Club Volleyball - rate your club pros/cons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would mention that, if your DD manages to get a 14s offer as late as this, the chances are high she is a roster filler and may spend a lot of time on the bench. IMHO, better to find a lower tier team where she would play. She has plenty of vball time ahead of her, but technical coaching and playing are the most important things at this age.

Would you recommend that when U14 mom starts calling teams to make inquiries, she ask about play time (i.e. can the clubs that are reputable but full recommend other clubs where her daughter would get both good coaching and actual playtime, and not ride the bench the whole season? A few parents are reaching out to me by text (parents I knew and ran into during tryouts) and I hadn't been advising that but thinking maybe I should if they ask me?

VAVA and STJ are still looking for U14 players. I've heard decent things about STJ, but most people I talk to say the guys who run VAVA are good guys (which can't be said for some of these other clubs). If your daughter is still looking for a team, I recommend reaching out to VAVA.

I think the main reason a lot of these clubs are still looking for players in the U14 age group (including even VAE) is because Paramount is having two 14s teams this season. I've heard a good chunk of players turned down offers from VAE, Jrs., VAVA and EC Power to accept spots on Paramount's 14-2 team.

+1 Heard the same thing. Metro 14 Travel taking 15 players and then Paramount forming two 14s teams has really limited the selection ability of the other Tier 1 and Tier 2 clubs. VAJrs had a strong 13s team last season but I heard it fell apart because their lone setter and best middle went to Metro.

There appear to be some significant shifts in U13 & U14 this year -- while some clubs were able to hold on to just about all of their good players, some of the big names were still scrambling right up until the deadline last night. Metro was still advertising makeup tryouts and slots available on their 14 travel on Saturday night. They either had their team identified already (and the advertising was just a way to get more money for tryouts) or they really did need the makeup tryout to finalize their roster. VA Elite and VA Juniors were trying to get players to switch clubs, but they either didn't or went to a different high level club. On the Maryland side--where the big clubs tend to run 2-3 teams at each age group--it seemed like most of them had little problem locking in their top teams, and many had their second and third teams done well before the end of the tryout period.

That'd surprising to hear about Metro 14 Travel. Maybe that was more of a money grab to get more sign-ups for tryouts, but I did hear of some crazy things happening with the U13-U14 age groups in general this tryout cycle. I heard VAE was still scrambling to finish their teams as of Tuesday, and I heard that VAJrs was weakened by defections to Metro (another example of Metro poaching players). Has anybody heard about how Paramount's U13 and two U14 teams are looking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would mention that, if your DD manages to get a 14s offer as late as this, the chances are high she is a roster filler and may spend a lot of time on the bench. IMHO, better to find a lower tier team where she would play. She has plenty of vball time ahead of her, but technical coaching and playing are the most important things at this age.

Would you recommend that when U14 mom starts calling teams to make inquiries, she ask about play time (i.e. can the clubs that are reputable but full recommend other clubs where her daughter would get both good coaching and actual playtime, and not ride the bench the whole season? A few parents are reaching out to me by text (parents I knew and ran into during tryouts) and I hadn't been advising that but thinking maybe I should if they ask me?

VAVA and STJ are still looking for U14 players. I've heard decent things about STJ, but most people I talk to say the guys who run VAVA are good guys (which can't be said for some of these other clubs). If your daughter is still looking for a team, I recommend reaching out to VAVA.

I think the main reason a lot of these clubs are still looking for players in the U14 age group (including even VAE) is because Paramount is having two 14s teams this season. I've heard a good chunk of players turned down offers from VAE, Jrs., VAVA and EC Power to accept spots on Paramount's 14-2 team.

+1 Heard the same thing. Metro 14 Travel taking 15 players and then Paramount forming two 14s teams has really limited the selection ability of the other Tier 1 and Tier 2 clubs. VAJrs had a strong 13s team last season but I heard it fell apart because their lone setter and best middle went to Metro.

