Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Paramount doesn't care about college commitments? Their 2027 class already has commitments to Penn State, Vanderbilt, UConn and Delaware? Agree about VAJRS, although they do have two 2027 commitments to UVA. Metro's 2026 class was exceptionally long/athletic/talented.

Didn’t their Penn State recruit jump to Metro?

That is an impressive list of high academic D3 schools for VAE.

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Thanks for the info, it nice to have a running list of commits. However, looking at the 2026 class can give an incomplete story. D2 & D3 commits tend to finalize in the fall, and its not uncommon for many to go into the spring. There are even some late D1 commits every year. In the summer before their senior year, a lot of players have gone through a pre-read and been told they are likely to get into a school but have to wait for the admissions process to finish before they can announce. Others have an offer but are still waiting on a potentially better offer. And some are honestly still deciding between playing in college and not playing, so they apply to their stretch academic schools and if they get in they may not play volleyball. For a complete picture of club effectiveness on recruiting you generally need to look at the just graduated year (2025) because it can take most of senior year for D2 and D3 commits to shake out.

With that in mind, here's the CHRVA clubs that I'm aware of having 3+ commits in the 2025 class:

Columbia, Blue Ridge, LEVBC, MD JRS, Metro Travel, MOCO, MVSA, Paramount, VAE, VA JRS

Generally, 3+ commits is a good benchmark for club effectiveness in recruiting at 18s. Most clubs do expect individual players to do most of the work, but they do help them by identifying potential targets, reviewing highlights, talking to coaches when contacted, etc.

When looking at recruiting effectiveness also consider how long a player was with a club, because recruiting starts at U16 for most D1 and almost all of the top D3. For example, for the VAE U17 team this year only 6 players played for VAE at 16s, and only 4 played for them at 15. Arguably the two highest academic commits from their U17 team (Carnegie Mellon, Tufts) both came into VAE this year. Both of those colleges start recruiting the U16 year and likely already had those players on their radar.

This doesn't mean the move to VAE for the U17 year was bad for them or VAE didn't contribute to their recruiting process or that moving between any two clubs during the U17 at year is good or bad. However, unless you are new to the game and athletically gifted no one gets recruited because of a single season of club volleyball. As has been discussed in other threads, the clubs that trumpet recruiting in their marketing claim the players success, even if most of their development occurred somewhere else.

If you are U16 or earlier player that is already thinking about college, focus on finding the club that will give you the most development. If you are a good player, you will always be able to switch at the U17 or U18 age. All of the top recruiting clubs have significant team turnover between U16 and U18.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Paramount doesn't care about college commitments? Their 2027 class already has commitments to Penn State, Vanderbilt, UConn and Delaware? Agree about VAJRS, although they do have two 2027 commitments to UVA. Metro's 2026 class was exceptionally long/athletic/talented.

VA Juniors is a bit of a spent force these days - there was a time they were a clear second in region behind metro. Paramount ate their lunch and they haven’t recovered. Toxic environment as I understand it.

VA JRS parent here, not a toxic environment at all there were rumors of that a couple years ago but that was a particualar team and coach who have since dispersed and a lot of it was fake drama. I'll agree that "Paramount is eating JRS" but also it's a completely different vibe and caoching style. So it's more about what you want for your DD in terms of environment and coaching.

Is the guy who was unofficially running the club now gone from the club?

When Liz stepped back, the club turned into a toxic mess. Hopefully it’s back on track

Don't see it turning around anytime soon, especially considering they don't have anywhere to practice this upcoming season since King Abdullah shut down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Paramount doesn't care about college commitments? Their 2027 class already has commitments to Penn State, Vanderbilt, UConn and Delaware? Agree about VAJRS, although they do have two 2027 commitments to UVA. Metro's 2026 class was exceptionally long/athletic/talented.

VA Juniors is a bit of a spent force these days - there was a time they were a clear second in region behind metro. Paramount ate their lunch and they haven’t recovered. Toxic environment as I understand it.

VA JRS parent here, not a toxic environment at all there were rumors of that a couple years ago but that was a particualar team and coach who have since dispersed and a lot of it was fake drama. I'll agree that "Paramount is eating JRS" but also it's a completely different vibe and caoching style. So it's more about what you want for your DD in terms of environment and coaching.

Is the guy who was unofficially running the club now gone from the club?

When Liz stepped back, the club turned into a toxic mess. Hopefully it’s back on track

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Paramount doesn't care about college commitments? Their 2027 class already has commitments to Penn State, Vanderbilt, UConn and Delaware? Agree about VAJRS, although they do have two 2027 commitments to UVA. Metro's 2026 class was exceptionally long/athletic/talented.

