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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Volleyball is very much a sport for kids from families with money. To play high level volleyball (and make the varsity team at a HS with a decent team) players have to play club volleyball, which is a significant investment of time and money. DC high schools are a good example of how this plays out. On the public side, Jackson-Reed is the largest DC HS by far and being in upper NW tends to have kids from families with more resources than other parts of the city. Nearly every player on their varsity team plays volleyball outside of school.  The girls volleyball team has won the DCIAA (regular DCPS public school conference) all except one year as far back as anyone can remember. The only other DCPS HS with even a half decent team is School Without Walls which while smaller, tends to also have kids from families with more resources and therefore more club volleyball players.  Most of the other other DCPS high schools have no club volleyball players and are not very good.  JR wins most DCIAA matches by a huge margin. The charter schools aren't much better.  St Johns had historically been the best private school volleyball in DC but GDS has take over that spot for the last few years. Both St Johns and GDS recruit players for volleyball (within whatever rules exist) and virtually every player on those teams plays club volleyball. [/quote]

+1. We are not poor, but not wealthy either. We noticed our bank account taking a hit as soon as our daughter started club volleyball. It is clear though that she would likely not keep a position on a our competitive HS volleyball team with rec skills only. [/quote]

The money you spend on volleyball is pittance when you compare it to golf or tennis.  One of my kids is playing golf at a D1 school this year, and we spent around 45K/yr on golf travel, lessons, tournaments, etc...  This is on top of the country club that we're a member.   We paid 92K initiation one-time fee and another 15K/year annual fee.[/quote]

Well, golf has the reputation of being a sport for rich people. 100k for membership in a country club? No, thank you - that's just ridiculous. [/quote]

So volleyball isn't a rich kid sport because two other sports are more elitist? That's like claiming golf isn't a rich kid sport because Dressage exists and your 45k/yr is a joke in comparison. Volleyball is the only sport we said no to for our DD. Playing club was almost 10x a year more than what we were paying for basketball [/quote]

According to an article in ESPN

“You go where you see success and where you have access to success," he said. "Basketball is a hard sport to master. Unless you're willing to put in the time and effort and have a certain level of athleticism and hand-eye skills, you will not be successful. You will be pushed out of the sport because of what it demands. In volleyball and lacrosse, those barriers are lower."”

The same article interviewed two female volleyball players who played in college.

Hayley McCorkle, who finished her career on North Carolina's volleyball team last fall said …

@“I wanted to compete against someone, but I didn't want that physical contact," she said. "Volleyball allows you to be a little more of a girl. You get to wear the ribbons, wear pink, wear your hair however you want and still be dainty when you play the sport. That draws a lot of young athletes to the sport."”

Washington's Kara Bajema was one of many volleyball players who echoed that sentiment.   She has played basketball but chose volleyball. … she said ….

"Honestly, I just like the volleyball environment better. It's a little more chill," she said. "Basketball is definitely more hard-core, and I like being a girly girl sometimes."

If people don’t believe that girls are drawn to this because they get to be cute they are delusional.   Females like these ones, and there are a lot of them, might just set back female sports a few decades.

[/quote]

This matches what I have seen in our community. A lot of girls start out playing basketball in elementary school. The more girly ones move over to volleyball by middle school. Both teams and tall and athletic, but there’s a noticeable difference in how they carry themselves. [/quote]

In other words the basketball players are athletes and volleyball players are the ones who weren’t good enough or committed enough to play a real sport.  [/quote]

Cut this garbage out. We’re a basketball first family with no volleyball players. Volleyball is clearly a real sport. The power, speed and grace women VB players generate while maintaining the flexibility to dig from their heights is pretty damn impressive. ALMOST a completely different skill set from basketball, but it is a real sport. [/quote]

Does being a basketball family mean you all play basketball?

Everyone can have an opinion on what should be classified as a sport.  Bowling is a sport to some people.  Ping pong, skateboarding, kickball, badminton are considered sports to some people.    These all take skill to be the best.  But not everyone considers them sports.   Some see them as recreational activities.    [/quote]

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