Let us pick a volleyball club for you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering MOCO for our DD this year. We went to the parent meeting over the weekend and the vibe was good. I have a couple of questions for those who have been with MOCO for a while and for those who left MOCO for different reasons. Thank you in advance for any feedback.

One thing that stood out during the parent meeting was their focus on the player attitude. He suggested that they would not offer a spot to a star player with poor attitude. And that went even further to the parents attitude. The coach made the same point several times - life is too short to spend it with people you don't like. He envisions teams that are like extended families, who come together and support the players. How much of this reflects the reality inside MOCO teams? I was thinking that the perfect family doesn't exist (not even in movies) - fights often erupt even between the most pacifists amongst us. Now add a bunch of teenage girls into the mix, and that's a recipe for drama.

It was also apparent that quite a few of the coaches are parents, who tend to move up to keep coaching their kid's teams. I understand that some parents used to play volleyball and can do a good job coaching. It makes sense to use those skills in the club where your kid is playing. If it happens to coach their team, you have a good family schedule - same practices, same travel schedule. Coaching a different team would make less sense, unless the other team has exactly the same schedule (which is rarely the case). This is a question that came to mind during the meeting, but I didn't feel comfortable asking: what is the advantage of a player whose parent coaches the team? Has anyone had the experience where the coach played favorites with their kid? I am not interested in hearing that this is often the case (I am aware), my question is specific to MOCO.

Does anyone have answers to these questions? The post got buried before it got enough traffic.

Your MOCO experience really depends on who your coach is for that season. Our family has had 3 seasons of MOCO between 2 DDs and we encountered good vibes and coaches modeling good attitude, and our girls also encountered some awful coach attitudes, like seriously toxic. We stopped trying out there and we're good with that decision, even though it could have been a good 4th tryout within our travel radius with a higher liklihood of getting a spot. But neither girl tried out.

From what I've seen at MOCO (our first exposure this year), we did like what we saw with the club culture and the coaches. Yet, realistically, I believe (and I'm sure others do too) that the coach for one's daughter is ultimately the primary gauge of whether one wants to stay the following year or not. This seems to be the case for almost any club. A club can have a number of great coaches and a good culture... yet, if there's that one coach who is primarily critical, discouraging, or toxic, it can ruin the whole experience.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies.

[Anonymous]

I am bringing this back for the new volleyball families. There's already a lot of good advice on this thread, but you can ask questions about your particular circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Rising freshman DD is planning to try out for FCPS freshman team. She’s new to VB and has done some clinics and camps, and practices a lot with dad or a friend, but never played in a rec league (she did another sport previously). She’s 5’7” and may top out at 5’8”.

I would love for her to make her freshman team, but given the number of girls interested and many of them coming from years of club, it doesn’t seem like her odds are great. She has said that she would like to do club or rec if she doesn’t make the HS team.

Recommendations in or near western Fairfax County?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rising freshman DD is planning to try out for FCPS freshman team. She’s new to VB and has done some clinics and camps, and practices a lot with dad or a friend, but never played in a rec league (she did another sport previously). She’s 5’7” and may top out at 5’8”.

I would love for her to make her freshman team, but given the number of girls interested and many of them coming from years of club, it doesn’t seem like her odds are great. She has said that she would like to do club or rec if she doesn’t make the HS team.

Recommendations in or near western Fairfax County?

Where do you live and which HS will she be trying out at? We can give you more specific advice. There are so many clubs in the area that are running summer session and I want to be helpful and not make you drive an unreasonable distance.

Depending on the school, she might be okay. Some schools she could have a change. Other schools the freshman team will be competitive for even club players.

Here’s a start.

Mojo is in McLean https://www.mojovolleyballacademy.com/page/show/8551683-summer-programs

Vienna Elite is in Chantilly
https://www.viennaelite.org/page/show/8556556-hs-advanced-clinics

Loudoun Elite is in Sterling
https://www.loudounelitevb.com/clinicsandcamps

NVVA also in Sterling
https://www.nvva.com/camps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rising freshman DD is planning to try out for FCPS freshman team. She’s new to VB and has done some clinics and camps, and practices a lot with dad or a friend, but never played in a rec league (she did another sport previously). She’s 5’7” and may top out at 5’8”.

I would love for her to make her freshman team, but given the number of girls interested and many of them coming from years of club, it doesn’t seem like her odds are great. She has said that she would like to do club or rec if she doesn’t make the HS team.

Recommendations in or near western Fairfax County?

Where do you live and which HS will she be trying out at? We can give you more specific advice. There are so many clubs in the area that are running summer session and I want to be helpful and not make you drive an unreasonable distance.

Depending on the school, she might be okay. Some schools she could have a change. Other schools the freshman team will be competitive for even club players.

Here’s a start.

Mojo is in McLean https://www.mojovolleyballacademy.com/page/show/8551683-summer-programs

Vienna Elite is in Chantilly
https://www.viennaelite.org/page/show/8556556-hs-advanced-clinics

Loudoun Elite is in Sterling
https://www.loudounelitevb.com/clinicsandcamps

NVVA also in Sterling
https://www.nvva.com/camps

You need to figure out how popular volleyball is at your high school. If the current team has players with no club experience, your DD could also make the team. The more club players on the roster, the fewer the chances. In some schools you make it on the team just for being taller than most girls showing up at the tryouts. In others, you need to show actual skills. Next, you need to figure out how willing is your D to put in a lot of work to learn the game. It may seem like you only have to pass the ball to the other side of the net, but you can achieve that at different levels. Even if you have a theoretical understanding of volleyball skills, you have to practice them over and over until you actually get them. Filling her summer schedule with open gyms, clinics, leagues would be helpful. Some people even hire private coaches, but this approach can get expensive. There is a lot of video content all over the net, but most of it is low quality. Anything she can do to improve her strength and agility is worth it (does she have a gym membership?).

Club clinics are a cheaper alternative to private coaching (but the price will add up the more you sign up for). You might be lucky and get a good coach, but that's not a guarantee either. Except for MOJO, a PP gave you good club options (McLean is kinda eastern Fairfax and MOJO is not a club I would recommend). Another club close to western Fairfax County is Paramount, but their clinics might be focused on advanced skills. BRYC may be another good option depending on where you live in western Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I purposely didn’t put Paramount on here since she is a beginner. My daughter has been playing club for years and I wouldn’t recommend Mojo as a club, but she went to their clinics back when she was in rec and said they were super helpful when she was first starting out. That’s why I included them. We still don’t know where this poster lives so McLean might be convenient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. I purposely didn’t put Paramount on here since she is a beginner. My daughter has been playing club for years and I wouldn’t recommend Mojo as a club, but she went to their clinics back when she was in rec and said they were super helpful when she was first starting out. That’s why I included them. We still don’t know where this poster lives so McLean might be convenient.

I think the first club clinic is a transformative experience for beginner players, regardless of the club name. Probably that's what your DD experienced and she could have felt the same about a different club. The OP mentioned western Fairfax, so that's just one reason why I thought MOJO was not a good option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. I purposely didn’t put Paramount on here since she is a beginner. My daughter has been playing club for years and I wouldn’t recommend Mojo as a club, but she went to their clinics back when she was in rec and said they were super helpful when she was first starting out. That’s why I included them. We still don’t know where this poster lives so McLean might be convenient.

I think the first club clinic is a transformative experience for beginner players, regardless of the club name. Probably that's what your DD experienced and she could have felt the same about a different club. The OP mentioned western Fairfax, so that's just one reason why I thought MOJO was not a good option.

You are probably right. The Mojo clinics are the very first my DD ever attended. I never thought of it that way.