September 8, 2025 • 31 mins
🎙️ Bridging the Gap: Sue Webber on Playing, Coaching & Recruiting
In this episode of the Significant Recruiting Podcast, I sit down with Sue Webber — former Division I player, coach, and now a leader in the volleyball recruiting space. 🌟
Sue shares her unique perspective from every angle of the game: what it takes to succeed as an athlete, how coaches evaluate recruits, and the practical steps families can take to stand out. Her advice is direct, insightful, and full of takeaways for athletes, parents, and coaches alike.
👉 Follow Sue on Instagram @coachsue11 and check out her videos on YouTube and Facebook for more recruiting wisdom. You can also connect with her professionally on LinkedIn: Sue Webber.
⚡ Don’t forget — the Recruit’s Journals are now available for Volleyball, Baseball, Basketball, and Softball, with the Soccer Recruit’s Journal dropping later this week. These tools are built to keep you focused, organized, and confident throughout your recruiting journey.
Find them all at CoachMattRogers.com
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Thing to think about is whatkind of coach do I want or what
do I perform best under?
When I was getting recruited,there was coaches that I was
like, oh, no way.
I can't, I would not fit wellwith them.
Our personalities would not getalong.
So it could be the best schoolout there.
I could have started everymatch, but I would've been
(00:20):
miserable, yeah.
Because I'm not in the rightenvironment.
Welcome back to The SignificantRecruiting Podcast.
I'm your host, Matt Rogers.
You just heard a clip fromtoday's guest, my old friend Sue
Weber, a former division onevolleyball player and coach who
(00:41):
now works at the center of thevolleyball recruiting world and
plays a big role as a partnerwith USA Volleyball.
Sue brings a unique perspectivebridging her own experiences as
an athlete with her deepinvolvement in helping families
navigate the recruiting process.
Before we dive in, make sure youhit that subscribe button, and
send in your comments.
(01:02):
Your support keeps theseconversations going and helps
more families hear fromincredible voices like Sue
Weber.
And don't forget the volleyball,baseball, basketball, and
softball recruits journals arenow available with the soccer
recruits journal dropping laterthis week.
These are perfect companionpieces to the significant
recruiting book, the Playbookfor Prospective College
(01:25):
Athletes.
You can find themall@coachmattrogers.com.
I also encourage you to followCoach Weber on Instagram at
Coach Sue 11 and check out ourvideos on YouTube and Facebook.
They are great resources forathletes, parents, and coaches.
You can also connect with herprofessionally on LinkedIn at
Sue Weber.
(01:45):
Now let's get into today'sconversation with Coach Sue
Weber.
Sue Weber, so great to see you.
It's been a long time.
Thanks for being on theSignificant Coaching podcast.
Thanks for having me.
I, you texted me and I was like,yes, absolutely.
Let's get on and see what we cando here and help families and
athletes who are looking to playat that next level.
(02:06):
Absolutely.
I loved working with you.
We worked at NCSA for a fewyears together and we did a
bunch of stuff with USAvolleyball together and Yeah.
And I wanted to have Jan'cause Iwas.
I keep sending your videos.
You make these great videos onwhat a division one athlete
looks like.
Division two, division three Nai.
And I find myself sending themto recruits all the time.
(02:27):
It's like I need to get around'cause you evaluate kids so well
and you break it down so well.
So I know you're playing lotsof, you got lots of hats.
Let's talk about where you'vebeen and where you've gone.
So you were a division oneplayer, played at U of I,
university of Illinois.
You were a division oneassistant coach.
You've been a director ofvolleyball recruiting.
(02:48):
How has each role shaped the wayrecruiting today?
Yeah, I think, starting from thebeginning like we were just
talk, talking a little bit aboutour backgrounds of being from a
small town Illinois kid, right?
Yep.
And not a Chicago like bigsuburb kid.
And having these large clubsthat I played for I was at a
little club and it was actually,it's very unique because we had
(03:10):
three hubs.
So it was Springfield, Kokiarea, and then Champagne.
And the three best players fromeach hub would play together.
So we all went to Vision One,which is awesome.
That's right.
But it's very unique where wedidn't really practice with each
other.
So it was just like throwing thebest, it was like an all star
club team.
(03:31):
So that's, very different thanthese.
These days of club tournamentsand practice schedules and
whatever else.
But that's shaping me into, youdon't always have to be like the
biggest and brightest I guessyou could say, but you have to
put in the work.
And you have to, especially froma smaller town, you have to use
all of your resources, not justyour high school coach, your
(03:51):
club coach, but other peoplethat are around you and tap into
everything.
And then going from.
Starting every single game as ahigh school and club player to
sit on the bench.
My first year right in Illinois,getting in here every once in a
while, I had to prove myselfagain and I had to work for it.
I think, coming from that smalltown atmosphere, you just keep
(04:12):
plugging along and you try toprove yourself every day.
Isn't it crazy what that, thatleague has always been good.
The big ten's always been greatwith volleyball, but isn't it
crazy almost how dominant it'sbecome?
And now it's coast to coast,right?
Yeah.
Like when I played, I'm agingmyself here.
Nebraska wasn't even in theconference yet.
No, it wasn't.
Penn State, obviously was apowerhouse when I was playing.
(04:33):
We were, Illinois was prettygood.
We were, you guys were great.
Yeah.
All the time.
And it's just, even now I'm sixfeet tall and I would be tiny in
the Big 10.
You would be.
I'm like, I better, I was a goodpastor.
I might be AO now.
Yeah.
So just like the change of thegame even from 10, 20 years ago,
the recruiting aspect of it thephysicality of the game of the
(04:57):
players and I think also theknowledge, like the, there's a
lot more.
Volleyball knowledge, people outthere, the volleyball IQ is
getting so high and now withprofessional leagues in the
States and it's great.
It's just all over the place.
I think I watched eight hours ofvolleyball on Sunday.
Yeah.
On tv, which is, yeah, my wifeand I do too.
(05:18):
It's constantly on.
Yep.
Which is awesome.
And it seems like the top 10teams are always playing each
other.
It's Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin,Stanford, it seems like you can
watch really great volleyballall the time now.
What's the biggest differencefor you and what was going on
recruiting, let's just say 10years ago when you started at
(05:40):
NCSA and you got out ofcoaching.
What's changed with how coachesrecruit today?
Yeah, I always kid too is likewhen I first started with NCSA,
we did have the online videosand the profiles, right?
When I was playing and gettingrecruited, it was like BHS
tapes, right?
Type writers, like way back.
(06:00):
So even that's crazy to me.
And when NCSA started in 2000,there was no YouTube, there was
no huddle, there was no videosonline.
So I think.
The ability for college coachesto see more people, more
athletes has really increasedover the last 10, 15 years for
sure.
Which kind of levels the playingfield a little bit.
(06:21):
Yeah.
To where, you don't always haveto recruit locally.
I think the Big 10, we weretalking about that a lot of
Midwest kids when I was playing.
Now there's California andHawaii and international, and it
just like levels the playingfield for.
The distance, but it also makesit harder for the kids because
there's more people out there.
That's right.
More eyes on athletes that wouldhave a good fit for that school.
(06:44):
So I think video has been a hugeincrease.
Over the years.
That's number one.
But then there's always the newrules and NIL and the transfer
portal and all these things thathave come about in probably the
last five years, honestly.
Which has really played, a lotof uncertainty, I guess you
could say.
That's what we hear a lot fromour families.
(07:05):
What does this mean?
