Volleyball club- recap and thoughts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do players have to do this circus every year, even after they’ve made a club one year and are happy? In other words, do they have to fight hard to retain their spot from the prior year or are clubs loyal to returning players? I realize she will always have to tryout but is her spot safe with the same club, assuming no issues? This was our first year of tryouts, and DD got offers from 4 of her 5 teams from tryouts. But it was stressful and we put so much time and money into clinics at each place. I know she will have to tryout again but I’m hoping the stress is not like this every year.

YES, ever. single. year. My DD got 4 offers her first year club and by the end of the season she was not be rotated out during games. She was invited to invite only clinics before the next year's try outs for her former club. She was cut after the first round of try outs from that former club. She was lucky enough to get 1 offer last year to play at a new club so took that. Unfortunately that was ECP, which disbanded/dissolved about 2 weeks before this year's try outs, so once again she was clueless. Her prior coach let her know where they were coaching this season and asked her to try out, and then that club did NOT give her an offer.

There is zero loyalty in club volleyball. None. It is unlike any other sport my other kids have played where if you start with a club early often that club will look at the long term goal of developing you over the years and often you can stay year after year (not a guarantee but likely, such as lacrosse, soccer, etc). With volleyball there is no club loyalty so the players also are looking to change every year as well. Learn this lesson now for next year.

It really is such a hard experience for families, and it’s a shame. But as this thread indicates, some ppl are frustrated by a lack of loyalty, myself included, while others are equally frustrated that they saw clubs fill their rosters ahead of time with their girls from last year. The best we can do is go into the process with eyes wide open and exposure to as many clubs as possible ahead of time. My heart hurts for those families that don’t have the benefit of that knowledge because they are newer.

There is no loyalty in club volleyball! Don’t fall in love with your club, they won’t think twice about getting rid of an entire team in favor of new players. Always go into this thinking about what is best for your child. Talk to other clubs, if possible, about opportunities for your child, the clubs are not loyal to players so no need to be loyal to the clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do players have to do this circus every year, even after they’ve made a club one year and are happy? In other words, do they have to fight hard to retain their spot from the prior year or are clubs loyal to returning players? I realize she will always have to tryout but is her spot safe with the same club, assuming no issues? This was our first year of tryouts, and DD got offers from 4 of her 5 teams from tryouts. But it was stressful and we put so much time and money into clinics at each place. I know she will have to tryout again but I’m hoping the stress is not like this every year.

The answer is YES, they will for almost every club. The reason being, depending on a player's ambitions, if it's not Paramount Travel or Metro Travel and they have their sights set on college scholarships, they're going to keep trying to "climb up the club ladder" towards those top teams.

And as much a the team may love a player, they still want to roster the best team they can. So if 12 or 15 girls tryout and they're all better than your player, they may well take them first.

All that said, if the player and team have a great relationship, that IS worth something as well and I'm sure your player would have preference over others who might seem a little better but basically still be unknown. A known good/great player is better than a seemingly somewhat better player but only based on 90 min tryout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be more clubs geared towards the girls that want to do travel and are new to the sport 1/2 years in and just want to play abut not do rec. There is definately a market

I thought travel was geared towards serious D1 recruits. Regional was more for the average, slightly above average player that also plays HS. Maybe an outside shot at DIV 2 or 3 college player.

The terms "club" and "travel" are somewhat synonymous in volleyball, but for some reason the volleyball world tends to use "club" more often. When explaining all of this madness to non-volleyball parents, I usually say club volleyball is roughly equivalent to travel soccer.

"Regional" is a label some clubs use to refer to teams that play in mostly local tournaments, but there aren't bright lines dividing teams/clubs as regional or travel. Metro labels their top team in each age group as "travel" and they definitely travel a lot more than the Metro regional teams (North, South, East, Central), but the regional teams usually go to at least 2 multi-day tournaments that require overnight stays and although different clubs use different terms, many are structured the same way. To make it even more confusing, there are highly competitive teams (for example, many of the MVSA 1s teams) that don't go to tournaments that require flights (except maybe for Nationals) while there are teams that go to lots of big tournaments requiring significant travel, but play in the lower, less competitive divisions. As has been discussed a lot in this thread and others, most of the D1 recruits locally come out of 5 or 6 local clubs, but that doesn't mean that many of the clubs outside of that group don't travel a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clubs currently do rec and/or club volleyball but there is a market for a third offering (more competitive than rec but less than club). Teams at this new level could have weekly matches (not all day tournaments!) among themselves.

