Anonymous wrote:Hi! We are new to club and volleyball in general. We've gone to a few clinic at different clubs and it's been brought to my attention that a girl who can't serve won't get offers. Is this true? DD has been working hard since August but can't serve. She isn't on a school team as it's 5 days a week and she has too many conflicts.

I will assume you are talking about a high schooler. Not all players serve (even on average clubs). If your DD has other skills, she can still get on a team. For example, if she is tall and has a good vertical, she can play middle. The coach will make sure that she is out by the time she gets to serve (the player who subs in will serve). However, if she doesn't have some useful skills, it will be hard to make a team at this age, except bottom teams in mediocre clubs. It is not clear what you mean when you mention conflicts.

Hi! We are new to club and volleyball in general. We've gone to a few clinic at different clubs and it's been brought to my attention that a girl who can't serve won't get offers. Is this true? DD has been working hard since August but can't serve. She isn't on a school team as it's 5 days a week and she has too many conflicts.

Anonymous wrote:
And now only a month!

*2 weeks

Anonymous wrote:Less than a month less. DD is getting nervous!!

And now only a month!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another question from a new to all this parent-

What is the difference between AAU membership and CHRVA? One team wants AAU but the rest want CHRVA membership? Is there a difference in the tournaments etc?

CHRVA is the local region for USA Volleyball so getting CHRVA membership means your DD would be eligible to play for a team that plays in USAV sanctioned tournaments. AAU is similar and you’ll also see some clubs are JVA clubs which is Junior Volleyball Association. Most local clubs are going to be USAV focused, but might play in some AAU or JVA sanctioned tournaments. If a team and its players do not belong to a USAV region then they would not be able to play in USAV tournaments. For example, the Capitol Hill Classic is a USAV/CHRVA sanctioned tournament. Similarly, in order to play in an AAU tournament, the team and all the players need to be AAU members so some clubs will require CHRVA membership and also require AAU membership ahead of certain tournaments. JVA tournaments don’t require an additional membership.

Most of the discussion on these forums about getting bids to Nationals, qualifiers, and national rankings applies to USAV focused clubs and tournaments. I’ve heard of clubs who only play an AAU schedule, but at least locally those tend to be less competitive clubs.

Generally true in CHRVA at least. If a team plays only AAU tournaments they tend to be less competitive than those that participate in USAV tournaments. However, there are a lot of teams in CHRVA that play in USAV tournaments and some AAU tournaments and many of those teams are very good. Some are even competitive in CHRVA bids.

Also, AAU nationals is a non-bid tournament. Some clubs just plan on AAU nationals now because the team knows they will be going far in advance. They'll still compete in USAV events though, both qualifiers and local tournaments.

AAU tournament participants are ranked as part of AES and the national rank reflects AAU participation as long as the results are loaded either by the tournament or the team.

One other note: all of the CHRVA rules about tryouts, etc. only apply to clubs that are USAV clubs. Technically AAU/JVA only clubs can have tryouts whenever they want.

Anonymous wrote:Another question from a new to all this parent-

What is the difference between AAU membership and CHRVA? One team wants AAU but the rest want CHRVA membership? Is there a difference in the tournaments etc?

CHRVA is the local region for USA Volleyball so getting CHRVA membership means your DD would be eligible to play for a team that plays in USAV sanctioned tournaments. AAU is similar and you’ll also see some clubs are JVA clubs which is Junior Volleyball Association. Most local clubs are going to be USAV focused, but might play in some AAU or JVA sanctioned tournaments. If a team and its players do not belong to a USAV region then they would not be able to play in USAV tournaments. For example, the Capitol Hill Classic is a USAV/CHRVA sanctioned tournament. Similarly, in order to play in an AAU tournament, the team and all the players need to be AAU members so some clubs will require CHRVA membership and also require AAU membership ahead of certain tournaments. JVA tournaments don’t require an additional membership.

Most of the discussion on these forums about getting bids to Nationals, qualifiers, and national rankings applies to USAV focused clubs and tournaments. I’ve heard of clubs who only play an AAU schedule, but at least locally those tend to be less competitive clubs.

Another question from a new to all this parent-

What is the difference between AAU membership and CHRVA? One team wants AAU but the rest want CHRVA membership? Is there a difference in the tournaments etc?

