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College Recruiting

To College Coaches: RECRUITING OUR PLAYERS

Welcome college coaches and recruiters! For information on a Niagara Frontier Girls or Boys player, please contact Coach Emily Drew-Litwin.

We invite you to attend our practices. We feel that attending practices is a great way to see many players at different graduating classes working out at the same time. You can also visit the individual team pages for updated tournament schedule information.

Our coaches have developed an info database on players interested in playing at the next level. Please contact us for info on how to access this information. 


Coach Emily Drew-Litwin

Recruiting Committee Members

CHAIR:  Emily Drew (Phone: 716-907-3077)


Recruiting Survey

Click HERE to Fill Out the NFVB Recruiting Survey for NF Athletes

This survey is designed to collect information to be shared with college recruiters.

There is the ability to edit your responses provided you retain your email confirmation. This option will be helpful if any of your contact or academic information changes between now and the time you commit to a school or graduate.

In your correspondence with colleges, please include the contact information of our club directors and coaches so we can respond to any inquiries they may have.


Help with Recruiting

For more information on personalized, individual help with the recruiting process, click the link below.
https://www.nfvbjuniors.com/recruithelp


What the NFVB staff thinks:

The staff at Niagara Frontier feels that a number of recruiting agencies offer the most up to date on-line information in regards to current rules, recruiting calendars and checklists for players interested in pursuing volleyball in college.  This info helps to both start the process and to stay on track. However, the staff does not  always think that paying money for some of these services is in the best interest of each member of our club.  These services can be expensive but simply following the recommendations, contact techniques and calendars posted on this page has proven very successful for hundreds of former Niagara Frontier players.

We suggest meeting with our club's recruiting coordinator, Emily Drew and/or looking at the following websites for information on starting and maintaining a good plan to research and contact colleges:

NCSA - Next College Student Athlete

TO BE RECRUITED OR NOT TO BE RECRUITED?

Check out this article on written by NSR staff member, Robert Cagle which was published in Volleyball Magazine.

How Tall Do You Have to Be to Play Volleyball in College?

Here is a great link which separates recruit characteristics by position and college level (ex: DI, D2, D3, NAIA, Junior College)

It was my Coaches Fault...

Check out this article by Bryan Drotar of The Recruiting Code.

The Role of Parents in College Recruiting

The main thing you want to do is provide support and advice.

How to Get Recruited

Niagara Frontier has a proud tradition and commitment to provide our athletes with a solid platform to achieve their dreams to become college volleyball players.

Please use these players/parents resources as a guide in your college search. We are excited for you to become the next tier of players to represent Niagara Frontier and Western New York on the collegiate stage.


Search for Colleges HERE:

CLICK HERE to search for NCAA Schools

CLICK HERE to search for NAIA Schools

CLICK HERE to search for NJCAA Schools


NOTES ON PAID RECRUITING SERVICES

There are several services out there that offer paid support/guidance with the recruiting process. Many players will begin by creating a free online profile with them, where after their sales reps will contact you to upgrade to a paid membership (upwards of $800-$2500). The most misleading piece of info we believe they provide is that their service is ESSENTIAL for getting recruited, and that having a membership with them gives you credibility with the college coaches that you wouldn’t have otherwise. We find this to be simply untrue. Many coaches we know say they prefer to hear from the PLAYER DIRECTLY rather than from a paid third party. In response to many questions we field about these paid recruiting services, we provide the following:

  • We are fortunate in our club to have a direct link to many current and former collegiate coaches who are in a great position to give you an accurate recommendation on where you fit athletically at the college-level.  Further, our coaches know many of the college coaches personally, so their referrals will come highly regarded.
  • Begin by developing a list of volleyball programs you want to pursue, talk with your club coaches about your choices and narrow them down to a list with three categories: “reach” schools (or “dream” schools that you are unlikely to get in or be accepted on the team), “realistic” schools (you have a good chance academically and athletically), and “safety” schools (ones you feel very confident you can get in and be accepted to their team).  Email those coaches directly with all the necessary info (see the above links for more on this), and follow up with those coaches periodically to ask whether they have interest in you. Added value can also come from having your club coaches or directors reach out to your top schools of interest and make recommendations for you. This is really all you need to get the ball rolling in the right direction! 

Boys Recruiting 101

The document link below was created exclusively for our boys club members by former NFVB alum Jason Donorovich.  Jason is a current standout player at Penn State.

Boys Recruiting 101


WEVA - AVCA Partnership for NFVB Girls

WEVA has joined an important venture with AVCA to provide valuable assistance to athletes who wish to pursue college volleyball.

Here is a link to the current list of videos with help on recruiting:

Recruiting Tips for Western Empire Volleyball Players

  1. Introduction
  2. Womens D1 Recruiting
  3. Women College Sectors and Numbers
  4. Women College Scholarships
  5. Official vs Unofficial college visits
  6. Contact Regulations
  7. Eligibility Centers

WEVA encourages you all to watch these videos and to sit down with your families to discuss the terms and processes which are important to playing volleyball at the collegiate level. 

Additional video will be added as it becomes available so please check back often.


College Search Recruiting Spreadsheet

Use a tool to track colleges you are interested in.  Try out this College Search Recruiting Spreadsheet.  It is an Excel spreadsheet template that you can download.


May 2022 Recruiting Workshop

Below is the powerpoint from Coach Emily Drew's recruiting workshop held on Tuesday, May 31.

Thanks to those who attended and special thanks to Coach Cathy Hummel, Mr. Ken Kujawa and former NFVB player, Jordan Hummel for their contributions.


Here is what college coaches are saying...

“ The facilities at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center in West Seneca are among the finest I have seen.  Couple this with the excellent instruction the athletes are receiving and it is no wonder that Niagara Frontier is a premier volleyball club.” – Glen Conley, former head coach at Kent State , DI

“Thanks for your hospitality on my visit to Buffalo to watch practice last week.  I enjoyed watching your entire club train.  The practice was one of the most organized and efficient club practices I have attended in over 20 years of coaching. Each athlete received the maximum number of repetitions, and clearly had a great understanding of the game and what is expected of them.  It is very obvious why your club is turning out great volleyball players.” – Pete Hoyer, Southern Utah, DI Head Coach