DD would love that. Maybe that’s where the lack of facilities limits the offerings. Though maybe it could happen in summer/fall?

Lots of girls too skilled to enjoy rec but who won’t make club

Yes! I really wish someone would do this, but you are correct, lack of facilities is an issue. My DD loves volleyball did not make club this year but rec is just not an option. She might end up being an alternate player but it would be so much better if something just below club existed that she could participate in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be more clubs geared towards the girls that want to do travel and are new to the sport 1/2 years in and just want to play abut not do rec. There is definately a market

I thought travel was geared towards serious D1 recruits. Regional was more for the average, slightly above average player that also plays HS. Maybe an outside shot at DIV 2 or 3 college player.

The terms "club" and "travel" are somewhat synonymous in volleyball, but for some reason the volleyball world tends to use "club" more often. When explaining all of this madness to non-volleyball parents, I usually say club volleyball is roughly equivalent to travel soccer.

"Regional" is a label some clubs use to refer to teams that play in mostly local tournaments, but there aren't bright lines dividing teams/clubs as regional or travel. Metro labels their top team in each age group as "travel" and they definitely travel a lot more than the Metro regional teams (North, South, East, Central), but the regional teams usually go to at least 2 multi-day tournaments that require overnight stays and although different clubs use different terms, many are structured the same way. To make it even more confusing, there are highly competitive teams (for example, many of the MVSA 1s teams) that don't go to tournaments that require flights (except maybe for Nationals) while there are teams that go to lots of big tournaments requiring significant travel, but play in the lower, less competitive divisions. As has been discussed a lot in this thread and others, most of the D1 recruits locally come out of 5 or 6 local clubs, but that doesn't mean that many of the clubs outside of that group don't travel a lot.

Correct this is what has been confusing for us when it came to choosing a club. There are some “regional teams” (Metro North, for example) that don’t play in “national” competitions that require flights to ATL or CO, but the level of play on that team would rival many of the less competitive “national” teams that are playing to travel to Raleigh, Atlanta, CO. For example VAVA, Renaissance, Mojo, Vienna, BRYC, will all have “national” teams that will do more travel. But I am willing to bet some of the stronger regional teams could easily outplay them. My DD opted to play for a stronger regional team over a weaker national team. If that makes sense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be more clubs geared towards the girls that want to do travel and are new to the sport 1/2 years in and just want to play abut not do rec. There is definately a market

I thought travel was geared towards serious D1 recruits. Regional was more for the average, slightly above average player that also plays HS. Maybe an outside shot at DIV 2 or 3 college player.

The terms "club" and "travel" are somewhat synonymous in volleyball, but for some reason the volleyball world tends to use "club" more often. When explaining all of this madness to non-volleyball parents, I usually say club volleyball is roughly equivalent to travel soccer.

"Regional" is a label some clubs use to refer to teams that play in mostly local tournaments, but there aren't bright lines dividing teams/clubs as regional or travel. Metro labels their top team in each age group as "travel" and they definitely travel a lot more than the Metro regional teams (North, South, East, Central), but the regional teams usually go to at least 2 multi-day tournaments that require overnight stays and although different clubs use different terms, many are structured the same way. To make it even more confusing, there are highly competitive teams (for example, many of the MVSA 1s teams) that don't go to tournaments that require flights (except maybe for Nationals) while there are teams that go to lots of big tournaments requiring significant travel, but play in the lower, less competitive divisions. As has been discussed a lot in this thread and others, most of the D1 recruits locally come out of 5 or 6 local clubs, but that doesn't mean that many of the clubs outside of that group don't travel a lot.

Correct this is what has been confusing for us when it came to choosing a club. There are some “regional teams” (Metro North, for example) that don’t play in “national” competitions that require flights to ATL or CO, but the level of play on that team would rival many of the less competitive “national” teams that are playing to travel to Raleigh, Atlanta, CO. For example VAVA, Renaissance, Mojo, Vienna, BRYC, will all have “national” teams that will do more travel. But I am willing to bet some of the stronger regional teams could easily outplay them. My DD opted to play for a stronger regional team over a weaker national team. If that makes sense?