There appear to be some significant shifts in U13 & U14 this year -- while some clubs were able to hold on to just about all of their good players, some of the big names were still scrambling right up until the deadline last night. Metro was still advertising makeup tryouts and slots available on their 14 travel on Saturday night. They either had their team identified already (and the advertising was just a way to get more money for tryouts) or they really did need the makeup tryout to finalize their roster. VA Elite and VA Juniors were trying to get players to switch clubs, but they either didn't or went to a different high level club. On the Maryland side--where the big clubs tend to run 2-3 teams at each age group--it seemed like most of them had little problem locking in their top teams, and many had their second and third teams done well before the end of the tryout period.

That'd surprising to hear about Metro 14 Travel. Maybe that was more of a money grab to get more sign-ups for tryouts, but I did hear of some crazy things happening with the U13-U14 age groups in general this tryout cycle. I heard VAE was still scrambling to finish their teams as of Tuesday, and I heard that VAJrs was weakened by defections to Metro (another example of Metro poaching players). Has anybody heard about how Paramount's U13 and two U14 teams are looking?

As of yesterday evening (11/09), rosters for various teams for different clubs have been posted on different respective webpages.

Unless they are getting rosters and schedules (it states 2022-2023) mixed up on the same webpage for individuals teams, Paramount has posted their U13 and U14 rosters on its webpage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would mention that, if your DD manages to get a 14s offer as late as this, the chances are high she is a roster filler and may spend a lot of time on the bench. IMHO, better to find a lower tier team where she would play. She has plenty of vball time ahead of her, but technical coaching and playing are the most important things at this age.

Would you recommend that when U14 mom starts calling teams to make inquiries, she ask about play time (i.e. can the clubs that are reputable but full recommend other clubs where her daughter would get both good coaching and actual playtime, and not ride the bench the whole season? A few parents are reaching out to me by text (parents I knew and ran into during tryouts) and I hadn't been advising that but thinking maybe I should if they ask me?

VAVA and STJ are still looking for U14 players. I've heard decent things about STJ, but most people I talk to say the guys who run VAVA are good guys (which can't be said for some of these other clubs). If your daughter is still looking for a team, I recommend reaching out to VAVA.

I think the main reason a lot of these clubs are still looking for players in the U14 age group (including even VAE) is because Paramount is having two 14s teams this season. I've heard a good chunk of players turned down offers from VAE, Jrs., VAVA and EC Power to accept spots on Paramount's 14-2 team.

+1 Heard the same thing. Metro 14 Travel taking 15 players and then Paramount forming two 14s teams has really limited the selection ability of the other Tier 1 and Tier 2 clubs. VAJrs had a strong 13s team last season but I heard it fell apart because their lone setter and best middle went to Metro.

There appear to be some significant shifts in U13 & U14 this year -- while some clubs were able to hold on to just about all of their good players, some of the big names were still scrambling right up until the deadline last night. Metro was still advertising makeup tryouts and slots available on their 14 travel on Saturday night. They either had their team identified already (and the advertising was just a way to get more money for tryouts) or they really did need the makeup tryout to finalize their roster. VA Elite and VA Juniors were trying to get players to switch clubs, but they either didn't or went to a different high level club. On the Maryland side--where the big clubs tend to run 2-3 teams at each age group--it seemed like most of them had little problem locking in their top teams, and many had their second and third teams done well before the end of the tryout period.

That'd surprising to hear about Metro 14 Travel. Maybe that was more of a money grab to get more sign-ups for tryouts, but I did hear of some crazy things happening with the U13-U14 age groups in general this tryout cycle. I heard VAE was still scrambling to finish their teams as of Tuesday, and I heard that VAJrs was weakened by defections to Metro (another example of Metro poaching players). Has anybody heard about how Paramount's U13 and two U14 teams are looking?

As of yesterday evening (11/09), rosters for various teams for different clubs have been posted on different respective webpages.

