This post was written by sophomore business administration major, Jane Garrity
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| Sophomores Jane Garrity (left) and Hallie Christopher |
I really enjoy being a business major. Because every profession encompasses business, I think my degree will be very useful when I graduate. I also find the marketing process interesting. Being both a business major and a volleyball player, I have a deeper understanding of marketing our program to recruits. As a host, I know that I deeply impact the recruits’ impression of the school and volleyball program, and I’m a critical piece in that process.
This past week, I had the pleasure of hosting my first recruit. While preparing for this, I thought over what I would want to say about our program, girls, coaches, and school. I also thought about how I would want to get to know her, and try to gauge if she would be a good fit for our program. (3 questions we ask about our recruits)
We started the morning by meeting at Starbucks, and I began to get to know her. We talked about high school volleyball and our families. After this the day followed a standard recruit visit schedule, where she attended one of my classes with me, we paid a visit to Cranston, and looked at Nixon Hall. These were all standard parts of the visit, which are personally not my favorite. As a recruit, you do have to observe the campus and classes, but I would much rather spend time getting to know her and talking about volleyball.
This time in the library was personally my favorite part of the visit. While I got some homework done, we watched a few funny videos, and talked to people passing by. I was able to tell her about how much I love our campus and the fellow students. She was able to meet some of my friends, and I explained to her that they are the reason I’m happy here.
Of course, we also talked about the Fredonia Volleyball team, and how great a program it is. I talked about the upperclassmen, whom I believe are great leaders and role models, and our newbies this year, and how I am still getting to know them. We both agreed that we enjoy Coach Braun’s coaching style, and she said that this was one of the main reasons she is considering Fredonia. I could tell this recruit was doing her research, as she knew about other schools and their coaches and coaching styles.
During her visit, I learned more about marketing as well. I carefully chose how we spent our time together, and how I spoke to her in order to get my point across correctly.. Leaving the right impression is what both marketing and recruiting are about.
When I was recruited, I know I got very lucky. My family and I didn’t do much research about college volleyball and comparable programs, but I am very happy with my decision and can’t imagine being anywhere else. I hope that recruits feel like this too, and Fredonia will become a home for them.