Volleyball tryouts in real time

[Anonymous]

Please have your DDs wear a plain tshirt for tryouts. Some girls were asked to change shirts when they wore their MVSA tshirts to another club’s tryout. Idk what the parents are thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please have your DDs wear a plain tshirt for tryouts. Some girls were asked to change shirts when they wore their MVSA tshirts to another club’s tryout. Idk what the parents are thinking.

I saw same, kids wore MOCO or Metro shirt to other club's tryout. Glad you brought this up. As a new volleyball parent, I almost thought that was a culture, thanks for confirming it was not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

As parents we tend to focus on what happened to our DD during club tryouts. Its natural and appropriate. We believe our girls are great players or at least "better than that other girl" who got noticed.

The reality is that every year there are a lot of players who end up on the bottom court at tryouts and are understandably frustrated by the result. Clubs only take 10-12 players per team and the they have 3-5x+ more players than that trying out. The math dictates someone has to end up an bottom court. Unless you are a D1 P4 lock of a player who everyone knows and recognizes, it happens to everyone at some point.

Our DD plays in college now and it happened to her multiple times during her journey. Many times we thought she was "better" than someone else that was chosen. For her though, she was understandably disappointed in the moment and then chose to move on. We learned something from our DD in those situations. You can continue to dwell on a perceived slight of the past or focus your efforts on the future.

No sh!t, Sherlock! We figured out that MOCO was not interested for whatever reason. The problem was that - after they took the money - they didn't even pretend to be interested. They could have moved my DD on a higher court for a few minutes, watch her play with people who don't shank every ball, then decide to move her back on the bottom court if she didn't have any useful skill. At least she could not complain that she was not even given one chance. Spending the entire tryout on the bottom court with almost nobody watching was quite humiliating for her. We did move on (different club, another club season), but I will keep sharing this experience so others know what they can expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

As parents we tend to focus on what happened to our DD during club tryouts. Its natural and appropriate. We believe our girls are great players or at least "better than that other girl" who got noticed.

The reality is that every year there are a lot of players who end up on the bottom court at tryouts and are understandably frustrated by the result. Clubs only take 10-12 players per team and the they have 3-5x+ more players than that trying out. The math dictates someone has to end up an bottom court. Unless you are a D1 P4 lock of a player who everyone knows and recognizes, it happens to everyone at some point.

Our DD plays in college now and it happened to her multiple times during her journey. Many times we thought she was "better" than someone else that was chosen. For her though, she was understandably disappointed in the moment and then chose to move on. We learned something from our DD in those situations. You can continue to dwell on a perceived slight of the past or focus your efforts on the future.

No sh!t, Sherlock! We figured out that MOCO was not interested for whatever reason. The problem was that - after they took the money - they didn't even pretend to be interested. They could have moved my DD on a higher court for a few minutes, watch her play with people who don't shank every ball, then decide to move her back on the bottom court if she didn't have any useful skill. At least she could not complain that she was not even given one chance. Spending the entire tryout on the bottom court with almost nobody watching was quite humiliating for her. We did move on (different club, another club season), but I will keep sharing this experience so others know what they can expect.

Doesn't really seem like you've moved on....

Club watches her play at the beginning of the tryout, club doesn't move her to upper court. By the end of the tryouts coaches are focused on the upper courts, not the bottom courts.

Sounds like a typical tryout. Welcome to club volleyball

Were other players moved off of the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

As parents we tend to focus on what happened to our DD during club tryouts. Its natural and appropriate. We believe our girls are great players or at least "better than that other girl" who got noticed.

The reality is that every year there are a lot of players who end up on the bottom court at tryouts and are understandably frustrated by the result. Clubs only take 10-12 players per team and the they have 3-5x+ more players than that trying out. The math dictates someone has to end up an bottom court. Unless you are a D1 P4 lock of a player who everyone knows and recognizes, it happens to everyone at some point.

