“I really wanted to know what kind of coach they were,” Froley says. “You need to know their style and decide if it’s something you’ll be able to work with for the years that you’re with them.” Froley favors coaches who are positive, sup-
portive and can offer good technical feedback, but she believes that the personal connection is the most important part. “It can be hard to gauge exactly what a
coach’s style is just from meeting them,” she says, “so I tried to ask questions like ‘What do you think are the best qualities in a player?’ Or, ‘What do you do when your team is losing?’” Knowing what you want in a coach and a team is important, and it makes for a far smoother recruiting process. But it can be dif- ficult to know exactly what you’re looking for. Froley has some advice for that as well: “Look at your past volleyball teams, your past coaches and make a list of all the attributes you liked and all the attributes you didn’t like. That will help you to determine what you should be looking for in a program.”
Know what coaches are looking for After you get an idea of the kind of school
you want to attend and understand that the commitment is greater at the higher level (D-I coaches treat volleyball as a year-long endeavor while the junior college experience can be much less stringent), you can move your attention to the teams and their coaches. Many athletes are concerned that they won’t be seen as contend- ers for a position if their high school, club team or junior college doesn’t win big tournaments, but many coaches will tell you that they’re not looking for fancy titles like “state champion.” (Obviously, if you do win a state title, you should mention it.) Instead, these coaches place more value on character qualities. “We look for the total package because we
want to develop people, not just players,” Kuhn says.
With that in mind, she and other coaches at Kansas do a lot more than just watch highlight reels and read player profiles. Kuhn says the staff is continually looking for dynamic traits like leadership, determination and drive. When choosing between two players with similar skills, the player with more hustle and heart will win out, she says. “We lean towards the kid who has the most
energy,” she says. “We’re all about energy. We want the kid who’s going to have the right at- titude and who we want to be around every day. Practice is something that we look forward to and our players need to be intrinsically motivated to come in and work hard.” DeAnn Woodin, head coach at Coe College
(NCAA Division III), has a similar philosophy. At the DIII level, there are no scholarships, but the mission of coaches is still to find players who can help them build a winning team and a strong
EYE OF A COACH: Jim Stone, who coaches in USA Volleyball’s High Performance programs, looks for body language to learn about players. (Photo: FIVB)
64"70--&:#"-- 03( c
“We lean towards the kid who has the most energy. We’re all about energy. We want the kid who’s going to have the right attitude and who we want to be around every day. Practice is something that we look forward to and our players need to be
intrinsically motivated to come in and work hard.” — Laura Kuhn, University of Kansas
NCAA Scholarship Quick Facts
Q Division I volleyball teams are limited to 12 full scholarships per team. Scholarships can’t be divided at the Division I level but can be split at other levels. Schools are not required to distribute the maximum number of scholarships allowed
Q Division II programs are allowed a maximum eight scholarships, but those can be divided. Two or more Division II players can split a full scholarship equally (50/50) or in other percentages (75/25).
Q Private schools generally have higher tuition rates than public schools, so some scholarships have a higher value than others. They count the same regardless of the school's scholarship price.
Q Division I programs require a minimum grade point average of 2.0 in core classes (English, math, science) and a sliding scale to match SAT and ACT scores. Division II requires a minimum SAT score of 820 and a sum ACT score of 68.
Q NCAA requires incoming athletes to meet amateur certification, which means they could not have previously accepted prize money or been under professional contract. This process is done at the NCAA Eligibility Center online.
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