Anonymous
09/14/2025 10:12
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nope. We are not doing anything that restricts basic health needs such as sleep.
These clubs prey on family desperation and I have never given my money to them. Kids are now 20 and 15.
If you've never given any money to them (i.e. never played club volleyball), how are you so sure the clubs prey on family desperation? Seems like you made up your mind without any experience.
I've been around the block, PP. My oldest is in college. I've seen all sorts of kids doing all sorts of sports and hobbies. No one *needs* competitive teams for any sport. It's a choice. My personal opinion is that unless the kid is a night owl and has energy to burn at that time of the evening, it's bad parenting to give your heard-earned money to someone who will rob them of their evening sleep. Reverse that for early morning swim practice when the kid needs to get up at 4am. These people are not your friends. They're part of a leech industry of extra-curriculars who cater to well-off parents. It's very easy to get sucked into whatever extra-curricular your child is into. But unless your child lives and breathes that hobby, at some point families need to make choices for their own kid's wellbeing.
Beautifully said. I know parents with 5-6year olds in ice hockey that requires two, 5AM practices per week and one evening practice. For 5 year olds?! At some point you need to think about what’s it all for. We understand the word “recreation” doesn’t exist in the minds of DMV sports parents, but come on.
I also liked the "They're part of a leech industry of extra-curriculars who cater to well-off parents" part. On the other hand, rec volleyball takes you only that far. After one year playing rec, you are completely stuck with no options to play at the next level. Every clinic, league starts all over again with newbies. By no fault of their own (you cannot expect a newbie to get on the court and play well), they are standing on the court and watch the ball fall right next to them. It is extremely difficult to get any quality touches in that environment. As a consequence, the best rec players try to move up to the next level. If you look around for the next level, that turns out to be club (at least we could not find anything to fill the gap).
Anonymous
09/14/2025 09:49
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nope. We are not doing anything that restricts basic health needs such as sleep.
These clubs prey on family desperation and I have never given my money to them. Kids are now 20 and 15.
If you've never given any money to them (i.e. never played club volleyball), how are you so sure the clubs prey on family desperation? Seems like you made up your mind without any experience.
I've been around the block, PP. My oldest is in college. I've seen all sorts of kids doing all sorts of sports and hobbies. No one *needs* competitive teams for any sport. It's a choice. My personal opinion is that unless the kid is a night owl and has energy to burn at that time of the evening, it's bad parenting to give your heard-earned money to someone who will rob them of their evening sleep. Reverse that for early morning swim practice when the kid needs to get up at 4am. These people are not your friends. They're part of a leech industry of extra-curriculars who cater to well-off parents. It's very easy to get sucked into whatever extra-curricular your child is into. But unless your child lives and breathes that hobby, at some point families need to make choices for their own kid's wellbeing.
Beautifully said. I know parents with 5-6year olds in ice hockey that requires two, 5AM practices per week and one evening practice. For 5 year olds?! At some point you need to think about what’s it all for. We understand the word “recreation” doesn’t exist in the minds of DMV sports parents, but come on.
Anonymous
09/14/2025 01:40
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
We have a music program that goes till 9:30, sometimes later. Its just our normal now. It may be a space or coach issue.
Anonymous
09/14/2025 00:32
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nope. We are not doing anything that restricts basic health needs such as sleep.
These clubs prey on family desperation and I have never given my money to them. Kids are now 20 and 15.
They aren't preying on desperation, they are preying on anxiety. Too many parents think a sport is necessary to get into college.
It depends what else you have going. A sport may not make or break your college application, but it is unlikely to hurt. If the academics are there, the sport may make a difference. You may be in trouble if all you have is the sport.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 23:59
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Nope. We are not doing anything that restricts basic health needs such as sleep.
These clubs prey on family desperation and I have never given my money to them. Kids are now 20 and 15.
They aren't preying on desperation, they are preying on anxiety. Too many parents think a sport is necessary to get into college.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 22:56
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Was totally considering PVC tryouts for my beginner 14U and just glanced at the practice schedule. 8pm-10pm Mon/Weds or Tues/Thurs. Are they serious? We live in DC and DD has to be up at 6am for school. How are you guys managing this? We go to a fairly demanding private and her being up until 11pm on school nights doesn't makes sense at all.
Is this normal?? I haven't taken a look at other team schedules, but if this is DMV volleyball club life we're out. We'll just continue to do clinics, get some private lessons and group training at normal hours so we can just try out for her school team when she has the skills to make it. I'm sorry but this is just ridiculous.
If you are in a private school, then it can go either way. Some private schools offer sport scholarships to attract good players, so their teams are competitive and you may have no chance without club experience. Other private schools may not offer sport scholarships, so their students have a better chance of making teams because they are not competitive. I've heard about parents deciding to send their kids to private schools because they could play sports, while they would have no chance to play on their public school teams.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 22:28
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Was totally considering PVC tryouts for my beginner 14U and just glanced at the practice schedule. 8pm-10pm Mon/Weds or Tues/Thurs. Are they serious? We live in DC and DD has to be up at 6am for school. How are you guys managing this? We go to a fairly demanding private and her being up until 11pm on school nights doesn't makes sense at all.
Is this normal?? I haven't taken a look at other team schedules, but if this is DMV volleyball club life we're out. We'll just continue to do clinics, get some private lessons and group training at normal hours so we can just try out for her school team when she has the skills to make it. I'm sorry but this is just ridiculous.
If your school team is good, you will need club experience to make the team.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 20:42
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nope. We are not doing anything that restricts basic health needs such as sleep.
These clubs prey on family desperation and I have never given my money to them. Kids are now 20 and 15.