Our DD plays in college now and it happened to her multiple times during her journey. Many times we thought she was "better" than someone else that was chosen. For her though, she was understandably disappointed in the moment and then chose to move on. We learned something from our DD in those situations. You can continue to dwell on a perceived slight of the past or focus your efforts on the future.

No sh!t, Sherlock! We figured out that MOCO was not interested for whatever reason. The problem was that - after they took the money - they didn't even pretend to be interested. They could have moved my DD on a higher court for a few minutes, watch her play with people who don't shank every ball, then decide to move her back on the bottom court if she didn't have any useful skill. At least she could not complain that she was not even given one chance. Spending the entire tryout on the bottom court with almost nobody watching was quite humiliating for her. We did move on (different club, another club season), but I will keep sharing this experience so others know what they can expect.

Doesn't really seem like you've moved on....

Club watches her play at the beginning of the tryout, club doesn't move her to upper court. By the end of the tryouts coaches are focused on the upper courts, not the bottom courts.

Sounds like a typical tryout. Welcome to club volleyball

Were other players moved off of the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

It depends a lot how you define "moving on." We moved on from the idea that my DD would be a MOCO player. We are focusing on other opportunities. What do you expect from people who moved on? Shall I start describing the experience as if my DD enjoyed it? Or maybe never mention it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please have your DDs wear a plain tshirt for tryouts. Some girls were asked to change shirts when they wore their MVSA tshirts to another club’s tryout. Idk what the parents are thinking.

I saw same, kids wore MOCO or Metro shirt to other club's tryout. Glad you brought this up. As a new volleyball parent, I almost thought that was a culture, thanks for confirming it was not.

DP and I don’t think it’s a big deal. My daughter wears a plain shirt because she wants to hide the low level club she played for last year and the year before. She’d be wearing a Metro shirt if she played for them! I’ve never seen any girl change her shirt or been asked to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

As parents we tend to focus on what happened to our DD during club tryouts. Its natural and appropriate. We believe our girls are great players or at least "better than that other girl" who got noticed.

The reality is that every year there are a lot of players who end up on the bottom court at tryouts and are understandably frustrated by the result. Clubs only take 10-12 players per team and the they have 3-5x+ more players than that trying out. The math dictates someone has to end up an bottom court. Unless you are a D1 P4 lock of a player who everyone knows and recognizes, it happens to everyone at some point.

Our DD plays in college now and it happened to her multiple times during her journey. Many times we thought she was "better" than someone else that was chosen. For her though, she was understandably disappointed in the moment and then chose to move on. We learned something from our DD in those situations. You can continue to dwell on a perceived slight of the past or focus your efforts on the future.

No sh!t, Sherlock! We figured out that MOCO was not interested for whatever reason. The problem was that - after they took the money - they didn't even pretend to be interested. They could have moved my DD on a higher court for a few minutes, watch her play with people who don't shank every ball, then decide to move her back on the bottom court if she didn't have any useful skill. At least she could not complain that she was not even given one chance. Spending the entire tryout on the bottom court with almost nobody watching was quite humiliating for her. We did move on (different club, another club season), but I will keep sharing this experience so others know what they can expect.

Doesn't really seem like you've moved on....

Club watches her play at the beginning of the tryout, club doesn't move her to upper court. By the end of the tryouts coaches are focused on the upper courts, not the bottom courts.

Sounds like a typical tryout. Welcome to club volleyball

Were other players moved off of the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

It depends a lot how you define "moving on." We moved on from the idea that my DD would be a MOCO player. We are focusing on other opportunities. What do you expect from people who moved on? Shall I start describing the experience as if my DD enjoyed it? Or maybe never mention it?

Again, did other players move off the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

As parents we tend to focus on what happened to our DD during club tryouts. Its natural and appropriate. We believe our girls are great players or at least "better than that other girl" who got noticed.

The reality is that every year there are a lot of players who end up on the bottom court at tryouts and are understandably frustrated by the result. Clubs only take 10-12 players per team and the they have 3-5x+ more players than that trying out. The math dictates someone has to end up an bottom court. Unless you are a D1 P4 lock of a player who everyone knows and recognizes, it happens to everyone at some point.