Unless they are getting rosters and schedules (it states 2022-2023) mixed up on the same webpage for individuals teams, Paramount has posted their U13 and U14 rosters on its webpage.

Good find! Wow. Metro's U13/U14 and Paramount's U13/U14 rosters look stacked! Lots of new additions/improvement for each U14 team (esp. Paramount). Looks like a lot of size for Metro 13. Should be some more good battles between those two clubs in those age groups this season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:V'ball dad again - Acronyms galore! Here are a few with the relevant websites plus other clubs for reference. I know I've missed some but I don't know everything! (While doing this, I again am amazed by how many clubs there are...)

VAVA = Virginia Volleyball Academy - https://vavolleyball.com/
VAE = Virginia Elite - https://www.vaelite.com/
Vienna Elite - https://www.viennaelite.org/
VA Jrs = Virginia Juniors - https://www.vajuniors.com/
ECP = East Coast Power Chesapeake - https://ecpowerchesapeake.com/dc-teams/
STJ = St. James Volleyball - https://www.thestjamesvolleyball.com/
NVVA = Northern Virginia Volleyball Association - https://www.nvva.com/clubvolleyball
Libero Virginia - https://liberovirginia.com/
No Panic Volleyball - https://www.nopanicvolleyball.com/
X-Factor Volleyball - https://www.x-factorvolleyball.com/
Paramount - https://www.paramountvbc.com/
Metro = https://www.metrovbc.com/
MoCo = Montgomery County Volleyball Club - https://www.mocovc.org/
MVSA = Montgomery Village Sports Association - https://www.mvsavbc.org/
MEVC = Maryland Exclusive Volleyball Club - https://maryland-exclusive-volleyball-club.sportngin.com/
MD Jrs = Maryland Juniors - https://www.mdjrs.org/
SRVC = South River Volleyball Club - https://www.southrivervolleyball.com/
BAVA = Bay Area Volleyball Academy - https://www.bayvolleyball.com/
CVA = Columbia Volleyball Academy - https://www.columbiavolleyballclub.org/
Liberty Elite (Hagerstown) - https://www.libertyelitevolleyball.com/
Xperience Volleyball Club - https://www.xperiencevbc.com/
MVP = Maryland Volleyball Program - https://mvpvolleyball.net/ (this is an all-boys program)

I'm not the U14 mom OP, but thank you so much for putting this together!

Add Battle Volleyball Club and Battle Volleyball club as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say in the bottom Tier, it's worth a try. At least to get the experience of playing in tournaments. The good thing is now you have all this experience under your belt and will be ready for next year. I would still reach out to clubs and see what happens.

U14 mom here. What clubs would you recommend a new to volleyball U14 kid try out for if they want a second bite at the apple in U15? Xfactor and ECP and NVVA were all Nos for U14. Does she try those again? Or go for even lesser ranked teams? What would be considered lesser ranked? No panic? Monument? Metro regional teams? Has to be VA only due to logistics so DC and MD not an option. My understanding is that several Metro regional teams aren’t full yet. She isn’t a powerhouse player (yet) but wants to level up over Rec so she can improve and play up.

I would not try out for ones she has already tried out in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone speak to “MetroFX”? Still having U14 openings. We are not familiar.

Metro South regional teams practice primarily in Fairfax County (FX) or Prince William (PW).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would mention that, if your DD manages to get a 14s offer as late as this, the chances are high she is a roster filler and may spend a lot of time on the bench. IMHO, better to find a lower tier team where she would play. She has plenty of vball time ahead of her, but technical coaching and playing are the most important things at this age.

Would you recommend that when U14 mom starts calling teams to make inquiries, she ask about play time (i.e. can the clubs that are reputable but full recommend other clubs where her daughter would get both good coaching and actual playtime, and not ride the bench the whole season? A few parents are reaching out to me by text (parents I knew and ran into during tryouts) and I hadn't been advising that but thinking maybe I should if they ask me?

