Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 07:43     Subject: Re:Volleyball non-profit
Anonymous wrote:As I am reading this thread, I thought there would be more excitement for this idea, especially in Virginia. Less so in Maryland because the prices are a bit more reasonable. OP, do you know how to start a non-profit? That might be the easiest step. I have no idea how you would deal with CHRVA - the decision makers might be involved in club one way or another. You may have the snobs who will tell you that only coaches should be allowed to coach teams, even though clubs frequently use parents.

Even though I live in Maryland, I would be game for next year. This club grind takes too much of our time and something more relaxed would be welcome during the last years of high school. We are doing club this year, but I would be open to switch to a team with other players that have some club experience. I cannot coach, but I can throw some balls in the air during practice. Signing up on a team of beginners would be a non-starter though.


OP here. I have no experience setting up a non-profit, so that will be a learning curve for me. But many high-schoolers set up their own non-profits to improve their college applications, so this shouldn't be a major challenge. I bolded the part that I have most concerns about as well. It would be a bummer if we quit club and we cannot find a team that can play decently at least. And there is no way to know until you jump head first.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 23:09     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
I would consider forgoing CHRVA and really looking between rec and club. That would mean following the setup of Fairfax County Youth Travel (or Select) Basketball or Flagstar Football Elite or maybe one of the club soccer’s developmental leagues (in Arlington, that’s ADP). These are tryout-based teams that play other teams, all within the same umbrella. In FCYBL, they are zip code based and in Flagstar, they are loosely neighborhood based. ADP has enough kids to field 4-6 ADP teams between rec and travel for each age group! It’s basically pool play each weekend with a tourney at the end.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 15:05     Subject: Re:Volleyball non-profit
As I am reading this thread, I thought there would be more excitement for this idea, especially in Virginia. Less so in Maryland because the prices are a bit more reasonable. OP, do you know how to start a non-profit? That might be the easiest step. I have no idea how you would deal with CHRVA - the decision makers might be involved in club one way or another. You may have the snobs who will tell you that only coaches should be allowed to coach teams, even though clubs frequently use parents.

Even though I live in Maryland, I would be game for next year. This club grind takes too much of our time and something more relaxed would be welcome during the last years of high school. We are doing club this year, but I would be open to switch to a team with other players that have some club experience. I cannot coach, but I can throw some balls in the air during practice. Signing up on a team of beginners would be a non-starter though.
Anonymous
Post 11/07/2025 09:00     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:First things first, what’s the actual market for something like this? You need data beyond dcum and a few people around town.

I could start a team tomorrow if I had the legal framework. DD has a bunch of friends who are staying in rec because club is either too demanding, too far, or too expensive. They would want something above rec, closer to home, less demanding and cheaper than club.

Many players feel pressured to join a club to keep alive their hope of making a high school team. They fall in love with volleyball, but - after a couple of seasons - they realize that they are far behind the varsity players and will never catch up. They become disillusioned with club volleyball, especially if they end up on bottom teams, spending a ton of money on with poor coaching and meaningless travel. By the time they turn 16 and cannot make their varsity team, they cannot justify wasting more of their time and money. Some of them might be willing to take it slower if they had an option that better fits their schedule and family budget. Some families who are more realistic about their kids abilities would turn to this option before their kid turns 16. This option may not guarantee much better coaching, but at least would be more affordable.



I’m not sure where you’re located, but SYA has this. They have “travel” teams which you do need to tryout for, it’s way more experienced parent coaching, and the travel is all local (centreville, Fairfax, Chantilly, Vienna, etc). It’s the same cost as rec, and my 13yo DD really thrived on it. We decided not to do club bc of the price and commitment (although SYA also started a new club team this year that is more affordable), and will tryout for Travel again in the spring and do winter clinics. Might be worth reaching out to SYA or some of the other travel teams to see how they got setup! I love this idea, and absolutely see the need. Club is far too expensive for kids who just want to play competitively, but are not trying to get scholarships. If they don’t make the HS team, it would be nice if they could have something like this to fall back on. Good luck and I hope you can make it happen! It would benefit a lot of kids!
Anonymous
Post 11/07/2025 08:27     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
Anonymous wrote:I think there is a need. My daughter is 16 and decided not to play club this year. She played on a travel team last year but didn’t want the schedule this year. She still loves volleyball and wants to play competitively and was going to look into adult open gyms or leagues, if that’s even possible. Rec wouldn’t be fun for her anymore.

There are plenty in HS who don’t want the commitment of club who love the sport and want to continue playing and parents that would help. We are in VA.


