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Anyone else awaiting info on first practice dates and times? We're already getting team e-mails about hotel reservations (stay-to-play or otherwise reserved blocks) but no practice info has been posted/shared yet. I think some other clubs may have started practices this week (according to their websites).
Per https://www.dmvelitevbc.org/, DMV Elite is still looking to fill a few slots. Tryouts today (Tuesday, Nov. 14th) and Thursday.
I think the HS-and-club coach connections run quite deep. And I don't mean "just" head coaches, but also assistants and JV/freshman coaches as well.
For example, just reading the bios of the Paramount coaches (https://www.paramountvbc.com/coaches), I see current/former ties to Potomac School, Flint Hill, Chantilly, and Trinity Christian.
DMV Elite (https://www.dmvelitevbc.org/page/show/8225070): Thomas Jefferson, Fairfax (former), Riverside, Stone Bridge, and Kellam (former)
VA Juniors (https://www.vajuniors.com/page/show/1453660-va-junior-coaches): Westfield (former), Langley, Lightridge, Flint Hill (former)
Loudoun Elite: Centreville, Riverside
I know the Arrington name used to run deep at Flint Hill ... and Metro, but I believe she's now at Jackson-Reed (with her daughter ... maybe?). The varsity coach at Flint Hill that replaced her has been a boys coach at The St. James. I know other TSJ coaches are or have been at schools like Edison, Justice, James Madison HS, Washington Adventist U., George Washington U. (former).
I'm sure there are many others, but this is just a snapshot of what I've seen when looking at clubs for my kid.
Lots of these folks are former college players too. Every bit of experience they have can give them an edge in the high school game.
For example, just reading the bios of the Paramount coaches (https://www.paramountvbc.com/coaches), I see current/former ties to Potomac School, Flint Hill, Chantilly, and Trinity Christian.
DMV Elite (https://www.dmvelitevbc.org/page/show/8225070): Thomas Jefferson, Fairfax (former), Riverside, Stone Bridge, and Kellam (former)
VA Juniors (https://www.vajuniors.com/page/show/1453660-va-junior-coaches): Westfield (former), Langley, Lightridge, Flint Hill (former)
Loudoun Elite: Centreville, Riverside
I know the Arrington name used to run deep at Flint Hill ... and Metro, but I believe she's now at Jackson-Reed (with her daughter ... maybe?). The varsity coach at Flint Hill that replaced her has been a boys coach at The St. James. I know other TSJ coaches are or have been at schools like Edison, Justice, James Madison HS, Washington Adventist U., George Washington U. (former).
I'm sure there are many others, but this is just a snapshot of what I've seen when looking at clubs for my kid.
Lots of these folks are former college players too. Every bit of experience they have can give them an edge in the high school game.
There are some HS coaches that are also club coaches. I think DD's HS coach, who has only coached rec ... as far as I know, has been outcoached by counterparts who may implement a more club-like structure to their HS teams. Yes, you have to have the HS players to execute on the court. But, the coach has to be able to instruct and strategize to get the best out of the talent that's available. A HS coach with some club coaching experience may also be able to make adjustments mid-match that someone without that experience cannot make.
It's also clear when several players from one particular school show up at clinics and tryouts as a group (age-group permitting) ... possibly for the opportunity to play for their HS coach for the duration of an entire club season.
It's also clear when several players from one particular school show up at clinics and tryouts as a group (age-group permitting) ... possibly for the opportunity to play for their HS coach for the duration of an entire club season.
At the lone "official" Paramount 16s Friday tryout, there may have been 30 or so girls in total. I wonder if the club's decision to go down to one 16s team led to some players deciding to not tryout for the club.
I recognized some of the faces at the tryout from the invite-only clinic that was held a week prior. There were two courts "separated" by a "gym curtain." I could not easily tell if the girls separated themselves or if the coaches/staff had some influence on where the girls warmed up and completed the initial drills. It did seem that the invite-only girls were mostly on one side of the curtain, but that could just be my imagination. The groups were separated for roughly 20 to 30 minutes for warm-ups and serving/serve-receive drills. The entire group was together on one court for setting/hitting and scrimmaging/queens to end the tryout.
At the end of the tryout, DD heard that one new-to-PVC player was given an offer on the spot (player had attended multiple pre-tryout clinics including the invite-only). I also heard that another new-to-PVC player ... one who was NOT at the 16s tryout, but did attend the invite-only a week earlier ... was evaluated on the next day (Saturday) and was given an offer.
