I think another huge factor ... for any players/families considering volleyball at the collegiate level ... is to ensure you are playing 16s during your player's HS sophomore year. I think the official NCAA regulations permit coaches to start having formal contact with and making offers on/after June 15 of a prospect's 10th grade year. Sure, only the highest of the highest players will get offers on June 15th or shortly thereafter. But the benefit of playing a 16s club season as a sophomore is that the player can get on a school's RADAR for a full club season before the school make initial contact.

My player played her first club season (15s) as a freshman, while still relatively new to the sport. Due to a September birthday, she was able to play 15s again as a sophomore. For her second club season, she was offered two options at one of the region's top two clubs. One option was to be on the 16s team potentially with little to no playing time or to play 15s with more playing time. She chose the option with more playing time and was on an Open level team that ultimately earned an Open bid to USAV Nationals. And, she managed to play (but no start) in nearly ever set that club season due to her position. In the end, I think playing on that team helped her as a player overall. It also helped her realize that she wanted to play a different position long term.

HOWEVER, she may have missed a big opportunity by not playing 16s during her sophomore year ... as she had offers from other clubs that would have given her some decent playing time at her "now-preferred" position. In hindsight, playing 16s instead may have been better for her college playing goals ... even at a "new-for-her-at-the-time" position. While she technically could have played 16s as a junior, my kid went from playing 15s (twice) to 17s so that she can get back on track with other players in her grade. Currently, she is now sitting on two D3 "offers" (i.e., no athletic money), but we really don't know what college VB options could have become available had she played club at 16s for a full season before she became an official recruitable player.

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Our club had many players playing up from all age levels. This is not a good club that has very good players that deserve to play one age up. We are talking about players who would not even make other clubs at their age level. The results were not optimum to say the least. If they kept the players at their own age, the teams would have had a better experience. Make sure you play up because you are at that level, not because the club tries to fill up the rosters at older ages.

Anonymous wrote:Watch out bc if someone is offering your 16 a 17 spot, it’s possible the 17s team can’t get enough players to fill their roster due to the shrinking pool of that age group. DD played 16s at a lower club last year and found the 17s team was less skilled than the 16s. Given the opportunity to play up, she declined.

Good advice. At 17 the consolidation of players at that age means there are a lot fewer highly competitive teams and the teams that lose out from that consolidation can be of variable quality as a result. It's not unusual for 16s players to play on one of those good 17 teams. But its usually 1 or 2 at most and they are usually in 11th grade.

If you hear "we have too many 16s and not enough 17 and we would like you to play up" from a coach/club director, one reasonable interpretation is they are struggling to get a 17s team together and are trying to fill the roster with 16s that they don't want on their 16s teams.

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of having a player move up an age division. What are the major pros and cons you've experienced when a player plays up (like a 15 year-old on a 16s team, or a 16s player on a 17s team)?

Is it better to be a big fish on a lower-level team (14-1/15-1 on a 15-2/16-3 squad) or get that tough competition and exposure by moving up (age up to 1s team, even if it means less playing time)?

For those who've done it or coached it, what's your take? Any stories or advice is appreciated.

Assuming equal playing time in both cases (playing with same age and playing up)
Pros: skill is improved as playing up will learn more from older kids, more advanced drills in practice, more challenges in game. For example, a back row player will be benefit from learning how to pass tougher serves from older players, how to dig better from a hard driven hit, and how to serve better to score an Ace, etc. Front row players may learn how to deal with better blocking, how to play smarter on hitting, or how to play offense in a dynamic offense strategy which is available only in older age team.
Cons: Playing up means you will be teaming with older and higher school grade, you may feel left out in social discussion with different interests. In the mean time, it is an opportunity to learn how to adapt and survive, which is more a life lesson than sport.

Watch out bc if someone is offering your 16 a 17 spot, it’s possible the 17s team can’t get enough players to fill their roster due to the shrinking pool of that age group. DD played 16s at a lower club last year and found the 17s team was less skilled than the 16s. Given the opportunity to play up, she declined.

It depends on your kid's goals. Is it to play in college? Real playing time matters for exposure there and I'd keep my kid as a big fish on a 1 level team vs a 2 or 3 level team.

I'm trying to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of having a player move up an age division. What are the major pros and cons you've experienced when a player plays up (like a 15 year-old on a 16s team, or a 16s player on a 17s team)?

Is it better to be a big fish on a lower-level team (14-1/15-1 on a 15-2/16-3 squad) or get that tough competition and exposure by moving up (age up to 1s team, even if it means less playing time)?

For those who've done it or coached it, what's your take? Any stories or advice is appreciated.