So does this explain why some of the “Regional” teams are ranked higher in AES than the “national” teams? I suppose that means those Regional teams performed better in the local national tournaments like Capitol Hill Classic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be more clubs geared towards the girls that want to do travel and are new to the sport 1/2 years in and just want to play abut not do rec. There is definately a market

I thought travel was geared towards serious D1 recruits. Regional was more for the average, slightly above average player that also plays HS. Maybe an outside shot at DIV 2 or 3 college player.

The terms "club" and "travel" are somewhat synonymous in volleyball, but for some reason the volleyball world tends to use "club" more often. When explaining all of this madness to non-volleyball parents, I usually say club volleyball is roughly equivalent to travel soccer.

"Regional" is a label some clubs use to refer to teams that play in mostly local tournaments, but there aren't bright lines dividing teams/clubs as regional or travel. Metro labels their top team in each age group as "travel" and they definitely travel a lot more than the Metro regional teams (North, South, East, Central), but the regional teams usually go to at least 2 multi-day tournaments that require overnight stays and although different clubs use different terms, many are structured the same way. To make it even more confusing, there are highly competitive teams (for example, many of the MVSA 1s teams) that don't go to tournaments that require flights (except maybe for Nationals) while there are teams that go to lots of big tournaments requiring significant travel, but play in the lower, less competitive divisions. As has been discussed a lot in this thread and others, most of the D1 recruits locally come out of 5 or 6 local clubs, but that doesn't mean that many of the clubs outside of that group don't travel a lot.

Correct this is what has been confusing for us when it came to choosing a club. There are some “regional teams” (Metro North, for example) that don’t play in “national” competitions that require flights to ATL or CO, but the level of play on that team would rival many of the less competitive “national” teams that are playing to travel to Raleigh, Atlanta, CO. For example VAVA, Renaissance, Mojo, Vienna, BRYC, will all have “national” teams that will do more travel. But I am willing to bet some of the stronger regional teams could easily outplay them. My DD opted to play for a stronger regional team over a weaker national team. If that makes sense?

So does this explain why some of the “Regional” teams are ranked higher in AES than the “national” teams? I suppose that means those Regional teams performed better in the local national tournaments like Capitol Hill Classic?

That’s the flaw in the system - there is no weight on on level of tournament or quality of opponent. If you play the worst club in the region every week for the season, you’re likely to be ranked nr 1….national rankings within AES is a much more accurate data set

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be more clubs geared towards the girls that want to do travel and are new to the sport 1/2 years in and just want to play abut not do rec. There is definately a market

I thought travel was geared towards serious D1 recruits. Regional was more for the average, slightly above average player that also plays HS. Maybe an outside shot at DIV 2 or 3 college player.

The terms "club" and "travel" are somewhat synonymous in volleyball, but for some reason the volleyball world tends to use "club" more often. When explaining all of this madness to non-volleyball parents, I usually say club volleyball is roughly equivalent to travel soccer.

"Regional" is a label some clubs use to refer to teams that play in mostly local tournaments, but there aren't bright lines dividing teams/clubs as regional or travel. Metro labels their top team in each age group as "travel" and they definitely travel a lot more than the Metro regional teams (North, South, East, Central), but the regional teams usually go to at least 2 multi-day tournaments that require overnight stays and although different clubs use different terms, many are structured the same way. To make it even more confusing, there are highly competitive teams (for example, many of the MVSA 1s teams) that don't go to tournaments that require flights (except maybe for Nationals) while there are teams that go to lots of big tournaments requiring significant travel, but play in the lower, less competitive divisions. As has been discussed a lot in this thread and others, most of the D1 recruits locally come out of 5 or 6 local clubs, but that doesn't mean that many of the clubs outside of that group don't travel a lot.

Correct this is what has been confusing for us when it came to choosing a club. There are some “regional teams” (Metro North, for example) that don’t play in “national” competitions that require flights to ATL or CO, but the level of play on that team would rival many of the less competitive “national” teams that are playing to travel to Raleigh, Atlanta, CO. For example VAVA, Renaissance, Mojo, Vienna, BRYC, will all have “national” teams that will do more travel. But I am willing to bet some of the stronger regional teams could easily outplay them. My DD opted to play for a stronger regional team over a weaker national team. If that makes sense?

So does this explain why some of the “Regional” teams are ranked higher in AES than the “national” teams? I suppose that means those Regional teams performed better in the local national tournaments like Capitol Hill Classic?