VAVA and STJ are still looking for U14 players. I've heard decent things about STJ, but most people I talk to say the guys who run VAVA are good guys (which can't be said for some of these other clubs). If your daughter is still looking for a team, I recommend reaching out to VAVA.

I think the main reason a lot of these clubs are still looking for players in the U14 age group (including even VAE) is because Paramount is having two 14s teams this season. I've heard a good chunk of players turned down offers from VAE, Jrs., VAVA and EC Power to accept spots on Paramount's 14-2 team.

+1 Heard the same thing. Metro 14 Travel taking 15 players and then Paramount forming two 14s teams has really limited the selection ability of the other Tier 1 and Tier 2 clubs. VAJrs had a strong 13s team last season but I heard it fell apart because their lone setter and best middle went to Metro.

There appear to be some significant shifts in U13 & U14 this year -- while some clubs were able to hold on to just about all of their good players, some of the big names were still scrambling right up until the deadline last night. Metro was still advertising makeup tryouts and slots available on their 14 travel on Saturday night. They either had their team identified already (and the advertising was just a way to get more money for tryouts) or they really did need the makeup tryout to finalize their roster. VA Elite and VA Juniors were trying to get players to switch clubs, but they either didn't or went to a different high level club. On the Maryland side--where the big clubs tend to run 2-3 teams at each age group--it seemed like most of them had little problem locking in their top teams, and many had their second and third teams done well before the end of the tryout period.

That'd surprising to hear about Metro 14 Travel. Maybe that was more of a money grab to get more sign-ups for tryouts, but I did hear of some crazy things happening with the U13-U14 age groups in general this tryout cycle. I heard VAE was still scrambling to finish their teams as of Tuesday, and I heard that VAJrs was weakened by defections to Metro (another example of Metro poaching players). Has anybody heard about how Paramount's U13 and two U14 teams are looking?

As of yesterday evening (11/09), rosters for various teams for different clubs have been posted on different respective webpages.

Unless they are getting rosters and schedules (it states 2022-2023) mixed up on the same webpage for individuals teams, Paramount has posted their U13 and U14 rosters on its webpage.

Good find! Wow. Metro's U13/U14 and Paramount's U13/U14 rosters look stacked! Lots of new additions/improvement for each U14 team (esp. Paramount). Looks like a lot of size for Metro 13. Should be some more good battles between those two clubs in those age groups this season.

+1 Metro U13 didn't do too well last year and the majority of those players are returning to U14 with 3 additional players. Not sure how successful that team will be this upcoming season. With the declination of Jrs U14, Paramount U14-1 is slated to be a top contender for that age group in this region.

[Anonymous]

FPYCparent wrote:A work-in-progress ...

DMV Club Volleyball via Google Sheets

For now, I've blocked the existing content from being edited to prevent accidental deletions. Anyone should be able to add more columns for more teams/clubs. Include as many linked pages as you can. If someone wants to add U13, U14, or U17 tabs, go ahead.

Glad my links are helping out! I realize that these forum posts could get lost in the shuffle.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the spreadsheet! In looking at a bunch of the links, I saw this: "Are you new to volleyball?"

I didn't read through the links but the way it's organized makes a ton of sense for newer players trying to figure out how to get started (it's on the Montgomery Volleyball Assoc club site):

https://www.mocovc.org/newplayers

[Anonymous]

One thing to ask a club if your kid didn't make a team is if they have practice players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing to ask a club if your kid didn't make a team is if they have practice players.

MVSA told us they would have a regular and practice team and everyone who tried out would get a spot… but they would not say if they were on the regular team or practice team until after the first practice. This is for 10u. It was disappointing and defeats the purpose of tryouts imo, but you could check if there could be practice teams for other ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to ask a club if your kid didn't make a team is if they have practice players.

