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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ironically, the one club clinic where she ended up on the lower court is the club she wants to play for the most.  Why? Because the coaches were clear about why there were different courts. The lower court was for skills work with the goal of improving their skill very quickly. The upper court was gameplay for players that already had the skill. And the lower court was staffed and watched by the coaches for DD age group.  By the end of the session both courts were running the same scrimmage - the upper court was just running it faster and more consistently. It was the only session where she came out a significantly better player than she was when she went in.  It also helped that all the club's players from last year were genuinely welcoming new players into their teams/groups.

I'm sure some players left that gym knowing that they weren't going to make a team with the club. But I don't think any of them could say the club didn't take the time to really try to help them get better.[/quote]
Just out of curiosity: are you talking about MOCO here? We had the same vibe there during the pre-tryout clinics. We had a pretty good experience with MVSA as well (probably the best experience in the way they split the teams, in terms of competitiveness), but some of the MVSA players were really unfriendly. They would cut each other a lot of slack, but they would be pretty mean when "outsiders" would make mistakes on the court. [/quote]

I seriously doubt OP was talking about MOCO. MOCO can be super dismissive of some players at tryouts and it's pretty obvious to those on the "lower court" that they've already been ruled out, sometimes before anyone's taken a good look at them playing. And our DDs each played one season for MOCO, then never tried out with them again. [/quote]

That was our experience as well. My DD had a sticker on the number saying to start on court 3 with a bunch of other kids with little experience. She felt like she was in rec league all over again with three touches being the exception rather than the rule. She felt like she was at the same level with the others because she could not find a position to make a difference. When she tried to set, the passes would go too low and at random places. She tried to pass, but the new setters could rarely set. When the setters would eventually set, the ball would be unhittable. She was never given the chance to play with more experienced kids. Most coaches were in the other gym to look at courts 1 and 2. Unlike what they said during the parent meeting, the kids on the lower court never had a chance. I wish I knew she would start on the 3rd court with no chance of moving up - I would have saved some time and money by not even signing up for the MOCO tryouts.[/quote]

This wasn’t our experience at Moco. DD started out in court three but moved to court 2 quickly then to court 1 soon after. She was given an offer that night. I assume they recognized her from the clinics she did with them in the fall. She only tried out at clubs that “know” her otherwise how else do you stand out? [/quote]
I am the PP you quoted above. Congratulations to your DD for getting a Moco offer! It is great that she was able to stand out. Knowing my DD's level, I was not hoping that she would make the first, maybe not even the 2nd Moco team. I was thinking she may have had a chance to make their 3rd team. I wish they moved her - even temporarily - on the second court to see her playing with better players. They could have moved her back to the 3rd court if she didn't have the skills, but - at least - I could not complain that they never gave her a shot. A few coaches knew her from Moco clinics (including pre-tryouts), but we couldn't do the fall program. I feel like they knew all along that she won't make a team and simply discarded her on the 3rd court without even pretending they were interested. This experience is going to save us a lot of money in the future because we will never do Moco clinics ever again. [/quote]

Did you or your DD ask the MoCo coaches during the pre tryout clinic she attended whether she was good enough to make their teams?  My DD attended the 16U-18U clinics and they was a conversation that the coaches offered to have with any player who wanted to stay after.  That is definitely one way to save time and money![/quote]

We did. They offered advice on things to improve, but they never said she would not have any chance. They actually said they were looking forward to seeing her at the tryouts. [/quote]
I think it's tough for coaches to tell kids they don't think they are good enough to make a team directly to their face. Much easier to have them come to tryouts and then just not send them an offer. Also, clubs have an incentive to have their tryouts as full as possible.  They both get to collect the tryout fees and hedge their bets - they can queue up 4 or 5 second choices to make offers to if their first choice declines their offer.

All of that sucks for you and your DD and I am sorry she didn't at least get a fair shot at showing what she could do on one of the higher courts. Hopefully she found a team that's a good fit.[/quote]
It's ok, we are back to our previous club. I never expected the coach to tell us "don't even bother to show up" because of all the reason you listed. However, if a kid is trying out, at least pretend to give her a fair shot instead of humiliating her for three hours on the third court with no coaches watching. [/quote]

I completely agree with you on this. At least have some junior coaches or assistant coaches on the 3rd court or the "low court" watching and at least giving some pointers so you feel like you were at least seen and maybe even got a little coaching?  But to not even have coaches watching most of the time is such a total waste of time and money.[/quote]

Just having coaches watching the third court is not enough when most players on the court are close to rec level. In volleyball you depend on the team to pass, set, and hit. Even if you have one of those skills (or more than one), you still need at least one other player to get the ball over the net. That's why the move to the second court becomes important. [/quote]

Pretty much every tryout has some part that is focused on individual skills rather than team skills.  How did your DD do in the individual drills like passing and hitting where there was no team playing around her?[/quote]
I didn't ask her because she was too bummed by the whole experience. I would not trust her assessment anyway because kids are not the best at judging their own skills. I already mentioned that she is a rather average player, so I didn't have high expectations. However, I was surprised to see her playing on the third court when I got back to the gym to pick her up from the tryouts. All I got out of her was that she was stuck on the third court from the beginning and she was never given the chance to play on the second court. [/quote]

Its too bad she didn't get moved up and its really hard for the player.  But your earlier posts made it sound like you were there watching the whole time and were upset that she never got the chance to be watched by coaches or play volleyball above a rec level.

In terms of surprise, the level of play at all the higher performing clubs is increasing fast and what was average at one club can fall behind the clubs that are growing quickly.  For example, 4-5 years ago there were a number of clubs that had a good level of talent and tended to do very well in tournaments, now they would be considered second or third options for most good players.[/quote]

The coaches told us that we cannot watch, so I dropped her off and I came back to pick her up before the tryouts were over. I was surprised to see that other parents were observing the 3rd court, so I started watching. I only saw the last part of the tryout. She told me that she never moved from the 3rd court - I was not there to see it with my own eyes.

In terms of how I see an average player: she is not average for the club we come from, she is average compared to all the players we see in tournaments, clinics, and club leagues. A lot of parents may be biased about their kids skills (and I may be as well), but she still deserved to be taken from the 3rd court and given a chance on the 2nd court even for 10-15 minutes. It's not too much to ask during a 3 hour tryout. [/quote]

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