I saw some open gyms offered by Montgomery County in rec centers. But participation is random and sometimes gyms are overcrowded. There are rules against coaching (they probably mean private coaching) during these open gyms. I saw groups of people (likely amateur teams) practicing together and playing as teams. I think you need to be 18, but I doubt anyone is going to check at the door.
Anonymous
Post 11/07/2025 08:00     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
Anonymous wrote:I do always wish everyone luck if they see something they want to pursue, but it is hard to see this working out too well.


It just needs to work out better or at least as well as current club volleyball on bottom teams (which - I hope we can agree - doesn't work too well). The cost factor will make it more appealing.
Anonymous
Post 11/07/2025 07:40     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
I do always wish everyone luck if they see something they want to pursue, but it is hard to see this working out too well.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 23:58     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
Anonymous wrote:First things first, what’s the actual market for something like this? You need data beyond dcum and a few people around town.

I could start a team tomorrow if I had the legal framework. DD has a bunch of friends who are staying in rec because club is either too demanding, too far, or too expensive. They would want something above rec, closer to home, less demanding and cheaper than club.

Many players feel pressured to join a club to keep alive their hope of making a high school team. They fall in love with volleyball, but - after a couple of seasons - they realize that they are far behind the varsity players and will never catch up. They become disillusioned with club volleyball, especially if they end up on bottom teams, spending a ton of money on with poor coaching and meaningless travel. By the time they turn 16 and cannot make their varsity team, they cannot justify wasting more of their time and money. Some of them might be willing to take it slower if they had an option that better fits their schedule and family budget. Some families who are more realistic about their kids abilities would turn to this option before their kid turns 16. This option may not guarantee much better coaching, but at least would be more affordable.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 22:49     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
First things first, what’s the actual market for something like this? You need data beyond dcum and a few people around town.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 21:39     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
Anonymous wrote:You could follow the model of MSI soccer’s Classic league but you’d need scale to have enough competition. I kind of love any effort to drive a take into the heart of the sports industrial complex.


Scale would eventually come, even though the first few years would be slow. You just need a few teams to start with to prove that the model works, then a lot will follow suit. I think most girls still love volleyball in their junior year, but they stop playing because of the time and financial commitments. Starting with a CHRVA membership would help by providing access to tournaments and insurance. Switching to the MSI soccer model may be feasible when the scale is there.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 20:55     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
You could follow the model of MSI soccer’s Classic league but you’d need scale to have enough competition. I kind of love any effort to drive a take into the heart of the sports industrial complex.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 16:49     Subject: Re:Volleyball non-profit
FPYCparent wrote:Another option could be simply volunteering with an existing local organization (like FPYC ... which I do not represent).

FPYC is trying to rebuild its volleyball program and may be already past some of the start-up hurdles. I think they just need people willing to do the work.

https://fpycsports.com/sports/volleyball


That opportunity is at the rec level and it won't serve players who are above that.
FPYCparent
Post 11/06/2025 16:43     Subject: Re:Volleyball non-profit
Another option could be simply volunteering with an existing local organization (like FPYC ... which I do not represent).

FPYC is trying to rebuild its volleyball program and may be already past some of the start-up hurdles. I think they just need people willing to do the work.

https://fpycsports.com/sports/volleyball
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 16:14     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I am not thinking about a centralized location and micro-managing teams. I am thinking about a non-profit umbrella that would allow teams to manage their own practice locations and decisions on whether and how much they pay their coaches. If you have the legal infrastructure, you could have a local team in Rockville and one in Sterling. If the one in Sterling is more competitive, the team may decide to throw more money at a coach, while the one in Rockville may be happy with a parent coach. It's all about the needs in the community that wants to set up a team.


I just replied about practice spaces, but now I see this. I have a hard time imagining any club wanting to work with another organization to run a program through their club, but I truly wish you luck in trying. I think the demand for the "between rec and club" exists, so I wish you luck in figuring out a way to meet that demand.


I am not talking about another club wanting to run their program through this non-profit. I cannot imagine a club (especially a for-profit club) wanting to run their operations through this non-profit. I want the non-profit to provide the legal umbrella for teams to be set up independently in various locations, where they can serve the local community needs. Each team would reserve their own space, set up their own tryouts, hire their own coaches (or use a parent coach if that's what they want). I can see parents wanting a team that practices at their own school rather than travel 30 minutes to some farther location. The non-profit would be part of CHRVA, so each affiliated team would be able to participate in USAV tournaments.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 13:55     Subject: Volleyball non-profit
Just a thought- would it be possible to run something like this through a county’s rec program? I know moco has a robust volleyball rec program, so could you have a next step above rec run through the county but it’s open to anyone who has done X sessions in rec? So you would have a true beginner rec league and a more advanced league.