Reply to What's the benefit of Metro volleyball travel team?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In today's world there are too many fake information that parents need do their own work. Many clubs try to mix things together to make their club looks good. Like club X keep advertising they have D1 recruits and posting on their web social network with their D3 players like last week 68 assists from a community college player. 😀[/quote]

Agree. Don't believe their marketing, and don't believe the "tier lists" that a guaranteed to show up on this board once tryouts starts. Do your homework, talk to the club director and to the coach and to families that have club experience. Find the club that fits your goals and objectives.

There was a poster in another thread that had a great point, "Last year I had the same approach as the one you outlined: my daughter deserves to be in one of the best clubs in the area. The difference is: you asked for advice and I didn't. I feel like the outcome will be different: we struggled and stressed as a result, you have more realistic expectations and a better approach" Its great advice.

FOMO in club volleyball is huge, especially for parents.  But there are great clubs with great coaches who drive great experiences throughout the DMV. You'll be much happier and more successful if you find a club that fits your needs.[/quote]

I'm not completely sure what fake information a PP is referring to, but it is true that there are players who don't come to Metro until 16s or 17s who have played elsewhere. And there are lots examples of that from other clubs too. At the end of the day, volleyball clubs are businesses and marketing is part of running a business, meaning that clubs are going to paint recruiting results in the best light possible. It seems accurate to say that a player who plays for Club ABC today is committed to XYZ University, even if they played for one or more clubs prior to coming to Club ABC. I think it's likely that a majority of players who commit to play collegiate volleyball have played for multiple clubs and gotten coaching in HS, clinics, private lessons, etc that have all contributed to their development. There are very few players who start with a club at 10 or 11 and are still playing for the same club at 18. Should clubs be listing all of that out on their Instagram posts announcing when a player who currently plays for their club is committed?

From a numbers perspective, I think it's pretty safe to say that Metro Travel teams have the most players who go on to play collegiately of CHRVA clubs, even if they all haven't been with the club since 13s.  Using the class of 2025 as an example, since they are further along in the process than the class of 2026, Metro shows they have 15 of their class of 2025 Travel players committed to D1 programs, which includes 3 players going to what are currently top 25 programs.

I've tried to estimate the numbers of commitments for the class of 2025 players and their current CHRVA clubs , but I'm sure I've missed some (estimates based on [url]https://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/94554/2025-ncaa-d1-indoor-commits[/url] and club social media accounts):
Metro Travel - 15 D1
VA Elite - 4 D1 and 6 D3
Paramount - 3 D1 and 1 D3
MDJRs - 3 D1, 1 D2, and 2 D3
Columbia - 2 D1, 1 D2, and 1 D3
Blue Ridge - 1 D1, 2 D2, and some D1 beach commits
Liberty Elite - 1 D1 and 2 D2
VA Juniors - 1 D1 and 1 D3
MVSA - 1 D1
Chesapeake Elite - 1 D1
 
In terms of the quality of collegiate programs that CHRVA players are recruited to, Metro consistently places more players in power conference programs than other CHRVA clubs. From the class of 2025 data represented above, there are 6 total players going to Power 4 conference schools. Of those, 5 are from Metro Travel and 1 is from Paramount. The reality is that being recruited to play D1 volleyball at any level is difficult. Others have cited this data ([url]https://scholarshipstats.com/varsityodds[/url]) which shows the odds of making a D1 women's volleyball program for a HS girls' player at about 83:1. From a numbers perspective, that's harder than all other women's sports except tennis and wrestling. Whether it's worthwhile to play for a D1 team that isn't likely to be competing for a national championship is a separate question from what are the benefits of one club over another.

There are of course downsides to playing for Metro Travel, Paramount, or similar clubs. They tend to take more players per team and playing time is not guaranteed meaning some players don't see the court much during tournaments. And the practices and training are very intense. If your DD isn't driven to work hard or is sensitive to blunt feedback/some yelling, then it's probably not a good fit.

Nevertheless, if your DD wants to play collegiate volleyball, Metro Travel is the most straightforward path amongst CHRVA clubs. Of course many players are recruited to play in college from other clubs and if one of them works better for you, then that's great. Getting recruited to play in college is more about the individual player and less about the club. That said, playing for certain clubs can get a player more visibility to college coaches and clubs that have more experience getting players recruited have more relationships with college programs and more knowledge about how to manage the process.

If your DD is not interested in playing collegiate volleyball, then I would probably stay away from Metro Travel and many of the other clubs listed above (or at least their top teams). Playing for a team that goes to multiple qualifiers and travels a lot is expensive and means missing school. If your objective for volleyball is the life lessons and other benefits of team sports, but not playing in college, there are lots of clubs that can offer that without all the downsides.

And be realistic. AES shows there were around 140 CHRVA teams in the 14s, 15s, and 16s age groups last season. With a hypothetical average of 12 players per team, that's ~1,680 girls playing within CHRVA for each of those age groups. The most players that can be on a USAV club roster is 15 so the competition is pretty intense to play for certain top teams. Get to know a few different clubs and come up with a strategy for what teams to tryout for. It's ok to aim high, but have a backup plan if that doesn't work out.  [/quote]

Such a Metro homer. At least try to be somewhat objective.[/quote]
Don’t you hate it when the facts don’t fit your chosen narrative?

What’s your rebuttal? That Metro somehow attracts the best local talent and that’s why they have the best recruiting results, but if Paramount or some other club had the same talent they would do better? Where’s the evidence? If that were true, why does the same thing happen year after year?  If other clubs were truly providing better training or better preparing athletes for college volleyball, then the market would have spoken and Metro would have been dethroned years ago. Paramount has been around for 9 seasons.  They are no longer some scrappy start up, turning the Bad News Bears into open qualifiers. They are a well established club attracting top players from the region. In an area as large as the DMV, there are far too many great players for one club to have all of the most talented players at every age group. And that’s not meant to disparage Paramount - they have without a doubt become the 2nd most successful CHRVA club. But the idea that they are not able to recruit top tier athletes because Metro takes them all is simply not true anymore (if it ever was).

Or maybe your argument is that Metro doesn’t do as well at nationals as they should? Sure they didn’t do great this year, but they had 3 teams in Open divisions and in the past 5 years they’ve had 7 top 10 finishes at USAV Nationals, including two top 5 finishes in Open. What CHRVA club has better results over the long term?

Or maybe you choose to ignore Metro’s ranking by the system used to invite teams to Triple Crown? [url] https://tcspub.blob.core.windows.net/usclubrankings/vb/2024%20Club%20Rankings.pdf[/url]. It’s great that Paramount is moving up the list, but they’ve still got a ways to go to surpass Metro. I can’t think of another CHRVA club beyond those two that would be even close to breaking into the top 100.

While I may be a Metro homer, at least my opinions are supported by actual facts.

Paramount was started in 2015 with only one team, comprised of kids that other local clubs cut. Metro was first established in 1998 and bought in 2015 by Silvia. Silvia inherited what was already a top 40 club in the country, and a club that already was getting all of the best players in the region. Paramount did not even have a full lineup of teams U13-U18 until four years ago. Your bias shows through in implying that Paramount has had 9 years to catch up, when in reality is they've had to catch up to the 17 year head start that Metro already had on them. It's not even close to comparing apples to apples. Paramount has done more with less, including setting the CHRVA Record for best final finish at 18 Open GJNC (5th place). Metro has been around for 27 years and has never had that accomplishment, despite the fact that almighty Silvia has been the 18s coach at Metro for nearly 15 years?

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