Economics of club volleyball
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Anonymous
This might be a club that offers a home to players who want the convenience of the Rockville location and / or didn't make it into any other clubs. If the parents can afford it and volleyball makes the players happy, why not count the Benjamins? |
Anonymous
That makes sense. I doubt that anyone's first choice is DMV, this is likely the last resort for players who were not accepted in other clubs. That also explains why they are not doing that well in terms of ranking. Even if they have excellent coaches (and this is not something I can vouch for), they can attract better players only if they lower their fees. |
Anonymous
| Here is a message a coach posted on a Facebook group: "So 5 years ago there was no club within 25 minutes of our city so instead of driving my daughter 3 times a week I started a volleyball team under my ministry, Athletes In Ministry. We started with one team at my cost for uniforms, I was a uniform sales rep, and each parent pitched in for our 5 tournaments. I paid out of pocket for the club membership and insurance. STILL CHEAPER THAN THE LOCAL CLUBS! We have now progressed to serve over 300 girls in the last 5 years. We are very thankful for local churches and schools who let us use their gyms. I now charge $650 a girl for the club season… $200 towards unis/gear and one player from each teams extra $450 covers tourney entry! I still cover the team fees and insurance! I could go up in prices a little to cover this, but I want to give opportunities to kids. We are now a 501(c)3, but really get no help from sponsors really." |
Anonymous
That's awesome and it would be great if there were more low cost options available to allow for girls (or boys) who might not otherwise be exposed to volleyball to have a chance to play. There is a club called Starlings (https://www.starlings.org/) that is for exactly that purpose, although I don't think they have a presence in the DMV. If you have had any exposure to DCIAA high school volleyball (the DC public school conference), it is really obvious how economics play an important role in the level of volleyball. The schools that draw from neighborhoods (or student populations) with higher income levels (Jackson-Reed in particular) tend to be much more successful than those from other parts of the city, and that seems to be mostly based on the number of girls on these teams that play club volleyball. I know that some clubs will offer scholarships or provide discounts to those with a demonstrated financial need although they don't always advertise that this might be an option so you might have ask. That said, I think there is a difference between providing volleyball opportunities to those truly in need versus just wishing that club volleyball were less expensive. Running a club of a decent size is a full time job for one or more people and I don't know if it's reasonable for those people to sacrifice their own income to lower prices, especially when the demand is so high and many clubs have far more girls trying out every November than they can accommodate. |
Anonymous
Theoretically, there is a Starlings affiliate club in Falls Church, but there is little information on their website (not sure if it is active). |
Anonymous
You seem to suggest that volleyball players belong to two categories: those truly in need and everyone else. In reality, there is a continuum in terms of parent income. Very rich parents can afford even the craziest club fees. They don't really care much as long as their kids come back home and report that they had fun. I feel like some clubs decided to serve these parents (that's how I interpret their fees) and don't really care whether the teams do well during tournaments. As long as they can convince the parents that the kids are physically active, make progress, and are having fun, they can continue to milk the parents. On the other hand, other parents - even if they are not literally starving - may have to give up something (maybe retirement savings) to afford volleyball for their kids. Going to the club owner to say that they can barely afford volleyball might be too embarrassing. Having so many girls trying out in November is a very selfish reason to charge crazy club fees. |
Anonymous
Obviously there is a spectrum of incomes between needy and ultra-wealthy, but I don't agree that clubs are "selfish" to charge high club fees. I'm not sure why a small business owner who has a high demand for their services should not charge what the market will bear. I understand that we all want what is best for our kids and it can be really frustrating to have some clubs that might otherwise be a good fit be out of reach financially. But how is that different than not being able to send your child to a pricey private school like GDS or Sidwell because it's too expensive? Just like public school or Catholic school might be the next best option, there is hopefully a volleyball club out there that would meet most of your needs at a price point that you could make work. The current reality for volleyball is that it tends to be a sport where playing at a high level is expensive. With MVSA being the obvious outlier, almost all of the top clubs in the region are going to charge something more than $4000 (usually much more) for the season. These clubs tend to travel more and further, tend to have more practice time, and have better qualified coaches. They also tend to have better support and more experience with college recruiting. If your DD isn't interested in or not likely to be good enough to play in college, then you probably shouldn't consider these clubs. I'm not sure which clubs specifically you are referring to that charge crazy fees but don't get good results or don't have other positive outcomes, but I would probably avoid clubs like that. |