Our DD plays in college now and it happened to her multiple times during her journey. Many times we thought she was "better" than someone else that was chosen. For her though, she was understandably disappointed in the moment and then chose to move on. We learned something from our DD in those situations. You can continue to dwell on a perceived slight of the past or focus your efforts on the future.

No sh!t, Sherlock! We figured out that MOCO was not interested for whatever reason. The problem was that - after they took the money - they didn't even pretend to be interested. They could have moved my DD on a higher court for a few minutes, watch her play with people who don't shank every ball, then decide to move her back on the bottom court if she didn't have any useful skill. At least she could not complain that she was not even given one chance. Spending the entire tryout on the bottom court with almost nobody watching was quite humiliating for her. We did move on (different club, another club season), but I will keep sharing this experience so others know what they can expect.

Doesn't really seem like you've moved on....

Club watches her play at the beginning of the tryout, club doesn't move her to upper court. By the end of the tryouts coaches are focused on the upper courts, not the bottom courts.

Sounds like a typical tryout. Welcome to club volleyball

Were other players moved off of the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

It depends a lot how you define "moving on." We moved on from the idea that my DD would be a MOCO player. We are focusing on other opportunities. What do you expect from people who moved on? Shall I start describing the experience as if my DD enjoyed it? Or maybe never mention it?

Again, did other players move off the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

I was not there. MOCO told the parents to drop off their kids and pick them up at the end of the tryout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

There’s a difference between starting with all the girls in one place and then being sorted to other courts based on observations of at least a little play, vs being sorted to courts at very beginning of tryouts and never having anyone give you a chance to show much skill because everyone else on court was a beginner and no o e seemed to really care about your court.

There’s also a difference between feeling slighted and not getting over it, vs. engaging in a convo about tryout experiences and just sharing what you know. The 2 girls I was referencing in the post you responded to who were started and kept on the bottom court (never observed in a bigger group) each got offers at teams they were happy with that round of tryouts. So they were good and no one was bitter. But being started and left on a bottom court will feel like a waste of money to most if you were never on a court at all with real eyes on you so no one should be surprised at a club that does that if some people make sure to never try out there again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

As parents we tend to focus on what happened to our DD during club tryouts. Its natural and appropriate. We believe our girls are great players or at least "better than that other girl" who got noticed.

The reality is that every year there are a lot of players who end up on the bottom court at tryouts and are understandably frustrated by the result. Clubs only take 10-12 players per team and the they have 3-5x+ more players than that trying out. The math dictates someone has to end up an bottom court. Unless you are a D1 P4 lock of a player who everyone knows and recognizes, it happens to everyone at some point.

Our DD plays in college now and it happened to her multiple times during her journey. Many times we thought she was "better" than someone else that was chosen. For her though, she was understandably disappointed in the moment and then chose to move on. We learned something from our DD in those situations. You can continue to dwell on a perceived slight of the past or focus your efforts on the future.

No sh!t, Sherlock! We figured out that MOCO was not interested for whatever reason. The problem was that - after they took the money - they didn't even pretend to be interested. They could have moved my DD on a higher court for a few minutes, watch her play with people who don't shank every ball, then decide to move her back on the bottom court if she didn't have any useful skill. At least she could not complain that she was not even given one chance. Spending the entire tryout on the bottom court with almost nobody watching was quite humiliating for her. We did move on (different club, another club season), but I will keep sharing this experience so others know what they can expect.

Doesn't really seem like you've moved on....

Club watches her play at the beginning of the tryout, club doesn't move her to upper court. By the end of the tryouts coaches are focused on the upper courts, not the bottom courts.

