Club VB Tryouts

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Noob vb parent here.

DD will likely try out at 2-3 clubs this fall for 16U. Tryouts for the clubs she’s considering all fall on the same weekend, but at least deconflict in terms of time.

We’ve only had HS playing experience. How do club tryouts go, considering what I assume will be a large # of girls showing up? Is it a lot of standing in line and waiting your turn to run through some drills, or more like HS where the players are going the whole time? I realize the perfect answer is “it depends on the club,” but was just wondering how strenuous it would be to knock out two tryouts on the same day or more throughout the weekend.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the club is the answer to everything. Most girls will go to at least two tryouts on the same day. Your daughter should be trying to go to as many pre tryout clinics as possible before tryouts.

There will likely be a lot of activity and not a lot of waiting around. Depending on the club, they can be very chaotic and very stressful. Prepare your daughter and try not to be too stressed. Do not only attend highly selective elite clubs and have a backup plan or two. It might be obvious at some tryouts that the team was preselected, which is always so discouraging.

[Anonymous]

Strenuous depends on the kid. How many hours of HS volleyball are they used to playing per day? How many 5-set games have they played through? What's their endurance like? I think a 2-hour tryout is like a 2-hour HS volleyball practice with drills and conditioning. Add in an hour's worth of nervous energy. We're aiming for one tryout per day over a 3-4 day period. There may be callbacks. I think 2 in one day will be a lot. Our kid is also trying out for 16U age group, with only HS experience.

[Anonymous]

Here is some advice that I wish I had the first time we tried out:
https://www.mvsavbc.org/news_article/show/1317676

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Strenuous depends on the kid. How many hours of HS volleyball are they used to playing per day? How many 5-set games have they played through? What's their endurance like? I think a 2-hour tryout is like a 2-hour HS volleyball practice with drills and conditioning. Add in an hour's worth of nervous energy. We're aiming for one tryout per day over a 3-4 day period. There may be callbacks. I think 2 in one day will be a lot. Our kid is also trying out for 16U age group, with only HS experience.

This is a good set of questions and a good estimate of the effort it takes. But it will be very hard to limit to only one tryout per day, especially on Saturday. A lot of clubs only do tryouts on Friday and Saturday. 2 in one day is hard, but club players typically play for 3-5 hours each tournament day, and the upper teams can do that across two or three days in a weekend.

Just know that Saturday is a tough day for everyone and most U16 players will be going to multiple tryouts on that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

Noob vb parent here.

DD will likely try out at 2-3 clubs this fall for 16U. Tryouts for the clubs she’s considering all fall on the same weekend, but at least deconflict in terms of time.

We’ve only had HS playing experience. How do club tryouts go, considering what I assume will be a large # of girls showing up? Is it a lot of standing in line and waiting your turn to run through some drills, or more like HS where the players are going the whole time? I realize the perfect answer is “it depends on the club,” but was just wondering how strenuous it would be to knock out two tryouts on the same day or more throughout the weekend.

In prior years, my DD did as many as 4 tryouts on the same day. For better or worse, the local USAV region sets the allowable dates for local clubs to hold tryouts so all clubs are forced to have tryouts over the same few days. You will see advice on many of the threads on DCUM that is consistent with what we have experienced. Go to clinics of clubs your DD is interested in ahead of tryouts. Most clubs are having clinics now through the end of October. Having a chance for your DD to be seen by the club and for you to watch how the club conducts its clinics can help to narrow down your options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

Noob vb parent here.

DD will likely try out at 2-3 clubs this fall for 16U. Tryouts for the clubs she’s considering all fall on the same weekend, but at least deconflict in terms of time.

We’ve only had HS playing experience. How do club tryouts go, considering what I assume will be a large # of girls showing up? Is it a lot of standing in line and waiting your turn to run through some drills, or more like HS where the players are going the whole time? I realize the perfect answer is “it depends on the club,” but was just wondering how strenuous it would be to knock out two tryouts on the same day or more throughout the weekend.

In prior years, my DD did as many as 4 tryouts on the same day. For better or worse, the local USAV region sets the allowable dates for local clubs to hold tryouts so all clubs are forced to have tryouts over the same few days. You will see advice on many of the threads on DCUM that is consistent with what we have experienced. Go to clinics of clubs your DD is interested in ahead of tryouts. Most clubs are having clinics now through the end of October. Having a chance for your DD to be seen by the club and for you to watch how the club conducts its clinics can help to narrow down your options.

+1 Go to clinics before tryouts. Have an honest conversation with your daughter after about the level of play. If she feels it was significantly above her level, consider not trying out at that club. If its at her level, and she liked the experience then figure out how to try out there regardless of how many tryouts she has to do in a day. And make sure she goes to at least one tryout where she felt the play was below her level.

[Anonymous]

Does it look bad if your child attends the makeup tryout date instead of the regular set tryout date that is offered? Do the clubs look down on that, like do they interpret it to mean that the club isn't such a high priority for you? Or do they just accept that there are going to be scheduling conflicts? We're trying to fit all the club tryouts in without foregoing any.