Anonymous wrote:So St. James is Friday evening, Saturday afternoon we have VA Elite & Mojo (back to back; although now I'm thinking there is probably not much point in trying out for VA Elite), Sunday afternoon is Academy.

you have truly mastered this tryout puzzle, and for that, you should feel proud! (totally serious!)

So St. James is Friday evening, Saturday afternoon we have VA Elite & Mojo (back to back; although now I'm thinking there is probably not much point in trying out for VA Elite), Sunday afternoon is Academy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

With that said, we have registered to try out at the following clubs (in order of how much she wants to join):

Mojo
VA Elite
The St. James
Academy

Side question - how are you making four tryouts work? Aren't they all on Sat 10/26? Or are you planning to do makeups on Sun 10/27?

Tryouts are spread throughout the weekend with some clubs starting on Friday evening. Then you have make-ups until Wednesday (typically the lower level clubs that do not attract enough players and hope to feed on the players who didn't make it in the more popular clubs). There is plenty of time to try out for multiple clubs.

Anonymous wrote:

With that said, we have registered to try out at the following clubs (in order of how much she wants to join):

Mojo
VA Elite
The St. James
Academy

Side question - how are you making four tryouts work? Aren't they all on Sat 10/26? Or are you planning to do makeups on Sun 10/27?

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t Coach Amy’s daughter play for the 13U last year?

Apparently that was the case:
https://events.sportwrench.com/#/events/cf57945b1/divisions/14501/teams/181539/roster

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t Coach Amy’s daughter play for the 13U last year?

What are you suggesting?

Didn’t Coach Amy’s daughter play for the 13U last year?

Don't attach any significance to Academy's advertisement about recruitment, especially for the younger teams.

Understood. I probably shouldn't have said made an offer, it was more along the lines of "would love for her to come play with us". Thanks for pointing that out.

Anonymous wrote:
This is our first year doing any club sport, so would appreciate your insight on the following:

1) VA Elite - does anyone know if they have already formed their 14U roster (read that on this forum)? Want to make sure DD knows what to expect. She seems to have great rapport with some of the coaching staff and players, but she also understands there are many experienced players who seem to have played there for a long time.
2) Academy - coach offered us a spot on their 14U team. I have read many posts (and also heard from another Academy player parent during fall ball session one night) about how their 13U team did not fare well at all last year, mostly due to lack of experienced players. However, if DD ends up not getting an offer from any one of the other clubs, we will need to decide whether to go with Academy or not do club volleyball this year at all. It's a significant financial and time investment so I don't want to go all in just because this is the only option on the table.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

You should not have received any offer from any club prior to the tryout period, either verbally or in writing. Its against CHRVA rules https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/0058/7505/CHRVA_Recruiting_Policy_FAQ_1_.pdf. Hopefully the coach only said they'd love to see you at tryouts and/or you have a good chance of making our team, not "you have an offer to play for us."

For VA Elite, they tend to have a lot of roster changes at U13-U15 ages. Every year is different though so they may have more returning players for U14 this year.

CHRVA rules do not allow anyone to offer a spot on any team roster before the tryouts - the coach at Academy may have broken that rule (if it is true that your daughter was offered a spot). Only a couple of Academy 13s players will be returning, so this could be a safe team for many beginners who are interested in playing club. The experience will not be ideal because they will get crushed during tournaments (as their 13s experienced last year) and this will be pretty demoralizing. But you have to start somewhere and better clubs will not look at players with a few months of experience for their 14s team. Waiting around for another year will just diminish your DD's chances of making a 15s team next year, so a weak club is better than no club. If I were to choose between Academy and Mojo, I would choose Academy, at least they have more decent prices. Plus, I read a few troubling allegations about the Mojo coaches during the last few days (search the other volleyball threads).

You have to understand that the coaches cannot make promises before the tryouts, but a lot of returning players will likely make it back on the roster when they return at a new age level. A few of them will be replaced by players who developed better either within the same club (lower level teams) or coming from a different club. This is the main reason why beginner players cannot really compete for a spot in more popular / competitive clubs. The coaches may invite you for tryouts saying that you never know unless you try. In reality, any coach who watches you play for a few minutes can tell whether you would make any of their teams. As a beginner, you are there just to make the club look good by improving their stats (they will brag about how many players tried out at each age level).

Sorry yes, Academy Volleyball in North Chevy Chase.

Are you talking about academy in Maryland?

Hi - I've been reading a lot on this forum about volleyball clubs in this area since DD (14U) expressed interest in playing the sport over the summer. She participated in her first volleyball camp last week of June, really liked the sport and has been going to every clinic, league, camp and coaching session we could afford/make time for ever since. She is not particularly tall (just about 5'; all average height people in our family so not growing any middle blocker here) but is athletic and will hustle. She has improved a great deal over the past four month since she started playing - definitely not yet at the levels of Paramount or Metro, but did receive an offer to go to an invite-only clinic at Mojo.

With that said, we have registered to try out at the following clubs (in order of how much she wants to join):

Mojo
VA Elite
The St. James
Academy

This is our first year doing any club sport, so would appreciate your insight on the following:

1) VA Elite - does anyone know if they have already formed their 14U roster (read that on this forum)? Want to make sure DD knows what to expect. She seems to have great rapport with some of the coaching staff and players, but she also understands there are many experienced players who seem to have played there for a long time.
2) Academy - coach offered us a spot on their 14U team. I have read many posts (and also heard from another Academy player parent during fall ball session one night) about how their 13U team did not fare well at all last year, mostly due to lack of experienced players. However, if DD ends up not getting an offer from any one of the other clubs, we will need to decide whether to go with Academy or not do club volleyball this year at all. It's a significant financial and time investment so I don't want to go all in just because this is the only option on the table.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

PS - just received this from Academy via email:

What’s New for 2025:

Tournament Schedule: Packed with high-level competition and qualifiers to boost college exposure for athletes.

Total Athlete Program: A new, all-encompassing training program for 2025!

Recruiting: 3 focused sessions + access to Academy’s recruiting tools
Nutrition: 2 sessions tailored to athletes’ nutrition
Visualization: 1 session to build mental toughness
ProFit Training: Strength and conditioning integrated into pre-season
Coaching Staff: Academy has expanded its coaching team for the new season!

Coaches: A**, L**, B**, A**, H**, Y**, and more.


Let’s make this year the best one yet!