Club Volleyball - rate your club pros/cons

[Anonymous]

Seeking honest opinions on the local volleyball clubs. Which ones have over 12 players, have bad coaches or only trying to take your money. Additionally, which ones have great coaches and your daughters had positive experiences.

[Anonymous]

Metro Good
SpikedDC - run far away. Complete ripoff. Underage coaches.Allow underage girls to play against the rules.

[Anonymous]

NVVA…they bait and switch with coaches. Will show a great coach…then once the team is settled switch out coach with new, inexperienced coach. I’ve seen this happen several times there.

Libero….they are looking for cash cows. Only take money through your bank account. Owner is very confrontational. They weigh the girls and comment on their weight frequently and in front of others. They favor certain groups of kids.

[Anonymous]

Monument - the director is a control freak.

[Anonymous]

following

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NVVA…they bait and switch with coaches. Will show a great coach…then once the team is settled switch out coach with new, inexperienced coach. I’ve seen this happen several times there.

Libero….they are looking for cash cows. Only take money through your bank account. Owner is very confrontational. They weigh the girls and comment on their weight frequently and in front of others. They favor certain groups of kids.

That’s so sad!

[Anonymous]

So short girls have a chance to get on a club team? Sounds like they only want tall girls in the higher age groups.

[Anonymous]

Any feedback on ECP Chesapeake? My daughter is 12 and only started playing last summer. She’s in a rec team now and frequently goes to their clinics. She wants to continue and would love to play in the winter. Since she hasn’t been playing for years or attending the club clinics, would she even have a chance at their lower teams? It looks like there will be 3 U12 teams. Or worse, would she have a chance at making it and then sit on the bench? Any feedback appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So short girls have a chance to get on a club team? Sounds like they only want tall girls in the higher age groups.

Short girls can get on a club team. My DD is 5'3.5 on a good day and there are a few shorter than she at age U15. At U11, there was a 4'9" on her team (she was libero). As they get older, the shorter girls need to have their skills and conditioning very well developed and push harder to get noticed across different clubs/coaches. Sad fact, but true. There are mid level clubs that are more 'loyal' to players that they have seen over time, so finding a good fit is key. However, a shorter girl that wants to play middle or hitter will have a much harder battle without bringing something serious to the table in capability to get past blocks or to block etc if they want to be front row. DD's HS varsity team has a 5'7" player who has an absolutely amazing vertical and she is OH - jumps higher and moves faster than most of her taller counterparts. They miss her big time if she is out sick and don't have her on the court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any feedback on ECP Chesapeake? My daughter is 12 and only started playing last summer. She’s in a rec team now and frequently goes to their clinics. She wants to continue and would love to play in the winter. Since she hasn’t been playing for years or attending the club clinics, would she even have a chance at their lower teams? It looks like there will be 3 U12 teams. Or worse, would she have a chance at making it and then sit on the bench? Any feedback appreciated.

With 3 teams, she has a chance at making it. The 3rd team is pretty developmental. Talk to the coaches and get a sense of what they are looking at and how she is looking thus far. How much time on the bench she gets will depend on the coach and his/her philosophy as well as how she continues to show at practices etc once season kicks off. Will also depend on how many end up on the roster. Be leery of teams that have 13 or more. 13 can be doable but invariably, some will not get as much as as others depending on skill level. Our DD played MOJO before they merged with ECP in the younger age groups. The younger teams (14 and under) are pretty much MOJO leadership/director(s). Our neighbor's DD played on their #3 12s team last year. Think it was mixed reviews among the players but mainly because the head coach was also coaching the #1 12s team too and then got divided during tournaments with his time. They are still going back for another round this year.

12s across the board are pretty beginner. Clubs with multiple 12s teams should provide opportunity for many of the girls that come to tryouts compared to older age groups where it gets harder and harder. The #1 team will have the more experienced and/or higher athletic capability/aptitude and those that are just started get sprinkled in and across the teams depending on how many with experience come in at 12s and don't go elsewhere across the area as 12s are expanding more and more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Metro Good
SpikedDC - run far away. Complete ripoff. Underage coaches.Allow underage girls to play against the rules.