Sounds like a typical tryout. Welcome to club volleyball

Were other players moved off of the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

DP: Wow are you intent on trying to shame or dismiss people’s experiences just because you don’t like what they’re saying about one club? Both people said the DDs started on the bottom court. They didn’t get observed with other girls first and then moved, they were relegated to the bottom court & ignored. That would turn anyone off a club, but no one sounds like they didn’t move on. You’re very judgy on a sitch that isn’t even the one they described.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

There’s a difference between starting with all the girls in one place and then being sorted to other courts based on observations of at least a little play, vs being sorted to courts at very beginning of tryouts and never having anyone give you a chance to show much skill because everyone else on court was a beginner and no o e seemed to really care about your court.

There’s also a difference between feeling slighted and not getting over it, vs. engaging in a convo about tryout experiences and just sharing what you know. The 2 girls I was referencing in the post you responded to who were started and kept on the bottom court (never observed in a bigger group) each got offers at teams they were happy with that round of tryouts. So they were good and no one was bitter. But being started and left on a bottom court will feel like a waste of money to most if you were never on a court at all with real eyes on you so no one should be surprised at a club that does that if some people make sure to never try out there again.

PP here (the one you responded to).
It’s great that the PP and your DD were able to make other clubs.

Everyone experiences what was talked about here eventually. It’s not an unusual occurrence for a player to go to a tryout and never get to an upper court. It’s an unfortunate reality of tryouts.

It doesn’t really matter if they were sorted before the tryout based on clinics or in the first 2 minutes based on how fast they can run to the net and back, or how tall they are or any other of the dozens of ways clubs sort players at the beginning of tryouts.

Clubs have a vested interest in finding good players. Their definition of good may not match ours or that of another club. But they all look good players and it would be highly unusual for a player to come in and never be evaluated. Its against the clubs best interests.

While the tone was definitely off from both the PP and the response from the OP, the question if others were moved off the court does matter in explaining the experience. If other players started on the bottom court and were moved up then it means someone was there watching the court and moving players around. Unfortunately it wasn’t the PP daughter.

Both facts can be true: the DD and PP can be upset because she didn’t get off the bottom court and it can be a standard club tryout with a club that didn’t take an interest in her.

That links to the point I tried to make. With 3-5x more players trying out than spots on teams, the situation discussed is much more common than many realize. Pure math means that some subset of players are going to be on a bottom court from the start and never make it off no matter how much time a club spends evaluating them.

Unfortunately, the tryout process can feel unfair to players. As I described my DD tried out for some clubs she thought she could make and never got off the bottom court. No one in the gym did anything to humiliate her, but the result of the process did.

As parents, we should prepare our kids that tryouts are not easy. A club may decide your DD doesn’t fit. Another club may love her and give her an offer. Unless you are an incredible player who stands out in a crowd, you will likely have a lot more disappointment than you will success.

[Anonymous]

Which lesser known clubs are you guys trying out for? DD will try out for some of those since trying out for a bunch of popular ones is no use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

As parents we tend to focus on what happened to our DD during club tryouts. Its natural and appropriate. We believe our girls are great players or at least "better than that other girl" who got noticed.

The reality is that every year there are a lot of players who end up on the bottom court at tryouts and are understandably frustrated by the result. Clubs only take 10-12 players per team and the they have 3-5x+ more players than that trying out. The math dictates someone has to end up an bottom court. Unless you are a D1 P4 lock of a player who everyone knows and recognizes, it happens to everyone at some point.

Our DD plays in college now and it happened to her multiple times during her journey. Many times we thought she was "better" than someone else that was chosen. For her though, she was understandably disappointed in the moment and then chose to move on. We learned something from our DD in those situations. You can continue to dwell on a perceived slight of the past or focus your efforts on the future.

No sh!t, Sherlock! We figured out that MOCO was not interested for whatever reason. The problem was that - after they took the money - they didn't even pretend to be interested. They could have moved my DD on a higher court for a few minutes, watch her play with people who don't shank every ball, then decide to move her back on the bottom court if she didn't have any useful skill. At least she could not complain that she was not even given one chance. Spending the entire tryout on the bottom court with almost nobody watching was quite humiliating for her. We did move on (different club, another club season), but I will keep sharing this experience so others know what they can expect.

