By Rod Townsend
"My advice to anyone is to let your life live you. You don't have to rule yourself with an iron hand, because if you let it, the divine plan of your life will direct you. Anything is possible if you can think it clearly and hold it passionately.
"Anything unrealized is not important; what is important is the quality of each step that you take along the way. Everything you do is important, even if it doesn't seem so at the time. If you apply your full attention, everything will always be just as it should be." --Mary Jo Peppler
For any of you who don't know, Mary Jo Peppler is the original Misty May of volleyball. She is a four-time USVBA National Open Tournament Most Valuable Player. She won a gold medal on the 1967 U.S. Pan American Team, and was also named to All Tournament Team. At the 1970 World Championships, she was named the tournament's most outstanding player. The list goes on and on.
So what does Peppler have to say about college recruiting?
1. Be sure you are registered with the NCAA clearinghouse
2. Contact a minimum of 100 colleges, preferably around 200-300. Contact a couple each day, or set aside one day a week. Tell them that you are interested in their school. Tell them where you go to high school and where you play club.
Let them know your academic goals, and give them a current GPA, as well as ACT or SAT scores (or, if you haven't taken them, let them know when you will have them). Send them your SCVA schedule. Let them know what qualifiers your team will attend.
3. Respond to any colleges promptly. Unless they already have you on your radar, they will probably give you a generic response and ask you to fill out some forms so that they have information on you and have a way to contact you. Respond to them even if you don't think you are interested, because you truly never know.
4. Be sure your responses are organized in a file or notebook and sort them in some type of order of preference. You probably don't know your exact preferences, so keep your options open. You should be sorting your schools on a regular basis, because your priorities will keep changing. Re-evaluate your schools and re-contact the ones you even have mild interest in.
5. Take time to make 'Unofficial Visits' to schools you might be interested in. Look in this area for schools you may not have considered or in any area that you travel. An 'unofficial visit' is a visit that you arrange with a college volleyball coach in which you pay all the expenses.
Don't just visit a school without contacting the school. If the volleyball program is on break, often the school will be able to arrange for someone to host you and show you around the school, point out its merits and answer questions for you. Call the coach at a school and tell them that you are interested in their school and would like to make an 'unofficial visit' on a certain date. Ask them if they would be available to host you.
When you arrange a day to visit, the volleyball staff will give you a tour, tell you about their program, possibly introduce you to their team (if they are in season or practicing) and arrange for a meeting with an academic counselor.
Each visit is different because each college experience is different. Visiting is the best way to sort through what criteria will be important to you as you narrow down the options and get closer to making a decision. Visit Division I, II, III and NAIA schools so you can see what the differences are and which you would prefer.
Note: You will be allowed up to 5 'Official Visits' during your Senior year. An 'Official Visit' is a visit that a college coach offers to you and the college pays all your expenses. Official Visits last 48 hours. Official Visits are usually offered to players who are on the verge of being or who have been offered a scholarship.
To anyone wanting to play in college, I highly recommend following Peppler's suggestions. It seems like a lot of work, but it will pay off for the whole of your college career.
And remember, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.
"My advice to anyone is to let your life live you. You don't have to rule yourself with an iron hand, because if you let it, the divine plan of your life will direct you. Anything is possible if you can think it clearly and hold it passionately.
"Anything unrealized is not important; what is important is the quality of each step that you take along the way. Everything you do is important, even if it doesn't seem so at the time. If you apply your full attention, everything will always be just as it should be." --Mary Jo Peppler
For any of you who don't know, Mary Jo Peppler is the original Misty May of volleyball. She is a four-time USVBA National Open Tournament Most Valuable Player. She won a gold medal on the 1967 U.S. Pan American Team, and was also named to All Tournament Team. At the 1970 World Championships, she was named the tournament's most outstanding player. The list goes on and on.
So what does Peppler have to say about college recruiting?
1. Be sure you are registered with the NCAA clearinghouse
2. Contact a minimum of 100 colleges, preferably around 200-300. Contact a couple each day, or set aside one day a week. Tell them that you are interested in their school. Tell them where you go to high school and where you play club.
Let them know your academic goals, and give them a current GPA, as well as ACT or SAT scores (or, if you haven't taken them, let them know when you will have them). Send them your SCVA schedule. Let them know what qualifiers your team will attend.
3. Respond to any colleges promptly. Unless they already have you on your radar, they will probably give you a generic response and ask you to fill out some forms so that they have information on you and have a way to contact you. Respond to them even if you don't think you are interested, because you truly never know.
4. Be sure your responses are organized in a file or notebook and sort them in some type of order of preference. You probably don't know your exact preferences, so keep your options open. You should be sorting your schools on a regular basis, because your priorities will keep changing. Re-evaluate your schools and re-contact the ones you even have mild interest in.
5. Take time to make 'Unofficial Visits' to schools you might be interested in. Look in this area for schools you may not have considered or in any area that you travel. An 'unofficial visit' is a visit that you arrange with a college volleyball coach in which you pay all the expenses.
Don't just visit a school without contacting the school. If the volleyball program is on break, often the school will be able to arrange for someone to host you and show you around the school, point out its merits and answer questions for you. Call the coach at a school and tell them that you are interested in their school and would like to make an 'unofficial visit' on a certain date. Ask them if they would be available to host you.
When you arrange a day to visit, the volleyball staff will give you a tour, tell you about their program, possibly introduce you to their team (if they are in season or practicing) and arrange for a meeting with an academic counselor.
Each visit is different because each college experience is different. Visiting is the best way to sort through what criteria will be important to you as you narrow down the options and get closer to making a decision. Visit Division I, II, III and NAIA schools so you can see what the differences are and which you would prefer.
Note: You will be allowed up to 5 'Official Visits' during your Senior year. An 'Official Visit' is a visit that a college coach offers to you and the college pays all your expenses. Official Visits last 48 hours. Official Visits are usually offered to players who are on the verge of being or who have been offered a scholarship.
To anyone wanting to play in college, I highly recommend following Peppler's suggestions. It seems like a lot of work, but it will pay off for the whole of your college career.
And remember, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.
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