VA Juniors is a bit of a spent force these days - there was a time they were a clear second in region behind metro. Paramount ate their lunch and they haven’t recovered. Toxic environment as I understand it.

VA JRS parent here, not a toxic environment at all there were rumors of that a couple years ago but that was a particualar team and coach who have since dispersed and a lot of it was fake drama. I'll agree that "Paramount is eating JRS" but also it's a completely different vibe and caoching style. So it's more about what you want for your DD in terms of environment and coaching.

Is the guy who was unofficially running the club now gone from the club?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Paramount doesn't care about college commitments? Their 2027 class already has commitments to Penn State, Vanderbilt, UConn and Delaware? Agree about VAJRS, although they do have two 2027 commitments to UVA. Metro's 2026 class was exceptionally long/athletic/talented.

VA Juniors is a bit of a spent force these days - there was a time they were a clear second in region behind metro. Paramount ate their lunch and they haven’t recovered. Toxic environment as I understand it.

VA JRS parent here, not a toxic environment at all there were rumors of that a couple years ago but that was a particualar team and coach who have since dispersed and a lot of it was fake drama. I'll agree that "Paramount is eating JRS" but also it's a completely different vibe and caoching style. So it's more about what you want for your DD in terms of environment and coaching.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Paramount doesn't care about college commitments? Their 2027 class already has commitments to Penn State, Vanderbilt, UConn and Delaware? Agree about VAJRS, although they do have two 2027 commitments to UVA. Metro's 2026 class was exceptionally long/athletic/talented.

VA Juniors is a bit of a spent force these days - there was a time they were a clear second in region behind metro. Paramount ate their lunch and they haven’t recovered. Toxic environment as I understand it.

Paramount opened its tryout registration. They are planning for 3 U14 and U15 teams:

"We are planning on forming (2) teams in the U11, U12, U13, U16 and U17 age groups. We are tentatively planning on forming (3) teams in the U14 and U15 age groups. All information related to the total number of teams that will be formed is tentative/subject to change. The total number of teams that will be formed will be finalized during the tryout process."

Anonymous wrote:,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Paramount doesn't care about college commitments? Their 2027 class already has commitments to Penn State, Vanderbilt, UConn and Delaware? Agree about VAJRS, although they do have two 2027 commitments to UVA. Metro's 2026 class was exceptionally long/athletic/talented.

,

they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players

THIS! Especially now, with portal/roster limits, every club that has 4+ college commitments for the class of 2026 (and later) has a niche market (80% of greater of players with a few standout exceptions who show up on their instagram a lot).

VAE = rich families with tall players (who can be full pay in college on a volleyball roster) based on their website & instagram to date: 6 commits for 2026

METRO Travel= tallest, most athletic/talented highest number with parent(s) who played in college thus greatest number D1 commits. Close to 100% commitment for 2026 class

Paramount 1s team= not as tall, extremely athletic, talented enough to easily win in CHRVA, do decently outside the region. Very few commits in 2026 and club doesn’t seem to care about college commits generally. 3 commits for 2026

540 undersized , very athletic, talented players who want play in college and are pragmatic about it (impressive number of D2 and D3) 8 or 9 college commits for 2026

Vajrs ? What their niche is. used to be a powerhouse in terms of college players, but very limited success on this metric since 2023/2024. 1 commit for 2026

MVSA = at HS level niche is strongest players from MOCO public and independent school teams who are not on Metro or PM. No college focus. 1 commit for 2026

At the 1-2 commits for a grad year level, that suggests partial (or even very little or ineffective) club support for the college recruitment process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is this because they are bleeding the top players to Metro and Paramount? Or this is just part of it?

In our experience they keep the kids they think have the potential to play at college. If a 6’3 kid walks in, some other kid is walking out. They lose a player or two to Metro/Paramount but not that many as, to be frank, their players may have potential and are good athletes but most are not good enough to start at Metro or Paramount, and don’t want to risk it mostly. If you start at VAE, you’re only going to Metro if your future college coach tells you to.

Agreed, there's a big component of players developing at other clubs and then coming into VAE for recruiting and less movement of players switching to Paramount or Metro.

Another factor is the recruiting focus. In order for VAE to keep its 100% recruiting commitment, it has to keep the players that will be recruited to the types of schools they can market. Our experience was the players know this and some of them will take advantage of it. Cliques form, players get excluded from the team social structure, players sometimes behave in inappropriate ways to their teammates, etc.