MVSA told us they would have a regular and practice team and everyone who tried out would get a spot… but they would not say if they were on the regular team or practice team until after the first practice. This is for 10u. It was disappointing and defeats the purpose of tryouts imo, but you could check if there could be practice teams for other ages.

If you look at MVSA's 10U team last year, their schedule indicated a total of only 3 tournaments, 10/11U mixed ones. There aren't too many 11U teams in the area and, perhaps as a consequence, not many 11U tournaments. Thus, I think the primary point for the 10U team is to really build up the skills for their 11U teams the following year. The 11U teams primarily played up at the 12U level.

[Anonymous]

I forgot how stressful the 13/14/15 club volleyball circuit is for parents and young teens. My advice, as the mother of 2 college players is don’t get too stressed - if you fancy the college route - it’s basically all down to physical potential, so if your kid is 5’6, is an incredible player and plays outside, it’s still never happening, if your kid is 6’3 (or projected to be), can jump out of the gym but can’t hit the ball - never fear, she’s going D1 regardless. Also, quite a low percentage of kids go all the way through from13s to 18s at any club, so keep looking at the various clubs. There’s not much loyalty at these clubs - a better player comes in, and bang someone’s out. If your DD wants to play for fun, I would recommend not playing at any of the top clubs. Whatever stress levels you think you are experiencing, just wait till college coaches arrive on the scene. Good luck - I don’t miss it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I forgot how stressful the 13/14/15 club volleyball circuit is for parents and young teens. My advice, as the mother of 2 college players is don’t get too stressed - if you fancy the college route - it’s basically all down to physical potential, so if your kid is 5’6, is an incredible player and plays outside, it’s still never happening, if your kid is 6’3 (or projected to be), can jump out of the gym but can’t hit the ball - never fear, she’s going D1 regardless. Also, quite a low percentage of kids go all the way through from13s to 18s at any club, so keep looking at the various clubs. There’s not much loyalty at these clubs - a better player comes in, and bang someone’s out. If your DD wants to play for fun, I would recommend not playing at any of the top clubs. Whatever stress levels you think you are experiencing, just wait till college coaches arrive on the scene. Good luck - I don’t miss it.

This is SO TRUE.......having been through it with 2 kids as well. Just enjoy the ride. If possible, have your kid, especially if they are not over 6' tall (or projected to be), play multiple positions and LEARN TO SERVE RECEIVE & PLAY DEFENSE. Many 5'9" - 5'11" OH in club/HS gets converted over to DS in college.......so be careful if a club tells your DD her role is just right side. There is NO LOYALTY with the clubs - clubs get upset when you leave but also actively recruit better players from other club!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I forgot how stressful the 13/14/15 club volleyball circuit is for parents and young teens. My advice, as the mother of 2 college players is don’t get too stressed - if you fancy the college route - it’s basically all down to physical potential, so if your kid is 5’6, is an incredible player and plays outside, it’s still never happening, if your kid is 6’3 (or projected to be), can jump out of the gym but can’t hit the ball - never fear, she’s going D1 regardless. Also, quite a low percentage of kids go all the way through from13s to 18s at any club, so keep looking at the various clubs. There’s not much loyalty at these clubs - a better player comes in, and bang someone’s out. If your DD wants to play for fun, I would recommend not playing at any of the top clubs. Whatever stress levels you think you are experiencing, just wait till college coaches arrive on the scene. Good luck - I don’t miss it.

This is SO TRUE.......having been through it with 2 kids as well. Just enjoy the ride. If possible, have your kid, especially if they are not over 6' tall (or projected to be), play multiple positions and LEARN TO SERVE RECEIVE & PLAY DEFENSE. Many 5'9" - 5'11" OH in club/HS gets converted over to DS in college.......so be careful if a club tells your DD her role is just right side. There is NO LOYALTY with the clubs - clubs get upset when you leave but also actively recruit better players from other club!

What do "OH" and "DS" mean in the bolded above?