Club volleyball...worth it? What's the end game?

[Anonymous]

We're very new to all of this and I have so many questions. My daughter is a freshmen and just made JV as first string setter. She tried out for club last year and didn't make any teams, so she tried being a practice player (it was a bad experience so won't name the club).

Club fees and demands will be a stretch for us and hard on the rest of the family, but we'll do it if we have to.

I guess my questions are: What's the end game? She's 5'6 but probably won't grow too much more. Does she have a future if she doesn't do club? Does it make sense to do it just so she can make Varsity? If she makes Varsity, what are the actual chances she will be recruited? Does the fact that she made JV as a freshmen mean she's ahead of the game and stands a better chance of making Varsity if she continues to practice and train? Would private lessons once a week be a substitute for club (because somehow that's cheaper). Does a regional club "count" as much as a club that competes nationally?

She's extremely dedicated. We bought one of those set net things and she goes out there and practices for hours at a time when she's not at team practice.

Any insight will behelpful. Thank you in advance!

Note: I also posted this under the vball recap, but making a separate post im just in case.

[Anonymous]

Following!

[Anonymous]

you get recruited out of the clubs not your high school team.

Regional teams support the travel teams

Is it worth it? You have 3 things in college:
Social, academic, and sports, pick 2, you can't have all 3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you get recruited out of the clubs not your high school team.

Regional teams support the travel teams

Is it worth it? You have 3 things in college:
Social, academic, and sports, pick 2, you can't have all 3

Agree you can’t have all 3. If your daughter wants to have a go at getting recruited for college. She MUST play club. Though private lessons are also a must for most setters - to learn proper form/technique, she absolutely has be able to learn to set/play on the court. That is how she will learn how to read the other team/learn who to set on her side of the court given the other teams blocks etc etc.

If she just wants to make varsity as she gets older- depending on the high school, she may be able to without playing club. Totally school dependent.

[Anonymous]

What’s your daughter’s end game?

Playing club in no way means she will play in college. I’ve never heard of a girl not playing club and playing in college. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. Just would be surprising. And playing in college in now way means she will get money to play in college.

She should play volleyball because she likes to play volleyball. You should figure out what you can and cannot afford and go for it.

[Anonymous]

Here is why it was worth it for us last year and why it will be worth it for my daughter again this year (I hope). She loved it and it was NOT a financial stretch. She is not doing this because of the hope of college or even to advance in high school. She loved every moment of the long practices and away tournaments. It was a loonnnggg season but I met some really good friends too, with the other parents. I can only hope we have that again. We had a lot of fun at our weekends away. It was a huge time commitment. More than I ever thought it would be for the family and I missed more work than I thought I would need to for a kid’s sport.

[Anonymous]

17:08 and this may not be what you want to hear, but my daughter does private lessons in addition to her club. She’s been going all summer and is continuing in the fall too. She’s a setter.