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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]don't play for a club with more than 2 teams per age group.  They are just taking money at that point and then you are probably funding the high level travel team vs the regional teams.

unless you are paying in the top tournaments and top brackets in those tournaments week after week, you are basically playing rec volleyball at club prices and the clubs know people will always pay.

Metro created their "regional" teams a few years back and market their alumni as if everyone will get to play in college.  They don't tell you that none of their regional players never play in college and their top players go play in college but not on scholarships.

Va Elite is another like Metro.

Volleyball is great fun and just manage your expectations[/quote]

How is VA Elite like Metro in that way?  We are considering them and as I understand they have only one team per age group and no regional teams[/quote]

VAE is nothing like metro - they only have one team, and while some kids play more than others, almost all the kids that get retained go on to play at college. (mostly D1 or high academic D3). [/quote]

DD played at VAE for 13s a few years ago. Will not go back. It's a good place if you are tall and play front row or tallish but may eventually move to back row. If you want to be a defensive player and agile, they aren't very good at teaching past the basics and rely on a tall front row... My DD did actually play a lot there but there were others who didn't play so much and the addl cost for VAE at younger age groups really doesn't make up for the difference compared to other clubs around here because you still pay for your own travel. Take this to mean that many/most that are on 13s and maybe 14s are not the same players that play thru to the end of HS at VAE. This may be fine for some but don't go in with expectation to stay year in and year out. VAE is very big on their bragging rights for all their girls graduate and go on to college. That means if your DD decides maybe school is a focus and they may not want to focus on college recruitment, they may weed you out so you don't mess with the 100% (happened to former VAE teammates older sister as she was moving up to 17s). They will also weed you out as they try to recruit in more taller players and if your DD is midsize, look to see if there is an available spot for backrow or plan to sit on the edge and see if they get to you if the tall recruits fall through. It's helpful for tall, brand new players who are athletic because they will train you in the basics. Not so great for those that are skilled and mid-size and looking for more advanced tactics as you get older. DD left on her own because she saw her skills actually drop in defense and peers get better by the end of the season in her position elsewhere. Ever since, all her specialized training actually trains against most of what is taught for the standard at VAE (works for tall front row but not the full time backrow). She did get to go to setting clinics as a DS so her setting improved at 13s and she learned more rotations but was ready to move on as was. We have friends who stayed or swapped in or others going back but they have their eyes open and constantly watching and assessing.

The club has seemed to struggle to evolve as the vball terrain around this area has grown and there are more competitive clubs in town so they can't just rely on old reputation. They say they only want to ever play open for all levels and it is not about winning. That is their excuse for not playing other clubs in this region at tournaments in this area. They say it is about seeing what other of the best competition is out there. However, there is a lot of vball talent around this area at multiple clubs and good competition can be had here in addition to traveling (need both IMO). If the VAE younger teams are newer and less experienced players and we are a weaker region in vball in the country to begin with, they get slaughtered with this philosophy. Let them play against peers in the same region and have a fighting and more frequent chance to play before walking into the true 'open' level tournaments. Instead, they pay money to travel out of town and play open/top level teams from other regions and lose sets 25-5. They maybe can't even get through a full rotation meaning sometimes even the regular players can't even rotate onto the court as well if the team gets dropped from bracket play early, the whole team does not get 'playing' time to improve if you lose and exit early... Yeah - that year sucked and we weren't all about winning... 
[/quote]

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