Is 8th grade too late to start club volleyball?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there club teams in Montgomery County?

There are quite a few. We are VA based but have played or seen teams at tournaments. Some MD residents can chime in:
MVSA - Montgomery Village
MOCO - Montgomery County
MEVC
One or 2 of the Metro regional teams - Metro Central? Metro North?

[Anonymous]

Agree with previous posts. It all depends on level of play your DD is interested in. Since she is just starting, getting into a club that train & develop is important and see how competitive she wants to be.

MVSA - 3 teams for each age group but a lot of girls tryout; cost is reasonable but coaches are volunteers (some good and some not); will need to work outside/private lessons to catch up
Moco - 2 teams for each age group; not super competitive but have seen girls develop in this club

In virginia, VAVA is a club with coaches that are really good at developing players and very patient.....so worth a look if you are close by.

Metro travel teams are very competitive but some players end up coming from other clubs (so were developed outside)
VA Elite - good at development but $$$, very interested in tall girls (so are willing to work with inexperience players as long as you are tall)
VA Jrs - competitive but does not have "academy" style training so not great for experience players (only 1 team for each age so hard to get on a team if not skilled)

"New" club - East Coast Power Chesapeak - coaches were former (Arlington Elite/St James) coaches and is relatively new so maybe a good chance to get on a team as they are building their reputation.

Hope that helps

[Anonymous]

One other thing to keep in mind as you move forward is how time consuming this is. My daughter plays on her ranked high school team, but absolutely hated club. Her life was homework, practices and tournaments. She had no time to herself or to hang with her friends. She quit club and has no regrets. She loves volleyball, but wanted balance in her life. Much happier kid now.

[Anonymous]

Eighth grade is fine to start. Big thing to do is go to clinics this fall before tryouts. Check out the clubs and talk to the coaches.

A new club player in Virginia isn't going to make Virginia Elite, Virginia Juniors or Paramount. But there are clubs with multiple teams. NVVA also has regional teams that are cheaper and have less travel. Definitely look at that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is in 7th grade and interested in volleyball. Has played some in rec league and likes it but has two friends who play club volleyball and love it. I get the feeling from talking to some volleyball moms that its too late for her to get into it. I was a little skeptical about that --I remembered friends starting in high school. but DD and I went to part of her friend's tournament last weekend and some of these 13 year olds were really really good. Has she already missed her chance or could she try out next fall and have a realistic shot at making a team if she does some camps/lessons over the summer? She is a pretty good athlete, tall but not a giant. We are in NoVA. Thanks

Having a child who started a sport in high school, getting private coaching was key. Camps and classes but also private coaching along with conditioning.

[Anonymous]

I doubt 20/21 club season takes place anyway, so keep doing the clinics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One other thing to keep in mind as you move forward is how time consuming this is. My daughter plays on her ranked high school team, but absolutely hated club. Her life was homework, practices and tournaments. She had no time to herself or to hang with her friends. She quit club and has no regrets. She loves volleyball, but wanted balance in her life. Much happier kid now.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I doubt 20/21 club season takes place anyway, so keep doing the clinics

I sure hope not. The travel club life of a parent is so draining.