls were able to watch Lee and G-town play just to see how good NAIA ball is...as well as Div-2.

 

Georgetown has a new coach...sounds like the tradition is continuing.

Clifford20, I hear you on the NAIA ball, but I would have to tell you that Brentwood would beat Cumberalnd out of Lebanon on a good day.