What is, how does this affectme?
As a recruit, but also how doesit affect the college coaches?
With roster limits and differentscholarship options.
So there's a lot that haschanged in the last five, 10
years.
If you go back now, I was a headcoach for the first time, a head
college coach in 2001.
Yeah.
(07:25):
Yeah.
I would bet, and I may be wrong,tell me if I'm wrong about this,
but I would bet less than 5% ofthe families of recruits out
there.
Understood that it was their jobto reach out to coaches.
That being found was almostimpossible.
It was maybe 10% of kids wouldget found somewhere.
Yeah.
Do you feel like that's changedin terms of the education and
(07:48):
how many more familiesunderstand they've got to do
some outreach, they've gottasend an email, they gotta make a
phone call.
Do you think that's been a bigpart of the change?
I think so I think people areleaning in on recruiting help
whether that's, like I mentionedfrom recruiting services or from
their club director or clubrecruiting coordinator or high
school coach, maybe played, so Iwould say a lot more advice is
(08:11):
getting, presented to families,and you're right, you're
absolutely right.
Like the 2% of PE of the 2% aregonna get exposure and get seen.
But it's those tweeners, it'sthe, I could play division one,
but maybe I'd be better fit fortwo division two or NAIA that
have that maybe they didn't knowto reach out before and now
they're getting the education,the help that they get they need
(08:33):
to get out there.
Yeah.
It's pretty amazing.
When I was a, when I started, Iwas a division three coach.
I might hear from three to fivekids a week.
Yep.
I was talking to a D three coachthe other day.
And I think he got 28 recruitingemails during our interview.
During our conversation.
During the conversation, he gotdone.
He goes, yeah.
He goes, Matt, we just got donetalk about recruiting.
(08:54):
I just got 28 emails since westarted talking.
I was like, oh my gosh.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
But it's fun.
But again, I think it makes itharder on recruits because
there's such a volume now andyeah.
Being specific is so important,knowing, doing your research on
the schools, making sure you'rereaching out to the programs
that really you think you canplay there.
(09:15):
Fit everything about you, notjust athletes, for sure.
And I think you said it's muchharder on the athletes, it's
harder on the coaches too,honestly.
And it is a relationship.
I always kid of it's that youwill set my rose this week.
Will you keep in contact withme?
So it's kind like a dating game,which is weird, but to say, but
it is very much a relationshipand you're gonna be with this
(09:36):
athlete and you're gonna be withthis coach for hopefully four
years, that's the big plan.
But I also think it's.
Nerve wracking on the collegecoach side to, to offer a
scholarship to a kid and notknow if they're gonna say yes or
no or ghost you.
That's right.
So there's, you gotta putyourself in both shoes or both
sides of the of the story here.
Which I have been, I've been onboth sides, which is unique,
(09:58):
insight into both.
Yeah.
You have and you're, you havesuch a knowledge base that I
think is just it's wonderful.
I told you before we started, I,I'm constantly sending the
videos that you've done Yeah.
To my recruits because you dosuch a good job of showing a
five minute video and saying.
(10:18):
This is why this kid is adivision one recruit.
It's the speed.
It's not just the size, it'sright.
It's how they use their speed.
It's how they use theirathleticism.
It's how they use their size andtheir IQ and their eq.
So I just appreciate that.
Anybody out there, just GoogleSue Weber volleyball videos and
you're gonna learn a lot justby, I appreciate that.
(10:41):
Let's dive into volleyballbecause there's I work with a
ton of volleyball kids.
I don't know how that happened,but I've, probably 50% of my
clientele is volleyball.
I just, I work with a ton of'em.
What are, what do you think thethree top things coaches are
looking for in a volleyballrecruit these days?
Are there two or three thingsthat just jump out to you?
This is what the, this is whatseparates one kid from another.
(11:03):
Yeah.
And I think there's always theskill.
You have to have the skills.
You have to have what they'relooking for.
You have to have this, a certainlevel of talent.
But also like academics, a lotof schools are looking at the
academic fit as well.
But it, once I have 2, 5, 10kids, they're both jumping
similar.
They both pass they're both sixrotation players.
(11:23):
How do I make that difference?
The differentiating decision.
Yeah.
It's communication number.
I would say that's a huge partof it is do you not just
communicate a lot, but do youcommunicate well and are you
thoughtful?
Are are you asking the rightquestions?
Do you wanna learn, that typething and advance.
But I think the inquisitivenessof the communication is.
(11:46):
Is important in the recruitingprocess how you are as a person.
I always kid about this too, iswhen I'm watching a kid watching
a game, I come early, thetournament's off schedule per
usual, right?
And the kid's line judging,right?
Are you paying attention?
Are you just goofing around onyour phone?
Are you throwing your waterbottle to your mom and dad to
fill it up?
(12:07):
Those things are, will carryover into your future life as
well.
Yeah.
I think if you're a goodteammate, if you're a good.
Person those things carry overand make that decision.
So those are two, they're justmore like personalized
communication, good person.
And then just overall likeeffort, I would say too.
Yeah, things that you, thatdon't take talent, right?
(12:30):
You can be on time, you can be agood communicator.
You can put in the effort level.
So those are key on making thefinal decision.
I don't think.
Families understand this and Icatch myself at my daughter's
club matches.
I don't think familiesunderstand how much body
language in a moment.
(12:50):
Will affect a coach's decisionand go, okay, I'm done with her.
Yeah.
She's six one.
Yeah.
She can touch ten three, butgosh, I just, how she dealt with
her coach there, how she dealtwith her teammates there.
How she keeps looking over ather parents every time she makes
a mistake.
Or needs that validation fromher parents for so many coaches.
It's okay, I got 20 more of youto watch later today.
(13:11):
I can cross you off my list orI'm gonna drop you way down on
my list.
Or I'll need to watch you again.
Yeah.
See how you would mature as aplayer.
And at the division one, you'rewatching kids when they're 13,
14 years old.
They're very different whenthey're 15, 16, 17.
And the game is different.
I always talk about eros areusually the last to get
recruited.
(13:31):
Sometimes.
And because it's easy to dig a14 year old's hit, it's not as
easy to dig an 18 year old'shit.
That's right.
So I think you're spot on thoughthe family aspect of it or un
understanding that the bodylanguage dynamics and just how
you interact with people.
And especially kids these daysthey wanna text.
They wanna send emojis or memes.
(13:52):
They don't wanna really talk toyou face to face sometimes.
And, but I do think in a teamsport, so important to have
that, the ability to communicatewell.
And on the parent side, ifyou're, sometimes I'm like,
who's the parent of this child?
That's right.
That's why I said I'm constantlychecking myself.
I'm like, oh.
(14:13):
Sit down, be quiet.
Shut your trap.
So I'll look at how tall mom anddad are too, but I'll also look
at how loud they are sometimesas well.
Good or bad.
That's right.
There's multiple sides of whatyou can look by, what you can
evaluate by seeing a parrot.
I'm gonna do a shameless plughere.
It's not intentional, but Iwrote, I just wrote all these
journals.
I just wrote the softballjournal and the volleyball
recruits journal, and I did itbecause I'm finding so many 15
(14:37):
and 16 and 17 year olds.
Haven't thought about what kindof student athlete am I?
What kind of teammate am I?
What kind of coach do I need?
And I wrote the journal withthose prompts so the kids can
start thinking about it.
How much are you facing andseeing when you're working with
a family and you're working witha kid?
