What it Looks Like to Play DI College Volleyball
Ever wonder what it looks like to play Division I college volleyball? Well look no further because I’m here to share my experience playing a DI sport.
I started out my college career at Rutgers University in New Jersey. I loved my fall season, but decided to transfer after the spring season to be closer to my family back in Denver. I transferred to the University of Denver in 2013 for my sophomore season and my journey continued from there.
Schedule During the Fall Season
Our training schedule for the fall season began in August for preseason. We had a report date in the first week of August and preseason typically began with meetings, a run/fitness test to see if you were in shape, and a few weeks of 2-a-days to prepare for the season. At DU we got to train at the Olympic Training Center in CO Springs, which was a really cool experience. After a couple weeks of practices twice a day, we usually had 3 or 4 tournaments we played in before going into conference play. We traveled for a couple of them and had a couple home tourneys. Once the conference schedule started, we practiced every day in the afternoon for 2-3 hours, and had weights 2 times per week. Lifting is lighter during the season to maintain strength, prevent injuries, and still allow us to perform our best on the weekends. We typically had 2 games every weekend and played everyone in our conference twice before the end of season tournament.
Schedule During the Winter/Spring
After the season is over in November/December and after Christmas break, we go heavy and hard in the weightroom and spend less time on the court. This was from my experience in 2012-2016, but we were only allowed 2 hours of court time in the Winter. So, we lifted weights Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at 7:30am and had positional training for 40 minutes, 3 times a week right after lift. My senior year we also had to come in for 2 hours extra of cardio on our own. Winter quarter was fun because we really got to focus on getting super strong and worked really hard in the weightroom.
Spring quarter reminds me a lot of my schedule as a professional athlete. We lifted 3 times a week and also practiced every day of the week for 2-3 hours. We went hard in the weightroom and on the court because we didn’t have to play in matches so our bodies didn’t need to be as fresh. We made a lot of progress as a team and individually during the winter and spring, and I actually miss how the collegiate seasons are set up, because as a pro we have 2-a-days almost every day for 8 months in addition to matches and it is hard on your body.
Balancing School/Athletics
A common question we got as student athletes was how we balanced school with our travel/training schedule. First, as athletes we got to register for classes first because we had to work around our practice times, and we had to try to not schedule classes on Fridays so we could travel to our away games. Putting together a schedule was always a huge challenge, especially at a smaller school that didn’t offer as many classes because it was very limited. But, I always managed piecing together the puzzle of my schedule which is the first step. Then, you have to stay organized and be on top of your work as much as possible, especially for the world’s biggest procrastinator (me). We had to constantly communicate with our professors, get help from the athletic academic advisors if we ran into any trouble, and try to get as much work done either before we left or at the hotel between practices and games. As a freshman, you also have 10 hours of study hall hours to complete each week to make sure you’re on top of your schoolwork. Looking back I don’t know how we did it sometimes, but we got through and having a rigid schedule like that honestly made it easier for me to manage my time because I don’t do as well with endless free time. Also, the quarter system at DU was great for fall sports because the quarters are only 10 weeks long, so we didn’t start school until after Labor Day, well into our preseason, and then finished before the Summit League Championships and NCAA tournament.
Other Commitments as Student Athletes
What people don’t realize is how many other commitments you have as athletes. You are a representative of the school and the program when you are a student athlete, so you have other commitments besides just class and volleyball. We had to help with recruits by hosting their official visits and going to team meals with them. After every Sunday home game we hosted free Youth Clinics for an hour after our games. We had to help coach camps in the summer (which we did get paid for, so these weren’t so bad). We also had to participate in telethons every so often to raise money for the athletic program.
Being a student athlete was an awesome experience. It was very challenging at times, but I wouldn’t change my experience for anything. It was so fun having an automatic group of close friends going into college as a freshman (and again for me as a sophomore transfer) who you trained with, traveled with, went to classes with, and hung out with outside of volleyball and school. It was also great to build a support system within the program who still helps me out to this day. If you get the chance, I highly recommend going after this goal of playing college volleyball, and follow along on Instagram this week to learn more!