Volleyball Action
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Anonymous
A few years ago we did this with my DD and here are a few things we considered. We prioritized the club she was more interested in deciding which tryout to cut short. Depending how things line up, if you have a choice between missing the beginning of one tryout or the end of another, our judgment was that missing the beginning when they are still getting settled in and going through warmups was the better option. Many clubs do more gameplay towards the end of a tryout and that's the part where they will start to pull girls aside to have individual conversations. This kind of situation is also a good reason to go to fall clinics for the clubs she's interested in. When my DD had this situation, we communicated with them ahead of the tryout that she was going to miss the first half hour or so of a 2 hour tryout. She was already known to that club and they had expressed interest in her during the months leading up to tryouts so we weren't as worried that it would hurt her chances of getting an offer (which she did get). For better or worse, in many (maybe most?) cases tryouts are not the place where clubs are doing most of the evaluation of prospective players. Between returning players and players they are recruiting during fall clinics, tryouts are often just a formality or a chance to pick up a few players to complete a team. This is less of a thing for younger teams or at less competitive clubs. |
Anonymous
MEVC pricing went up more than MOCO pricing, but they got to a point where their fees are comparable. MOCO has the advantage of having relatively good national level teams at an early age, but that does not matter much for the average family. |
Anonymous
| Still waiting on Metro to post their fees, but I anticipate them being about the same as they always are. Paramount VBC also just posted their fees. Looks like they are pretty much identical to last season, but it looks like they've added several new perks. They've added Balltime (a volleyball AI platform) and a partnership with NOEZYBUCKETS (a group of current/former Olympians) into their fees. |
Anonymous
I assume Balltime replaces Hudl which I think Paramount already offered as part of their fees. Hudl is incredibly overpriced so it's good to see another option gaining some momentum. |
Anonymous
+1. We are in this same situation and contacted the club that is DD’s second choice to ask if they would schedule an alternate time. They sent back a nice but firm email that basically said come to the entire tryout and make them the priority or don’t come. She’s not willing to do that so she won’t go to those tryouts. |
Anonymous
Tryouts are such a drag. I've heard clubs take the position described and say that if they aren't your first choice, then don't bother coming to tryouts. But of course they have many more players tryout than they have roster spots for so they don't make offers to dozens of players. It puts players in a difficult spot. Maybe they are on the bubble for making a team at their preferred club and need to go to multiple tryouts to try to make sure they make a team somewhere, but because tryouts are all on the same weekend conflicts make that challenging. Meanwhile some clubs send out offers immediately when the tryout period opens, before a single player has stepped foot in gym for a tryout. This is perfectly within the rules as long as the player receiving the offer has at least registered and paid for a tryout with that club. Holding the actual tryouts are merely a formality to comply with the rules and have little to no bearing on who gets offers. |
Anonymous
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I’m cross posting this from another thread in case this one gets a response first.
Does it look bad if your child attends the makeup tryout date instead of the regular set tryout date that is offered? Do the clubs look down on that, like do they interpret it to mean that the club isn't such a high priority for you? Or do they just accept that there are going to be scheduling conflicts? We're trying to fit all the club tryouts in without foregoing any. |
Anonymous
They are a drag for everyone, families and clubs. Lots of discussion in older threads on how tough CHRVA tryouts are. At least this year they went back to the split age groups. Even with the difficulty, CHRVA rules are better than some regions. Forcing all the clubs to hold tryouts at the same time gives players a lot more power and choice at the cost of a brutal weekend. Without the rules, clubs could hold tryouts at any time and make/rescind offers at any time. So if your second choice club went first, you either took that offer or gambled that you would get a spot on your first choice club. If a club only has one team or competes at a high level they have some returning players that they want to keep because they know them well. Some of these clubs send out offers as soon as allowed, especially if the pool of available players is small (either because of competition level or geography). This often means that the remaining group at tryouts is competing for a much smaller number of spots. Limited supply and high demand means someone doesn't get what they want. Remember that for every family that raises concerns about tryouts being a formality, there's another family that gets upset when their player doesn't get an offer to return to the club and feels the club hasn't been loyal to them. You are guaranteed to see posts about both during the tryout weekends here. Its hard to fault a club for telling a player not to come if they can't attend a tryout time because another club is a higher priority. The alternative is they work hard to accommodate your conflict, make an offer, and then get turned down if the first choice comes through. From their point of view, their limited time during tryout weekend could be better spent on someone that really wants to play for them. Its also hard to fault a player for trying to figure out how to try out at as many clubs as possible, because they aren't sure if they'll make a team. If you are concerned that a tryout won't be worth it, the best way to address it is to ask questions before you attend the tryout. Be direct with the coach/club director about your chances. They aren't allowed to tell you that you have an offer, and you aren't allowed to accept but both sides are allowed to discuss the situation. Its OK to ask a coach "based on what you've seen, would I have a chance at making a team at your club?". Good coaches and clubs will give you an honest answer. But be prepared for the honest but firm response of "no" or "it will be tough." Also, if a club is your first choice, make sure the club knows it. |
Anonymous
If you are missing a tryout and only attending makeups because you are prioritizing other clubs first, then yes they would look down on that. If you are missing their regular tryouts due to another life conflict, most clubs are OK with it and will work with you to figure out a solution. By the time makeup happen a lot of clubs already have a lot of offers out. By waiting until the makeup there may not even be spot available for you. |
Anonymous
MEVC posted the tryout info as pictures, which are easier to share:
 
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Anonymous
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Metro posted their tryouts: https://metrovbc.sportngin.com/tryouts-schedule and their fees (you have to select each team that you want to learn about): https://www.metrovbc.com/teaminfo-travel
Metro fees may seem smaller than what MOCO and MEVC posted for this season, but they don't include uniforms and travel (so the comparison is hard to make). |
Anonymous
RVA posted their tryouts as a picture that can be nicely shared here:
Another club that landed on the magic $3600 amount as club fee. I am not entirely sure the experience they offer is worth the money. Others may disagree, do the tryouts and join the club - hopefully they will have a good experience. |
Anonymous
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Legacy Volleyball tryouts: https://legacyvba.sportngin.com/page/show/8695357-try-out-registration
Legacy Volleyball fees: https://legacyvba.sportngin.com/fees (summary: $5500, except $4800 for the 18s) Legacy Volleyball schedule: https://legacyvba.sportngin.com/page/show/8695359-team-schedules I don't have enough information to answer the following questions: Is there too much travel for a new club? I feel like they are overly ambitious. Will they be able to attract players with skills appropriate for the tournaments that they added on the schedule? I doubt it, but I am sure they will try hard to prove me wrong. It all depends who shows up at the tryouts and what other options those players have. $5500? Why are VA clubs so greedy? How comes MD clubs can do it for almost half the price (even less if we include MVSA)? Is there a hidden VA fee that nobody knows about? |
FPYCparent
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Justifiable or not, it seems that some of the Maryland clubs are leveraging elementary public schools for practice spaces. There aren't too many clubs that have their own dedicated space, so perhaps the rents account for some of the difference. (I haven't come across a Virginia club using public schools, but I think that's what the regional Metro teams use here in VA).
I'd also look at the number of events (qualifiers in particular). Again, is it all justifiable? I cannot say. |
Anonymous
The most likely answer to all of these questions is a resounding "no." The Club Director doesn't even live in the area. She just moved out of the area this summer. |