We, they're so used to texting,like you said, they're so used
(15:00):
to answering with one word or anemoji or something that doesn't
even spell the word.
You don't, it's almost like youneed a translator.
How much of that is affecting arecruit when they're trying to
communicate with a coach orthey're simply not prepared when
a coach calls?
Yeah.
And I would say the coachingdynamic, the coaches have gotten
(15:20):
younger too, right?
So it's like the, you have as arecruit, is this a younger
coach?
Am I gonna, do I want a youngercoach because I can speak their
language a little bit more.
Or do I want a, an older coachthat's more like maybe like my
parents who are like my traineror whatever, right?
So I think that's a veryimportant.
Thing to think about is whatkind of coach do I want or what
(15:42):
do I perform best under?
When I was getting recruited,there was coaches that I was
like, oh, no way.
I can't, I would not fit wellwith them.
Our personalities would not getalong.
So it could be the best schoolout there.
I could have started everymatch, but I would've been
miserable, yeah.
Because I'm not in the rightenvironment.
So those are very good questionsto ask, and I think.
(16:05):
What's cool about, I'll give alittle shameless plug too with
IMG and NCSA is we do have thismental performance and how to
face fear and nutrition trainingeven.
All those things we didn't havewhen we were growing up.
That's right.
As athletes.
But it's a very important partof the game for sure.
It's huge and I think, we keeptalking about the volume of
(16:25):
recruits out there these days.
Yeah.
Compared to the opportunitiesout there.
I mean we're hearing co divisionone coaches say out loud, we are
no longer recruiting freshmen.
Yeah.
They're coming out and sayingit, so I think to be able to
separate yourself as a recruit,you can't just say I'm gonna
work on my ability and mycharacter.
There's so many layers to giveyou that edge where it doesn't
(16:46):
have to consume your time.
It can be 10 minutes a day.
It can be.
40 minutes a week where you'reworking on some of those things.
There's so many great resourcesthat you guys offer that,
families just, they need to payattention to.
What are some of the commonmistakes families are making
when they're starting therecruiting process?
(17:06):
Yeah, when they're starting and,everybody's journey is
different, the timeline istotally different.
College coaches recruit atdifferent times, like I
mentioned, when division onewill start watching at 13,
really young.
But division three, sometimesthey don't.
They need to know what yourscores are or if you can get
accepted to the school beforethey can really pay attention to
(17:26):
you sometimes, right?
I think.
Sometimes people start laterthan they they think, oh no, I
can't talk to coaches until June15th or September one, or
whatever the, for volleyballit's June 15th, but the
recruiting process starts waybefore that, and you could do
research.
On schools you can watch on TVnow, which is amazing.
(17:46):
You can compare yourself, Ithink I say that in the videos
yeah, you do go watch divisionthree.
Go watch division one and seeare, am I similar to one or the
other?
So I think they just think thatthey're gonna get recruited or
coaches are gonna find them.
Like we had mentioned earlierversus putting in some work
earlier on in the process anddoing some research.
It's so essential.
(18:07):
What do you, and this, I'll putsome context in.
This is one of my pet peeves.
What do you say to a high schoolcoach?
A high school athletic directora club coach that tells a kid
you don't have to worry aboutrecruiting till your junior
year, after your junior year.
What do you say to them?
Oh that's tough.
Because who, everybody's journeyis different.
(18:29):
Who are they to say that theyshouldn't start researching
something earlier than later orstart looking into something.
If you wanna be a doctor.
Or a veterinarian or whatever,you're not gonna just be like,
oh, I'll just be one one day.
Yeah, you're gonna have to dosome research and prepping and
take tests and prep for thosetests and whatever else.
(18:50):
So I think it's, I don't wannasay naive, but I think it is
just.
Don't fit everybody into onebucket.
Yeah.
Not everybody has the samejourney as, as maybe they did as
a coach or player too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It, for me it really comes downto the early bird gets the worm.
The earlier you do anything,when do we tell our kids, Hey,
(19:12):
you've got a paper due inOctober, let's start it the day
before.
Exactly.
Exactly.
We don't go, let's stress youout.
Really.
Who?
Yeah.
Versus trying to get some, yeah,we, we've got a new home, we
have to move by this date.
Let's start looking the daybefore, the week before.
It just doesn't make any sensein any other part of our life.
And the earlier we start ourrecruitment, the more options we
(19:34):
have.
And sometimes it's not reachingout to every single coach out
there.
It's exactly, it's doing theresearch, it's doing the dirty
work behind the scenes.
So you feel prepared, I think wetalk about that all the time, is
you're not gonna go into a testand cram the night before.
You're gonna prepare.
You're gonna learn, you're gonnaread the book, you're gonna do
some practice testing before yougo into it.
Right on.
And there with you.
Yeah.
(19:55):
It's so powerful to, to be ableto start early and you don't
have to work fast, then youdon't have to make quick
decisions.
You can take your time andevaluate and compare and
contrast, like you always say.
Let's take that typical15-year-old volleyball player.
What do they need to understandabout the process in terms of
just the little things that theycan start doing at the end of
their sophomore year or thebeginning of their sophomore
(20:16):
year that you recommend?
Sophomore year is I think yousee it in club too, right?
There'd be a lot of 12 and 13teams, year old teams, and then
you're only having one or two,maybe 17, 18-year-old teams,
because around that sophomoreyear, you figure out, you make
that decision of.
Is this real for me or am Ilike, this is just for fun.
And for fun is fine.
(20:37):
I think go play for fun.
Play every sport you can.
I was a four sport athlete inhigh school.
Yeah, I would recommend that toanyone, honestly.
But don't play just because yourmom played in college.
Don't continue on.
Make it your decision and yourprocess.
So I know that's hard for a 15,16-year-old to do is ask those
tough questions to yourself.
(20:58):
But I think you'll be muchhappier in the future if you're
doing it because you want to doit.
And take some ownership in that.
Isn't it funny if you go watch ahigh school match or a club
match, there's always that onekid that's just that is a gym
rat.
Yeah, they still wanna hit afterthe batch is over.
They just played three likeeight hours of volleyball.
(21:18):
They're like, that's, can youstop me again?
They can't get enough of it.
And college coaches love thatbecause if you're already ready
to get off the floor, if you'realready so excited to go get on
your phone and be done withvolleyball.
What's it gonna be like whenit's your life, when it's, 10,
12 months out of the year?
So you gotta love it.
So I love the advice.
If it's not there for you, maybeplay, but maybe college isn't
(21:41):
for you.
Yeah.
And yeah, I think that's a toughquestion sometimes.
Yeah.
To ask yourself.
But it's a very.
It's important for both sides.
The college coach doesn't wantyou if you don't wanna be there,
and you're gonna be miserable ifyou don't wanna be there.
So let's make the rightdecision.
We just had all those questionsin my house, the last, and
they're important.
It's either way, it's, there isno right or wrong answer either.
(22:03):
That's what I always say topeople.
This is your life.
These are your decisions, theseare your questions.
Don't do it.
'cause I want you to do it.
Yeah, I want you to make yourown decision.
But you were kidding aroundabout gym rats.
I'll tell you a story aboutAaron Virtue, who is one of my
teammates at Illinois.
She was the Olympic assistantcoach for, she's the head coach
at Michigan right now.
(22:24):
Yeah, she would.
She try working on her jumpserve all the time.
And her shoes her feet wouldsweat so much that her shoes
would squeak and there's waterall over it.
And we're like, Erin, get theheck outta the gym.
But you can see where she wentin life and with her coaching
experience.