Can you explain on Spiked City?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seeking honest opinions on the local volleyball clubs. Which ones have over 12 players, have bad coaches or only trying to take your money. Additionally, which ones have great coaches and your daughters had positive experiences.

Tier 1
Metro Travel - If your daughter is a freak athlete, look here. Good coaches at pretty much every level, hyper-competitive atmosphere.

Tier 2
Paramount - High-level teams with almost Metro-level athletes, but coaches who scream a lot at the kids
Virginia Elite - Travel-only teams, are almost exclusively interested in height/athleticism, don't mind taking some lumps at younger ages for purposes of development, very expensive.
Virginia Juniors - High-level teams, pretty strong coaches
Maryland Juniors (travel) - Have their own facility that's pretty easily accessible if you live in Maryland, pretty deep coaching staff

Tier 3
Loudoun Elite - New-ish program, competitive but don't know a ton about them
MVSA - Good option at younger ages (their 12 & under director is the head coach of an elite HS program), not so great at older ages
ECP Chesapeake - Mostly good coaches, also better with younger age groups (14s and down), absorbed MOJO recently
St. James - Best facility hands down, expensive, okay coaches
Metro (regional) - They typically have North (Columbia/Frederick), East (PG County), Central (Montgomery/DC), and South (NOVA), depending on where you live. Good coaches, less travel and pressure.
Maryland Juniors (regional) - Same deal as the more advanced teams.
American - Good option if you live out in the NOVA suburbs.
Liberty Elite - Good option if you live in Frederick.
Vienna Elite - Some teams can be pretty good, others pretty bad.
Libero - New club, hadn't heard about the weight thing until this thread.

Tier 4
Braddock Road - Inconsistent coaching quality
Monument - Seen lots of complaints about club direction here.
No Panic - Inconsistent quality.
NVVA - Have really slipped in recent years. Used to be Tier 2 once upon a time.
X-Factor - New, good option for kids who just want to play and not have much pressure.

Everything else below that.

[Anonymous]

Loudoun elite has very good coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seeking honest opinions on the local volleyball clubs. Which ones have over 12 players, have bad coaches or only trying to take your money. Additionally, which ones have great coaches and your daughters had positive experiences.

Tier 1
Metro Travel - If your daughter is a freak athlete, look here. Good coaches at pretty much every level, hyper-competitive atmosphere.

Tier 2
Paramount - High-level teams with almost Metro-level athletes, but coaches who scream a lot at the kids
Virginia Elite - Travel-only teams, are almost exclusively interested in height/athleticism, don't mind taking some lumps at younger ages for purposes of development, very expensive.
Virginia Juniors - High-level teams, pretty strong coaches
Maryland Juniors (travel) - Have their own facility that's pretty easily accessible if you live in Maryland, pretty deep coaching staff

Tier 3
Loudoun Elite - New-ish program, competitive but don't know a ton about them
MVSA - Good option at younger ages (their 12 & under director is the head coach of an elite HS program), not so great at older ages
ECP Chesapeake - Mostly good coaches, also better with younger age groups (14s and down), absorbed MOJO recently
St. James - Best facility hands down, expensive, okay coaches
Metro (regional) - They typically have North (Columbia/Frederick), East (PG County), Central (Montgomery/DC), and South (NOVA), depending on where you live. Good coaches, less travel and pressure.
Maryland Juniors (regional) - Same deal as the more advanced teams.
American - Good option if you live out in the NOVA suburbs.
Liberty Elite - Good option if you live in Frederick.
Vienna Elite - Some teams can be pretty good, others pretty bad.
Libero - New club, hadn't heard about the weight thing until this thread.

Tier 4
Braddock Road - Inconsistent coaching quality
Monument - Seen lots of complaints about club direction here.
No Panic - Inconsistent quality.
NVVA - Have really slipped in recent years. Used to be Tier 2 once upon a time.
X-Factor - New, good option for kids who just want to play and not have much pressure.

Everything else below that.

+1. Good summary.

[Anonymous]

This is very helpful. Do Alexandria Titans and Tier One fall into "Everything else below that" or are they not on your radar?