If you've never given any money to them (i.e. never played club volleyball), how are you so sure the clubs prey on family desperation? Seems like you made up your mind without any experience.
I've been around the block, PP. My oldest is in college. I've seen all sorts of kids doing all sorts of sports and hobbies. No one *needs* competitive teams for any sport. It's a choice. My personal opinion is that unless the kid is a night owl and has energy to burn at that time of the evening, it's bad parenting to give your heard-earned money to someone who will rob them of their evening sleep. Reverse that for early morning swim practice when the kid needs to get up at 4am. These people are not your friends. They're part of a leech industry of extra-curriculars who cater to well-off parents. It's very easy to get sucked into whatever extra-curricular your child is into. But unless your child lives and breathes that hobby, at some point families need to make choices for their own kid's wellbeing.
Interesting viewpoint. Thanks. Arguing that "it's bad parenting to give your heard-earned money to someone who will rob them of their evening sleep" seems like a really strong take but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What matters most is what works for your child and your family.
The reality of indoor sports is that facilities are limited and practices happen when gyms/pools/etc. are available. For volleyball practices can't start before ~5:30 PM on a weekday without making it impossible for parents and coaches to get to practice. And they can't end after 10 because that's too late on school nights. That leaves 4 1/2 hours for teams to practice which means no more than 2 teams practicing per night per court. Gym space is limited and competes with other indoor sports, especially basketball. I'm sure all clubs would love to have practices run from 7-9 PM which is generally the best time for everyone but without the gym space it can't happen. Its the same thing for 4 AM swim practices -- pools are usually booked 5-7 AM and 6-10 PM.
If you have a HS age player and play club volleyball its a fact of life that practices end late on weekdays. If that doesn't work for your DD or family rec and/or clinics are the only other options and unless they are weekend only you will likely be playing late in those as well. At the younger ages it is easier. You will find lots of teams that practice between 6-8 PM and the very youngest teams may have practices just on weekends.
We've had our DD and DS participate in both club sports and in "academic" extra-curriculars (e.g. math olympiad, musicals, robotics, orchestra). All required additional spending and most required late evening sessions, especially in HS. Some of those academic extra-curriculars cost much more than club sports. Kids have to do something beyond school and every activity requires tradeoffs.
This is why it's so advantageous to have your own practice facility...
Anonymous
09/13/2025 16:08
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nope. We are not doing anything that restricts basic health needs such as sleep.
These clubs prey on family desperation and I have never given my money to them. Kids are now 20 and 15.
If you've never given any money to them (i.e. never played club volleyball), how are you so sure the clubs prey on family desperation? Seems like you made up your mind without any experience.
I've been around the block, PP. My oldest is in college. I've seen all sorts of kids doing all sorts of sports and hobbies. No one *needs* competitive teams for any sport. It's a choice. My personal opinion is that unless the kid is a night owl and has energy to burn at that time of the evening, it's bad parenting to give your heard-earned money to someone who will rob them of their evening sleep. Reverse that for early morning swim practice when the kid needs to get up at 4am. These people are not your friends. They're part of a leech industry of extra-curriculars who cater to well-off parents. It's very easy to get sucked into whatever extra-curricular your child is into. But unless your child lives and breathes that hobby, at some point families need to make choices for their own kid's wellbeing.
Interesting viewpoint. Thanks. Arguing that "it's bad parenting to give your heard-earned money to someone who will rob them of their evening sleep" seems like a really strong take but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What matters most is what works for your child and your family.
The reality of indoor sports is that facilities are limited and practices happen when gyms/pools/etc. are available. For volleyball practices can't start before ~5:30 PM on a weekday without making it impossible for parents and coaches to get to practice. And they can't end after 10 because that's too late on school nights. That leaves 4 1/2 hours for teams to practice which means no more than 2 teams practicing per night per court. Gym space is limited and competes with other indoor sports, especially basketball. I'm sure all clubs would love to have practices run from 7-9 PM which is generally the best time for everyone but without the gym space it can't happen. Its the same thing for 4 AM swim practices -- pools are usually booked 5-7 AM and 6-10 PM.
If you have a HS age player and play club volleyball its a fact of life that practices end late on weekdays. If that doesn't work for your DD or family rec and/or clinics are the only other options and unless they are weekend only you will likely be playing late in those as well. At the younger ages it is easier. You will find lots of teams that practice between 6-8 PM and the very youngest teams may have practices just on weekends.
We've had our DD and DS participate in both club sports and in "academic" extra-curriculars (e.g. math olympiad, musicals, robotics, orchestra). All required additional spending and most required late evening sessions, especially in HS. Some of those academic extra-curriculars cost much more than club sports. Kids have to do something beyond school and every activity requires tradeoffs.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 15:46
Subject: Late night practice on school nights
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nope. We are not doing anything that restricts basic health needs such as sleep.
These clubs prey on family desperation and I have never given my money to them. Kids are now 20 and 15.
If you've never given any money to them (i.e. never played club volleyball), how are you so sure the clubs prey on family desperation? Seems like you made up your mind without any experience.
I've been around the block, PP. My oldest is in college. I've seen all sorts of kids doing all sorts of sports and hobbies. No one *needs* competitive teams for any sport. It's a choice. My personal opinion is that unless the kid is a night owl and has energy to burn at that time of the evening, it's bad parenting to give your heard-earned money to someone who will rob them of their evening sleep. Reverse that for early morning swim practice when the kid needs to get up at 4am. These people are not your friends. They're part of a leech industry of extra-curriculars who cater to well-off parents. It's very easy to get sucked into whatever extra-curricular your child is into. But unless your child lives and breathes that hobby, at some point families need to make choices for their own kid's wellbeing.