So I think that's so funny toYeah.
Say Gym Red.
I'm like, oh, that's there hurtyou.
(22:45):
I think that's where parentsstruggle with the evaluation of
their own child is.
They see talent.
They see size.
Yeah.
They hear, I love it.
I love being with my teammates.
But when you gotta get them to,go outside and work on their,
serve off the garage door for 10minutes or right, or pass for 10
minutes, and they go, nah, Idon't really wanna do that.
There's a sign there that maybethe higher levels may not be
(23:08):
right for them.
Maybe something lower for themmight be better.
Yeah, for sure.
And I think I had the reallycool opportunity to go to the
Paralympic and Olympic Hall ofFame celebration with Ruth
Nelson, which I wanna recommendyou for the next podcast or
Yeah, set me up.
Let's do it.
Yeah, she'd be great.
Those are like the one, CarrieWalsh was there.
We were, Ruth was accepting thehonor for Flo Hyman, which is
(23:31):
amazing.
And, bode Miller was there withski, with skiing, and there's
just so many crazy people therethat Very cool.
I thought I was decent.
I was like 1% of the 1% going todivision one, but these people
are a next level.
Yeah.
And I think there's always thenext level.
So if you think you can skate byas a high school athlete,
there's always someone else outthere working their butt off.
(23:53):
For sure.
That's right.
I just had dinner with a guy whowon four Stanley Cups, at the
NHL level.
He didn't get drafted.
He had to go overseas and playas a chump for two years, and
finally got recognized and got achance to come back to the
States.
And he played for 15 years andwon four Stanley Cups.
Yeah.
And he goes, Matt, I was thesmallest guy on every team I
(24:14):
ever played on, but I had toprove that I had the heart, I
had to prove I had the workethic, and I loved it so much.
I would do anything to getbetter.
Yeah.
And those are kids out theretoo.
Maybe not be the biggest orsmallest or best, but they have
the work ethic that will, theywill outwork everyone.
Exactly.
And every coach loves thosekids.
You just, you can't have enoughof those kids in your program
(24:36):
'cause they're hard to find.
Yeah.
Let's finish with somethingthat, that.
Probably the biggest questionyou and I both have to deal with
throughout our days, and that'sthe idea of travel and club
volleyball and travel ball,whatever sport it is.
Yeah.
And I love asking this questionto college coaches because it's
always a different answer than Ithink what parents expect.
(24:59):
Okay.
Or maybe a little bit.
Different than what they expect.
What is your, when you see thevalue of travel volleyball, you
talked about being a four sportathlete.
If you're a four sport athlete,it's really tough.
Tough to play travel ofanything.
For sure.
What is your advice to familiesthat are going through that
decision?
They got a kid that's great atvolleyball, a great at
(25:20):
basketball, great at softballtrack.
They love playing three sports,so it's really hard to also play
club volleyball in the springand summer.
If you're doing all that.
What's your advice to them whenthey're thinking about making
their kid or their kid giving upthose sports they love?
How valuable is travelvolleyball and club volleyball
for that kid to get recruited?
(25:42):
Yeah.
And I think, there's a balance,right?
You have to get seen, you haveto be out there playing, and
coaches need to be able toevaluate you live.
A lot of the stuff we do at nncSA is on video, right?
Just because there's just somany kids out there, we can't go
watch every single one, right?
And that's similar to thecollege coach side.
I think club is important.
It's, it may not have to go to20 national tournaments and all
(26:05):
of them because if you're onthat coach's radar because
you've done your research andyou've emailed that coach and
you've had some communication,hopefully you know that
different levels or how howeverit happens, that coach will then
come see you.
So when I was a college coach, Iwould make my recruiting
calendar.
By the people that I amrecruiting, not just, I'm gonna
(26:28):
go to this tournament all, everysingle year.
If the kid wasn't there that Iwasn't recruiting, I'm not gonna
go to that tournament.
I think.
There's some out there.
I'll do the disclaimer that arelike nationals, right?
You're gonna go to nationals?
'cause every single person isbasically there, but, I do think
you can play for a local, morelocal club or regional club.
And if you do more work on thecommunication side, college
(26:49):
coaches will still see you.
We'll still get there.
So there's a balance.
You do have to, I think you dohave to play.
Yeah.
Because you have to getevaluated and seen, are you on
the first team here or on thefourth team here though?
That's another whole ball of waxor a question we could go into.
But I think the idea is if yousee a kid on film, it's wow,
there's something special there.
(27:11):
Yeah.
And maybe they're not gonna beplaying at nationals at Dallas,
or they're not gonna be inAtlanta for that tournament.
You're gonna go to.
They're, you're gonna try andfind a way to learn more about
that kid, see them play someshape or form, right?
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
And that's where, the video isyour trailer to the movie.
I don't know if I say that inthe videos either, but I always
say it.
Yeah.
That's your, it's a greatmetaphor.
(27:33):
Yeah.
That's your buzz, what is it?
Sizzle video, whatever you wannacall it these days.
Yeah.
To get that coach's attention.
And that's why I always say, putyour best.
Clips first, because you wannagrab that attention so then they
can go watch the movie whereveryou are.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Coach, it's so great to catch upwith you.
You're, you've got such a greatmind, you work so well with,
(27:54):
whether it's coaches or studentathletes you're just always
fantastic about it.
You've got a great demeanorabout you, so I can't recommend
you enough to any family goingthrough this recruiting process.
Tell'em where they can find youif they want to follow you and
learn more about you.
Yeah, so I'm on the socials,right?
I'm on Instagram, mostly atCoach Sue.
(28:15):
11.
You can grab me there.
You can find me on Facebook andCSA Coach Sue.
But yeah, I think LinkedIn, ifyou're on, if you're the
business side of the watchers,I'm on LinkedIn for under Sue
Weber too.
But I just think it's importantto ask questions and use all
your resources.
This is a great resource.
Your book's a great resource.
Your club coach is a greatresource.
Don't, just don't just getblinders on and listen to one
(28:37):
person, get a whole bunch ofdifferent opinions.
That's great advice.
Thank you for having theconversation.
I miss talking to you andanything I can ever do for you,
you got me.
Just call.
Yeah.
Hop over the mountains.
Come on over again.
I know we're a lot closer thanwe used to be.
Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks, coach.
Have a great start to the schoolyear.
Awesome.
Thank you.
That wraps up my conversationwith Sue Weber.
(28:59):
What I love about Sue is how sheblends her experience as a
division one player, a coach.
And now, as someone workingevery day in the recruiting
space, she understands both theathlete's perspective and the
college coach's perspective, andthat makes her advice so
valuable for families.
Make sure you're following heron Instagram at Coach Sue 11.
And remember, you can alwaysfollow me at Coach Matt Rogers
(29:22):
and don't miss her videos onYouTube and Facebook.
She.
Putting out outstanding contentthat can help you better
understand and prepare for therecruiting journey.
You can also connect with her onLinkedIn at Sue Weber.
And as always, don't forget tograb your copy of the recruits
journals now available forvolleyball, baseball,
basketball, and softball withthe Soccer Recruits Journal
(29:45):
coming later this week.
They're designed to keep youfocused, help your student
athlete get organized and betterunderstand their value and how
to communicate with coaches, andit also just helps them prepare
for.
Every step of the recruitingprocess.
I wrote the journals, so anyfamily that wants to start the
process, it takes you from thebeginning and helps you all the
(30:07):
way through the end.
