A setter from Auckland, Rosie Larkin signed with Salt Lake Community College in 2023, joining one of the most decorated NJCAA volleyball programmes in the United States. Her story is an important one for families who assume the pathway to U.S. college sport always starts with a four-year NCAA programme.
When families in New Zealand start thinking about the U.S. college volleyball pathway, they tend to picture one thing: an NCAA Division I or Division II scholarship at a four-year university. That is an understandable assumption. It is also an incomplete picture of how the pathway actually works for many athletes.
Rosie Larkin's story is important precisely because it tells a different version. Not a lesser version. A different one.
Rosie was born in New Zealand, spent part of her childhood in Sydney, and returned to Auckland at ten years old. She discovered volleyball in her final year of intermediate school, late by the standards of most elite development pathways, and built her game quickly and seriously through both indoor and beach competition. She attended Westlake Girls High School in Auckland, where she developed as a setter, competing at provincial and national level before being selected for the New Zealand U19 Women's Squad.
Her pre-college record reflects that rapid development. She won the North Island Volleyball Championships with her school's Junior Premier team, took out the North Island Beach Volleyball Tournament alongside her partner and was named MVP, secured gold at the Provincial Championships with the Harbour U19 team, and earned national U19 selection. For an athlete who came to volleyball relatively late, that trajectory is striking. It reflects the kind of natural ability and competitive instinct that develops quickly when the right environment and the right mindset come together.
Salt Lake Community College is not a fallback option. It is one of the most decorated junior college volleyball programmes in the United States, with twelve Scenic West Athletic Conference titles, eleven Region 18 championships, and fourteen NJCAA tournament appearances to its name. Athletes who compete there are not waiting for a real opportunity. They are competing seriously, developing rapidly, and positioning themselves for the next stage of their careers.
The JUCO pathway, junior college in the American system, serves a specific and genuinely valuable function that many international families do not fully understand when they start looking at the U.S. college route. It offers athletes two years of competitive college volleyball, full scholarship support, academic development, and the opportunity to build a profile that four-year NCAA coaches can properly assess before making a scholarship offer.
For athletes who are still developing physically and technically, for those whose academic profile needs time to strengthen, or for those who simply want more preparation before committing to a four-year programme, junior college is not a detour. It is often the smartest first step.
Head coach Shay Goulding Meurer runs a programme that has consistently sent players to four-year colleges and professional opportunities throughout its history. The competitive level within the Scenic West Athletic Conference is genuinely challenging, and competing for a spot in a programme with SLCC's trophy cabinet is no small thing for an international athlete arriving in Salt Lake City from Auckland.
For Rosie, whose volleyball career had developed quickly but whose exposure to the American collegiate system was limited before Platform Sports began working with her, SLCC offered something specific: a high-quality competitive environment with a proven track record of developing athletes and a realistic pathway to what comes next.
In her own words about choosing a programme that aligned with her goals: this was a decision about fit, development, and the right next step rather than simply the biggest name available.
Rosie's story is the most instructive one in this series for families who are at the beginning of thinking about U.S. college volleyball and are not sure whether their athlete's profile is ready for an NCAA scholarship offer.
The honest answer is that not every athlete who is talented enough for the U.S. system is ready for a four-year NCAA programme in their first year out of high school. That is not a criticism. It is a realistic assessment of where development sits at different stages, and it is the kind of assessment that should shape recruitment decisions rather than be ignored in favour of chasing the biggest available offer.
Junior college gives athletes time. Time to develop their game in a competitive environment, time to establish their academic record, time to be seen by NCAA coaches who are actively looking at JUCO rosters for their next scholarship offers, and time to understand what college life in the United States actually demands before committing to a four-year programme.
For a setter from Auckland who came to volleyball relatively late and built her game quickly, starting at one of the country's strongest JUCO programmes was a considered and credible choice. The next chapter will tell the rest of the story.
If you are a student-athlete or parent trying to understand the U.S. college pathway, start with a conversation. Platform Sports can help you understand your options, your timeline, and what the right fit could look like.
