14U Girls Volleyball in DMV - Tryouts & Club Teams

[Anonymous]

I also have a 14U girl looking to play club. Her older sister played for Vienna Elite last season so we got a taste for big tournaments, politics, and the money grab. We won't be going back. I am looking for suggestions of a low-key club experience inside the beltway (ffx, annandale or arl). She is primarily a soccer player but is 5'7 and has good hands from playing with big sis and a few seasons playing for her catholic shool team. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So St. James is Friday evening, Saturday afternoon we have VA Elite & Mojo (back to back; although now I'm thinking there is probably not much point in trying out for VA Elite), Sunday afternoon is Academy.

I’m just coming on here to say good luck to your daughter! We will be at two of those tryouts too. It’s not my daughter’s first year with club volleyball but we feel just as lost and confused with this entire process and are still constantly second guessing every decision. I tell my daughter to relax and try to enjoy tryouts without letting the stress become too much. It’s just a sport in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also have a 14U girl looking to play club. Her older sister played for Vienna Elite last season so we got a taste for big tournaments, politics, and the money grab. We won't be going back. I am looking for suggestions of a low-key club experience inside the beltway (ffx, annandale or arl). She is primarily a soccer player but is 5'7 and has good hands from playing with big sis and a few seasons playing for her catholic shool team. Any suggestions?

Obviously being our first year we don't have a lot of experience, but from the ones we have tried so far this year (Paramount, VA Elite, Metro - Travel/Central, Mojo, Academy, St. James; I think we also did a clinic @ Vienna Elite at one point), we haven't come across a low-key one. The co-ed league at St. James (we just went there tonight) features a variety of skill levels, so if your daughter is athletic and already excels at soccer she may not find it challenging enough to be interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So St. James is Friday evening, Saturday afternoon we have VA Elite & Mojo (back to back; although now I'm thinking there is probably not much point in trying out for VA Elite), Sunday afternoon is Academy.

I’m just coming on here to say good luck to your daughter! We will be at two of those tryouts too. It’s not my daughter’s first year with club volleyball but we feel just as lost and confused with this entire process and are still constantly second guessing every decision. I tell my daughter to relax and try to enjoy tryouts without letting the stress become too much. It’s just a sport in the end.

Good luck to your daughter as well! Is it true they usually tap on the player's shoulder and hand out "offer papers" during the tryouts (heard from a friend in CA, not sure if it's common practice)?

[Anonymous]

Good luck to your daughter as well! Is it true they usually tap on the player's shoulder and hand out "offer papers" during the tryouts (heard from a friend in CA, not sure if it's common practice)?

No- that is not true, unless things have changed. ST James will typically call/contact players immediately (within a few hours) after tryouts if they want to make an offer or even a callback offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So St. James is Friday evening, Saturday afternoon we have VA Elite & Mojo (back to back; although now I'm thinking there is probably not much point in trying out for VA Elite), Sunday afternoon is Academy.

I’m just coming on here to say good luck to your daughter! We will be at two of those tryouts too. It’s not my daughter’s first year with club volleyball but we feel just as lost and confused with this entire process and are still constantly second guessing every decision. I tell my daughter to relax and try to enjoy tryouts without letting the stress become too much. It’s just a sport in the end.

Good luck to your daughter as well! Is it true they usually tap on the player's shoulder and hand out "offer papers" during the tryouts (heard from a friend in CA, not sure if it's common practice)?

No - that’s not common practice here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So St. James is Friday evening, Saturday afternoon we have VA Elite & Mojo (back to back; although now I'm thinking there is probably not much point in trying out for VA Elite), Sunday afternoon is Academy.

I’m just coming on here to say good luck to your daughter! We will be at two of those tryouts too. It’s not my daughter’s first year with club volleyball but we feel just as lost and confused with this entire process and are still constantly second guessing every decision. I tell my daughter to relax and try to enjoy tryouts without letting the stress become too much. It’s just a sport in the end.

x1000
so there are no low-key clubs? is that what you have determined?

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by low-key, PP? Like lower skill level and less travel? Less pressure, less competitive? There are a few other threads that have discussed aiming for regional teams rather than travel teams. Like Maryland Juniors, Metro and Academy have regional teams at 14U. MoCo has 3s teams at that age too. They’re not called regional, but it’s similar. Any big club that has 3s level are probably what you want if you want low-key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also have a 14U girl looking to play club. Her older sister played for Vienna Elite last season so we got a taste for big tournaments, politics, and the money grab. We won't be going back. I am looking for suggestions of a low-key club experience inside the beltway (ffx, annandale or arl). She is primarily a soccer player but is 5'7 and has good hands from playing with big sis and a few seasons playing for her catholic shool team. Any suggestions?

Maybe Alexandria Titans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So St. James is Friday evening, Saturday afternoon we have VA Elite & Mojo (back to back; although now I'm thinking there is probably not much point in trying out for VA Elite), Sunday afternoon is Academy.

I’m just coming on here to say good luck to your daughter! We will be at two of those tryouts too. It’s not my daughter’s first year with club volleyball but we feel just as lost and confused with this entire process and are still constantly second guessing every decision. I tell my daughter to relax and try to enjoy tryouts without letting the stress become too much. It’s just a sport in the end.

x1000
so there are no low-key clubs? is that what you have determined?

I think there are some but they tend to be far out and still tend to be expensive.

Isn’t No Panic a pretty low key club?

[Anonymous]

I don’t know anything about this club but saw the post this morning about the new low key team for under 1k. It’s u14 too. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1234708.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know anything about this club but saw the post this morning about the new low key team for under 1k. It’s u14 too. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1234708.page

Thanks for sharing this!

[Anonymous]

I doubt VAE has a set returning roster - their 13s team is almost entirely developmental and if your kid has potential (ie tall and athletic), they’ll take her. If I remember correctly, very few kids go all the way from 14s to 18s at VAE, so they’re always looking for college potential and their top players generally end up at Metro or Paramount in later years (with a few exceptions)

[Anonymous]

OP you need to *immediateky* stop posting here with so many personally-identifiable details about your DD and her circumstances. There’s a lot of “jockeying” in this process among coaches and deciding who gets offers. So just try to play it close to the C’est and keep an open mind, but no need to give anyone any extra information about where your DD is being invited or what other clubs she has attended.

[Anonymous]

Depends on how good her DD is

Anonymous wrote:OP you need to *immediateky* stop posting here with so many personally-identifiable details about your DD and her circumstances. There’s a lot of “jockeying” in this process among coaches and deciding who gets offers. So just try to play it close to the C’est and keep an open mind, but no need to give anyone any extra information about where your DD is being invited or what other clubs she has attended.