What's Happening at College?

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (WiMom7) — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:19:10 GMT

When we were going through the recruiting process, we looked at schools far away and nearby.....the ONLY ones we looked at far away were the ones that we had family nearby. We had seen too many times girls who went away to school only to get homesick and come back. We realized the value of having that family support to help her get thru the transition to a whole new life. She settled on going to a school that will be 10 hours away from us. Her grandparents, however, live 20 minutes away...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (WIVBCRAZY) — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:46:28 GMT

One of the things that I have noticed, through my time with my daughters as well as a club coach is that for many of the clubs, the season is family time. I enjoyed the trips with my daughters during the club season. It was a lot of time together and we spent many hours talking during those drives and drives, and drives! College isn't like that. It is a lot of bus or air time with books in front of you because you are missing classes, no mom or dad there to vent to after the match, or as...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (Schmidty3) — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:52:06 GMT

"Frankly, one factor is that kids have such a good experience in club, that college doesn't quite measure up. It does take too much of their time."

In some incidents this possibly could be true, but since I've been on both sides over the past 15 years (club and college...NAIA, DI & DII) I also share some hesitation with this thought. If a players starts playing volleyball at age 12, her next break isn't until the summer AFTER her freshman year in college....

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (VB ALL 1) — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:31:46 GMT

Why is it that males end up playing after their college careers and females finish with college? Is it because females are burned out from playing since middle school while most males start later with volleyball? Or, because the career or starting a family factors into the decision to drop volleyball? I'd like to hear from some former players.

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (gotsandvb) — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:10:05 GMT

Does anyone know which conference/school with the most players dropping out or players transfer into. I guess my point is which conference/school is more player friendly and which conference/school where expectation is a lot higher than just showing up.

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (vbmom2x) — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:35:12 GMT

The parent who sells their club player on collegiate VB being anything other than a full time job is misleading their player. With my daughters, we began early in high school making sure they understood their options. If mom and dad pay the college bills, their list was pretty short and local. If they chose to pursue academic only options, then there were activities, AP classes and grades that had to be incorporated, with sports taking a back seat. If they pursued collegiate VB, then...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (NerdusOperandus) — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:53:40 GMT

Frankly, one factor is that kids have such a good experience in club, that college doesn't quite measure up. It does take too much of their time.

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (Schmidty3) — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:55:00 GMT

Here are some thoughts to ponder...according to this thread it seems we are seeing many 'females' falling short in their dreams of playing a 'career' of college volleyball. (It's not to say all or countless...many as in more than we should see) It seems many 'males' have been more prepared to play college ball in their sport based on numbers, professional opportunities and society's emphasis on sports. (Not to...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (volleysisters) — Sat, 17 May 2008 09:30:19 GMT

Ultimately it is a very personal decision for families and players to make. Keep the real tangibles on the table. Ask what personal attributes besides vb IQ and skills make her suited to life in the whole collegiate experience and work from there. Academic rigor, demands of VB coach and program, size of school, support in learning to cope with new independence, and other interests are all huge factors in your daughters' ultimate success in the transition.
Big Volleysister had some...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (Online Dad) — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:46:05 GMT

Phaedrus, the stats will prove you are correct over time, look at how many 2009 commitment's , un commited , then re commited to another school in just 6-8 mos . after they commited the 1st time.( I guess we can use the phrase "commitment" pretty loosely in prep volleyball) why do the college coaches not get it? Why do the parents and players not get it? The number of transfers move exponentially after the 1 st year of school and experiencing the volleyball program.. We all...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (Phaedrus) — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:58:27 GMT

Rich Kern keeps telling me that his data does not bear me out. But many college coaches think that the institution of the early signing period has placed more pressure on players to commit early, its kind of a trickle down effect. the top guns commit early and then the domino effect follows through with the others, thereby resulting in more bad decisions and then more transfers and dropping out of volleyball. Bottom line is that many kids commit before they have made their official visits...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (hccsvolleymom) — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:47:42 GMT

I hope that this is not the case for our daughter, but I would say that there is a lot of pressure to make decisions based on what looks good from the outsider's perspective rather than what is best for the individual athlete.

I think it is absolutely necessary to keep a list in front of the athlete and parents that has the non-negotiables clearly stated so that when the urge to make a decision based on for example: mid to lower Div. 1 school far away versus Div. 2 school close...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (gobears1) — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:29:27 GMT

I have heard college coaches say only 1 recruit in 5 works out, ....... as skilled as anticipated, or fulfilling potential...or even staying on the team.

No HS player has a clue what it will feel like to play in college, no matter how many people/players/coaches they talk to....

Now that playing is not tied into 'winning a scholarship'...vb can have less interest to the student...even if they will lose their scholie if they drop the team....
students are just...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (TRANSFORMEER) — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:10:15 GMT

...excellent response P!

Can we extrapolate from that the parents, clubs, high schools are not educating the JRVB players in regard to the pitfalls of playing in college? Or maybe that scholarship and recruitment should not be a reason for joining a specific club, an ultimate goal, or justify the associated club cost or travel cost to "be seen"?

Might be interesting to see a club post on their website that twenty of their 18Us got recruited with 50% of them...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (olddblueeyes) — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:56:48 GMT

VBEye wrote:

to much obsession with chasing the sacred cow that turns out to be not queyete as favorable as parents envision. The club system is overwhelming and just plain too much. It is producing highly skilled vball athletes who are rather ill prepared and/or burned out for the rigors that encompass the collegiate vball experience.

...been a PREP member for many years and never agreed with either...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (Phaedrus) — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:48:19 GMT

You ask a very complex and multifaceted question with lots of nuances.

Here are lots of reasons that I have been experienced with.

1) The most obvious one: burnout.
2) College volleyball is not club or high school volleyball. Club or high school volleyball is an activity. College volleyball, at least in the DI, DII, NAIA divisions are a means to an education. The scholarship is your payment, as such the coaches expect work and commitment. Weight room, video work,...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (Torami) — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:47:04 GMT

I had one girl who stopped playing (and left college) tell me that it was a job and just wasn't fun anymore. At college it was mostly conditioning and practice, and even when they played, it wasn't enjoyable because of the pressure from the coach. She stopped playing completely, although she now says she is starting to miss the game a bit.

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (tresmariasvb) — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:41:30 GMT

Though there are countless reasons, one comes to mind...reality not meeting expectations. Many times, young adults don't necessarily think things through completely and analytically. It's a serious and burdensome commitment balancing athletics, academics, and partying especially as freshmen and sadly with the ladies I've tracked over 10 years many of them "don't make it". Meaning, they either transfer thinking that things may be better somewhere else or quit...

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (VBEye) — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:35:24 GMT

to much obsession with chasing the sacred cow that turns out to be not queyete as favorable as parents envision. The club system is overwhelming and just plain too much. It is producing highly skilled vball athletes who are rather ill prepared and/or burned out for the rigors that encompass the collegiate vball experience.

Re: What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (MervinSwerved) — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:31:29 GMT

Blame it on the coach.

What's Happening at College?

feeds@yuku.com (RIP THREAD) — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:57:51 GMT

My daughter will soon graduate from high school (YAY!). She has been fortunate and blessed to have played varsity her entire time at high school in an very good and successful program.

During her time at the high school several of her teammates went on to play at the college level as scholarship athletes. I've followed the progress of five and only one stayed beyond her freshman year at the school that recruited her.

While my "pool" is small in only five...