I'm pretty sure Sportwrench tournament results (like Capital Hill, National Harbor and Volley by the James) don't end up in the AES rankings at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be more clubs geared towards the girls that want to do travel and are new to the sport 1/2 years in and just want to play abut not do rec. There is definately a market

I thought travel was geared towards serious D1 recruits. Regional was more for the average, slightly above average player that also plays HS. Maybe an outside shot at DIV 2 or 3 college player.

The terms "club" and "travel" are somewhat synonymous in volleyball, but for some reason the volleyball world tends to use "club" more often. When explaining all of this madness to non-volleyball parents, I usually say club volleyball is roughly equivalent to travel soccer.

"Regional" is a label some clubs use to refer to teams that play in mostly local tournaments, but there aren't bright lines dividing teams/clubs as regional or travel. Metro labels their top team in each age group as "travel" and they definitely travel a lot more than the Metro regional teams (North, South, East, Central), but the regional teams usually go to at least 2 multi-day tournaments that require overnight stays and although different clubs use different terms, many are structured the same way. To make it even more confusing, there are highly competitive teams (for example, many of the MVSA 1s teams) that don't go to tournaments that require flights (except maybe for Nationals) while there are teams that go to lots of big tournaments requiring significant travel, but play in the lower, less competitive divisions. As has been discussed a lot in this thread and others, most of the D1 recruits locally come out of 5 or 6 local clubs, but that doesn't mean that many of the clubs outside of that group don't travel a lot.

Correct this is what has been confusing for us when it came to choosing a club. There are some “regional teams” (Metro North, for example) that don’t play in “national” competitions that require flights to ATL or CO, but the level of play on that team would rival many of the less competitive “national” teams that are playing to travel to Raleigh, Atlanta, CO. For example VAVA, Renaissance, Mojo, Vienna, BRYC, will all have “national” teams that will do more travel. But I am willing to bet some of the stronger regional teams could easily outplay them. My DD opted to play for a stronger regional team over a weaker national team. If that makes sense?

So does this explain why some of the “Regional” teams are ranked higher in AES than the “national” teams? I suppose that means those Regional teams performed better in the local national tournaments like Capitol Hill Classic?

That’s the flaw in the system - there is no weight on on level of tournament or quality of opponent. If you play the worst club in the region every week for the season, you’re likely to be ranked nr 1….national rankings within AES is a much more accurate data set

AESrankings aren’t perfect but give you a sense of relative competitiveness. Some good clubs 2nd, 3rd teams will beat most other clubs first team every time head on. But being on a less competitive clubs first team means there’s more room for you to stay on a club team at all(maybe slip to second team), whereas barely clinging to club’s lowest team means you’re at risk of being left behind next year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Correct this is what has been confusing for us when it came to choosing a club. There are some “regional teams” (Metro North, for example) that don’t play in “national” competitions that require flights to ATL or CO, but the level of play on that team would rival many of the less competitive “national” teams that are playing to travel to Raleigh, Atlanta, CO. For example VAVA, Renaissance, Mojo, Vienna, BRYC, will all have “national” teams that will do more travel. But I am willing to bet some of the stronger regional teams could easily outplay them. My DD opted to play for a stronger regional team over a weaker national team. If that makes sense?

So does this explain why some of the “Regional” teams are ranked higher in AES than the “national” teams? I suppose that means those Regional teams performed better in the local national tournaments like Capitol Hill Classic?

Anonymous wrote:
I'm pretty sure Sportwrench tournament results (like Capital Hill, National Harbor and Volley by the James) don't end up in the AES rankings at all.

Sportwrench (or any tournaments outside of AES) have to be entered manually, but most clubs do it. They do factor in the rankings when they are entered.

Comparing rankings in AES without detailed knowledge of how it works is fools errand. And by the time you figure out AES and its system, you'll know exactly which teams play at which level -- and you won't need AES any more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Correct this is what has been confusing for us when it came to choosing a club. There are some “regional teams” (Metro North, for example) that don’t play in “national” competitions that require flights to ATL or CO, but the level of play on that team would rival many of the less competitive “national” teams that are playing to travel to Raleigh, Atlanta, CO. For example VAVA, Renaissance, Mojo, Vienna, BRYC, will all have “national” teams that will do more travel. But I am willing to bet some of the stronger regional teams could easily outplay them. My DD opted to play for a stronger regional team over a weaker national team. If that makes sense?