Doesn't really seem like you've moved on....

Club watches her play at the beginning of the tryout, club doesn't move her to upper court. By the end of the tryouts coaches are focused on the upper courts, not the bottom courts.

Sounds like a typical tryout. Welcome to club volleyball

Were other players moved off of the bottom court at some point in her tryout?

DP: Wow are you intent on trying to shame or dismiss people’s experiences just because you don’t like what they’re saying about one club? Both people said the DDs started on the bottom court. They didn’t get observed with other girls first and then moved, they were relegated to the bottom court & ignored. That would turn anyone off a club, but no one sounds like they didn’t move on. You’re very judgy on a sitch that isn’t even the one they described.

Thank you. There are posters who try to humiliate you one more time after you got humiliated by the club in the first place. The club is right to just take your money and not even pretend that they were interested in your skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please have your DDs wear a plain tshirt for tryouts. Some girls were asked to change shirts when they wore their MVSA tshirts to another club’s tryout. Idk what the parents are thinking.

Why do they have to be blank? Seems like it doesn’t matter if the shirts have something on them, you just mean they shouldn’t be the shirts of other volleyball clubs, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up of the bottom court of a tryout there could be a bunch of reasons: the club doesn't need your position, the coach prefers someone else, you don't have the physical "stats" they are looking for, your DD's energy lagged, a skill wasn't good, etc. And sometimes it's just luck, they see you for a small period of time in a large group of people and if you aren't standing out right then they move on to someone else.

There’s a difference between starting with all the girls in one place and then being sorted to other courts based on observations of at least a little play, vs being sorted to courts at very beginning of tryouts and never having anyone give you a chance to show much skill because everyone else on court was a beginner and no o e seemed to really care about your court.

There’s also a difference between feeling slighted and not getting over it, vs. engaging in a convo about tryout experiences and just sharing what you know. The 2 girls I was referencing in the post you responded to who were started and kept on the bottom court (never observed in a bigger group) each got offers at teams they were happy with that round of tryouts. So they were good and no one was bitter. But being started and left on a bottom court will feel like a waste of money to most if you were never on a court at all with real eyes on you so no one should be surprised at a club that does that if some people make sure to never try out there again.

PP here (the one you responded to).
It’s great that the PP and your DD were able to make other clubs.

Everyone experiences what was talked about here eventually. It’s not an unusual occurrence for a player to go to a tryout and never get to an upper court. It’s an unfortunate reality of tryouts.

It doesn’t really matter if they were sorted before the tryout based on clinics or in the first 2 minutes based on how fast they can run to the net and back, or how tall they are or any other of the dozens of ways clubs sort players at the beginning of tryouts.

Clubs have a vested interest in finding good players. Their definition of good may not match ours or that of another club. But they all look good players and it would be highly unusual for a player to come in and never be evaluated. Its against the clubs best interests.

While the tone was definitely off from both the PP and the response from the OP, the question if others were moved off the court does matter in explaining the experience. If other players started on the bottom court and were moved up then it means someone was there watching the court and moving players around. Unfortunately it wasn’t the PP daughter.

Both facts can be true: the DD and PP can be upset because she didn’t get off the bottom court and it can be a standard club tryout with a club that didn’t take an interest in her.

That links to the point I tried to make. With 3-5x more players trying out than spots on teams, the situation discussed is much more common than many realize. Pure math means that some subset of players are going to be on a bottom court from the start and never make it off no matter how much time a club spends evaluating them.

Unfortunately, the tryout process can feel unfair to players. As I described my DD tried out for some clubs she thought she could make and never got off the bottom court. No one in the gym did anything to humiliate her, but the result of the process did.

As parents, we should prepare our kids that tryouts are not easy. A club may decide your DD doesn’t fit. Another club may love her and give her an offer. Unless you are an incredible player who stands out in a crowd, you will likely have a lot more disappointment than you will success.

TL/DR