No matter what both Metro and paramount have strong programs. VA Elite definitely is going downhill. Their training is such a waste of time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

Lol…I have no dog is this fight. I don’t expect Metro to stop poaching U14-U15 players, even though they now have U12 Travel.

If you don’t have younger U12 teams, it’s much much easier to say NO to the players at tryouts for U13 bc there is no club history with the family. And they can just pick the best players from everyone else’s younger teams .
Plus the parents of the super talented players don’t want their kid just growing up with the club alongside mediocre players from other “club families” if it means the team is not as competitive.

Metro should just let paramount try to cultivate the younger players and then take their best ones the next year as the usually do to other clubs.

I think by having the younger groups Metro now has 2 different avenues to recruit the best players. One, they can keep the best players they develop internally and two, they can still lure the better players that other teams develop. They now also have the additional benefit of getting club fees from the younger group.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

Lol…I have no dog is this fight. I don’t expect Metro to stop poaching U14-U15 players, even though they now have U12 Travel.

What does "poaching" mean? If a player chooses to leave one club to go to Metro (or any other club) isn't that their (and their parents) decision?

I really don’t have a problem with it. Metro has to do what is necessary to have the best players and players and their families have to do what they think is best for them. College recruiting for the class 2026 (rising juniors) just opened this summer and Metro already posted 4 of their players have verbally committed to D1 schools (3 to P5 conferences).

Of those 4, how many played for Metro since U13? The answer is zero. 3 joined at U15, one at U16. One of those players was already in the NTDP system before she joined Metro. Those players were developed elsewhere. Metro’s two best players on their 18s team last season were developed elsewhere (VAJRS and Paeamount). I’m not saying this is unique to metro (paramount also has commits who don’t join paramount until later), but based on the success Paramount’s younger teams have had at U11 and U12, they’re clearly developing players, whereas Metro’s modus operandi is to take the best talent that was developed elsewhere.

Poaching doesn’t imply that those players are involuntarily being lured to Metro. What it implies is metro has to poach the best talent that has been cultivated and developed at other clubs, because they lack the ability to develop their younger players.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

Lol…I have no dog is this fight. I don’t expect Metro to stop poaching U14-U15 players, even though they now have U12 Travel.

If you don’t have younger U12 teams, it’s much much easier to say NO to the players at tryouts for U13 bc there is no club history with the family. And they can just pick the best players from everyone else’s younger teams .
Plus the parents of the super talented players don’t want their kid just growing up with the club alongside mediocre players from other “club families” if it means the team is not as competitive.

Metro should just let paramount try to cultivate the younger players and then take their best ones the next year as the usually do to other clubs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

Lol…I have no dog is this fight. I don’t expect Metro to stop poaching U14-U15 players, even though they now have U12 Travel.

What does "poaching" mean? If a player chooses to leave one club to go to Metro (or any other club) isn't that their (and their parents) decision?

I really don’t have a problem with it. Metro has to do what is necessary to have the best players and players and their families have to do what they think is best for them. College recruiting for the class 2026 (rising juniors) just opened this summer and Metro already posted 4 of their players have verbally committed to D1 schools (3 to P5 conferences).

Not quite sure this fits, but last night I watched a HS varsity scrimmage between an LCPS school and an FCPS school. There were some high-level plays during the match, given that this was just the first scrimmage of the season. My kid, who knows players on each team, said that one team has three D1 commits (and maybe a fourth) ... two from Metro and two from Paramount. That team also had at least from player from Blue Ridge and another from VA Juniors. That's an impressive amount of talent within the boundaries of a single high school. The other team had at least one VA Elite and two VAJRS players (maybe more).

Admittedly, I'm kinda jealous knowing that my kid's public school doesn't have that much talent within its boundaries.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

Lol…I have no dog is this fight. I don’t expect Metro to stop poaching U14-U15 players, even though they now have U12 Travel.

What does "poaching" mean? If a player chooses to leave one club to go to Metro (or any other club) isn't that their (and their parents) decision?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

I think both factors probably contributed to Metro adding 12 Travel. Metro's continued success depends on being able to recruit the best players and not having as much contact with the highest potential younger players (like Paramount has started doing by having younger teams) makes that harder. But I also agree that the explosion in popularity of volleyball has created more demand at an earlier age. It'll be interesting to see how much the 12s teams travel - since there is no open division at GJNC for 11s or 12s, it might make sense to focus more on regionals than going to multiple qualifiers with a national bid being the highest a team can earn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro seems to be adding 11U for 2 of their regional teams, North (this is upcountry) and East (think this is PG county area). These are two additional options for younger players.

And adding a 12 Travel team. Paramount has been expanding with more younger teams for a few years - I suspect Metro is trying to make sure they continue to attract top players by bringing more younger kids into the club.

Metro is clearly responding to Paramount and chasing Paramount in the younger age groups. They are playing catch up. Easier said than done to win in the younger age groups.

Coaching younger kids is different for sure. It takes a different approach and kind of coach. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Metro coaches never good at developing kids skills. Just look at their 13-15 travel teams (before season vs after season). The players' skill level are almost the same as they join metro. Also look at paramount va juniors, blueridge and mdjrs players. There are plenty game videos on YouTube you can compare. But metro players all have athletic talents which just wasted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

Lol…I have no dog is this fight. I don’t expect Metro to stop poaching U14-U15 players, even though they now have U12 Travel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro seems to be adding 11U for 2 of their regional teams, North (this is upcountry) and East (think this is PG county area). These are two additional options for younger players.

And adding a 12 Travel team. Paramount has been expanding with more younger teams for a few years - I suspect Metro is trying to make sure they continue to attract top players by bringing more younger kids into the club.

Metro is clearly responding to Paramount and chasing Paramount in the younger age groups. They are playing catch up. Easier said than done to win in the younger age groups.

Coaching younger kids is different for sure. It takes a different approach and kind of coach. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Anonymous wrote:Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Metro wasn’t interested until Paramount started it. MVSA had been doing it for years, but Metro never cared because they knew they could always poach those kids when they got to U14-U15, and because they never viewed MVSA as a threat. Now they care because Paramount is doing it (and doing it so well)

Metro was never really interested in the younger age groups, not many clubs were. The interest in volleyball has grown so much in the last 5 years, even at the younger ages, it makes sense for clubs to expand to include 11U and 12U.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro seems to be adding 11U for 2 of their regional teams, North (this is upcountry) and East (think this is PG county area). These are two additional options for younger players.

And adding a 12 Travel team. Paramount has been expanding with more younger teams for a few years - I suspect Metro is trying to make sure they continue to attract top players by bringing more younger kids into the club.

Metro is clearly responding to Paramount and chasing Paramount in the younger age groups. They are playing catch up. Easier said than done to win in the younger age groups.

Anonymous wrote:Metro seems to be adding 11U for 2 of their regional teams, North (this is upcountry) and East (think this is PG county area). These are two additional options for younger players.

And adding a 12 Travel team. Paramount has been expanding with more younger teams for a few years - I suspect Metro is trying to make sure they continue to attract top players by bringing more younger kids into the club.