Why all the volleyball threads all of a sudden?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s been a spike in interest

ITA. DD said it felt like all the middle school girls at her school were trying out. And girls are quitting our softball league to focus on volleyball exclusively, where before they might to rec in both, because they think they won't make their HS teams without being on club.

[Anonymous]

But volleyball hardest sport to play d1 for women so why they doing it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tryout season plus high school season. Just like there were multiple little league posts in the spring.

Right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s been a spike in interest

I agree! I know a few of my friends kids are suddenly Very into volleyball, including going to out-of-state tournaments. I wonder if there was something on social media last year that spiked a lot of kids interests. This cannot be a bad thing, being active and hopping onto the volleyball trend is not a bad thing at all.

[Anonymous]

As a volleyball family, this post cracks me up. Just depends on what circles you are in. I’ve been playing volleyball for 30 years, my Dad played in college, my husband coaches club, and our son plays club. It is an awesome sport with a close knit community. If your kid is interested, have them get more touches on the ball. Check out the rec centers in the county. In MoCo, they have drop in at several locations. Gaithersburg has an AWESOME rec league.

It’s a sport that phenomenal athletes play. So if your kid is just starting at 13-14, they have a lot of work to put in. When you’re just starting out, no need to focus on private lessons, top notch training, just get touches on the ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s been a spike in interest

ITA. DD said it felt like all the middle school girls at her school were trying out. And girls are quitting our softball league to focus on volleyball exclusively, where before they might to rec in both, because they think they won't make their HS teams without being on club.

True. At my kids’ HS, volleyball is by far the most desired sport to play for girls and also by far the most difficult team to make for girls. About 1/3 of the freshman girls tried out for the freshman team. It has gotten really popular. Kind of the equivalent of the basketball team for boys (at least at our school)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ https://www.novaboysvb.org/

Boys volleyball has been adopted as a varsity high school sport in Fairfax County Public Schools as of fall 2024!

Now you will have parents from girls volleyball team chimed in and complain about the lack of gym space.

And they'll be justified. They already competed for space with boys basketball team work outs, not they lose to boys volleyball too.

and don't even get me started on Football. The same preferences in place 30 years ago still exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s been a spike in interest

ITA. DD said it felt like all the middle school girls at her school were trying out. And girls are quitting our softball league to focus on volleyball exclusively, where before they might to rec in both, because they think they won't make their HS teams without being on club.

True. At my kids’ HS, volleyball is by far the most desired sport to play for girls and also by far the most difficult team to make for girls. About 1/3 of the freshman girls tried out for the freshman team. It has gotten really popular. Kind of the equivalent of the basketball team for boys (at least at our school)

At our school, girls soccer is still the hardest girls sport, but volleyball is getting there fast. At least going into soccer, the girls know where they stand based on where they play. The rec soccer player is not surprised when they get cut. Volleyball cuts seem so random to a lot of the girls.

[Anonymous]

Truth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ https://www.novaboysvb.org/

Boys volleyball has been adopted as a varsity high school sport in Fairfax County Public Schools as of fall 2024!

Now you will have parents from girls volleyball team chimed in and complain about the lack of gym space.

And they'll be justified. They already competed for space with boys basketball team work outs, not they lose to boys volleyball too.

and don't even get me started on Football. The same preferences in place 30 years ago still exist.

Field and gym allocation, at least in Fairfax County, is really a mess and there simply aren't enough space for all the teams that exist to practice and play. Plus, yes, the preferences are a mess.

[Anonymous]

I love volleyball and played in high school and college. It’s always been popular in certain regions but it got really popular during the pandemic from tik tok and other SM videos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many posts because HS volleyball brings the most drama of any sport my kids have played. I attribute this to:
--more club players than spots on the HS team, then spots sometimes go to non-club players (like my DD) and the word "unfair" gets used a lot. Families rearrange summer vacations for tryouts in early August, so if someone doesn't make the team, they killed the month for nothing,
--it is truly a team sport, they rely on each position doing well, so emotions run high, especially against teammates screwing up.
--of all the sports my kids have played, there have been more mentally unhinged coaches than we have encountered elsewhere.

Things are very different with boys volleyball, because boys volleyball is new and undeveloped in this area so we have like 2 club players on our boy's varsity team, we are literally poaching the basketball team for our front line, I mean hitting is not that different than an allez-up. But, they touch the net so much I'm afraid we will wear out the trim along the top of the net.

One club kid is an outside hitter and is now our setter, the other one is a mid and he is now an outside hitter. A baseball player is playing libero. I feel like his setting would actually improve if he was wearing a baseball glove, but he does get under the ball.

But there are zero expectations so the boys seem to be having a great time so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously every other thread is about this sport. Is it that popular?

Yes, it's that popular. Volleyball has seen a huge surge in popularity in the past few years. It's now the girls' team sport with the highest number of participants in high school in the US https://www.nfhs.org/media/7212321/nfhs-2023-athletics-participation-survey-for-press-release.pdf (Track and field has a slightly higher number but track isn't so much a "team" sport)

There is more women's collegiate volleyball on TV than ever in the fall - they moved the NCAA National Championship match which had traditionally been held on a Saturday evening and broadcast on ESPN to Sunday afternoon so it could be shown on ABC. https://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/2023-12-19/division-i-womens-volleyball-championship-sets-attendance-tv-ratings-records Nebraska held a match in their football stadium last year and had over 90,000+ people there to watch, making it the highest attendance women's sporting event ever. There are two new women's professional leagues in the U.S. and the number of girls playing club volleyball has exploded as well.

Volleyball is definitely having a moment and it's awesome.

[Anonymous]

Just have to be tall and white

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many posts because HS volleyball brings the most drama of any sport my kids have played. I attribute this to:
--more club players than spots on the HS team, then spots sometimes go to non-club players (like my DD) and the word "unfair" gets used a lot. Families rearrange summer vacations for tryouts in early August, so if someone doesn't make the team, they killed the month for nothing,
--it is truly a team sport, they rely on each position doing well, so emotions run high, especially against teammates screwing up.
--of all the sports my kids have played, there have been more mentally unhinged coaches than we have encountered elsewhere.

You could say the same about basketball, but I think basketball parents are more realistic about where their kids stand. 8th graders who play on pay for play AAU teams know they are on pay for play teams. That same awareness seems to be lacking with volleyball parents

I have a sixth grader who loves volleyball. She plays rec only at this point and has done some camps over the summer but not with a specific club. How do you know if a club is pay for play?