Anonymous wrote:How are kids at MoCo? Do different age groups interact often?

It looks like it's time for a MOCO thread . I don't have first hand information, but it is likely that they do. When you have multiple courts in a gym and multiple coach schedules, some different age groups will inevitably end up in the same gym at the same time.

How are kids at MoCo? Do different age groups interact often?

Anonymous wrote:DD is wrapping up her 4th year playing Metro Regional, and mostly it's been a very positive experience even if the teams didn't win nearly as often as you'd think a Metro team would win. The coaches have always been fine, although 2 yrs were way better than the other 2 yrs. And we didn't play the same region every time, 2 yrs with one, 2 yrs with another.

I recommend Metro, I'd say 3 of DD's 4 yrs her team improved collectively as a team a lot, and she improved as a player a lot. Only one year did it seem like progress was not that great. But we haven't regretted any of these years so far.

DD2 just finished her 1st year playing for Metro and it also went well. But they had different practice schedules this year and that was brutal, but would've been even more brutal if at 2 totally different clubs.

Lastly I strongly recommend Metro Clinics to get an idea of what the vibe of the club overall is like. Try to go to a clinic in the area that based on location you think you'd most want to join if given the option. That way you'd experience more of the families you might end up with. To be honest, my own DD did a couple of their clinics and felt ignored at a couple (and I watched, it was clear sometimes who the "chosen groups" were at some clinics; others were much more fair and beneficial. But I also watched the coaches and asked others which coaches coached my DDs age group, and that helped give me more info if the coach had already been assigned and I could see how they were with DD. Still even the clinics where DD felt a bit ignored, she got something out of it and it was good experience. Better experience when she felt like she really learned something.

Age group of your daughters?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How’s the coaching at the metro regional teams. I don’t really care about their wins or losses. If you want your daughter to continue to improve, is a metro regional team a good choice? Compared to, say, MEVC or MoCo or another less well known MD club?

Steer clear of MoCo if you can. Their coaching is more often inconsistent and mediocre than not. And as awesome as Coach Paul is at tryouts, once you make it on a team you'll probably never see him again, so don't only go by how he seems.

I have my own reasons not to like MOCO, but this is BS. Coach Paul is not the only good coach at MOCO. Some of their teams even got bids in recent years - you can't do that with inconsistent and mediocre coaching. We played against them numerous times and their top teams always had good players and good coaching. I would steer away from MOCO if I got an offer for their bottom teams, but I would not worry about their top team coaches.

Anonymous wrote:How’s the coaching at the metro regional teams. I don’t really care about their wins or losses. If you want your daughter to continue to improve, is a metro regional team a good choice? Compared to, say, MEVC or MoCo or another less well known MD club?

You should care about their wins and losses. I see too many losses as a red flag: either the team is not that good, or they are placed in the wrong tournaments. It is okay to play open every once in a while, just to see how good some teams are. But playing open all the time when you lose all the time is dumb. They may learn a lot from those experiences, but it is extremely demoralizing for the players. It is nice to see them win every once in a while, that increases their confidence and the love for the game. At the end of the day, most of these kids are not going to become professional players, so good experiences that build confidence are preferable to the demoralizing effects of losing most of the time.

DD is wrapping up her 4th year playing Metro Regional, and mostly it's been a very positive experience even if the teams didn't win nearly as often as you'd think a Metro team would win. The coaches have always been fine, although 2 yrs were way better than the other 2 yrs. And we didn't play the same region every time, 2 yrs with one, 2 yrs with another.

I recommend Metro, I'd say 3 of DD's 4 yrs her team improved collectively as a team a lot, and she improved as a player a lot. Only one year did it seem like progress was not that great. But we haven't regretted any of these years so far.

DD2 just finished her 1st year playing for Metro and it also went well. But they had different practice schedules this year and that was brutal, but would've been even more brutal if at 2 totally different clubs.

Lastly I strongly recommend Metro Clinics to get an idea of what the vibe of the club overall is like. Try to go to a clinic in the area that based on location you think you'd most want to join if given the option. That way you'd experience more of the families you might end up with. To be honest, my own DD did a couple of their clinics and felt ignored at a couple (and I watched, it was clear sometimes who the "chosen groups" were at some clinics; others were much more fair and beneficial. But I also watched the coaches and asked others which coaches coached my DDs age group, and that helped give me more info if the coach had already been assigned and I could see how they were with DD. Still even the clinics where DD felt a bit ignored, she got something out of it and it was good experience. Better experience when she felt like she really learned something.