Anonymous
You've heard about public education, haven't you? |
Anonymous
Maybe read the next sentence? My point is that sometimes most of us can't have things that we would like to have because they are too expensive -whether that be a Porsche, a private school education, or our DD being able to play for certain volleyball clubs. Just like public school is an option, there are many clubs that are cheaper than VA Elite, Paramount, or Metro Travel. Hopefully us parents are able to do the best we can to get our kids into a club that works best for our circumstances. |
Anonymous
I would expect this line of reasoning from a volleyball club owner, not from a parent. It is almost hilarious how you defend their right to charge whatever they want. The analogy with a private school is off the mark because the public education is free (there is nothing similar in volleyball). |
Anonymous
I have gotten to know several club owners over the many years we've been involved in club volleyball and I have found them to be wonderful people who are trying to strike a balance between making a living for their own family while trying to offer a great experience to the players from their club at a price that works for as many as possible. While I'm sure there are bad ones out there that are more interested in making money than what's best for their players/parents, I'd like to think those are the minority. That said, I do wonder whether the rise of companies like 3 Step Sports, the parent company of EC Power and who has been aggressively acquiring clubs all across the country, is pushing prices upwards across the board. https://threestep.com/our-sports/volleyball/ And even "free" public schools cost a lot of money to operate. It's just that the money comes from tax dollars instead of directly from parents. If you have an idea for a way in which club directors, coaches, and all of the other people needed to operate a volleyball club can be fairly compensated for their time, expertise, and experience, while not having to charge parents, I'd love to hear it. |
Anonymous
I think "fairly" is the key word here. Take the MVSA prices and add fair compensation for coaching. Most of the time coaches have a main job, so what they earn in clubs is extra income (in many cases, club owners also coach). Add an admin position to large clubs with multiple teams at each level. Most Maryland clubs end up with ~2x the MVSA price (or less). Virginia clubs end up with 3x-4x the MVSA price even though they have more players on their rosters. Do Virginia clubs charge a fair price? Because I seriously doubt it. |
Anonymous
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Two thing to distinguish:
1. If you don’t intend to travel with your child to tournaments, the high VAE cost is comparable to what the end total would come out to playing for a more expensive club. However, if you do plan on traveling to watch your daughter play, you are now looking at a ridiculous amount of money being spent. 2. MVSA is the only low-budget club that is competitive, and their competitiveness is limited mainly to the younger age groups before their best players leave for a Metro or for a Paramount. MVSA is great for all the reasons other people have already mentioned. 3. Club fees can be deceptive. For example, for a Metro Travel team, you see on their website that the fee is $4,200, which appears lower than the other competitive clubs in our area. However, what you have to realize is that uniforms/gear are not included (expect about $1,000), coaches travel/airfare/stipend is not included (this can run you upwards of $1,000 PER TOURNAMENT), and then you also have to pay an additional stipend for nationals. MDJRS has the same model for their elite teams. In contrast, VAJRS and Paramount include coaches travel/stipend in the fee, so you are only responsible for you and your child’s airfare. If you do the math, then a MDJRS/Metro ends up being more expensive by the end of the season than a VAJRS/Paramount/VAE. |
Anonymous
NP and we are fairly new to volleyball but it doesn’t seem any different than any other sport. My daughter tried out at some of the really expensive clubs and some of the less expensive clubs. The least expensive one she tried out for in VA was Volley Viet, which was $700 for the season. Our local rec option also had a travel team for the spring, which was an option if she didn’t make a club anywhere. You are acting like the only option is to pay 5k+ and that’s not true. It’s true they might not get offered a spot on a team but that’s the case if the fee is 700 or 9000. My other kids have played different sports and the fees and competition vary widely there too. |
Anonymous
You are correct that Metro Travel fees do not include uniforms and other gear and coaches travel costs but your estimates are off. You’re pretty close on the uniform/gear package - it was around $700 with a few extra, non-mandatory things thrown in. The uniform package is good for 3 years so if your DD plays multiple years for Metro Travel you don’t have to pay that each year. The coach travel costs are way less than you cited. It generally works out to somewhere between $150-$250 per tournament per player, depending on whether the tournaments require flights, how expensive the hotels are in a particular city, etc. Including Nationals, the older travel teams go to 7-8 tournaments that require travel fees. Using the high end of the range (8x$250) the coach travel fees for the season are around $2000. So the total for a season in which you have to buy uniforms is $4250 in club fees + $2000 in coach travel + $700 for the uniform package = $6950 which is very close to Paramount, VAJRs, or the base VAE club fee. |