High School tryouts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would any of us know? DD said lots of girls showed up at her large public and so many got cut for the freshman team. There’s no point in posting the school because lots and so many aren’t specific numbers.

It looks like you know. I also know from my DD that Richard Montgomery had about 70 players trying out. Less players trying out for varsity (~25) with the rest trying out for JV. There were lots of players coming from clubs in the area: MVSA, Platform, MEVC. My DD thinks that players without club experience have little chance of making a team this year - even some club players may be cut.

RM won the state championship last year and they had a 24-1 record. Of course they’re composed of players with club experience.

You are talking about the RM Varsity: It is likely that this year's Varsity team will be made up of only club players. But more than 1/3 of the RM JV team from last year didn't have club experience. It looks like this year they have more club players than spots on the JV roster.

Yup. Last year, DD played club for the first time because she wanted to increase her chances at getting on her HS varsity team after 2 years on JV. Some HS teams are harder to make than people realize. My point above was that RM is the top HS in the state for volleyball, so you need to manage your expectations if you’re trying out at RM.

[Anonymous]

Mine has played club two years and based on the numbers at tryouts, I am worried she won’t even get a JV spot. Ugh.

I also am kind of curious whether coaches would take a 6 foot girl with no experience over a 5’ 7” girl with expeiruence. I don’t know but one thing I don’t like about this sport is that it seems that unless you are in the top percent of girls for height, you’re time in the sport is limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine has played club two years and based on the numbers at tryouts, I am worried she won’t even get a JV spot. Ugh.

I also am kind of curious whether coaches would take a 6 foot girl with no experience over a 5’ 7” girl with expeiruence. I don’t know but one thing I don’t like about this sport is that it seems that unless you are in the top percent of girls for height, you’re time in the sport is limited.

Good luck to your DD on getting a spot!

On your question about a 6’ player versus a 5’7”, of course the answer is that it depends. Obviously a 5’7” girl with experience is going to be better at the basics than a 6’ tall newbie, but is the 5’7” player athletic and hardworking? Is she a leader? What position does she play? What needs does the team have? Taking a 6’ player without demonstrated abilities is a risk that a coach might take in hopes that they will be an asset in the future. The 5’7” player with experience might meet a shorter term need.

Depending on the HS (or even club team) a 5’7” hitter can be successful, but they need to work harder and play smarter than taller girls. And being incredibly athletic helps too. There have been some outstanding shorter outside hitters in the past few years on top collegiate teams - look for video on Charitie Luper, Jill Gillen, or Leketor Member-Meneh.

With average jumping ability, it’s probably more likely that shorter players are going to be used as a defensive player/libero or setter. While there is an advantage to setters being taller, a shorter setter with skill and leadership ability can win out over a taller player.

For liberos/defensive specialists the challenge is that as they get older many talented players who don’t grow tall end up as defensive players so the competition gets fierce for those spots. In addition to volleyball skill, in order to stand out as a defensive player they need to be aggressive, loud, and fearless.

So there are options for girls less than 6’ - they might just need to work a little harder than their taller peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine has played club two years and based on the numbers at tryouts, I am worried she won’t even get a JV spot. Ugh.

I also am kind of curious whether coaches would take a 6 foot girl with no experience over a 5’ 7” girl with expeiruence. I don’t know but one thing I don’t like about this sport is that it seems that unless you are in the top percent of girls for height, you’re time in the sport is limited.

If you consider grade-based distribution, the majority of girls who show up at HS volleyball tryouts are freshmen. Most of the freshmen have no idea what they are getting into. They feel prepared for HS volleyball based on some rec leagues or clinics that they attended. They might end up on the HS team if not many other girls play club volleyball. Some of the seniors still hope to make the JV team, so you will see some of those at the tryouts. The junior and senior population trying out for the varsity team drops significantly. A lot of them don't even try out to avoid the embarrassment of a rejection.

What I am trying to say is that the number of players showing up at tryouts is not very relevant. One third is quickly eliminated due to lack of basic skills. Another third is eliminated due to unpolished skills. It's really the remaining one third who have a chance to make the team. That's the crowd you will see in the last day of tryouts.

It is not a tough call to pick between 6' and 5'7" if the skills are similar. If the taller girl has less experience, the question is how big the gap is. It comes down to coachability, attitude, athleticism, agility, strength, and endurance. If the tall girl cannot close the gap during a relatively short season, 5'7" is still tall enough. Now drop the height to 5'2" and the tall girl is more and more likely to get the spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has played club two years and based on the numbers at tryouts, I am worried she won’t even get a JV spot. Ugh.

I also am kind of curious whether coaches would take a 6 foot girl with no experience over a 5’ 7” girl with expeiruence. I don’t know but one thing I don’t like about this sport is that it seems that unless you are in the top percent of girls for height, you’re time in the sport is limited.