I recognized some of the faces at the tryout from the invite-only clinic that was held a week prior. There were two courts "separated" by a "gym curtain." I could not easily tell if the girls separated themselves or if the coaches/staff had some influence on where the girls warmed up and completed the initial drills. It did seem that the invite-only girls were mostly on one side of the curtain, but that could just be my imagination. The groups were separated for roughly 20 to 30 minutes for warm-ups and serving/serve-receive drills. The entire group was together on one court for setting/hitting and scrimmaging/queens to end the tryout.
At the end of the tryout, DD heard that one new-to-PVC player was given an offer on the spot (player had attended multiple pre-tryout clinics including the invite-only). I also heard that another new-to-PVC player ... one who was NOT at the 16s tryout, but did attend the invite-only a week earlier ... was evaluated on the next day (Saturday) and was given an offer.
DMV Elite is listing a few open spots. Tryouts on Sunday, Nov. 12th per https://www.dmvelitevbc.org/home
U15 DMV Elite - Setter, Pin Hitter
U16 DMV Elite - S, MB
U18 DMV Elite - S, OH, MB
U15 DMV Elite - Setter, Pin Hitter
U16 DMV Elite - S, MB
U18 DMV Elite - S, OH, MB
My better half an I moved "back" to the City in 2013. We met as freshman at GMU in the '90s and returned to Fairfax (County) after a year in grad school elsewhere. Our kids (one in high school and one in elementary) both attend City schools.
For years, we attended Mt. Calvary Baptist just one intersection away from the GMU campus (and the fieldhouse). In fact, we were married at that church. For better or for worse, we started attending services at a different church just as COVID emerged ... but we know many know quite a few folks from our days at Mt. Calvary.
You may also want to check out the lady who founded House of Wood (https://houseofwood.org/). I consider Vickie Wood an unofficial mayor of sorts, as she knows everybody.
She has routinely served as an election worker at our precinct. I voted early this time, so I don't know if she supported the election this week.
Between Mt. Calvary and Ms. Woods, you should get to meet plenty of folks who call the City "home."
For years, we attended Mt. Calvary Baptist just one intersection away from the GMU campus (and the fieldhouse). In fact, we were married at that church. For better or for worse, we started attending services at a different church just as COVID emerged ... but we know many know quite a few folks from our days at Mt. Calvary.
You may also want to check out the lady who founded House of Wood (https://houseofwood.org/). I consider Vickie Wood an unofficial mayor of sorts, as she knows everybody.
She has routinely served as an election worker at our precinct. I voted early this time, so I don't know if she supported the election this week.
Between Mt. Calvary and Ms. Woods, you should get to meet plenty of folks who call the City "home."
I haven't been directly involved with other club sports (beyond soccer and volleyball) or other activities (ballet, swim, lacrosse), but I'm not sure that the total costs are drastically different.
DD played mid-level travel soccer for six years. We never spent more that $2500 in a year BUT we also never travelled outside of the DMV (Fredericksburg, Hollywood, and Winchester were out longest trips ... and none were overnight). If DD had pursued a higher-level of play, it would have required higher upfront fees and much farther travel every weekend. I'm sure that if swim parents, for example, jumped into this thread, they may share similar numbers in terms of total cost.
I think it comes down to understanding what it is your child wants out of the experience. For us, it was DD earning a varsity HS volleyball roster spot this year after having earned a JV spot without ever playing club. Mission accomplished ... with an All-District Honorable Mention honor to boot. Now, DD wants to see how high she can go in this sport. This required us looking at higher level clubs (and likely the high total costs associated with that pursuit).
If playing varsity HS volleyball isn't a goal for your kid, then I am sure that there is a CHRVA club that you can call home with a relatively-appropriate price point. I'm not trying to say that any club sport will ever be "cheap." But, I think there is a reasonable option for your expected outcome.
DD played mid-level travel soccer for six years. We never spent more that $2500 in a year BUT we also never travelled outside of the DMV (Fredericksburg, Hollywood, and Winchester were out longest trips ... and none were overnight). If DD had pursued a higher-level of play, it would have required higher upfront fees and much farther travel every weekend. I'm sure that if swim parents, for example, jumped into this thread, they may share similar numbers in terms of total cost.
I think it comes down to understanding what it is your child wants out of the experience. For us, it was DD earning a varsity HS volleyball roster spot this year after having earned a JV spot without ever playing club. Mission accomplished ... with an All-District Honorable Mention honor to boot. Now, DD wants to see how high she can go in this sport. This required us looking at higher level clubs (and likely the high total costs associated with that pursuit).