You can find all of my books andresources@coachmattrogers.com.
If you haven't already hit thatsubscribe button, make sure
you're sending these episodes inmy blog to those families or
friends or coaches who you thinkthey might help.
And I always appreciate yourcomments.
Don't be afraid to leave me anote, even if it's something
(30:28):
critical saying, Matt, I wishyou'd do this better.
I wish you'd have some guestslike this on.
I'd love to hear it.
Anything I can do to help, Iwant to do it.
Until next time, stay focused,stay humble, and stay in the
fight.
Thing to think about is whatkind of coach do I want or what
do I perform best under?
When I was getting recruited,there was coaches that I was
like, oh, no way.
I can't, I would not fit wellwith them.
Our personalities would not getalong.
So it could be the best schoolout there.
I could have started everymatch, but I would've been
(00:20):
miserable, yeah.
Because I'm not in the rightenvironment.
Welcome back to The SignificantRecruiting Podcast.
I'm your host, Matt Rogers.
You just heard a clip fromtoday's guest, my old friend Sue
Weber, a former division onevolleyball player and coach who
(00:41):
now works at the center of thevolleyball recruiting world and
plays a big role as a partnerwith USA Volleyball.
Sue brings a unique perspectivebridging her own experiences as
an athlete with her deepinvolvement in helping families
navigate the recruiting process.
Before we dive in, make sure youhit that subscribe button, and
send in your comments.
(01:02):
Your support keeps theseconversations going and helps
more families hear fromincredible voices like Sue
Weber.
And don't forget the volleyball,baseball, basketball, and
softball recruits journals arenow available with the soccer
recruits journal dropping laterthis week.
These are perfect companionpieces to the significant
recruiting book, the Playbookfor Prospective College
(01:25):
Athletes.
You can find themall@coachmattrogers.com.
I also encourage you to followCoach Weber on Instagram at
Coach Sue 11 and check out ourvideos on YouTube and Facebook.
They are great resources forathletes, parents, and coaches.
You can also connect with herprofessionally on LinkedIn at
Sue Weber.
(01:45):
Now let's get into today'sconversation with Coach Sue
Weber.
Sue Weber, so great to see you.
It's been a long time.
Thanks for being on theSignificant Coaching podcast.
Thanks for having me.
I, you texted me and I was like,yes, absolutely.
Let's get on and see what we cando here and help families and
athletes who are looking to playat that next level.
(02:06):
Absolutely.
I loved working with you.
We worked at NCSA for a fewyears together and we did a
bunch of stuff with USAvolleyball together and Yeah.
And I wanted to have Jan'cause Iwas.
I keep sending your videos.
You make these great videos onwhat a division one athlete
looks like.
Division two, division three Nai.
And I find myself sending themto recruits all the time.
(02:27):
It's like I need to get around'cause you evaluate kids so well
and you break it down so well.
So I know you're playing lotsof, you got lots of hats.
Let's talk about where you'vebeen and where you've gone.
So you were a division oneplayer, played at U of I,
university of Illinois.
You were a division oneassistant coach.
You've been a director ofvolleyball recruiting.
(02:48):
How has each role shaped the wayrecruiting today?
Yeah, I think, starting from thebeginning like we were just
talk, talking a little bit aboutour backgrounds of being from a
small town Illinois kid, right?
Yep.
And not a Chicago like bigsuburb kid.
And having these large clubsthat I played for I was at a
little club and it was actually,it's very unique because we had
(03:10):
three hubs.
So it was Springfield, Kokiarea, and then Champagne.
And the three best players fromeach hub would play together.
So we all went to Vision One,which is awesome.
That's right.
But it's very unique where wedidn't really practice with each
other.
So it was just like throwing thebest, it was like an all star
club team.
(03:31):
So that's, very different thanthese.
These days of club tournamentsand practice schedules and
whatever else.
But that's shaping me into, youdon't always have to be like the
biggest and brightest I guessyou could say, but you have to
put in the work.
And you have to, especially froma smaller town, you have to use
all of your resources, not justyour high school coach, your
(03:51):
club coach, but other peoplethat are around you and tap into
everything.
And then going from.
Starting every single game as ahigh school and club player to
sit on the bench.
My first year right in Illinois,getting in here every once in a
while, I had to prove myselfagain and I had to work for it.
I think, coming from that smalltown atmosphere, you just keep
(04:12):
plugging along and you try toprove yourself every day.
Isn't it crazy what that, thatleague has always been good.
The big ten's always been greatwith volleyball, but isn't it
crazy almost how dominant it'sbecome?
And now it's coast to coast,right?
Yeah.
Like when I played, I'm agingmyself here.
Nebraska wasn't even in theconference yet.
No, it wasn't.
Penn State, obviously was apowerhouse when I was playing.
(04:33):
We were, Illinois was prettygood.
We were, you guys were great.
Yeah.
All the time.
And it's just, even now I'm sixfeet tall and I would be tiny in
the Big 10.
You would be.
I'm like, I better, I was a goodpastor.
I might be AO now.
Yeah.
So just like the change of thegame even from 10, 20 years ago,
the recruiting aspect of it thephysicality of the game of the
(04:57):
players and I think also theknowledge, like the, there's a
lot more.
Volleyball knowledge, people outthere, the volleyball IQ is
getting so high and now withprofessional leagues in the
States and it's great.
It's just all over the place.
I think I watched eight hours ofvolleyball on Sunday.
Yeah.
On tv, which is, yeah, my wifeand I do too.
(05:18):
It's constantly on.
Yep.
Which is awesome.
And it seems like the top 10teams are always playing each
other.
It's Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin,Stanford, it seems like you can
watch really great volleyballall the time now.
What's the biggest differencefor you and what was going on
recruiting, let's just say 10years ago when you started at
(05:40):
NCSA and you got out ofcoaching.
What's changed with how coachesrecruit today?
Yeah, I always kid too is likewhen I first started with NCSA,
we did have the online videosand the profiles, right?
When I was playing and gettingrecruited, it was like BHS
tapes, right?
Type writers, like way back.
(06:00):
So even that's crazy to me.
And when NCSA started in 2000,there was no YouTube, there was
no huddle, there was no videosonline.
So I think.
The ability for college coachesto see more people, more
athletes has really increasedover the last 10, 15 years for
sure.
Which kind of levels the playingfield a little bit.
(06:21):
Yeah.
To where, you don't always haveto recruit locally.
I think the Big 10, we weretalking about that a lot of
Midwest kids when I was playing.
Now there's California andHawaii and international, and it
just like levels the playingfield for.
The distance, but it also makesit harder for the kids because
there's more people out there.
That's right.
More eyes on athletes that wouldhave a good fit for that school.
(06:44):
So I think video has been a hugeincrease.
Over the years.
That's number one.
But then there's always the newrules and NIL and the transfer
portal and all these things thathave come about in probably the
last five years, honestly.
Which has really played, a lotof uncertainty, I guess you
could say.
That's what we hear a lot fromour families.
(07:05):
What does this mean?
What is, how does this affectme?
As a recruit, but also how doesit affect the college coaches?
With roster limits and differentscholarship options.
So there's a lot that haschanged in the last five, 10
years.
If you go back now, I was a headcoach for the first time, a head
college coach in 2001.
Yeah.
(07:25):
Yeah.
I would bet, and I may be wrong,tell me if I'm wrong about this,
but I would bet less than 5% ofthe families of recruits out
there.
Understood that it was their jobto reach out to coaches.
That being found was almostimpossible.