I think this discussion about VAE is pretty revealing about recruiting for collegiate volleyball. Even if the 100% stat is some creative math and strategic wording, there's no question that VAE is sending a lot of players to college programs every year. The fact that most VAE teams are not particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, bids for nationals, etc. suggests that they don't consistently have the strongest players/best coaching and really emphasizes the fact that understanding and knowing how to manage the college recruiting process is potentially more important than how good a player is at volleyball, particularly for D3. So if you can afford VAE and your DD wants to play in college but isn't a superstar, maybe VAE is a good option.

As a parent who’s DD went through the process, college coaches don’t just look at wins and losses, the level they are playing at is important. VAE play in Open, which is where the most college coaches watch. Now, they may not be winning tournaments but they re playing the best of the best. They’re generally in the flights after the first day, but their kids get a lot of college coaches eyes on them in Day 1. They also have very tall teams, and coaches are looking at raw goods that they can mold. I would say this is particularly attractive for strong D3 programs, and Lo and behold, who’s recruited VAE kids lately at the D3 level? Tufts, Colby, Carnegie Mellon, John’s Hopkins, Williams, NYU, Emory, Bates, Caltech, Carleton, Washington and Lee, Hamilton. Pretty good selection

Yeah, but D3 schools don't give out athletic scholarships. You are are paying $80-90K per year to play volleyball and keeping up with your studies. If you have the money, then go for it.

Many D1 schools don’t give much for volleyball either….

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is this because they are bleeding the top players to Metro and Paramount? Or this is just part of it?

In our experience they keep the kids they think have the potential to play at college. If a 6’3 kid walks in, some other kid is walking out. They lose a player or two to Metro/Paramount but not that many as, to be frank, their players may have potential and are good athletes but most are not good enough to start at Metro or Paramount, and don’t want to risk it mostly. If you start at VAE, you’re only going to Metro if your future college coach tells you to.

Agreed, there's a big component of players developing at other clubs and then coming into VAE for recruiting and less movement of players switching to Paramount or Metro.

Another factor is the recruiting focus. In order for VAE to keep its 100% recruiting commitment, it has to keep the players that will be recruited to the types of schools they can market. Our experience was the players know this and some of them will take advantage of it. Cliques form, players get excluded from the team social structure, players sometimes behave in inappropriate ways to their teammates, etc.

I think this discussion about VAE is pretty revealing about recruiting for collegiate volleyball. Even if the 100% stat is some creative math and strategic wording, there's no question that VAE is sending a lot of players to college programs every year. The fact that most VAE teams are not particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, bids for nationals, etc. suggests that they don't consistently have the strongest players/best coaching and really emphasizes the fact that understanding and knowing how to manage the college recruiting process is potentially more important than how good a player is at volleyball, particularly for D3. So if you can afford VAE and your DD wants to play in college but isn't a superstar, maybe VAE is a good option.

As a parent who’s DD went through the process, college coaches don’t just look at wins and losses, the level they are playing at is important. VAE play in Open, which is where the most college coaches watch. Now, they may not be winning tournaments but they re playing the best of the best. They’re generally in the flights after the first day, but their kids get a lot of college coaches eyes on them in Day 1. They also have very tall teams, and coaches are looking at raw goods that they can mold. I would say this is particularly attractive for strong D3 programs, and Lo and behold, who’s recruited VAE kids lately at the D3 level? Tufts, Colby, Carnegie Mellon, John’s Hopkins, Williams, NYU, Emory, Bates, Caltech, Carleton, Washington and Lee, Hamilton. Pretty good selection

Several very good points here. Playing open will screw up your standing because you may lose more than you win. VAE may look worse than a regional team that wipes the floor with all the regional competitors. However, they are looking at the big picture (college recruitment) instead of focusing on the instant gratification (bringing home easy medals). They may have found the recipe for success in their niche market (rich families with tall players). If you cannot afford the VAE club fee, you better be really good to make Metro or Paramount (which are not really cheap either).

Agree that playing in Open can mess with standings due to playing against the best-of-the-best. However, this is not the cause for VAE's low rankings. If you take a look at local tournament results you will see that many of their teams aren't even super competitive amongst regional competition. Several of VAE's teams did not even gain admittance into CHRVA Bid Regionals (which is usually reserved for the top 12 teams in the region). Paramount's 2nd teams are routinely beating VAE, and clubs like Blue Ridge, VAJRS and MVSA are clearly more competitive from top-to-bottom

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is this because they are bleeding the top players to Metro and Paramount? Or this is just part of it?

