Volleyball club- recap and thoughts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paramount is ambitiously expanding with two teams for 11s and 12s. Are there enough talented kids at this level? Usually kids are just starting out at the rec. league.

I think Paramount will easily have full rosters for these age groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

[Anonymous]

FPYCparent wrote:So, with my 10th grade/varsity VB kid considering new clubs for the upcoming season, I'm wondering what questions I should have that could only be answered by other parents.

For example,

Which parents are totally nuts? All vball parents are nuts, and if you’re not…club volleyball will make you nuts
What if I'm the parent that's totally nuts? see above
How are families with younger, non-VB kids balancing things out? Young kids get in free to tournaments
Are there parents that volunteer to handle the video recording/streaming/sharing? ... And are they any good? Yes and good enough
Any carpooling to practices? Yes, depends where you live obviously
Who manages the wine sign-up list for tournaments? :p a full season of high level club will make you progress to hard spirits and in some cases windex
How serious are players and parents about getting recruited to college? (On a scale from "If it happens, it happens" to "My kid will start at Nebraska on Day 1.") One of the reasons that vball parents are crazy is they all think their kid is good enough for Nebraska, and as the years go by, the dream starts to fade. Metro aside, every other ‘big club’ has a smattering of D1 players (very few of which actually play), a few D2 kids and quite a few D3 kids (surprisingly few of these kids ever play either). There are very few kids that actually get a scholarship at a top school (the occasional phenom and Metro aside)
How would you rate the club's resources for the college recruiting process? In most cases, zero.

Having only completed one club season, what questions should I be considering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

Paramount built by having one strong team at each level—initially by recruiting players from other clubs. Other clubs seem to be building from the youngest groups up. There’s nothing wrong with either approach. It’s great paramount is expanding, more young players is a good thing for the region.

But Metro travel and VA Elite are the only teams consistently in open at qualifiers, and only Metro travel performs respectably historically. Paramount got bids at all levels, which was awesome, but only 18s qualified in Open. 16s got a USA bid, and everyone else got either a National or American bid through the region.

In most tournaments in the area and the regional travel tournaments it’s the same clubs in open every time, at least for their top teams: Metro, Paramount, MVSA, VA juniors, MOCO, MD Juniors, VA Elite, Blue Ridge, Premier, LEVBC. Those 10 clubs make up at least half of the top 20 in CHRVA in U12-U16, and in some ages they are the entire top 10.

Those clubs also make up most of the AVCA, MaxPreps and Prepdig lists for the region now. There are players at every one of those clubs getting recruited. We should want the region to have lots of strong clubs, it helps improve both recruiting and competition levels.

[Anonymous]

Paramount is the only club in the CHRVA Region invited and accepted to the 2024 Triple Crown National Invitational Tournament. This is the most prestigious tournament in the country, and it is invite-only. Only the best of the best are there. I think that pretty much established that Paramount and Metro are the only two true open level clubs in this area. Both clubs are great. Putting VAE into that same category is laughable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

Paramount built by having one strong team at each level—initially by recruiting players from other clubs. Other clubs seem to be building from the youngest groups up. There’s nothing wrong with either approach. It’s great paramount is expanding, more young players is a good thing for the region.

But Metro travel and VA Elite are the only teams consistently in open at qualifiers, and only Metro travel performs respectably historically. Paramount got bids at all levels, which was awesome, but only 18s qualified in Open. 16s got a USA bid, and everyone else got either a National or American bid through the region.

In most tournaments in the area and the regional travel tournaments it’s the same clubs in open every time, at least for their top teams: Metro, Paramount, MVSA, VA juniors, MOCO, MD Juniors, VA Elite, Blue Ridge, Premier, LEVBC. Those 10 clubs make up at least half of the top 20 in CHRVA in U12-U16, and in some ages they are the entire top 10.

Those clubs also make up most of the AVCA, MaxPreps and Prepdig lists for the region now. There are players at every one of those clubs getting recruited. We should want the region to have lots of strong clubs, it helps improve both recruiting and competition levels.