It was maybe 10% of kids wouldget found somewhere.
Yeah.
Do you feel like that's changedin terms of the education and
(07:48):
how many more familiesunderstand they've got to do
some outreach, they've gottasend an email, they gotta make a
phone call.
Do you think that's been a bigpart of the change?
I think so I think people areleaning in on recruiting help
whether that's, like I mentionedfrom recruiting services or from
their club director or clubrecruiting coordinator or high
school coach, maybe played, so Iwould say a lot more advice is
(08:11):
getting, presented to families,and you're right, you're
absolutely right.
Like the 2% of PE of the 2% aregonna get exposure and get seen.
But it's those tweeners, it'sthe, I could play division one,
but maybe I'd be better fit fortwo division two or NAIA that
have that maybe they didn't knowto reach out before and now
they're getting the education,the help that they get they need
(08:33):
to get out there.
Yeah.
It's pretty amazing.
When I was a, when I started, Iwas a division three coach.
I might hear from three to fivekids a week.
Yep.
I was talking to a D three coachthe other day.
And I think he got 28 recruitingemails during our interview.
During our conversation.
During the conversation, he gotdone.
He goes, yeah.
He goes, Matt, we just got donetalk about recruiting.
(08:54):
I just got 28 emails since westarted talking.
I was like, oh my gosh.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
But it's fun.
But again, I think it makes itharder on recruits because
there's such a volume now andyeah.
Being specific is so important,knowing, doing your research on
the schools, making sure you'rereaching out to the programs
that really you think you canplay there.
(09:15):
Fit everything about you, notjust athletes, for sure.
And I think you said it's muchharder on the athletes, it's
harder on the coaches too,honestly.
And it is a relationship.
I always kid of it's that youwill set my rose this week.
Will you keep in contact withme?
So it's kind like a dating game,which is weird, but to say, but
it is very much a relationshipand you're gonna be with this
(09:36):
athlete and you're gonna be withthis coach for hopefully four
years, that's the big plan.
But I also think it's.
Nerve wracking on the collegecoach side to, to offer a
scholarship to a kid and notknow if they're gonna say yes or
no or ghost you.
That's right.
So there's, you gotta putyourself in both shoes or both
sides of the of the story here.
Which I have been, I've been onboth sides, which is unique,
(09:58):
insight into both.
Yeah.
You have and you're, you havesuch a knowledge base that I
think is just it's wonderful.
I told you before we started, I,I'm constantly sending the
videos that you've done Yeah.
To my recruits because you dosuch a good job of showing a
five minute video and saying.
(10:18):
This is why this kid is adivision one recruit.
It's the speed.
It's not just the size, it'sright.
It's how they use their speed.
It's how they use theirathleticism.
It's how they use their size andtheir IQ and their eq.
So I just appreciate that.
Anybody out there, just GoogleSue Weber volleyball videos and
you're gonna learn a lot justby, I appreciate that.
(10:41):
Let's dive into volleyballbecause there's I work with a
ton of volleyball kids.
I don't know how that happened,but I've, probably 50% of my
clientele is volleyball.
I just, I work with a ton of'em.
What are, what do you think thethree top things coaches are
looking for in a volleyballrecruit these days?
Are there two or three thingsthat just jump out to you?
This is what the, this is whatseparates one kid from another.
(11:03):
Yeah.
And I think there's always theskill.
You have to have the skills.
You have to have what they'relooking for.
You have to have this, a certainlevel of talent.
But also like academics, a lotof schools are looking at the
academic fit as well.
But it, once I have 2, 5, 10kids, they're both jumping
similar.
They both pass they're both sixrotation players.
(11:23):
How do I make that difference?
The differentiating decision.
Yeah.
It's communication number.
I would say that's a huge partof it is do you not just
communicate a lot, but do youcommunicate well and are you
thoughtful?
Are are you asking the rightquestions?
Do you wanna learn, that typething and advance.
But I think the inquisitivenessof the communication is.
(11:46):
Is important in the recruitingprocess how you are as a person.
I always kid about this too, iswhen I'm watching a kid watching
a game, I come early, thetournament's off schedule per
usual, right?
And the kid's line judging,right?
Are you paying attention?
Are you just goofing around onyour phone?
Are you throwing your waterbottle to your mom and dad to
fill it up?
(12:07):
Those things are, will carryover into your future life as
well.
Yeah.
I think if you're a goodteammate, if you're a good.
Person those things carry overand make that decision.
So those are two, they're justmore like personalized
communication, good person.
And then just overall likeeffort, I would say too.
Yeah, things that you, thatdon't take talent, right?
(12:30):
You can be on time, you can be agood communicator.
You can put in the effort level.
So those are key on making thefinal decision.
I don't think.
Families understand this and Icatch myself at my daughter's
club matches.
I don't think familiesunderstand how much body
language in a moment.
(12:50):
Will affect a coach's decisionand go, okay, I'm done with her.
Yeah.
She's six one.
Yeah.
She can touch ten three, butgosh, I just, how she dealt with
her coach there, how she dealtwith her teammates there.
How she keeps looking over ather parents every time she makes
a mistake.
Or needs that validation fromher parents for so many coaches.
It's okay, I got 20 more of youto watch later today.
(13:11):
I can cross you off my list orI'm gonna drop you way down on
my list.
Or I'll need to watch you again.
Yeah.
See how you would mature as aplayer.
And at the division one, you'rewatching kids when they're 13,
14 years old.
They're very different whenthey're 15, 16, 17.
And the game is different.
I always talk about eros areusually the last to get
recruited.
(13:31):
Sometimes.
And because it's easy to dig a14 year old's hit, it's not as
easy to dig an 18 year old'shit.
That's right.
So I think you're spot on thoughthe family aspect of it or un
understanding that the bodylanguage dynamics and just how
you interact with people.
And especially kids these daysthey wanna text.
They wanna send emojis or memes.
(13:52):
They don't wanna really talk toyou face to face sometimes.
And, but I do think in a teamsport, so important to have
that, the ability to communicatewell.
And on the parent side, ifyou're, sometimes I'm like,
who's the parent of this child?
That's right.
That's why I said I'm constantlychecking myself.
I'm like, oh.
(14:13):
Sit down, be quiet.
Shut your trap.
So I'll look at how tall mom anddad are too, but I'll also look
at how loud they are sometimesas well.
Good or bad.
That's right.
There's multiple sides of whatyou can look by, what you can
evaluate by seeing a parrot.
I'm gonna do a shameless plughere.
It's not intentional, but Iwrote, I just wrote all these
journals.
I just wrote the softballjournal and the volleyball
recruits journal, and I did itbecause I'm finding so many 15
(14:37):
and 16 and 17 year olds.
Haven't thought about what kindof student athlete am I?
What kind of teammate am I?
What kind of coach do I need?
And I wrote the journal withthose prompts so the kids can
start thinking about it.
How much are you facing andseeing when you're working with
a family and you're working witha kid?
We, they're so used to texting,like you said, they're so used
(15:00):
to answering with one word or anemoji or something that doesn't
even spell the word.
You don't, it's almost like youneed a translator.
How much of that is affecting arecruit when they're trying to
communicate with a coach orthey're simply not prepared when
a coach calls?
Yeah.
And I would say the coachingdynamic, the coaches have gotten
(15:20):
younger too, right?
So it's like the, you have as arecruit, is this a younger
coach?
Am I gonna, do I want a youngercoach because I can speak their
language a little bit more.
