Club Volleyball - rate your club pros/cons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very obvious that you are a Paramount player's mom. No need to try to play it off. Paramount is known to have players dropping out mid-season every year. This happened for a lot of reasons. As for Metro, everyone knows that they will tell you if you will have play time or not. A club like theirs doesn’t need to be telling you lies so you can sign up with them. They will always have the top girls in the area lining up to play for them every year. Whether you agree or not, it’s just facts at this point. VA Juniors is a club that will most likely let most of the players on the team play and they have great recruitment results.

Not who you were talking to, and not a Paramount parent either. But we know several girls who got offers for a Metro regional team in these recent tryouts - got offered a place on the spot - and turned Metro down. So while of course some of the best girls will indeed be lining up to play with them, do not fool yourself or try to fool anyone else that many others of those best girls choose NOT to sign up with them. And no, the girls we know didn't go to Paramount either. They went to teams with good reputations but far less intense dynamics and a greater likelihood of real skill development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very obvious that you are a Paramount player's mom. No need to try to play it off. Paramount is known to have players dropping out mid-season every year. This happened for a lot of reasons. As for Metro, everyone knows that they will tell you if you will have play time or not. A club like theirs doesn’t need to be telling you lies so you can sign up with them. They will always have the top girls in the area lining up to play for them every year. Whether you agree or not, it’s just facts at this point. VA Juniors is a club that will most likely let most of the players on the team play and they have great recruitment results.

Not true, but it's very obvious what club your daughter belongs to. I'm sure they tell the players who won't play that they won't play beforehand, just like they wait to tell returning players that they are being cut until actual tryout day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very obvious that you are a Paramount player's mom. No need to try to play it off. Paramount is known to have players dropping out mid-season every year. This happened for a lot of reasons. As for Metro, everyone knows that they will tell you if you will have play time or not. A club like theirs doesn’t need to be telling you lies so you can sign up with them. They will always have the top girls in the area lining up to play for them every year. Whether you agree or not, it’s just facts at this point. VA Juniors is a club that will most likely let most of the players on the team play and they have great recruitment results.

Not true, but it's very obvious what club your daughter belongs to. I'm sure they tell the players who won't play that they won't play beforehand, just like they wait to tell returning players that they are being cut until actual tryout day.

Regarding the comment “Everyone knows weather or not you will have play time or not at Metro” That’s completely inaccurate, Silvia doesn’t operate that way period. She is up front and let’s parents and players know court time isn’t guaranteed it’s earned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very obvious that you are a Paramount player's mom. No need to try to play it off. Paramount is known to have players dropping out mid-season every year. This happened for a lot of reasons. As for Metro, everyone knows that they will tell you if you will have play time or not. A club like theirs doesn’t need to be telling you lies so you can sign up with them. They will always have the top girls in the area lining up to play for them every year. Whether you agree or not, it’s just facts at this point. VA Juniors is a club that will most likely let most of the players on the team play and they have great recruitment results.

Not true, but it's very obvious what club your daughter belongs to. I'm sure they tell the players who won't play that they won't play beforehand, just like they wait to tell returning players that they are being cut until actual tryout day.

Regarding the comment “Everyone knows weather or not you will have play time or not at Metro” That’s completely inaccurate, Silvia doesn’t operate that way period. She is up front and let’s parents and players know court time isn’t guaranteed it’s earned.

Once you get past 14s, there is no doubt who the starters are at Metro, and that doesn’t change much thru 18s. Difference is, kids accept sitting in the bench to be part of Metro Travel. That’s not the same as kids being poached from other clubs with the promise of starting, when that is clearly not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very obvious that you are a Paramount player's mom. No need to try to play it off. Paramount is known to have players dropping out mid-season every year. This happened for a lot of reasons. As for Metro, everyone knows that they will tell you if you will have play time or not. A club like theirs doesn’t need to be telling you lies so you can sign up with them. They will always have the top girls in the area lining up to play for them every year. Whether you agree or not, it’s just facts at this point. VA Juniors is a club that will most likely let most of the players on the team play and they have great recruitment results.

Not true, but it's very obvious what club your daughter belongs to. I'm sure they tell the players who won't play that they won't play beforehand, just like they wait to tell returning players that they are being cut until actual tryout day.

Regarding the comment “Everyone knows weather or not you will have play time or not at Metro” That’s completely inaccurate, Silvia doesn’t operate that way period. She is up front and let’s parents and players know court time isn’t guaranteed it’s earned.

Just like she is up front about giving kids notice in advance that they're on the borderline of being cut? I personally know of 4 metro travel players who were cut on tryout day without having been given any prior indication that their spot may be in jeopardy. And these kids were all afraid to go to other clinics/tryouts for a backup because if Metro's club director found out that they had gone to other clinics it would have been held against them and they probably would have been cut.

