Social Media and Recruiting

There is no “hook” for this post. There is no “see the TOP mistake you are making in your college volleyball recruiting journey.” If you want to learn more about the role of social media in college volleyball recruiting...please, enjoy.

When we discuss the role of social media for college volleyball recruiting, we have to be careful to explain this with tact and context. Let’s begin.

Why Many Think Social Media is A Value in Recruiting

1.) The feeling like I am doing SOMETHING in my control to help market myself.

We are told how competitive recruiting is, so any tool will be crucial to gain an edge, right?

It is important to remember -> don’t confuse activity with achievement. For those of you that need help with this quote, feel free to apply it to your child’s club coach that serves lollipops to them in practice, and then screams at them at tournaments for not passing well against actual good servers.

You can’t have achievement without activity… but very often they get far away from one another. Just like your boss at work who makes you do things that really don’t matter. 2.) Other stories of social media recruiting “Success”

There are recruiters that peddle the necessity of social media accounts to demonstrate some sort of value to families, because they are simply unable to help families take meaningful steps/help them with the things that often move the needle the most.

Recruiting stories often lack MASSIVE context. Here is an example of a coach talking to a recruit on a first phone call;

“Hello Amanda! I saw some of your plays on your Instagram that you linked in your email to me, really good stuff!” Suddenly, a new recruiting family thinks Instagram is the move! Remember, social media is not the reason the coach said she was impressed. You did not get “recruited” through social media. You sent an email where you hosted video on a platform. The coach would have said the same thing about being impressed if you sent your film via Youtube, MP4 attachment, cave drawings…heck if it was a tape/VCR (shoutout to all my older college coach friends who just laughed at their golden years of recruiting.) It is about what you are doing on the screen, not the fact that it is hosted on a social media platform. The amount of recruits that get recruited off social media alone MEANING a college coach went directly into Instagram to search hashtag2026outsidehitter and then hit them up and committed them is a list so small that you would be angry you ever listened to the bs some recruiters spew.

Unfortunately, with no data (and no accurate data you will ever get your hands on) someone can peddle whatever they want from fringe stories that don’t accurately represent the industry as a whole. I am in the same position as you read right now – I guess you’ll just have to choose what to believe.

3.) Everyone is doing it…it must be good! What’s the harm?

There is really no harm. However, there are a lot of things in life that cause no harm that don’t get you as close to your goals as fast as things that matter more. Remember that just because “everyone is doing it” does not give you enough of a reason to do something. I think most parents have told their children at one point, “if everyone ran off a cliff, would you follow?” If you haven’t, it’s a decent place to build some awareness for young people. Does using social media for recruiting kill like jumping off a cliff? No. But try not to be so literal if you’re that type when reading this. Does it take away from the most important things you can be doing to help your journey? Yes, of course. When most of these things are met, I encourage you to do social media if you want in efforts of using your time wisely. Here is a list of items that move the needle for your recruiting process more than a curated social media on most occasions;

1.)   Jump higher and hit harder

2.)   Have a 4.0 unweighted GPA

3.)   Get better SAT/ACT scores

4.)   Be a visible leader on the court

5.)   Hit the weight room

6.)   Lock-in nutrition

7.)   Find a club where your skill is being developed (you can feel it over time)

8.)   Get a mentality coach

9.)   Pass above a 2.0 on a 3.0 scale consistently v good servers

10.) Setter? Be able to put the ball in the catch it net from all 3 pass/dig values consistently to the outside hitter

11.) You’ve already sent out personalized emails to coaches

12.) The majority of your teammates and coaches respect you as an athlete

Example - If you have intentions to hit at the D1 level and you’re touching 9’6…you are so much better off logging off your Instagram and getting to 9’10 by next club season…minimum. Commit to this alone and it will have such a higher impact on who wants to talk to you as a recruit.

4.) “There are THOUSANDS of college coaches using social media…maybe I’ll be seen by them! ”What does “using social media” mean? Are they intently searching for recruits on Instagram everyday the same way they check their inbox everyday and clear it out from recruits who have taken the time to personally email them? (hint – nah). Having an account does not mean it’s getting used as a primary mover. Tournaments, emails, prior relationships, and more are the focal points here. Approximately 33% (picking a big number that sounds right) of all college coaches still have trouble converting a doc into a PDF. It’s not a joke. These older coaches mostly see social media as a nuisance and are not on something they don’t have to be. They have found recruits for years without it, and an old dog doesn’t need a new trick. In fact, if you tell them about social media recruiting, they just might tell you to “get this $H!T out of my face." Fake transparency is just that – fake. The follows, the likes, the amount of views…to a young recruit that already speaks in the language of social media, these are seemingly watershed moments. We love data, and want to use data to try and find patterns, determine who is interested, and more. It’s almost a game to some families who just want to know more about what lays next for them. Here is the unsexy truth – if they are interested after “following” you, they will reach out.

So, what do we do? I am not saying to forgo using social media for recruiting. In fact, I think those that are able to build their social media presence to build an audience early for NIL (even for non D1 athletes) can have a massive opportunity to make money when they get to college if they have any sense of being entrepreneurial (which is not most kiddos…the school system has beaten that out of them.)

Remember that most social media engagement is comments and likes from friends and family. While fun, that doesn’t move the needle for you in terms of maximizing opportunity and exposure to college coaches for the time you spend on the platform.

People in authority (recruiting organizations, club recruiting coordinators, etc) either tell families to work on social media as a primary mover in their recruiting process for 3 reasons:

-          They don’t have the time or desire to help you with your recruiting process so they tell you “just do this!”

-          They don’t know how to help you improve as a vb player so they focus on the marketing side more

-          They read what is on the internet and take it as gold in an earnest desire to help others

The long way is the shortcut. Jump higher, work harder, play more, learn beach volleyball, play with people better than you, change your attitude, learn to be a leader, get to qualifiers that don’t break your families bank and spirit to get in person evals from coaches, send the emails before tournaments, leave clubs that stink, go to bed and get quality sleep, lift weights, stop thinking one acai bowl is enough calories to fuel you through championship level performance on tournament day, and just get better while balancing grace and accountability as a young adult as best you can with the resources you have.