Or do I want a, an older coachthat's more like maybe like my
parents who are like my traineror whatever, right?
So I think that's a veryimportant.
Thing to think about is whatkind of coach do I want or what
(15:42):
do I perform best under?
When I was getting recruited,there was coaches that I was
like, oh, no way.
I can't, I would not fit wellwith them.
Our personalities would not getalong.
So it could be the best schoolout there.
I could have started everymatch, but I would've been
miserable, yeah.
Because I'm not in the rightenvironment.
So those are very good questionsto ask, and I think.
(16:05):
What's cool about, I'll give alittle shameless plug too with
IMG and NCSA is we do have thismental performance and how to
face fear and nutrition trainingeven.
All those things we didn't havewhen we were growing up.
That's right.
As athletes.
But it's a very important partof the game for sure.
It's huge and I think, we keeptalking about the volume of
(16:25):
recruits out there these days.
Yeah.
Compared to the opportunitiesout there.
I mean we're hearing co divisionone coaches say out loud, we are
no longer recruiting freshmen.
Yeah.
They're coming out and sayingit, so I think to be able to
separate yourself as a recruit,you can't just say I'm gonna
work on my ability and mycharacter.
There's so many layers to giveyou that edge where it doesn't
(16:46):
have to consume your time.
It can be 10 minutes a day.
It can be.
40 minutes a week where you'reworking on some of those things.
There's so many great resourcesthat you guys offer that,
families just, they need to payattention to.
What are some of the commonmistakes families are making
when they're starting therecruiting process?
(17:06):
Yeah, when they're starting and,everybody's journey is
different, the timeline istotally different.
College coaches recruit atdifferent times, like I
mentioned, when division onewill start watching at 13,
really young.
But division three, sometimesthey don't.
They need to know what yourscores are or if you can get
accepted to the school beforethey can really pay attention to
(17:26):
you sometimes, right?
I think.
Sometimes people start laterthan they they think, oh no, I
can't talk to coaches until June15th or September one, or
whatever the, for volleyballit's June 15th, but the
recruiting process starts waybefore that, and you could do
research.
On schools you can watch on TVnow, which is amazing.
(17:46):
You can compare yourself, Ithink I say that in the videos
yeah, you do go watch divisionthree.
Go watch division one and seeare, am I similar to one or the
other?
So I think they just think thatthey're gonna get recruited or
coaches are gonna find them.
Like we had mentioned earlierversus putting in some work
earlier on in the process anddoing some research.
It's so essential.
(18:07):
What do you, and this, I'll putsome context in.
This is one of my pet peeves.
What do you say to a high schoolcoach?
A high school athletic directora club coach that tells a kid
you don't have to worry aboutrecruiting till your junior
year, after your junior year.
What do you say to them?
Oh that's tough.
Because who, everybody's journeyis different.
(18:29):
Who are they to say that theyshouldn't start researching
something earlier than later orstart looking into something.
If you wanna be a doctor.
Or a veterinarian or whatever,you're not gonna just be like,
oh, I'll just be one one day.
Yeah, you're gonna have to dosome research and prepping and
take tests and prep for thosetests and whatever else.
(18:50):
So I think it's, I don't wannasay naive, but I think it is
just.
Don't fit everybody into onebucket.
Yeah.
Not everybody has the samejourney as, as maybe they did as
a coach or player too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It, for me it really comes downto the early bird gets the worm.
The earlier you do anything,when do we tell our kids, Hey,
(19:12):
you've got a paper due inOctober, let's start it the day
before.
Exactly.
Exactly.
We don't go, let's stress youout.
Really.
Who?
Yeah.
Versus trying to get some, yeah,we, we've got a new home, we
have to move by this date.
Let's start looking the daybefore, the week before.
It just doesn't make any sensein any other part of our life.
And the earlier we start ourrecruitment, the more options we
(19:34):
have.
And sometimes it's not reachingout to every single coach out
there.
It's exactly, it's doing theresearch, it's doing the dirty
work behind the scenes.
So you feel prepared, I think wetalk about that all the time, is
you're not gonna go into a testand cram the night before.
You're gonna prepare.
You're gonna learn, you're gonnaread the book, you're gonna do
some practice testing before yougo into it.
Right on.
And there with you.
Yeah.
(19:55):
It's so powerful to, to be ableto start early and you don't
have to work fast, then youdon't have to make quick
decisions.
You can take your time andevaluate and compare and
contrast, like you always say.
Let's take that typical15-year-old volleyball player.
What do they need to understandabout the process in terms of
just the little things that theycan start doing at the end of
their sophomore year or thebeginning of their sophomore
(20:16):
year that you recommend?
Sophomore year is I think yousee it in club too, right?
There'd be a lot of 12 and 13teams, year old teams, and then
you're only having one or two,maybe 17, 18-year-old teams,
because around that sophomoreyear, you figure out, you make
that decision of.
Is this real for me or am Ilike, this is just for fun.
And for fun is fine.
(20:37):
I think go play for fun.
Play every sport you can.
I was a four sport athlete inhigh school.
Yeah, I would recommend that toanyone, honestly.
But don't play just because yourmom played in college.
Don't continue on.
Make it your decision and yourprocess.
So I know that's hard for a 15,16-year-old to do is ask those
tough questions to yourself.
(20:58):
But I think you'll be muchhappier in the future if you're
doing it because you want to doit.
And take some ownership in that.
Isn't it funny if you go watch ahigh school match or a club
match, there's always that onekid that's just that is a gym
rat.
Yeah, they still wanna hit afterthe batch is over.
They just played three likeeight hours of volleyball.
(21:18):
They're like, that's, can youstop me again?
They can't get enough of it.
And college coaches love thatbecause if you're already ready
to get off the floor, if you'realready so excited to go get on
your phone and be done withvolleyball.
What's it gonna be like whenit's your life, when it's, 10,
12 months out of the year?
So you gotta love it.
So I love the advice.
If it's not there for you, maybeplay, but maybe college isn't
(21:41):
for you.
Yeah.
And yeah, I think that's a toughquestion sometimes.
Yeah.
To ask yourself.
But it's a very.
It's important for both sides.
The college coach doesn't wantyou if you don't wanna be there,
and you're gonna be miserable ifyou don't wanna be there.
So let's make the rightdecision.
We just had all those questionsin my house, the last, and
they're important.
It's either way, it's, there isno right or wrong answer either.
(22:03):
That's what I always say topeople.
This is your life.
These are your decisions, theseare your questions.
Don't do it.
'cause I want you to do it.
Yeah, I want you to make yourown decision.
But you were kidding aroundabout gym rats.
I'll tell you a story aboutAaron Virtue, who is one of my
teammates at Illinois.
She was the Olympic assistantcoach for, she's the head coach
at Michigan right now.
(22:24):
Yeah, she would.
She try working on her jumpserve all the time.
And her shoes her feet wouldsweat so much that her shoes
would squeak and there's waterall over it.
And we're like, Erin, get theheck outta the gym.
But you can see where she wentin life and with her coaching
experience.
So I think that's so funny toYeah.
Say Gym Red.
I'm like, oh, that's there hurtyou.
(22:45):
I think that's where parentsstruggle with the evaluation of
their own child is.
They see talent.
They see size.
Yeah.
They hear, I love it.
I love being with my teammates.
But when you gotta get them to,go outside and work on their,
serve off the garage door for 10minutes or right, or pass for 10
minutes, and they go, nah, Idon't really wanna do that.
There's a sign there that maybethe higher levels may not be
(23:08):
right for them.