[Anonymous]

As we worked our way through what (in my opinion) was a brutal try out season this year, a friend shared this post from the Volley Truth YouTube channel . . and it hits a lot of important points regarding club "loyalty" and appropriate management of expectations: https://youtu.be/vZ4ngeheNUQ

Learn what you can about the various clubs, and then make the best decision about which clubs (yes PLURAL) to pursue for your child. Do not wait for, or assume any form of loyalty from one season to the next. Period. And NO club, from my what I observed, independently initiated conversations to tell prior players that they would not be picked up this season. The people who found out ahead of time, were parents who were aggressive about approaching club directors and coaches to ask the question across the summer and the Fall lead up to tryouts (i.e., where does my child stand for next season) and were willing to invite what might be an uncomfortable conversation. My observation was that those parents who received negative responses -- or even ambiguous or noncommittal responses -- saw the writing on the wall, and initiated their hustle. Parents who waited, or who were not aggressive about getting the feedback/confirmation about where their player stood were unfortunately blindsided.

I do agree that there is a general fear across our local volleyball community (not just from players who previously played for Metro or Paramount) that if you are seen visiting other clinics, your past club won't invite you back or exact some form of retribution. To that I say . . take a look at the video link above. She makes great points about that.

The only person you owe loyalty to is your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As we worked our way through what (in my opinion) was a brutal try out season this year, a friend shared this post from the Volley Truth YouTube channel . . and it hits a lot of important points regarding club "loyalty" and appropriate management of expectations: https://youtu.be/vZ4ngeheNUQ

Learn what you can about the various clubs, and then make the best decision about which clubs (yes PLURAL) to pursue for your child. Do not wait for, or assume any form of loyalty from one season to the next. Period. And NO club, from my what I observed, independently initiated conversations to tell prior players that they would not be picked up this season. The people who found out ahead of time, were parents who were aggressive about approaching club directors and coaches to ask the question across the summer and the Fall lead up to tryouts (i.e., where does my child stand for next season) and were willing to invite what might be an uncomfortable conversation. My observation was that those parents who received negative responses -- or even ambiguous or noncommittal responses -- saw the writing on the wall, and initiated their hustle. Parents who waited, or who were not aggressive about getting the feedback/confirmation about where their player stood were unfortunately blindsided.

I do agree that there is a general fear across our local volleyball community (not just from players who previously played for Metro or Paramount) that if you are seen visiting other clinics, your past club won't invite you back or exact some form of retribution. To that I say . . take a look at the video link above. She makes great points about that.

The only person you owe loyalty to is your child.

1000+!
A learning lesson for our kids to be their own advocates.

[Anonymous]

Many good hitters left VA Juniors to join metro. Their 17 elite this year were good at the beginning but went downhill due to terrible coaching. The chatter box gets to play a lot. If your daughter is quiet or reserved, she will get sidelined. They played favoritism so newbies will have to try hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many good hitters left VA Juniors to join metro. Their 17 elite this year were good at the beginning but went downhill due to terrible coaching. The chatter box gets to play a lot. If your daughter is quiet or reserved, she will get sidelined. They played favoritism so newbies will have to try hard.

oh look....the super bitter VA Jrs hater poster is back. Chatter box gets to play a lot? What kind of feedback is that? Grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many good hitters left VA Juniors to join metro. Their 17 elite this year were good at the beginning but went downhill due to terrible coaching. The chatter box gets to play a lot. If your daughter is quiet or reserved, she will get sidelined. They played favoritism so newbies will have to try hard.

oh look....the super bitter VA Jrs hater poster is back. Chatter box gets to play a lot? What kind of feedback is that? Grow up.

I know VA Jrs very well - when Liz was heavily involved, it was a great club snapping at the heels of Metro. Unfortunately since she took a back seat, the culture has become toxic. The technical coaching is non existent too.

[Anonymous]

Pasting from the original post:

"Tier 4
Braddock Road - Inconsistent coaching quality
Monument - Seen lots of complaints about club direction here.
No Panic - Inconsistent quality.
NVVA - Have really slipped in recent years. Used to be Tier 2 once upon a time.
X-Factor - New, good option for kids who just want to play and not have much pressure."

Does everybody still see the Tier 4/regional group to be the same? Looking for a regional club option for DD who'll be 16U and just wants to play at a level more competitive than rec league but at the levels of higher tier travel club, college recruiting, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pasting from the original post:

"Tier 4
Braddock Road - Inconsistent coaching quality
Monument - Seen lots of complaints about club direction here.
No Panic - Inconsistent quality.
NVVA - Have really slipped in recent years. Used to be Tier 2 once upon a time.
X-Factor - New, good option for kids who just want to play and not have much pressure."