So does this explain why some of the “Regional” teams are ranked higher in AES than the “national” teams? I suppose that means those Regional teams performed better in the local national tournaments like Capitol Hill Classic?

Anonymous wrote:
I'm pretty sure Sportwrench tournament results (like Capital Hill, National Harbor and Volley by the James) don't end up in the AES rankings at all.

Sportwrench (or any tournaments outside of AES) have to be entered manually, but most clubs do it. They do factor in the rankings when they are entered.

Comparing rankings in AES without detailed knowledge of how it works is fools errand. And by the time you figure out AES and its system, you'll know exactly which teams play at which level -- and you won't need AES any more.

Another thing to look at that might be helpful in evaluating clubs or teams (although not perfect because it relies on AES rankings to a certain degree) is to look at the results of last year's bid regionals tournament. In AES, if you search for "CHRVA Girls Bid Regional Championships" under past events you can view the results for the last 2 seasons. Teams in bid regionals are those that are hoping to earn a bid to the USAV Girls Junior National Championship. Teams interested in a bid register for the bid regionals tournament months ahead of time and have to compete in the "open" division in at least 2 CHRVA tournaments prior to a specific date (March 10, 2024 for the upcoming season) and then a week before the tournament, CHRVA will use the AES regional rankings to select the teams that meet the requirements and are ranked high enough to participate (for most age groups the max number of teams for bid regionals is 12). The reason I think this is slightly better than looking solely at AES rankings from last season is that it weeds out the teams that might have a high ranking from only playing weaker teams in the club division at local tournaments and only includes teams who hope to get a bid, which you would expect to be more competitive. One caveat if you're new to this, is that a team who earns an open level bid at a national qualifier before bid regionals is not allowed to compete for the lower level bids that CHRVA can offer at regionals, which is why for some age groups Metro and Paramount don't have teams in the results.

[Anonymous]

If anyone still looking for a club, Vienna Elite has available spots.

https://www.viennaelite.org/


Players Needed for Specific Teams and Positions

Current List of Positions Needed:

14 - Black -MB, OH or RS.

U15 Blue - MB

U15 Black - MB, OH/RS

U15 White - S, MB, RS

U16 Black - MB and OH

U17 Blue - MB

U16 DMV Elite - S, MB

U18 DMV Elite - S, OH, MB

Make Ups Tryouts: 7:30pm to 8:30pm at The Nzone in Chantilly, 11/8. To register, send email to: [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anyone still looking for a club, Vienna Elite has available spots.

https://www.viennaelite.org/


Players Needed for Specific Teams and Positions

Current List of Positions Needed:

14 - Black -MB, OH or RS.

U15 Blue - MB

U15 Black - MB, OH/RS

U15 White - S, MB, RS

U16 Black - MB and OH

U17 Blue - MB

U16 DMV Elite - S, MB

U18 DMV Elite - S, OH, MB

Make Ups Tryouts: 7:30pm to 8:30pm at The Nzone in Chantilly, 11/8. To register, send email to: [e-mail]

My DD committed to another club but was interested in Vienna Elite (we couldn’t make the tryout time work). What is protocol for that? Can or should she still try out? We haven’t paid yet….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anyone still looking for a club, Vienna Elite has available spots.

https://www.viennaelite.org/


Players Needed for Specific Teams and Positions

Current List of Positions Needed:

14 - Black -MB, OH or RS.

U15 Blue - MB

U15 Black - MB, OH/RS

U15 White - S, MB, RS

U16 Black - MB and OH

U17 Blue - MB

U16 DMV Elite - S, MB

U18 DMV Elite - S, OH, MB

Make Ups Tryouts: 7:30pm to 8:30pm at The Nzone in Chantilly, 11/8. To register, send email to: [e-mail]

My DD committed to another club but was interested in Vienna Elite (we couldn’t make the tryout time work). What is protocol for that? Can or should she still try out? We haven’t paid yet….

I think if you haven't put down a deposit, you can still get out? Email the Vienna Elite and ask if it's possible.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the experienced parents that have posted, it has been very informative. I would estimate that the majority of parents just want a club that is logistically feasible where your child could learn, grown, and play. I'm not looking for my child to achieve superstar status and sign a NIL deal.