Club volleyball & "playing up"
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Anonymous
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My 13 DD is interested in trying out for club volleyball this year and went to the club's clinic. At the 13u clinic, we learned that there is no 13u team. Instead, the team is a combined 13/14 and they encourage all 13s in 8th grade to play-up a level because of college recruiters only looking at 18u down the road. Look, this club is not a Paramount/Metro-level and my kid is not likely to be looked at by any recruiters. I don't want to downplay her, but let's be realistic here. She just wants to play on a team with very supportive coaches and have fun with it, and maybe get a shot at making her HS team.
Can you talk to me about playing up at this young age? I've come across statements on various club websites that they do not encourage playing up in order to have the strongest teams at every level. So, this approach took me by surprise. |
Anonymous
| How long has she been playing volleyball and at what level—rec, school, other clubs? |
Anonymous
| What grade is she in? I’d try to keep my kid with the grade level. In this case, 7th grader would be with u13, 8th grader with u14. It helps with high school playing too. |
Anonymous
Some clubs do it because they don't have the infrastructure for as many teams. Every team requires a coach and regular practice space, neither of which are easy to come by. From a recruiting perspective, there isn't any real advantage to playing up - the NCAA rules around contacting recruits are based on grade level so it's generally easiest to just play the age group that corresponds to grade. Since you're not really interested in college recruiting, for a not so competitive club it's probably fine to play on a combined 13/14s team if your DD can make the team and the logistics and other factors work for you. |
Anonymous
The statement that college recruiters only look at 18s is flat out false. In terms of coaches looking at players, the primary years are 16s and 17s. NCAA rules allow coaches to make direct recruiting contact with players on 6/15 before their junior year which for most playing at their grade level is towards the end of 16s season. For this reason coaches are mostly looking at 16s and 17s when they are at tournaments. While there is some recruiting at 18s, this is usually to pick up players in positions they haven't filled yet meaning they are looking at players who are graduating from HS soon. |
Anonymous
| We made this mistake so I’d strongly consider another club with more infrastructure to support a 13U team. Your daughter will not be happy playing against 14U teams in tournaments. Most 14U players already have 2-3 years of club experience. |
Anonymous
+ 1. Playing at age level gives you the best experience. Unless you have good reasons to play up (meaning you are so good that you can compete against older kids). There are teams that intentionally play one age up because they want the challenge. But they are not teams made up of beginners. If your kid is a beginner, playing up is a recipe for a disappointing season. |
Anonymous
| Different sport, but dear daughter really flourished playing up. She was ready for it and challenged and I think it significantly improved her game. The only negative I’ll add is that when she was younger, there were times she just wanted to play with her same age friends, but that wasn’t possible playing up. As the youngest, she some times was submissive and felt she couldn’t always speak up. |
Anonymous
About 2 years of rec house and 1 season of rec travel. No club experience to-date- this would be the first at 13u. She's 5'6" now, so while she looks 14, can she compete with a bunch of 9th graders with years of club experience? Wellll, this is my huge concern...that even if she made this "13/14" team (this team needs to just call it 14u because that's what it is), she'd be watching the older, more experienced girls from the sidelines, and I'd be out big $ and it would be a huge disappointment all around. |
Anonymous
Forgot to mention that she's an 8th grader. A very young 8th grader who is in the 13u category and whose 8th grade friends are currently trying to make 14u teams. |
Anonymous
If you are trying out for a well-established club, they would not take her on the 13/14 roster if she is not ready. However, it is rare for a well-established club to have a combined 13/14 (Metro Central had that last year). I will go ahead and assume that we are dealing with a club that has trouble filling their rosters and they would take everyone with a pulse. That's all I have unless you are willing to share the name of the club. |
Anonymous
This situation happens a lot, and there are two schools of thought: play grade level or play age. Most families start out convinced that playing grade level is the best option. After a year of club a lot of families have more info and may have a different perspective. Club volleyball, even with lower teams, is still pretty competitive at all ages. From a developmental perspective the most important thing is to be on a team that matches your level of skill and your ability to progress. For a lot of players playing above your age group to stay with your grade can be tough—that extra year of maturity and development has a much larger impact than you might think. Very few clubs do U13/14 teams because of this. When they do combine, they tend not to do well. |
Anonymous
Thank you so much for your feedback! |
Anonymous
| Better to play 13u because she will get more playing time and be more competitive. Kids don't progress if they are always on the bench. No one cares at high school tryouts if you were playing up but barely played. Having significant game experience really builds skills and confidence. |