Down The Line - Recruiting Simplified

Today's episode is an opportunity to speak Nicole Drewnick, who is the current setter for Notre Dame. Nicole's journey is one unlike many others. Her volleyball journey began growing up in a club volleyball gym owned by her parents, who were both successful professional athletes. Nicole takes us through what the recruiting process was like as a top setter in her recruiting class, how she made her...

GRIT is something that is such a hot button topic in today's world, especially among athletes. It is a vital piece to the growth mindset, and is a characteristic that is highly sought after by the Navy Seals, Fortune 500 Companies, College Coaches and more. But the question I wanted to answer, was simple: Is it possible for someone to grow and develop GRIT? And if yes, how? Giving us her take on t...

In today's episode, we are joined by Kirsten Jones. Among other things, Kirsten is a parent to a collegiate athlete, podcast host, former collegiate volleyball player, volleyball coach, author, and she is also a certified Peak Performance and Sports Parenting Coach. The topic of today's conversation is all about how we, as parents, coaches, and teachers, can better prepare our young athlet...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to play at the highest level possible? Today we talk with Tribe Alumni, and former Indiana University libero Paula Cerame, and we explore that concept. Paula started her college volleyball career at the University of Florida, where, as a member of the 2018 class, she was part of the top 2 recruiting class in the nation, where she was recognized by Prepvoll...

If you are an athlete , there is a good chance that you are using your social media account wrong. Your goal is to use it to help you in recruiting, but you aren't taking the steps necessary to have the type of reach and interactions that will actually help put your videos and your content in front of the college recruiters. And you could be even doing some simple things that are actually hurt...

If you are just starting out on the recruiting process, it is normal for you to have a lot of questions about a lot of different aspects of a college campus, a program, and a coach. This is especially the case once you are finally permitted to have meaningful conversations with college recruiters through texts, emails, or even phone calls. And then once you get to the final steps of your recruitin...

There are a lot of questions that people have throughout the recruiting process. If you are like most players and parents, some of those questions are about how college volleyball players spend their time. You might also have questions about what other types of activities make up the 20 hours per week (plus more) that the players spend in volleyball related activities while they are in season. Som...

Making a campus visit is one of your biggest tools in finding a school that feels like home. This is the part of the recruiting process that you have the most control over, but also the piece that you can start evaluating earliest in your recruiting journey.  Each of the 4 visit types can provide valuable information during your search for a college home, and make sure you know when each option is...

When you first set out on your recruiting journey as a freshman or sophomore, the recruiting effort can feel very one-sided: "NCAA Rules don't allow us to communicate with you prior to June 15th following your sophomore year of high school". Things are about to change dramatically, and you are about to get some remarkably honest feedback about the accuracy of schools you have been se...

Tribe Alumni Rebecca Martinez shares her recruiting journey as a libero. Her journey has some details that may sound a little different than the process that some of you are going through right now, and there will be some situations that she went through that hits really close to home. During her playing career, Rebecca earned some amazing individual accolades and experienced a championship level,...

This episode of Down the Line takes a look at the recruiting process through the lense of a collegiate coach with experience at the Division 1, 2, and Junior College levels. My long-time friend and former college teammate, Tim Balice, shares his insights on different aspects of the recruiting process. Tim is currently an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Dayton, a Division 1 program...

One of the goals in our Down the Line experience, is to help connect  you with some of our Alumni who had the opportunity to manage their recruiting process with a result of playing volleyball in College. We use their stories to help guide our current athletes down their recruiting journey. I was honored to have the opportunity to catch up with one of our Tribe Alumni, and part of our 2018 graduat...

One of the most important questions that can be asked in the recruiting process, is "What college athletic level is right for you?"   Whether you are just starting your recruiting process or making your final decision on where to commit, there are important differences within the various collegiate levels you should consider. In this episode,  long time volleyball coach and your host, Br...

Volleyball is the #1 most popular team sport for female high school athletes with almost 453,000 athletes. 6% of these athletes have the opportunity to go on and play at the college level, and only 1.2% of high school athletes will get the chance to play at the Division 1 Level. Thankfully, between all the levels, there are over 27,000 collegiate volleyball positions available. These tips will hel...

Welcome to Down The Line, I’m your host, Brett Sikora. I am the College Recruiting Director for Tribe Volleyball Club, located in South Florida. Join me as I share recruiting insights I have gathered in 2 decades coaching at the college, club, and high school levels. We will host alumni players to share their experiences with you while connecting our past with our future. Also hear from college co...