If playing varsity HS volleyball isn't a goal for your kid, then I am sure that there is a CHRVA club that you can call home with a relatively-appropriate price point. I'm not trying to say that any club sport will ever be "cheap." But, I think there is a reasonable option for your expected outcome.
I wonder if it would "less nutty" if CHRVA moved tryouts to the summer like it is done is other parts of the country.
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I understand that Paramount made at least one offer to a player after an "evaluation" of sorts on Saturday. As far as I know, their official tryouts were all on Friday. Granted, the Saturday eval could have been pre-arranged (that player was not at the tryout on Friday). It would have been good to know that the club ... and maybe others ... make that kind of arrangement available given that tryouts for all age groups were on one weekend. I don't know if there are enough open courts (and time) in one weekend for players to pursue all reasonable options. I'm going to guess that some players/families self-selected to not try out at some clubs simply because of overlapping tryout schedules.
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I understand that Paramount made at least one offer to a player after an "evaluation" of sorts on Saturday. As far as I know, their official tryouts were all on Friday. Granted, the Saturday eval could have been pre-arranged (that player was not at the tryout on Friday). It would have been good to know that the club ... and maybe others ... make that kind of arrangement available given that tryouts for all age groups were on one weekend. I don't know if there are enough open courts (and time) in one weekend for players to pursue all reasonable options. I'm going to guess that some players/families self-selected to not try out at some clubs simply because of overlapping tryout schedules.
Anonymous wrote:Has anyone been to the new Paramount practice facility?
The address matches that of a Bed, Bath, and Beyond location ... which I'm guessing has closed. I don't frequent Manassas, so I haven't been out that way since summer.
I wonder if Paramount parents/families will pick up whatever rewards program the "adjacent" movie theater has. Might as well get current with the current/upcoming slate of movies while you are out there! Google/Bing Maps seems to suggest that there's Wendy's, Uno's, and Golden Corral in the parking lot with a Cracker Barrel on the other side of Sudley.
Given this move to Manassas and Metro Travel seemingly not crossing the Potomac for practices, I wonder how long it will take for the teams to become "almost" exclusively Virginia for Paramount and "almost" exclusively DC/Maryland for Metro Travel. I'm sure current players will stick with their chosen club, but the newest/youngest players and families may eventually opt for the club that's closest to home.
We got a tip from a floater coach at DD's "old" club that we should check out Loudoun Elite for a possible 16s roster spot this season.
We went to one clinic, as we could not get the schedules aligned (given the other clinics DD attended) to do more than that. This clinic was at 7 or 8PM on a Saturday night. I think only 9 girls showed up. We did get to chat with Coach Q, who I believe is the varsity HC at Heritage High, when the clinic ended. I believe he said that the club recently had a coach leave, so Coach Q was picking up a second team (I think he was originally going to have just a 17s team).
Per the club's website, we knew that the first 16s team coach is the varsity HC are Centreville High ... whom DD had played against twice by that point. We were hoping he would show for this clinic to see if he remembered my DD. Oh well.
Other than that, Loudoun Elite had the highest sticker price (for 16s) of all clubs we looked into ... at over $7K.
Checking out AES, their 15s team last year did not "finish" as well as DD's former 15s team. Too bad all of the historical info is gone on AES, so it's hard to assess their results without seeing what teams they played last season.
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As others have noted, I probably wouldn't drive past other club locations just to get to Loudoun Elite. But, if they are one of the closest ones to you, it may be something that works for your player/your family.
We went to one clinic, as we could not get the schedules aligned (given the other clinics DD attended) to do more than that. This clinic was at 7 or 8PM on a Saturday night. I think only 9 girls showed up. We did get to chat with Coach Q, who I believe is the varsity HC at Heritage High, when the clinic ended. I believe he said that the club recently had a coach leave, so Coach Q was picking up a second team (I think he was originally going to have just a 17s team).
Per the club's website, we knew that the first 16s team coach is the varsity HC are Centreville High ... whom DD had played against twice by that point. We were hoping he would show for this clinic to see if he remembered my DD. Oh well.
Other than that, Loudoun Elite had the highest sticker price (for 16s) of all clubs we looked into ... at over $7K.
Checking out AES, their 15s team last year did not "finish" as well as DD's former 15s team. Too bad all of the historical info is gone on AES, so it's hard to assess their results without seeing what teams they played last season.
