looks like rva is still looking for 11U, well from 9U - 14U pretty much |
Where do you see this? Their website says they are holding tryouts for 15s and older |
To add some context, the last two years Academy had a lot of new players (new to club volleyball). I know at least a couple that are now pretty good are returning because they like the team and didn’t want to look elsewhere, so the team may do better this year. I think it’s a legit altetnative to a lower team at some of the other clubs. Especially if you live in bethesda, CC or Kensington — it is so much more convenient than going up 270. That’s a valid consideration. |
Unfortunately, based on our experience and talking to others a number of the better players on the team are looking elsewhere. Plus there are a lot of players being offered to play up on an older age team with Academy that aren't receiving offers for their actual age group teams at other clubs. |
Academy is not the only club that tries to build up their older teams by making offers to their younger players. This is very shortsighted because most players are not even good for their own age level. Having these players compete with older players will pretty much guarantee plenty of losses during tournaments. This is a good recipe for top and mid-level players to avoid your club in the future. |
Unless you live right next to the schools where they practice, you still have a 10-15 minutes drive. Would I add 10 minutes to that drive to get to a better club (even if it is higher up on 270)? You bet I would. Having two good players on the team will not make a difference, especially at older ages, where players can spot-serve. Once they figure out which players cannot serve-receive, the opposing teams will keep acing. You cannot make a good team with two excellent players, especially when you will be playing against teams where most players know what they are doing. |
| Does anyone know any regional clubs in the area that needs U16 defensive players? tried texting momument because they only have 10 players and they left us on seen DD is really upset. |
I can speak to this. Yes, it wouldn't be great. Our practice is less than 10 minutes from home, and our kid attends every single extra clinic and extra practice offered. If I had to drive to MVSA or Platform, it would add 1.5 hours round-trip, or I'd be sitting in my car until 10:00 p.m. several times a week. My child is not going to be a professional volleyball player. I'm happy to support their passion to an extent. We have other kids that need tending to and slogging up 270 in the evening is not something that I'm down to do. |
During the first year of club we were lucky to split the drive with another family (one would drop off, the other would pick up). During the second year of club, I didn't have that option, and the math of driving back and forth was not working. I started watching the practices (your club may or may not allow this) or I was simply sitting on the bleachers, working on my laptop. I would do that again before joining Academy (even though my kid will not play in college either). |
| Any teams looking for defensive 16U players? |
I don't think anyone has as much info as you can find here: https://www.vaelite.com/free-agents |
Different poster and I slogged a non volleyball kid up 270 twice a week for a different sport and it was incredibly stressful. Particularly because it often rains and driving 270 and trying to do the local lane merge in the pouring rain in the dark is just miserable especially with the jerks cutting you off and driving 110 mph. 15 minutes on local roads is more than twice as good as 30 minutes up 270 and over. The 270 sports slog is like the secret hell that you didn’t count on when you bought a “close in” house in the suburbs to keep your commute down. |
If you go to their website https://www.rockvillevolleyball.com/ it says Girls makeup tryouts in big bold font under that listed Division: U9 – U10 – U11 – U12 – U13 – U14, 11/3/2025(today) 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Of course to be safe, one might want to give them a call to make sure they actually still looking for certain age group |
This argument where the occasional rain plays such an important role is probably a joke. But I would agree that all things being equal, Academy is likely better than Platform 3. If the location is more convenient, I would pick Academy instead of Platform 2. I would probably go with Platform 1 if it takes only 15 extra minutes. And I would go with any of the MVSA teams no matter how much it rains on 270 and how many jerks drive 110 mph. |
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If you did not find a team for the season, please consider reaching out and attending our last chance try-outs for 15U-18U.
Tuesday Nov 4 7-8pm https://www.manassasvolleyballclub.com/ |