UK university volleyball options for Americans

I once received a question from an NCAA Division I assistant coach asking about US players going to the UK to play volleyball as post-graduate students. In this post I address that subject as best I can. Volleyball England also has a post about the different opportunities in playing at the university level there, albeit more from a participation perspective.

The 2019-20 figures released by USA Volleyball show at least 65 players receiving international transfer certificates to play in England. There could be more playing for UK universities who did not get an ITC because they don’t play in the top level of the National League (NVL) there. For example, I had a couple of Americans play for me at Exeter. Since we did not play in the NVL they didn’t need ITCs.

The point I’m trying to make is there are quite a few Americans playing in the UK each year. A number of them are even on scholarships. Mainly, those are post-graduates. Think players who finished their NCAA playing career, but weren’t quite ready to stop playing competitive volleyball.

If you’re looking for a scholarship you need to find a university where volleyball is a performance sport. Most universities have volleyball clubs that compete in BUCS, which is the rough UK equivalent to the NCAA (the NAIA might be a better comparison). The performance programs, however, are a different situation. They are much more akin to what we would call varsity sports in the US. There aren’t that many of them, though.

Universities with performance volleyball programs

Here are at least some of the universities that have volleyball as a performance sport. I’ve included links to their information web page.

This first group includes the programs which are fully performance designated.

These other programs aren’t quite up to full performance standards. For example, they might have only part-time coaches, limited additional support (strength coach, etc.). I think they all offer at least some scholarship money, though.

Cambridge Anglia Ruskin
Derby
Newcastle (women only)
Northumbria (used to be fully performance, but downgraded)
Warwick

On the women’s side, Durham has been a top team for several years. For the men, Sheffield Hallam and Bournemouth have consistently been among the best for a while. Essex and East London in recent years have also pushed themselves into the conversation, with Essex a recent champion on the men’s side.

Bournemouth was in the same BUCS league as Exeter when I coached at the latter. I also got to coach against Durham (men) and Northumbria (men and women) in Final 8s.

Recruitment

If you go to a university without a performance program – or you just want a less intense volleyball experience – you’ll simply be part of the school’s club program. Generally speaking, that just means turning up for their tryouts or something along those lines when school starts. Easy enough.

If you want to go the performance route, however, you should think of it like the college recruitment process. You’ll want to reach out to the program(s) you’re interested in, provide them information about yourself, give them some video, etc.

Placement service

Several years back a service was developed by a woman who herself played in the UK as a post-graduate. It is called TeamGleas. Think of it as an athlete promotional service that universities subscribe to. They don’t just cover the UK. If you, or someone you know, is thinking about playing and going to school abroad, it might be worth having a look (I have no relationship to the firm).

I’m also aware of playoverseas, which is based in the UK. I personally don’t know anything about them, however. There may be other services out there as well (if you know of any, let me know).

Keep in mind

A word of warning is required here. You should not expect the same level of support and facilities in the UK as you see at US colleges and universities (especially the higher level ones). Volleyball just isn’t that big a sport over there. This goes doubly when talking about the non-performance club programs. Training for them might only be once or twice a week, possibly with no coach.

And the competition in BUCS won’t be spectacular. Since most teams are club programs, they just aren’t that strong. The performance programs, though, are generally linked in with a club playing in one of the top divisions of the National League. That’s much more serious, and in some cases includes professional (or at least semi-pro) players.

I bring this up not to discourage anyone from going to the UK to study and play volleyball. I just want to make sure the expectations are realistic. If nothing else, it could be a great experience on many levels. Certainly, it provides opportunities to do some interesting travel.

Want more?

One of my Coaching Conversations was on this very topic. It features a coach and two of his former post-graduate players, both Americans.

Questions?

I hope this post provides the information you need to at least start thinking about things and exploring your options. If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them if I can. If I can’t, I might be able to get them from my contacts among the coaches over there. Feel free to post them below, or contact me.