Paramount 18s didn’t just get an open bid. They finished 5th place at USAV Nationals in 18 Open. That’s the best finish in CHRVA Region history for the Open Division. To put that into perspective, the previous best finish for a CHRVA team in 18 Open was 17th (Metro Travel). Historically, Metro is the only club that has consistently won open bids (Paramount 15s also earned an open bid 3 years ago). However, metro has been around since the 90s, and the current club director bought the club 7 years ago. So, that kind of success should be expected from a club that’s been around for 20+ years and for a long time has held a monopoly on all the area’s top talent. In comparison, Paramount is only in year 7, and for the first 3 years of existence as a club they didn’t have more than 3 total teams. The club was started with girls who were cut from VAJRS. I experienced firsthand how Paramount took these players who were cut and then trained them up and beat the clubs they were cut from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

Paramount built by having one strong team at each level—initially by recruiting players from other clubs. Other clubs seem to be building from the youngest groups up. There’s nothing wrong with either approach. It’s great paramount is expanding, more young players is a good thing for the region.

But Metro travel and VA Elite are the only teams consistently in open at qualifiers, and only Metro travel performs respectably historically. Paramount got bids at all levels, which was awesome, but only 18s qualified in Open. 16s got a USA bid, and everyone else got either a National or American bid through the region.

In most tournaments in the area and the regional travel tournaments it’s the same clubs in open every time, at least for their top teams: Metro, Paramount, MVSA, VA juniors, MOCO, MD Juniors, VA Elite, Blue Ridge, Premier, LEVBC. Those 10 clubs make up at least half of the top 20 in CHRVA in U12-U16, and in some ages they are the entire top 10.

Those clubs also make up most of the AVCA, MaxPreps and Prepdig lists for the region now. There are players at every one of those clubs getting recruited. We should want the region to have lots of strong clubs, it helps improve both recruiting and competition levels.

Paramount 18s didn’t just get an open bid. They finished 5th place at USAV Nationals in 18 Open. That’s the best finish in CHRVA Region history for the Open Division. To put that into perspective, the previous best finish for a CHRVA team in 18 Open was 17th (Metro Travel). Historically, Metro is the only club that has consistently won open bids (Paramount 15s also earned an open bid 3 years ago). However, metro has been around since the 90s, and the current club director bought the club 7 years ago. So, that kind of success should be expected from a club that’s been around for 20+ years and for a long time has held a monopoly on all the area’s top talent. In comparison, Paramount is only in year 7, and for the first 3 years of existence as a club they didn’t have more than 3 total teams. The club was started with girls who were cut from VAJRS. I experienced firsthand how Paramount took these players who were cut and then trained them up and beat the clubs they were cut from.

Last year's run for Paramount 18s at Nationals was incredible, and great for them and for the region. It can also be true that they started through picking up players (even cut players) from other clubs AND they were great at coaching them. And its true other clubs have different approaches, and they are successful as well.

There's what, 25-30 players total on Paramount and Metro 18s combined? Yes, they are great teams with great players. But there were more than 100 players last year who committed to play college volleyball from the region. It takes at least 10 teams (more like 15) to support that many college recruits -- two clubs doesn't cover it.

There's a big tendency focus on the few (really 2) "open" level teams, and then imply other clubs are doing something wrong, or are just inherently bad. There are a lot of other good clubs out there, its about finding the right one for your specific situation. It would be incredible if Paramount, Metro and a bunch of other clubs were good-better competition, better player development, better recruiting, etc.

[Anonymous]

Every time teams from Metro and Paramount square off in a tournament, I'm assuming that the play is fierce and every point is fiercely contested.

[Anonymous]

Dustin Watten of Noezybuckets, a former USAV and professional player, joined Paramount last season for a training clinic. Bringing in someone of this caliber to help with team training is elite training. The club is investing heavily in its players and its performance. I'm sure this has attracted a lot of attention from players and parents alike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

MVSA club fees are ridiculously low as compared to most of the clubs here, but yet have very competitive teams. How come they can charge that low?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

MVSA club fees are ridiculously low as compared to most of the clubs here, but yet have very competitive teams. How come they can charge that low?

They have competitive teams U10-U14, but not after that. They do a great job with the younger kids. They are a non-profit, and they don’t do many tournaments that require flights/travel arrangements, so that helps keep their costs very low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

MVSA club fees are ridiculously low as compared to most of the clubs here, but yet have very competitive teams. How come they can charge that low?