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As others have noted, I probably wouldn't drive past other club locations just to get to Loudoun Elite. But, if they are one of the closest ones to you, it may be something that works for your player/your family.
So, how did this year's tryouts go overall compared to last year?
Last year was our first foray into this crazy world of club VB and their were easily 75+ for 15s at a club fielding two teams in the age group. Vienna Elite said they had 150+ for U15s last year, and ended up creating a fifth team if I remember correctly.
This year, we were more strategic and attended more pre-tryout clinics where DD wanted to play (all high/high-ish 16s Open level). Attended one tryout on Friday and one on Saturday (DD's preferred #1 and #2 options). We left Sunday for "safety" options, but at the last minute DD asked if she could go to a Metro Travel makeup tryout. We were like "What?!?! Now you tell us!" We did end up squeezing in a safety late Sunday. She ended up at her first choice, but not on her preferred team ... so she's playing on-age (15s ... September birthday) vs. one year up as she had done last year.
Last year was our first foray into this crazy world of club VB and their were easily 75+ for 15s at a club fielding two teams in the age group. Vienna Elite said they had 150+ for U15s last year, and ended up creating a fifth team if I remember correctly.
This year, we were more strategic and attended more pre-tryout clinics where DD wanted to play (all high/high-ish 16s Open level). Attended one tryout on Friday and one on Saturday (DD's preferred #1 and #2 options). We left Sunday for "safety" options, but at the last minute DD asked if she could go to a Metro Travel makeup tryout. We were like "What?!?! Now you tell us!" We did end up squeezing in a safety late Sunday. She ended up at her first choice, but not on her preferred team ... so she's playing on-age (15s ... September birthday) vs. one year up as she had done last year.
The Volley Truth may give you some insights on the positions. Each video below is 5 to 8 minutes.
TVT Ep. 6 - Defensive Specialists and Liberos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nBmfItDbTM
TVT Ep. 10 - The Outside Hitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw2tBrtYHQU
TVT Ep. 13 - The Right Side Hitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NCtXB4fLjs
TVT Ep. 18 - The Almighty Middle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7s_MscRXa0
TVT Ep. 6 - Defensive Specialists and Liberos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nBmfItDbTM
TVT Ep. 10 - The Outside Hitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw2tBrtYHQU
TVT Ep. 13 - The Right Side Hitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NCtXB4fLjs
TVT Ep. 18 - The Almighty Middle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7s_MscRXa0
Has anyone successfully added the 2023-2024 CHRVA membership card to Apple Wallet? DD has last year's membership loaded, but it won't automatically update (clicking through Pass Details goes to the SportEngine website with the updated membership ... the QR code on the Wallet card also takes you to the updated info). Using the "Add to Apple Wallet" button on SportEngine website just ends with a "Safari cannot download the file" error.
Here are some resources that may be worth consideration when looking into clubs:
The VolleyTruth videos (YouTube):
Ep. 5 - Choosing the Right Volleyball Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KpFW2z9PE
Ep. 17 - USAV Divisions Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ7qPaGDYuU
AES Rankings (look at historical seasons to get a season for how clubs/teams perform; NOTE that some clubs have multiple teams that compete at different levels/divisions): https://advancedeventsystems.com/rankings (You may have to tick the "Show national rankings" box to get a more realistic assessment of a team's season-long performance)
All CHRVA (Chesapeake region) clubs with youth teams: http://www.chrvajuniors.org/juniors/contacts_clubs/clubs_results.CFM
Now, if someone wants to nerd out, they can dump last year's rankings for the Chespeake region into a spreadsheet and then add a column for team fees for the year. Good luck with that! 
The VolleyTruth videos (YouTube):
Ep. 5 - Choosing the Right Volleyball Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KpFW2z9PE
Ep. 17 - USAV Divisions Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ7qPaGDYuU
AES Rankings (look at historical seasons to get a season for how clubs/teams perform; NOTE that some clubs have multiple teams that compete at different levels/divisions): https://advancedeventsystems.com/rankings (You may have to tick the "Show national rankings" box to get a more realistic assessment of a team's season-long performance)
All CHRVA (Chesapeake region) clubs with youth teams: http://www.chrvajuniors.org/juniors/contacts_clubs/clubs_results.CFM
Now, if someone wants to nerd out, they can dump last year's rankings for the Chespeake region into a spreadsheet and then add a column for team fees for the year.
Good luck with that!