Does everybody still see the Tier 4/regional group to be the same? Looking for a regional club option for DD who'll be 16U and just wants to play at a level more competitive than rec league but at the levels of higher tier travel club, college recruiting, etc.?

You're saying 'NOT' at the higher levels, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pasting from the original post:

"Tier 4
Braddock Road - Inconsistent coaching quality
Monument - Seen lots of complaints about club direction here.
No Panic - Inconsistent quality.
NVVA - Have really slipped in recent years. Used to be Tier 2 once upon a time.
X-Factor - New, good option for kids who just want to play and not have much pressure."

Does everybody still see the Tier 4/regional group to be the same? Looking for a regional club option for DD who'll be 16U and just wants to play at a level more competitive than rec league but at the levels of higher tier travel club, college recruiting, etc.?

You're saying 'NOT' at the higher levels, right?

Yes sorry - typo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seeking honest opinions on the local volleyball clubs. Which ones have over 12 players, have bad coaches or only trying to take your money. Additionally, which ones have great coaches and your daughters had positive experiences.

Tier 1
Metro Travel - If your daughter is a freak athlete, look here. Good coaches at pretty much every level, hyper-competitive atmosphere.

Tier 2
Paramount - High-level teams with almost Metro-level athletes, but coaches who scream a lot at the kids
Virginia Elite - Travel-only teams, are almost exclusively interested in height/athleticism, don't mind taking some lumps at younger ages for purposes of development, very expensive.
Virginia Juniors - High-level teams, pretty strong coaches
Maryland Juniors (travel) - Have their own facility that's pretty easily accessible if you live in Maryland, pretty deep coaching staff

Tier 3
Loudoun Elite - New-ish program, competitive but don't know a ton about them
MVSA - Good option at younger ages (their 12 & under director is the head coach of an elite HS program), not so great at older ages
ECP Chesapeake - Mostly good coaches, also better with younger age groups (14s and down), absorbed MOJO recently
St. James - Best facility hands down, expensive, okay coaches
Metro (regional) - They typically have North (Columbia/Frederick), East (PG County), Central (Montgomery/DC), and South (NOVA), depending on where you live. Good coaches, less travel and pressure.
Maryland Juniors (regional) - Same deal as the more advanced teams.
American - Good option if you live out in the NOVA suburbs.
Liberty Elite - Good option if you live in Frederick.
Vienna Elite - Some teams can be pretty good, others pretty bad.
Libero - New club, hadn't heard about the weight thing until this thread.

Tier 4
Braddock Road - Inconsistent coaching quality
Monument - Seen lots of complaints about club direction here.
No Panic - Inconsistent quality.
NVVA - Have really slipped in recent years. Used to be Tier 2 once upon a time.
X-Factor - New, good option for kids who just want to play and not have much pressure.

Everything else below that.

+1. Good summary.

Anyone heard of Academy? Or DMV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seeking honest opinions on the local volleyball clubs. Which ones have over 12 players, have bad coaches or only trying to take your money. Additionally, which ones have great coaches and your daughters had positive experiences.

Tier 1
Metro Travel - If your daughter is a freak athlete, look here. Good coaches at pretty much every level, hyper-competitive atmosphere.

Tier 2
Paramount - High-level teams with almost Metro-level athletes, but coaches who scream a lot at the kids
Virginia Elite - Travel-only teams, are almost exclusively interested in height/athleticism, don't mind taking some lumps at younger ages for purposes of development, very expensive.
Virginia Juniors - High-level teams, pretty strong coaches
Maryland Juniors (travel) - Have their own facility that's pretty easily accessible if you live in Maryland, pretty deep coaching staff

Tier 3
Loudoun Elite - New-ish program, competitive but don't know a ton about them
MVSA - Good option at younger ages (their 12 & under director is the head coach of an elite HS program), not so great at older ages
ECP Chesapeake - Mostly good coaches, also better with younger age groups (14s and down), absorbed MOJO recently
St. James - Best facility hands down, expensive, okay coaches
Metro (regional) - They typically have North (Columbia/Frederick), East (PG County), Central (Montgomery/DC), and South (NOVA), depending on where you live. Good coaches, less travel and pressure.
Maryland Juniors (regional) - Same deal as the more advanced teams.
American - Good option if you live out in the NOVA suburbs.
Liberty Elite - Good option if you live in Frederick.
Vienna Elite - Some teams can be pretty good, others pretty bad.
Libero - New club, hadn't heard about the weight thing until this thread.

Tier 4
Braddock Road - Inconsistent coaching quality
Monument - Seen lots of complaints about club direction here.
No Panic - Inconsistent quality.
NVVA - Have really slipped in recent years. Used to be Tier 2 once upon a time.
X-Factor - New, good option for kids who just want to play and not have much pressure.

Everything else below that.

+1. Good summary.

Anyone heard of Academy? Or DMV?

Or MoCo?