Hi, I’m a junior trying to play volleyball in college. I have mostly gotten attention from NESCAC schools I emailed, then a few came to watch me @ tournaments and have kind of been keeping in touch. however, there is one (Amherst) that i am most interested in and could definitely play on the team (skill wise… dont know if they need my position) but I’ve been emailing the coach sporadically since Feb without any response. Thing is I would definitely need at least some coach help in applying to amherst, so i can’t just apply and walk on. What should I do? Give up? Someone suggested calling the coach, but I don’t know… seems weird because we’ve never talked. any help/insight into NESCAC/d3 volleyball recruiting appreciated!!
If you’ve emailed, I think that’s enough. Given Junior National’s start end of June they may be late in getting started with NESCAC pre-reads, although not certain how many NESCAC coaches attend. I know there is a recruiting camp in Connecticut around that same time that many of the NESCAC coaches attend.
That said given NESCAC pre-reads can begin July 1st, it would be good to have a couple other NESCAC coaches ready to go through that process with you if possible. Not certain if you are looking at any Centennial Conference schools, but they aren’t bound by the same pre-read start date.
Coaches get busy, they make mistakes, emails get put into the wrong folder, etc. There is no reason to give up contacting Amherst until the the coach directly tells you that he or she is not interested. You literally have noting to lose and everything to gain.
I would keep emailing and expressing interest.
@Chembiodad @ThankYouforHelp Thank you both! I’m going to keep trying!
If you ^ or anyone else knows about NESCAC recruiting , pre reads and anything about that I would love to know more.
Also check out CollEdge VB camps if you are near the NE or MidAtlantic as you can get face time with coaches.
@volleyball8120 There is a long three part article on NESCAC recruiting that was published in the Bowdoin school paper a few years ago. See if you can find it on google. I’m also sending you a PM
Keep emailing! No answer doesn’t mean they have no interest. They get literally thousands of emails. The Georgetown softball coach told us she got over 3000 emails from prospects every week!
Try and have a snappy heading like “Got 5 kills at sectional title game” or “ACT 36, loves amherst”. My DD has a snappy signature tag line, too, so hopefully the coach will eventually remember her. Something like “King of the Digs” (sorry, I dont know much volleyball)
She did ask one coach via email if she had a chance after many months of no-answer, and the coach very nicely told her she could try out “walk-on” if she ended up at said Ivy , but that her roster was full for 2018…
Thanks so much!!
If you love Amherst, don’t dilly dally. Call up the Amherst coach and arrange a meeting. You will most likely learn a lot from the meeting. At a minimum, you will learn if the Amherst coach is not interested or merely disorganized.
But, please, do your homework first. Look on the roster and see whether Amherst might have a need at your position. You can determine this by reviewing graduating seniors and the playing time for others at your position.
The coach still hasn’t responded after I think 5 emails (over a few months) and a voicemail. Should I keep trying? Do coaches do this when they have no interest? Thanks everyone for the advice!
Sometimes coaches don’t respond due to a lack of interest. But, there are many other reasons why the coach might not respond. If you want to go to Amherst, keep at it. I would call at a time you think the coach would be there. Not at 7 pm, when you know the coach is at home. Take a few moments out of your day and call at 1030 or 11 am. See what happens. There is plenty of time later to throw in the towel.
@volleyball8120, given that volleyball is a headcount sport, make sure you are pushing forward with some of the other NESCAC coaches that have expressed interest as they will be finalizing pre-read lists shortly.
Do you have a coach who could help? HS or club coach could contact the coach and put in a good word. It might be time to pick up the phone and call. Tell the coach you are planning a trip to the area, have great interest and want to meet. Have you sent your transcripts and highlight video?
D3 has a later recruiting schedule than other schools.
@twoinanddone, my DD’s have a close friend who had pursued NESCAC VB coaches and got a “your one of my top two for x position” and a pre-pread in the beginning of July last year, but as things then went quiet she figured the coach had gone in the other direction so she locked down a commitment from a great Continental Conference school. In our case our, our XC/track DD had consistent communication throughout the 2nd half of her Junior year and got NESCAC pre-reads last July through August, so I do think their timing is later than others.
thank you both. I have sent highlight video and basic academic stats. I am in touch with other schools but almost every other (reasonable skill wise) school emailed me back, at least to say they are finished recruiting or don’t need my position. But I’m going to take your advice and call the coach again at hopefully a better time!
I think if the coach wasn’t interested, he’d send an email saying that (nicely, of course). Just keep following up. Is there an assistant coach?
My daughter’s coach is exhausted right now. Their season ran an extra two weeks because they made the tournament, and the coach had some health issues during the season that she got through, but it was hard. I think she’s taking a two week nap (she also has two toddlers). If recruits are contacting her, an email or text might slip through the cracks, so she’d appreciate a follow up.
The assistant coach has no contact info on the website. But thank you again for that info, I am hoping she has somehow missed all my emails lol. Because amherst would definitely be my #1 choice if this worked out!
As @OldbatesieDoc mentioned, get creative with the titles of the emails. They get hundreds of emails from recruits and most often do not even open them.
Email weekly and with video if you have it. Create top 5 plays, etc.
Also, email everyone associated with the recruiting and the team in general. Everything from head and assistants to strength. Treat it like a job.
As a tip, for football, we always had great response sending the emails on early sunday morning and on Wednesday evening.
I assume you have stellar grades wanting to go to Amherst so you should be looking at the top tier D3’s (UAA, etc) as well.
Good luck.
Thanks so much! I have been trying some UAA too but for most I would have to walk on as they have already offered positions for my grade. I am mostly focusing on NESCAC and a few others. Thanks to everyone for the help!