If you consider grade-based distribution, the majority of girls who show up at HS volleyball tryouts are freshmen. Most of the freshmen have no idea what they are getting into. They feel prepared for HS volleyball based on some rec leagues or clinics that they attended. They might end up on the HS team if not many other girls play club volleyball. Some of the seniors still hope to make the JV team, so you will see some of those at the tryouts. The junior and senior population trying out for the varsity team drops significantly. A lot of them don't even try out to avoid the embarrassment of a rejection.

What I am trying to say is that the number of players showing up at tryouts is not very relevant. One third is quickly eliminated due to lack of basic skills. Another third is eliminated due to unpolished skills. It's really the remaining one third who have a chance to make the team. That's the crowd you will see in the last day of tryouts.

It is not a tough call to pick between 6' and 5'7" if the skills are similar. If the taller girl has less experience, the question is how big the gap is. It comes down to coachability, attitude, athleticism, agility, strength, and endurance. If the tall girl cannot close the gap during a relatively short season, 5'7" is still tall enough. Now drop the height to 5'2" and the tall girl is more and more likely to get the spot.

I meant sophomores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has played club two years and based on the numbers at tryouts, I am worried she won’t even get a JV spot. Ugh.

I also am kind of curious whether coaches would take a 6 foot girl with no experience over a 5’ 7” girl with expeiruence. I don’t know but one thing I don’t like about this sport is that it seems that unless you are in the top percent of girls for height, you’re time in the sport is limited.

If you consider grade-based distribution, the majority of girls who show up at HS volleyball tryouts are freshmen. Most of the freshmen have no idea what they are getting into. They feel prepared for HS volleyball based on some rec leagues or clinics that they attended. They might end up on the HS team if not many other girls play club volleyball. Some of the seniors still hope to make the JV team, so you will see some of those at the tryouts. The junior and senior population trying out for the varsity team drops significantly. A lot of them don't even try out to avoid the embarrassment of a rejection.

What I am trying to say is that the number of players showing up at tryouts is not very relevant. One third is quickly eliminated due to lack of basic skills. Another third is eliminated due to unpolished skills. It's really the remaining one third who have a chance to make the team. That's the crowd you will see in the last day of tryouts.

It is not a tough call to pick between 6' and 5'7" if the skills are similar. If the taller girl has less experience, the question is how big the gap is. It comes down to coachability, attitude, athleticism, agility, strength, and endurance. If the tall girl cannot close the gap during a relatively short season, 5'7" is still tall enough. Now drop the height to 5'2" and the tall girl is more and more likely to get the spot.

My understanding is that even the returning Varsity and JV players are expected to come to the try-outs so the number quoted (72 or something for WJ) would include the 20 or so returning players, so really like 52 players trying out for like 5-10 spots, I think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has played club two years and based on the numbers at tryouts, I am worried she won’t even get a JV spot. Ugh.

I also am kind of curious whether coaches would take a 6 foot girl with no experience over a 5’ 7” girl with expeiruence. I don’t know but one thing I don’t like about this sport is that it seems that unless you are in the top percent of girls for height, you’re time in the sport is limited.

If you consider grade-based distribution, the majority of girls who show up at HS volleyball tryouts are freshmen. Most of the freshmen have no idea what they are getting into. They feel prepared for HS volleyball based on some rec leagues or clinics that they attended. They might end up on the HS team if not many other girls play club volleyball. Some of the seniors still hope to make the JV team, so you will see some of those at the tryouts. The junior and senior population trying out for the varsity team drops significantly. A lot of them don't even try out to avoid the embarrassment of a rejection.

What I am trying to say is that the number of players showing up at tryouts is not very relevant. One third is quickly eliminated due to lack of basic skills. Another third is eliminated due to unpolished skills. It's really the remaining one third who have a chance to make the team. That's the crowd you will see in the last day of tryouts.

It is not a tough call to pick between 6' and 5'7" if the skills are similar. If the taller girl has less experience, the question is how big the gap is. It comes down to coachability, attitude, athleticism, agility, strength, and endurance. If the tall girl cannot close the gap during a relatively short season, 5'7" is still tall enough. Now drop the height to 5'2" and the tall girl is more and more likely to get the spot.

My understanding is that even the returning Varsity and JV players are expected to come to the try-outs so the number quoted (72 or something for WJ) would include the 20 or so returning players, so really like 52 players trying out for like 5-10 spots, I think?

Let's start with the Junior Varsity team because things are easier. To make things easier, you can think of the JV team (~14-15 spots) as being balanced 50:50 between freshmen (7-8 spots) and sophomores (7-8 spots). The coach may decide to have a different ratio depending on the skill level at each grade level. The former freshmen (current sophomores) have another chance to try out for JV, but there is no certainty that the same 7-8 would make the team. A lot of the freshmen who got burned trying out as freshmen will avoid another embarrassment and won't show up at the tryouts. It's the turn of a new generation of freshmen to show up and embarrass themselves.

