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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So what is the point of having open tryouts, except for a money grab? Why not just invite who you want from the clinics and then have call backs? It's just dishonest [/quote]

Money grab might be a part of it, but open tryouts are required by USAV and CHRVA and formal written offers are not allowed prior to the open tryout period. DD is starting her 7th season of club volleyball and we’ve been through the tryout process many times with several clubs and have come to like the fall clinics model.

I certainly understand the frustration, especially if you’re new to club volleyball, but if you stop and think about it, the pre-tryout clinics that most clubs run throughout the fall are to everyone’s benefit. Imagine having to choose a team with a max of 15 players from 100 girls across several courts that you don’t know and have only seen play for 1.5-2 hours in a one time tryout in a chaotic gym? The clinics allow coaches to get to know players over the course of several sessions. If your player has a bad day or is new to volleyball but has lots of potential, coaches would probably not select them out of a single tryout but might give greater consideration if they get the chance to know them at clinics. The clinics also allow you and your player to get to know the coaches and clubs. Clubs have different philosophies and cultures and the clinics are a good way to get some sense of what playing at that club might be like.

FWIW, getting an offer from being seen only at a tryout does happen but it’s not the norm, especially for older age groups. For most kids, trying out for club volleyball really starts months before tryouts. To make a competitive team, a player needs to be seen by that club as many times as possible ahead of tryouts. [/quote]

I agree with most of what you said and share mostly similar experiences. One emphatic agreement is on how pre-tryout clinics are not just a chance to be seen by club coaches even if they've got good ideas of who they want on their rosters, but it is also very useful for parents who pay attention and players as well to get a sense of the culture and vibe of clubs.  We went to 2 back to back (on the same day) clinics of a popular club and by the end I was asking the main info person questions about not just which teams the coaches that seemed best coached, but the coaches that seemed either not to say much at all (when they were supposed to be giving feedback in the exercise) or a couple of coaches who seemed really cranky & mean, I wanted to know which teams they coached too because if they coached my daughter's age groups, I wanted to put a big "Beware" in my notes to see what happened at tryouts.

One thing though that you and a few others have said which has just not at all been our experience is that going to tryouts without any invites to pre-clinics or already being known to the club means you don't get an offer just from being seen at tryouts - with both our girls for all their seasons so far (one is entering her 4th season, one her 3rd) they have each gotten offers from clubs they've never done clinics at that are competitive clubs.  Maybe that's unusual (and they are NOT both superstar players, and neither is super tall) but for each age group they were definitely good and showed well in tryouts and they got multiple offers I think every year, so always from at least 1 club if not 2 that had never seen them before tryout.[/quote]

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