Maybe something lower for themmight be better.
Yeah, for sure.
And I think I had the reallycool opportunity to go to the
Paralympic and Olympic Hall ofFame celebration with Ruth
Nelson, which I wanna recommendyou for the next podcast or
Yeah, set me up.
Let's do it.
Yeah, she'd be great.
Those are like the one, CarrieWalsh was there.
We were, Ruth was accepting thehonor for Flo Hyman, which is
(23:31):
amazing.
And, bode Miller was there withski, with skiing, and there's
just so many crazy people therethat Very cool.
I thought I was decent.
I was like 1% of the 1% going todivision one, but these people
are a next level.
Yeah.
And I think there's always thenext level.
So if you think you can skate byas a high school athlete,
there's always someone else outthere working their butt off.
(23:53):
For sure.
That's right.
I just had dinner with a guy whowon four Stanley Cups, at the
NHL level.
He didn't get drafted.
He had to go overseas and playas a chump for two years, and
finally got recognized and got achance to come back to the
States.
And he played for 15 years andwon four Stanley Cups.
Yeah.
And he goes, Matt, I was thesmallest guy on every team I
(24:14):
ever played on, but I had toprove that I had the heart, I
had to prove I had the workethic, and I loved it so much.
I would do anything to getbetter.
Yeah.
And those are kids out theretoo.
Maybe not be the biggest orsmallest or best, but they have
the work ethic that will, theywill outwork everyone.
Exactly.
And every coach loves thosekids.
You just, you can't have enoughof those kids in your program
(24:36):
'cause they're hard to find.
Yeah.
Let's finish with somethingthat, that.
Probably the biggest questionyou and I both have to deal with
throughout our days, and that'sthe idea of travel and club
volleyball and travel ball,whatever sport it is.
Yeah.
And I love asking this questionto college coaches because it's
always a different answer than Ithink what parents expect.
(24:59):
Okay.
Or maybe a little bit.
Different than what they expect.
What is your, when you see thevalue of travel volleyball, you
talked about being a four sportathlete.
If you're a four sport athlete,it's really tough.
Tough to play travel ofanything.
For sure.
What is your advice to familiesthat are going through that
decision?
They got a kid that's great atvolleyball, a great at
(25:20):
basketball, great at softballtrack.
They love playing three sports,so it's really hard to also play
club volleyball in the springand summer.
If you're doing all that.
What's your advice to them whenthey're thinking about making
their kid or their kid giving upthose sports they love?
How valuable is travelvolleyball and club volleyball
for that kid to get recruited?
(25:42):
Yeah.
And I think, there's a balance,right?
You have to get seen, you haveto be out there playing, and
coaches need to be able toevaluate you live.
A lot of the stuff we do at nncSA is on video, right?
Just because there's just somany kids out there, we can't go
watch every single one, right?
And that's similar to thecollege coach side.
I think club is important.
It's, it may not have to go to20 national tournaments and all
(26:05):
of them because if you're onthat coach's radar because
you've done your research andyou've emailed that coach and
you've had some communication,hopefully you know that
different levels or how howeverit happens, that coach will then
come see you.
So when I was a college coach, Iwould make my recruiting
calendar.
By the people that I amrecruiting, not just, I'm gonna
(26:28):
go to this tournament all, everysingle year.
If the kid wasn't there that Iwasn't recruiting, I'm not gonna
go to that tournament.
I think.
There's some out there.
I'll do the disclaimer that arelike nationals, right?
You're gonna go to nationals?
'cause every single person isbasically there, but, I do think
you can play for a local, morelocal club or regional club.
And if you do more work on thecommunication side, college
(26:49):
coaches will still see you.
We'll still get there.
So there's a balance.
You do have to, I think you dohave to play.
Yeah.
Because you have to getevaluated and seen, are you on
the first team here or on thefourth team here though?
That's another whole ball of waxor a question we could go into.
But I think the idea is if yousee a kid on film, it's wow,
there's something special there.
(27:11):
Yeah.
And maybe they're not gonna beplaying at nationals at Dallas,
or they're not gonna be inAtlanta for that tournament.
You're gonna go to.
They're, you're gonna try andfind a way to learn more about
that kid, see them play someshape or form, right?
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
And that's where, the video isyour trailer to the movie.
I don't know if I say that inthe videos either, but I always
say it.
Yeah.
That's your, it's a greatmetaphor.
(27:33):
Yeah.
That's your buzz, what is it?
Sizzle video, whatever you wannacall it these days.
Yeah.
To get that coach's attention.
And that's why I always say, putyour best.
Clips first, because you wannagrab that attention so then they
can go watch the movie whereveryou are.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Coach, it's so great to catch upwith you.
You're, you've got such a greatmind, you work so well with,
(27:54):
whether it's coaches or studentathletes you're just always
fantastic about it.
You've got a great demeanorabout you, so I can't recommend
you enough to any family goingthrough this recruiting process.
Tell'em where they can find youif they want to follow you and
learn more about you.
Yeah, so I'm on the socials,right?
I'm on Instagram, mostly atCoach Sue.
(28:15):
11.
You can grab me there.
You can find me on Facebook andCSA Coach Sue.
But yeah, I think LinkedIn, ifyou're on, if you're the
business side of the watchers,I'm on LinkedIn for under Sue
Weber too.
But I just think it's importantto ask questions and use all
your resources.
This is a great resource.
Your book's a great resource.
Your club coach is a greatresource.
Don't, just don't just getblinders on and listen to one
(28:37):
person, get a whole bunch ofdifferent opinions.
That's great advice.
Thank you for having theconversation.
I miss talking to you andanything I can ever do for you,
you got me.
Just call.
Yeah.
Hop over the mountains.
Come on over again.
I know we're a lot closer thanwe used to be.
Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks, coach.
Have a great start to the schoolyear.
Awesome.
Thank you.
That wraps up my conversationwith Sue Weber.
(28:59):
What I love about Sue is how sheblends her experience as a
division one player, a coach.
And now, as someone workingevery day in the recruiting
space, she understands both theathlete's perspective and the
college coach's perspective, andthat makes her advice so
valuable for families.
Make sure you're following heron Instagram at Coach Sue 11.
And remember, you can alwaysfollow me at Coach Matt Rogers
(29:22):
and don't miss her videos onYouTube and Facebook.
She.
Putting out outstanding contentthat can help you better
understand and prepare for therecruiting journey.
You can also connect with her onLinkedIn at Sue Weber.
And as always, don't forget tograb your copy of the recruits
journals now available forvolleyball, baseball,
basketball, and softball withthe Soccer Recruits Journal
(29:45):
coming later this week.
They're designed to keep youfocused, help your student
athlete get organized and betterunderstand their value and how
to communicate with coaches, andit also just helps them prepare
for.
Every step of the recruitingprocess.
I wrote the journals, so anyfamily that wants to start the
process, it takes you from thebeginning and helps you all the
(30:07):
way through the end.
You can find all of my books andresources@coachmattrogers.com.
If you haven't already hit thatsubscribe button, make sure
you're sending these episodes inmy blog to those families or
friends or coaches who you thinkthey might help.
And I always appreciate yourcomments.
Don't be afraid to leave me anote, even if it's something
(30:28):
critical saying, Matt, I wishyou'd do this better.
I wish you'd have some guestslike this on.
I'd love to hear it.
Anything I can do to help, Iwant to do it.
Until next time, stay focused,stay humble, and stay in the
fight.
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