Reply to Paid Additional Coach Clinics During Volleyball Season

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This isn’t an ethics scandal…  it’s how youth sports work everywhere, not just volleyball. Is the argument really that coaches’ time and court space should be freely available on demand for extra development? Certainly nobody can argue that. You’re paying more because it’s literally extra... extra reps, extra coaching, extra gym time… so if you don’t want it, don’t buy it, but calling it unethical because others do is just performative outrage.[/quote]
That's not true no matter how forcefully you say it. Coaches making extra money from their players may act to keep that money flowing. You can give that player a spot on your team (or club) because you can milk the family. Then you can pretend you see that player wanted to improve and making the effort. Even if there is no bias, there still perceived bias, which is equally bad. [/quote]

We have seen this scenario play out. Pay to play into the highest levels unfortunately. I think once my DD realized it the pressure she felt before wasn’t as bad anymore. [/quote]
Do some bigger clubs make lots of money?  Yes, of course. Since most clubs fees and costs for clinics and camps are published, you don't need to be much of a math whiz to do a back of the envelope estimate of revenue and for many clubs it easily goes to the hundreds of thousands or more. Accurately figuring out how much profit that revenue results in is a little tougher, but it's safe to say some local club owners make a pretty decent living. While most of the local CHRVA clubs are still independently owned, like many other industries, private equity has been getting involved in club volleyball and driving up costs across the board (Google "3 Step Sports"). There are entities at almost every level of the whole enterprise extracting their piece of the pie. In addition to club fees, costs for everything from tournament entry fees for teams, gym rentals for practice, tickets for parents/families to get into big tournaments, stay-to-play travel services and on and on are driving up costs for families.

So I completely agree that club volleyball has become too expensive and that having parents that can afford to pay gives a player much better odds of success.  Does that money flow down to individual club coaches?  In most instances, I don't think so. Different clubs pay in different ways, but for the most part for the knowledge/skills required and hours involved in coaching a club team , it's not really very much money.

Even though I agree that club volleyball has gotten too expensive, I still don't love the phrase "pay to play" in this context. To me, it suggests that parents are literally bribing their way onto top teams and even into playing time, which I don't believe to be commonplace, but maybe I'm naive. As others have suggested, it's more plausible that a player who is able to attend extra sessions and lessons and other non-required training that cost money, is seen in a more favorable light because they are perceived as working harder than teammates who don't. But from what I have seen, for local teams in which winning is the highest priority (e.g., Metro Travel, Paramount), the players that make these teams and get the most playing time are those that give the team the best chance at winning.  [/quote]

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