📔Creating your list of schools

Now that you have identified what is important to you, it is time to create your list of schools to reach out to!

Are you ready to start contacting schools, but don't know where to start or who to reach out to? We are here to help! You should create an excel sheet that helps you keep track of the schools you're interested in and have contacted. Use this as a working document throughout your recruiting journey.

Step 1 - Identify what is important to you

• Volleyball Program (culture, coaches, teammates, history)

• Academics (area of study, size of school, campus life)

• Location (part of the country, distance from home)

Step 2 - Choose a few regions that meet your location requirements.

• If you want to stay close to home, research schools within a three hour radius of your house. If you want to be on a beach, only research schools that are on the coast. If you have no preference for distance from home or geographical location, pick random states! Or states you think might be cool to go to school in.

Step 3 - Research 5-10 schools in each of those regions.

• While this is still pretty broad, below are some of the searches you can use to get started:

  • If you know what you want to study, start your google search with "Best Colleges in _____(state) with _____(major)."

  • If you know you want a certain size school, google "Colleges in ______(state) with more/less than _____(#) of students"

  • If you know you want to be in a specific place, google "Colleges near _____(city), _____(state)."

• Keep your list diverse at first! If your goal is to play Division I volleyball, create a list of 10 schools in the regions you're interested in. Do your research, choose 6 DI schools and contact those coaches to see if they're interested in recruiting you. At the same time, also research 2-3 DII schools, and 1-2 DIII/NAIA schools to cast a wide net..

  • You don't know what the right fit for you is until you start doing the research, getting on campus, talking with the staff, and continuing to develop your volleyball game to be able to play at different levels.

Step 4 - Collect coach contact information to send your initial email.

• Most programs have the coach's contact information on the 'roster' page of the athletics website for volleyball. If it is not listed, you can also go the Athletics Staff Directory and usually find the email addresses there.

• Find emails for each coach on staff to send your email to each coach.

Once you have created your initial list of schools, it is time to email them!