Varsity is a little bit more complicated because the team is a mix of all grade levels. You cannot assume that is is balanced 50:50 between juniors and seniors. Most of the players will still be juniors and seniors, but - depending on skill level - you can have a few freshmen and a few sophomores on the team. Instead of having an opening of 7-8 spots, you may have just 5-6 spots opening up. Returners have a really good chance of staying on varsity because they were the cream of the crop to begin with. Which means that incoming juniors will have to compete for those spots with the former varsity players, plus ambitious freshmen and sophomores. Some of them see the writing on the wall and don't even show up at the tryouts.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is a freshman this year with a few years of club experience. She tried out for JV, but the coach invited her to the varsity tryout. How common is it for a freshman to make the varsity team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a freshman this year with a few years of club experience. She tried out for JV, but the coach invited her to the varsity tryout. How common is it for a freshman to make the varsity team?

It depends on the school, the year and the competition. It all depends on who else shows up who plays the same position and the needs of the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a freshman this year with a few years of club experience. She tried out for JV, but the coach invited her to the varsity tryout. How common is it for a freshman to make the varsity team?

Congratulations to your DD for making the varsity team! Richard Montgomery had 2 freshmen on the varsity team last year, so I would say it is pretty common. It should be even more common at highs schools with weaker teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would any of us know? DD said lots of girls showed up at her large public and so many got cut for the freshman team. There’s no point in posting the school because lots and so many aren’t specific numbers.

It looks like you know. I also know from my DD that Richard Montgomery had about 70 players trying out. Less players trying out for varsity (~25) with the rest trying out for JV. There were lots of players coming from clubs in the area: MVSA, Platform, MEVC. My DD thinks that players without club experience have little chance of making a team this year - even some club players may be cut.

Similar story at WJ. There were more than 70 girls there on day 1 - mostly for JV. They made a decent-sized cut on the first day. My DD said that the first cut was primarily made up of kids who hadn't played before or only played rec. On the second day, they cut the jv team down to the low 20s, and final cuts were today. Several club players did not make it and a few of the returning JV players were cut as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those sharing numbers, can you also clarify if these are separate boys and girls teams or if it’s the “inclusive” setup where biological boys are eligible for the girls roster? It makes a difference when you’re talking about who actually has a shot at making the team.

I feel like you had a bad experience and you are more than willing to share.

There are new rules for US Volleyball this year. Players must play as the gender assigned at birth. I'm not sure how high schools are navigating this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would any of us know? DD said lots of girls showed up at her large public and so many got cut for the freshman team. There’s no point in posting the school because lots and so many aren’t specific numbers.

It looks like you know. I also know from my DD that Richard Montgomery had about 70 players trying out. Less players trying out for varsity (~25) with the rest trying out for JV. There were lots of players coming from clubs in the area: MVSA, Platform, MEVC. My DD thinks that players without club experience have little chance of making a team this year - even some club players may be cut.

Similar story at WJ. There were more than 70 girls there on day 1 - mostly for JV. They made a decent-sized cut on the first day. My DD said that the first cut was primarily made up of kids who hadn't played before or only played rec. On the second day, they cut the jv team down to the low 20s, and final cuts were today. Several club players did not make it and a few of the returning JV players were cut as well.

Richard Montgomery added one more day of tryouts (Monday). Unlike last year, when they didn't have enough club players to fill their rosters, this year club players were already cut. It will be very difficult for players with no club experience to make junior varsity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just some abstract worry for me. Last summer my daughter was at a local volleyball camp and there was a biological boy from another girls team who spent the whole week stalking and harassing her. She told the staff multiple times and I even went to the host school myself. Instead of stepping in to protect her, they doubled down on protecting him because he identified as trans. They made it clear they were more afraid of being called “not inclusive” than they were concerned about a teenage girl’s safety.

So when I ask if boys are eligible for the girls roster, it’s because I’ve seen exactly how this kind of “inclusive” policy can play out in real life — and it’s not hypothetical for us.

still think you're full of **** with how quick you came in here to share this very specific story

Remember when that Dad complained about his daughter getting graped in the bathroom by a boy in a dress and the Karen's in the crowd called him a liar? Then it turned out to be true? You're that Karen. You are deplorable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine has played club two years and based on the numbers at tryouts, I am worried she won’t even get a JV spot. Ugh.

I also am kind of curious whether coaches would take a 6 foot girl with no experience over a 5’ 7” girl with expeiruence. I don’t know but one thing I don’t like about this sport is that it seems that unless you are in the top percent of girls for height, you’re time in the sport is limited.

Basketball is the same.

Heck softball doesn't have a ton of small girls either.