No one likes losing. Most of us that play a competitive sport are just that, competitive. Losing is hard. It's draining mentally and physically for both players and coaches. I don't know any college coaches that are trying to lose either.

Some teams have bigger hills to climb than others. It can sometimes take years to build a college volleyball program, make it better and improve their record. Typically good things don't happen overnight.

I'd like to try and address this notion of athletes NOT wanting to play for a "bad" program. First, looking at 1 season typically isn't going to give us a great picture of the program as a whole. How long has the staff been there? What was their record the season before? Were there any injuries? Most programs are 1 injury away from finishing in the bottom half of their conference. How many players. are they bringing in? How many players are they losing? Turnover in athletes can be good or bad, depending on the situation.

Take a look at a school like Fresno State. How many athletes said they weren't interested in the school, because they were "bad" only to watch the team WIN their conference the next year and go on to the NCAA tournament? I wrote about their journey HERE.

There is more to a program than their W-L record.

You might be asking, "Jason, what does talking about losing programs have to do with recruiting?" Well, let me tell you.

There is always a lot of talk and discussion about a players height in the recruiting process. While this is a topic I have talked a lot about, I typically urge athletes and families to understand that it isn't ALL about an athletes height (Click HERE).

But I do know college coaches. They are LOOKING for reasons to cross you off of their list. Height tends to be the most glaring and obvious physical factor. It is an easy way to glance and then comment in UA, "not big enough". While height is probably the easiest scapegoat for college coaches, it's not always the actual reason they stop or choose not to recruit an athlete. It's usually a collection of traits that they are looking for, but don't always see right away in an athlete. Possibly because they aren't always looking, or they believe they can find those other traits in someone taller. Not all 5'10" athletes are the same.

When I talk to athletes and families about being dismissed from schools because of their size, they typically understand, but still don't like it. It's totally fair to not like that part or disagree with that feedback. You certainly have more to offer a school than your height, right? You have leadership traits, grit, perseverance, determination, crazy good academics and a fantastic work ethic. To be whittled down to just your height seems too simple.

There is more to you as an athlete than just your height.

Just like there is more to a school then their win loss record.

In both situations there is more time, energy and effort required to figure out what the other side actually brings to the table. Athletes typically have fewer options available and so really need to be the ones doing that extra work. Crossing schools off your list too early can severally limit your recruiting options. Colleges (while they should do more digging sometimes when it comes to athletes) typically have MORE options when it comes to filling their roster. Remember, we are cutting out 95% of the high school volleyball athletes across the country.

You are more than welcome you use W-L record as a way to dismiss a school. What else are you missing out on when you do that?