Anonymous wrote:How’s the coaching at the metro regional teams. I don’t really care about their wins or losses. If you want your daughter to continue to improve, is a metro regional team a good choice? Compared to, say, MEVC or MoCo or another less well known MD club?

Steer clear of MoCo if you can. Their coaching is more often inconsistent and mediocre than not. And as awesome as Coach Paul is at tryouts, once you make it on a team you'll probably never see him again, so don't only go by how he seems.

Anonymous wrote:Well, you can observe the coaches at the clinics and get to know them. Your child can find out firsthand if they like their coaching style and if they are good at coaching the specific position. They may not know yet who will be coaching which teams, but it’s one data point that your child can get firsthand rather than just get secondhand comments from an anonymous forum.

This may be a bit misleading. Let me preface by saying that we went to clinics with most of the clubs in MD that are in reasonable driving distance. We know a lot of players in various clubs in the area and I talk to parents on the sidelines all the time. We have good friends who are part of other clubs. So, I am not only aware of what happens in our club, but also hear parent's perspectives about other clubs. Let's start with our club: some of the best coaches are doing the clinics because they want to recruit players (so they want to turn every clinic in the best possible experience). Do you think you are going to have the same coaches once you join the club? Dream on. The parents on the bottom teams are constantly complaining about the coaching quality.

This is valid for other clubs as well. If you go to a MOCO clinic and you have a good experience with coach Paul, do you really think he will be coaching your team? I have a friend whose DD is in one of the bottom MOCO teams and they are hot happy with the coaching. I could go on and on with examples from other clubs. The top teams typically get the good coaches, then the quality goes down. I don't know the coaching quality for Metro regionals because we've only been to clinics with Metro travel coaches. They might have regional clinics, but you would be lucky to get the coach that will be in charge of your DD's team.

I would take any advice on an anonymous forum (including the one you are reading now) with a grain of salt. But - at the same time - I would not dismiss a comment just because it was posted on an anonymous forum. Anonymity can give parents the liberty to talk without concerns about club politics. At the same time, anonymity can allow club representatives to offer advice that favor specific clubs. Use critical thinking and you will be fine.

Well, you can observe the coaches at the clinics and get to know them. Your child can find out firsthand if they like their coaching style and if they are good at coaching the specific position. They may not know yet who will be coaching which teams, but it’s one data point that your child can get firsthand rather than just get secondhand comments from an anonymous forum.

Anonymous wrote:I can’t speak for their regional club team coaching quality, but their position clinics are excellent. DD attended one last fall before club tryouts and it was excellent.

You cannot judge the team coaching based on clinics, unless the coach leading the clinic is the team coach. I believe that all clubs are well-intentioned, but they all struggle to attract good coaches. Clubs with multiple teams per age level are known to assign the best coaches to their top teams and less performant coaches to their bottom teams. Sometimes parents end up coaching some of the bottom teams.

I can’t speak for their regional club team coaching quality, but their position clinics are excellent. DD attended one last fall before club tryouts and it was excellent.

How’s the coaching at the metro regional teams. I don’t really care about their wins or losses. If you want your daughter to continue to improve, is a metro regional team a good choice? Compared to, say, MEVC or MoCo or another less well known MD club?

With those birthdays, you are probably looking at 15s or 16s. Out of 4392 teams, here is where Metro 15 teams are this year:
19 = Metro 15 Travel
1423 = Metro 15 North
1557 = Metro 15 South PW
1836 = Metro 15 Central
2296 = Metro 15 South FX
2916 = Metro 15 East

We are in a younger age level (the top team of a mediocre club) and we generally win against the Metro regional teams (with the exception of North, which seems to be their best regional team). If you can make the top team in a mediocre club, it is likely that you can make a regional Metro team. There might be an exception for height - they seem to prefer taller players.

If you are interested in other age levels here: https://advancedeventsystems.com/rankings/Female/U15/usav

How are the regional teams at DC Metro Volleyball Club? (Daughters aged in 2011, 2010). Are the teams hard to make?