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read through the tips here. My DD is 12 so we are looking at U13 teams. She’s done two years of rec and currently doing a beginner clinic at one of the more intense and competitive clubs in our area. Based on feedback from the coaches, she is not trying out for the club (they are complimentary but her skills aren’t enough for their U13 teams). We are prioritizing other clubs that are more geared for kids making the jump from rec. Based on advice from this thread, I registered her for some pre-tryout practices at those clubs and she attended camp at one this summer and they asked her to try out at that time.

What advice do you have for a kid brand new to club but loves the sport? I’m a little freaked out after reading this thread.

Tell your daughter to be the loudest and hustle after every ball. I used to coach a club team. At one tryout, we had a new girl who had never played club volleyball before based on her lack of skills. But she was the loudest, cheering on the other girls. She went after every ball. I offered her a spot in the team, because she stood out with a lot of passion.

If you like a club, make sure you follow them on Instagram. They usually announce their coaching assignments a couple of weeks before tryouts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Less than a month less. DD is getting nervous!!

Don’t be nervous and remember, this is supposed to be fun!

Important lessons DD learned from last year’s brutal tryouts -

If any club gives you invite clinics- prioritize that club.

If any club consistently puts you on the lowest court - don’t bother going to tryouts.

If you don’t like the coach for whatever reason at the clinics, don’t go to tryouts. It doesn’t matter the team, even if they are a great one. You don’t want to be on a team where you don’t like the coach. This seems obvious but easy to forget as we get desperate.

Except that the coach leading the clinics will likely not be your coach during the season. You can go to clinics and like Coach Paul from MOCO or Coach Juan from Platform. What is the chance that you would end up on their teams? They coach one or - at most - two teams out of the entire club (and both clubs have three teams per age group). The same is valid in case you don't like the coach. There might be some wonderful club coach who would be coaching your future team, but you don't know if you judge based on the coach leading the clinic.

That’s interesting! We are in VA and DD has gone to the clinics to meet the coaches and see their styles, as well as to be seen. She’s always tried out for smaller teams that have at most two teams per age group though.

Thanks everyone. My kid just wants to play and improve her skills. We are targeting 3 clubs (including the one that invited her back)- whichever is her favorite from the pre-tryouts is the one we will attend opening night.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read through the tips here. My DD is 12 so we are looking at U13 teams. She’s done two years of rec and currently doing a beginner clinic at one of the more intense and competitive clubs in our area. Based on feedback from the coaches, she is not trying out for the club (they are complimentary but her skills aren’t enough for their U13 teams). We are prioritizing other clubs that are more geared for kids making the jump from rec. Based on advice from this thread, I registered her for some pre-tryout practices at those clubs and she attended camp at one this summer and they asked her to try out at that time.

What advice do you have for a kid brand new to club but loves the sport? I’m a little freaked out after reading this thread.

You are doing much better than what I did. I signed up my DD for tryouts with Metro and MVSA because what club would not be lucky to have a rec player on their roster? At least you found this forum (I wish I knew about it at the time), you learned about club volleyball enough to be more realistic about the tryouts.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that your tryouts are displayed. We’re in SoCal here and had our tryouts this weekend for girls 14 and under.

Regions set their own tryout periods. I believe CHRVA tries to time theirs as high school season is wrapping. Other regions (e.g, North Texas) have their tryouts in July, as soon as last season’s USAV nationals are finishing up.

Agree with the other posters. Try to do as many clinics and open gyms as you can in different clubs to get a feel for each.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read through the tips here. My DD is 12 so we are looking at U13 teams. She’s done two years of rec and currently doing a beginner clinic at one of the more intense and competitive clubs in our area. Based on feedback from the coaches, she is not trying out for the club (they are complimentary but her skills aren’t enough for their U13 teams). We are prioritizing other clubs that are more geared for kids making the jump from rec. Based on advice from this thread, I registered her for some pre-tryout practices at those clubs and she attended camp at one this summer and they asked her to try out at that time.

What advice do you have for a kid brand new to club but loves the sport? I’m a little freaked out after reading this thread.

You’re doing the right things—attending pre-tryout clinics and talking to coaches about your child’s chances.

I think you just need to find three clubs that say your child has a good chance, try out for those, and then choose the one that’s the best fit for your child and family (considering cost, travel, team rank, team chemistry, etc.).