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[quote=Anonymous][quote=FPYCparent]I see many mentions here that Metro has been best club in CHRVA.  I don't want to disagree with what appears to be common knowledge, but what is that based on?  Most bids to USAV Nationals over time?  Most wins overall?  Most wins head-to-head against other clubs near the top?  Most collegiate recruits?  Best coaches?

I'm only in club season #2 with my player, so I don't have a full sense of the region's history.  With SportsEngine buying/rebranding AES, I don't know how much I can trust the data from previous years (which "only" goes back to 2020-2021 now).  On its website, Paramount proudly touts a top 5 USAV National Open division finish for one team ... some time in the past ... as the best CHRVA finish ever at USAV Nationals.  Metro makes other claims on its website (like CHRVA club with the most teams to qualify for USAV Nationals for a given year, etc.)  Is there anything objective that distinguishes Metro from Paramount from VA Juniors from Blue Ridge from MD Juniors ... on and on?[/quote]

There are a couple of data points that would suggest Metro is still the top CHRVA club, although Paramount has definitely been closing the gap.  The first would be the number of teams that qualify for USAV Girls Junior Nationals in the Open division in any given year.  I think in most years Metro will have 3-4 Travel teams earn open bids to Nationals - last year 18 Travel, 17 Travel, and 15 Travel got Open bids.  My recollection is that last year only Paramount 18s got an Open bid and before that the 2021  Paramount 15s team earned an Open bid.

A second thing to consider is college commitments. Almost every year the entire Metro 18 Travel team will go on to play collegiate volleyball, most in Division 1.  The current Metro 18 Travel team has a pretty impressive list of commitments, including Penn State, Georgia Tech, Duke, UVA, Navy, Colorado State, Vanderbilt, and many more.

Another place to look is the rankings done by the various volleyball media outlets.  The rankings system used to determine who is invited to the prestigious Triple Crown tournament which was last weekend is at [url]https://www.tcvolleyballnit.com/top-100-rankings.html[/url].  You can see they have Metro ranked 19th and Paramount ranked 95th. PrepVolleyball and PrepDig are other outlets that publish rankings of teams/clubs.

In terms of the accolades the clubs post on social media, I think you have to read those carefully and take them with a grain of salt.  For example, the Paramount Instagram account has several posts touting how they are the only CHRVA club invited and who accepted to go to the Triple Crown tournament.  While this is technically true, the reason Metro doesn't send teams to Triple Crown is because they choose to play in the Capitol Hill Classic, which was started by the late Barry Goldberg (long time coach at American University) and who was also the founder of the predecessor club to Metro (Metro American) so Capitol Hill is sort of a home tournament for Metro.  Similarly, the Paramount 18s 5th place finish at in 18 Open at USAV Nationals last year is the highest finish for a CHRVA team in 18 Open, but not the highest for a CHRVA team in an Open division across other age groups.  Even last year, Metro 17 Travel finished 5th in 17 Open at Nationals.  I think a few years back a Metro Travel team finished on the podium in an open division.

At the end of the day, you should really only be considering Metro Travel or Paramount if your DD wants to play volleyball in college. The expense, travel, and commitment are probably too much if they don't aspire to play at the next level. In terms of other clubs for girls who want to play in college, VA Elite is probably the next best option, and then VA Juniors, Blue Ridge, and MDJRs.  But if your DD doesn't play for one of those clubs, that doesn't mean they can't or won't be recruited to play in college.  For example, there are 3 players on the current Columbia 18s team committed to play D1 volleyball. If your DD doesn't play for a top team, they will need to take the initiative to be more proactive and reach out to college coaches to get them to come watch them play at tournaments or even to attend a club practice. [/quote]

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