Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I took at look at the full list of CHRVA participants (
http://www.chrvajuniors.org/juniors/contacts_clubs/clubs_results.CFM) to see if I could identify which clubs consistently played in the Open or top in most competitions.
My DD completed her first club season this year (as a 15), and the Virginia-based CHRVA clubs that seemed to
consistently play in the toughest divisions are:
Metro
Paramount
Blue Ridge (maybe?)
Virginia Juniors (maybe?)
The St. James
Virginia Elite
I don't know if I can come up with a similar list for non-VA teams.
I recognize that simply playing Open in every event doesn't mean that the team achieved a reasonable amount of success, but these teams are at least trying to compete at a high level. To be fair, a few of these VA teams played below Open at the Qualifiers later in the season, perhaps in an attempt to get other USAV bids.
If your DD played U15 last year (or did she play down as a U14 with a late birthday?) for her first year of club, how did it go and what specifically is your DD looking to do moving forward? If she is going into U16 next year, that is the year before college coaches can reach out (June 15th after the player's sophomore year of HS) recruiting if that is her intent. This next year of visibility of getting good video and highlights will be key (for most of CHRVA, college is not necessarily the end goal for everyone or it is behind academics but still many hold out the option to play somehow or at least in club - not necessarily D1 or bust). Again, if this was first year of club, what was her position and what is the goal? These next years are harder to 'move around' as teams and positions start to lock in depending on level of play. If she is super tall and athletic maybe some of those last teams you mentioned will still take a look and chance with one year of club experience, maybe others if she is knocking it out of the park from a vball perspective. She better be attending all the different college elite/advanced level camps and getting private lessons this summer to gear up for the fall clinics where all clubs will be looking to see how to fill rosters (either for gaps or to change out depending on club team and level). To get in those top clubs, assumption is that she is getting grouped on the top court at these elite camps... With Cassels closed until the fall, finding the club summer camps are harder to do. It will come down to those Sunday clinics in the fall and outreach if your DD is playing HS and getting seen more than once by the clubs you are interested in.
What level tournament a team plays in does not indicate everything to be a deciding factor. Just like AES ranking (national ranking or regional) does not serve as a sole indicator, especially after teams that went on to USAV Nationals or AAU nationals where their rankings may drop depending on what division of play they played at those year end tournaments.
This was the first year that a CHRVA team qualified for Open at USAV nationals (Metro via a trickle down at NEQ because the top qualifying teams had already won bids at another qualifier). Open in CHRVA is different than Open in CHRVA tournaments. You want to be on a team that plays Open level tournaments for sure in CHRVA if you are looking for more competition. Once you get into qualifiers, Open, USA, Liberty and sometimes even American division will provide some strong competition (American maybe not until later days depending on teams pool ranking going in).
We have friends on pretty much each of those clubs above or DD played on one of them. Each one has its own culture and it will depend on what fit you are looking for - not just which teams play in open. Virginia Elite will always play in Open - no one on the 15s team this past year expected to go to USAV Nationals Open but they knew they would be playing in open division each tournament. Pros and cons - Cons are the team is obliterated early and very few touches to improve and the last days of the tournament(s) they play the same team (St. James) that had the same philosophy to try to be in the Open leagues but dropped to flight in final day(s). Pros, overtime they can win some points off the top team and still grow.
Liberty Elite has been a strong club and recovered from the drama of 13s year where some of those players have moved to other clubs with a few landing at Blue Ridge. Some watching to see what is done for coaching next year as they go to 16s. They ended up with a lot of injuries this spring and went to Chicago with only 7 active players and fought strong with most matches going to 3 sets.
Blue Ridge is always strong in these age ranges and this is the first they chose to go to nationals with more girls choosing indoor over beach. Will be a question if they keep choosing indoor as they get older and if they can keep some of the old team dramas at bay with some different team members coming and going.
MVSA is always strong historically - this year maybe more off and on but still able to pull through. Many girls have played together for years but has had some more movement (or literally straight up moved away) in past couple years.
VA Jrs has been on a downward trajectory and ruled by the director and recruiting director. A friend on the 15s this past year was happy they even got playing time when the roster was 15 girls. Some lineup decisions were made based on what director was seeing on streaming at home - so seems questionable re: how much coach gets to say and do in decisionmaking at tournaments. Many area clubs went up to 15 girls on their rosters with such high demand. It leaves for a lot of bench time and standing around potentially during practice with such large rosters. For some it was a new experiment that didn't work out so well for team dynamics and for others, it was par for the course and didn't change how they operated or end results.
So many threads about Metro and Paramount, I don't need to say anymore outside of knowing many of the players and parents on these teams. They take the best of the best and still roster more so not all get playing time if they are on the roster. If you are lucky to make the team congrats, first battle down. Next is to then keep fighting to get playing time at a tournament. Many are willing to do it for the practice and possibility. Others have to keep deciding how many more years they can do it and/or stay on the team - if you rode the bench more, you are also fighting for next year for the next person that was waitlisted before or wants to put their name on the list after improving and/or dominating at their prior club. No opinion one way or another - just know what your DD is capable of as you start to seriously consider what club to go for.
At minimum, go to any clinics, camps and/or some privates if available to get good training etc. You won't know what other players and capabilities are out there until you attend more and recognize faces. In HS years, the mega players don't show up until the last weekends consistently until the end if they were busy with varsity and going through post-season play (eg Langley coach restricts her varsity players from going to any clinics until post-season is done). If you are in WV HS vball, you are not allowed to attend effectively until season is over based on rules of club coaches and HS club overlapping.
If your player is good and still developing, there are still many other clubs out there that play in CHRVA open and mixed (there are only a few CHRVA open tournaments with limited spots so all clubs try to get at least the minimum in to meet one of the regional bid tournament eligibility requirements). Take a look at the 16 teams that play in CHRVA regional (excluding VA Elite which refuses to do CHRVA bids) for each age group to get a sense of the top level playing teams trying to play as competitively as possible as another data point. Again, doesn't always line up if the team does not enter their nonAES scored tournament results (eg Capitol Hill Classic) manually into AES to better inform national rankings that go into CHRVA bid criteria.
Lots of other high performing teams and clubs (many that have been mentioned here in this forum in other threads) to consider as well. Your DDs experience will also be driven by the coaches themselves - some clubs it is all about the director and their philosophy, other clubs the experience may vary greatly based on the coach (St. James 15s last year is an example - outlier from all the other coaches at that club - my outsider looking in opinion was that it was awful for the vast majority of players on the team because of the coach personality and trying to make a name for himself to get a future job at one of the higher clubs).
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