In our experience they keep the kids they think have the potential to play at college. If a 6’3 kid walks in, some other kid is walking out. They lose a player or two to Metro/Paramount but not that many as, to be frank, their players may have potential and are good athletes but most are not good enough to start at Metro or Paramount, and don’t want to risk it mostly. If you start at VAE, you’re only going to Metro if your future college coach tells you to.

Agreed, there's a big component of players developing at other clubs and then coming into VAE for recruiting and less movement of players switching to Paramount or Metro.

Another factor is the recruiting focus. In order for VAE to keep its 100% recruiting commitment, it has to keep the players that will be recruited to the types of schools they can market. Our experience was the players know this and some of them will take advantage of it. Cliques form, players get excluded from the team social structure, players sometimes behave in inappropriate ways to their teammates, etc.

I think this discussion about VAE is pretty revealing about recruiting for collegiate volleyball. Even if the 100% stat is some creative math and strategic wording, there's no question that VAE is sending a lot of players to college programs every year. The fact that most VAE teams are not particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, bids for nationals, etc. suggests that they don't consistently have the strongest players/best coaching and really emphasizes the fact that understanding and knowing how to manage the college recruiting process is potentially more important than how good a player is at volleyball, particularly for D3. So if you can afford VAE and your DD wants to play in college but isn't a superstar, maybe VAE is a good option.

As a parent who’s DD went through the process, college coaches don’t just look at wins and losses, the level they are playing at is important. VAE play in Open, which is where the most college coaches watch. Now, they may not be winning tournaments but they re playing the best of the best. They’re generally in the flights after the first day, but their kids get a lot of college coaches eyes on them in Day 1. They also have very tall teams, and coaches are looking at raw goods that they can mold. I would say this is particularly attractive for strong D3 programs, and Lo and behold, who’s recruited VAE kids lately at the D3 level? Tufts, Colby, Carnegie Mellon, John’s Hopkins, Williams, NYU, Emory, Bates, Caltech, Carleton, Washington and Lee, Hamilton. Pretty good selection

Yeah, but D3 schools don't give out athletic scholarships. You are are paying $80-90K per year to play volleyball and keeping up with your studies. If you have the money, then go for it.

I’m not sure my daughter has a shot at college volleyball, even D3, even though she’d love it. But for those of us willing to spend over 13k for a youth sport, we are full pay for any college and are expecting to pay full tuition. Volleyball or no volleyball.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is this because they are bleeding the top players to Metro and Paramount? Or this is just part of it?

In our experience they keep the kids they think have the potential to play at college. If a 6’3 kid walks in, some other kid is walking out. They lose a player or two to Metro/Paramount but not that many as, to be frank, their players may have potential and are good athletes but most are not good enough to start at Metro or Paramount, and don’t want to risk it mostly. If you start at VAE, you’re only going to Metro if your future college coach tells you to.

Agreed, there's a big component of players developing at other clubs and then coming into VAE for recruiting and less movement of players switching to Paramount or Metro.

Another factor is the recruiting focus. In order for VAE to keep its 100% recruiting commitment, it has to keep the players that will be recruited to the types of schools they can market. Our experience was the players know this and some of them will take advantage of it. Cliques form, players get excluded from the team social structure, players sometimes behave in inappropriate ways to their teammates, etc.

I think this discussion about VAE is pretty revealing about recruiting for collegiate volleyball. Even if the 100% stat is some creative math and strategic wording, there's no question that VAE is sending a lot of players to college programs every year. The fact that most VAE teams are not particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, bids for nationals, etc. suggests that they don't consistently have the strongest players/best coaching and really emphasizes the fact that understanding and knowing how to manage the college recruiting process is potentially more important than how good a player is at volleyball, particularly for D3. So if you can afford VAE and your DD wants to play in college but isn't a superstar, maybe VAE is a good option.

As a parent who’s DD went through the process, college coaches don’t just look at wins and losses, the level they are playing at is important. VAE play in Open, which is where the most college coaches watch. Now, they may not be winning tournaments but they re playing the best of the best. They’re generally in the flights after the first day, but their kids get a lot of college coaches eyes on them in Day 1. They also have very tall teams, and coaches are looking at raw goods that they can mold. I would say this is particularly attractive for strong D3 programs, and Lo and behold, who’s recruited VAE kids lately at the D3 level? Tufts, Colby, Carnegie Mellon, John’s Hopkins, Williams, NYU, Emory, Bates, Caltech, Carleton, Washington and Lee, Hamilton. Pretty good selection

Yeah, but D3 schools don't give out athletic scholarships. You are are paying $80-90K per year to play volleyball and keeping up with your studies. If you have the money, then go for it.