They have competitive teams U10-U14, but not after that. They do a great job with the younger kids. They are a non-profit, and they don’t do many tournaments that require flights/travel arrangements, so that helps keep their costs very low.

Coaches are volunteers and practice space is local MCPS gyms. MVSA also host a few tournaments at the Soccerplex gym which bring in money to them. Biggest bonus is the usually carry 10 players on each team so everyone sees the court. For the price, the value can't be matched. But its true at older age groups, the best players gets recruited to more competitive clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MEVC and MOCO also has U10-12 teams.

The difference is none of those clubs that traditionally do U10-U12 have any open-level teams when the girls get older. MVSA is known to be strong in U10-U14, but then around U15 all those girls leave for bigger clubs because they know they need to do so for college recruiting and competitiveness purposes. But now with Paramount expanding into the U10-U12 category, we finally have an elite club in our area getting into those age groups.

Paramount built by having one strong team at each level—initially by recruiting players from other clubs. Other clubs seem to be building from the youngest groups up. There’s nothing wrong with either approach. It’s great paramount is expanding, more young players is a good thing for the region.

But Metro travel and VA Elite are the only teams consistently in open at qualifiers, and only Metro travel performs respectably historically. Paramount got bids at all levels, which was awesome, but only 18s qualified in Open. 16s got a USA bid, and everyone else got either a National or American bid through the region.

In most tournaments in the area and the regional travel tournaments it’s the same clubs in open every time, at least for their top teams: Metro, Paramount, MVSA, VA juniors, MOCO, MD Juniors, VA Elite, Blue Ridge, Premier, LEVBC. Those 10 clubs make up at least half of the top 20 in CHRVA in U12-U16, and in some ages they are the entire top 10.

Those clubs also make up most of the AVCA, MaxPreps and Prepdig lists for the region now. There are players at every one of those clubs getting recruited. We should want the region to have lots of strong clubs, it helps improve both recruiting and competition levels.

Paramount did not start by recruiting players from other clubs. This past 18s were mostly girls that were cut from other clubs like VA Jrs. With their success on the court, Paramount is now in a position to be selective (ie. recruit players).

Its great for the CHRVA region to have multiple strong clubs so players/family can be selective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is mojo likely to be any better that ECP? Aren’t they the same people?

Yep, SAME people.

I don't think that's accurate or fair.

Mojo coaches and leadership were established and well-respected in the DC area long before ECP came into the picture. ECPDC coaches that came from Arlington Elite and The St. James were solid as well.

The major issues with ECPDC began last year during the 2022-23 season. From the volleyball gossip mill, the problems are attributed to either A) 3 Step Sports National corporate leadership or B) the influx of Delaware coaches and director (Chris Smith) just not meshing with the local group. Either way, the merger between corporate franchise, Delaware, and DC local coaches did not work out. The DC local coaches are now back with Mojo. Former Delaware coaches seem to be with Renaissance.

Being a DC volleyball parent with older kids, I know the Mojo/St James coaches and hate to see them smeared. My kids owe a lot of their skills and confidence to Mojo.
N
I'm inclined to give the Renaissance coaches the benefit of the doubt as well. Unlike 3 Step Sports, the coaches do not profit personally from clinic or registration fees that are not refunded.

Then consider your family fortunate that you got to see the pretty side.
Mojo coaches and directors play such obvious favorites and have no problem taking your money for clinics and even inviting you to invite only to add a few extra bodies. But when you go to tryout day and they suddenly avoid eye contact and immediately put you on the “thanks for coming” court without even pretending to observe your tryout, you know you were just one of the suckers.
I’m sure other clubs are the same way in making up their rosters in advance, but those clubs do a much better job of trying to make it appear that the tryout is a tryout.

This is true from before they transferred the club to ECP. Experienced it 2 years ago and would say it’s accurate

[Anonymous]

MVSA goal has always been to grow the sport and make it very accessible. They have always been upfront that college recruitment is not the end goal for them; coaches are all volunteers. The number 1 teams, up to U16, are very competitive. Historically, if your only goal is to play in college volleyball, MVSA may not be the club for you, but every year players from the club go on to play college volleyball. They coaches work with interested players to make it happen but it wasn’t as formal other clubs.