Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:Going to add in my own experience here as a player and with a son that plays club volleyball. The big question is, does she love the sport? Volleyball is a big commitment when it comes to practice time and travel tournaments.

I went into the sport late, after playing AAU basketball for years. I somehow made my high school team and then played club. I mostly sat the bench, in both, but still worked hard in practice. I kept working and, eventually, I earned a starting position. I wound up being all county, all metro, and played in college.

My own kid seems to be following in the same path, although he started the sport a lot earlier than I did. He spent 2 years of club, playing 2 rotations, and is now the starting setter on his team…. With a killer jump serve.

If she still loves the sport, even if she’s currently the worst on her team, I’d encourage her to keep at it. Out work everyone else out there. She was selected for the team for a reason, a coach sees her potential.

Out of curiosity, how tall are you?

I’m 5’11

This is one thing I dislike about volleyball -- it is very, very weighted to girls that are very tall. If you're a late starter who is going to be 5'11" like this poster, or taller, then it's one thing, but if you're a late starter that is only going to be 5'6" or 5'7" (which is still tall for a woman!), that's a different thing. It's hard to "out work everyone else out there" if you're under 5'9" or so, I think.

I’m the 5’11” poster and, I agree, being successful at the sport typically requires height, but that’s not necessarily the case for libero and setter positions. Like a lot of sports, you have an advantage if you’re a certain height. I was never going to be a successful gymnast, but excelled at volleyball and basketball.

I will stand by my statement that it is possible to out work people. That may earn you a spot as a starter, but possibly not. If you’re short, you are likely not going to excel as a hitter, but you can absolutely put in the work to be an excellent setter or libero. Lexi Rodriguez (Nebraska - Libero) is 5’5”. Zoe Huang (Maryland - setter) is 5’3”.