Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anybody explain why volleyball is so expensive? We have club basketball players and volleyball is SO much more expensive. Is it just a supply and demand situation or am I missing something?

Court time, coaches, travel costs.

Team fees generally do not include any costs past May, so if your team makes Nationals it can be a lot more $$$ as you have to pay for additional fees and practice time on top of the travel.




The off season fees are huge too, camps, privates, etc. So, so many players do privates.

Right, but basketball is the same. And it’s like 1/3 the cost. I just don’t know how they justify it.

Some things I wish I had known before club volleyball tryouts the first time around —

Broadly, there are three types of volleyball clubs in the DMV

College Prep
- at the 18s level 90-100% college commitments
- U15 up —USAV bids or play either open/premier level at AAU for college exposure
- most players are really tall in the older age groups 5’10 or above
-many parents one or both were college athletes
-smaller players are Libero/DS/setters and unusually skilled/athletic
-win rates generally 70+ percent

High School Prep/Developmental
- as competitive as DMV volleyball has become to get on varsity or even JV at many schools club experience required
-players continue bc the reps are needed for HS playing time
-usav bids rare but go to aau every year (not open. rarely premier, more like club level for solid experience but not exposure)
-can see movement from these clubs to college prep level as girls grow taller and/or more skilled
- often many players for the same 1-3 high schools on the rosters
-win rates 50 -60 percent range

Identity Challenged Clubs
-trying to do both of the above with mixed results
— 0-3 ish college commitments per grad yr, highly variable win rates
- Rarely is everyone on the team on the same page. Can end up with an uneven team -starting 3-6 college potential or adjacent, sometimes other players don’t even get on the court much.
-win rates all over the place between different teams, 20-60 percent

Unfortunately in this area I believe many clubs fall into the identity challenged group — which can be hard to recognize in the wild.

Happiest players and families I have observed seem to be those who know exactly what they want and are on the right team for that —College Prep or High School/Developmental. When you’re not sure yet or find yourself in the middle that can be truly painful.

For a quick a dirty litmus test I would ask what level they register their teams in AAU if no USAV bid is won. That can start a helpful conversation about club philosophy and goals

Anonymous wrote:Can anybody explain why volleyball is so expensive? We have club basketball players and volleyball is SO much more expensive. Is it just a supply and demand situation or am I missing something?

Court time, coaches, travel costs.

Team fees generally do not include any costs past May, so if your team makes Nationals it can be a lot more $$$ as you have to pay for additional fees and practice time on top of the travel.




The off season fees are huge too, camps, privates, etc. So, so many players do privates.

It’s a huge money grab. Especially the lower level clubs. You are not getting your money’s worth.

Can anybody explain why volleyball is so expensive? We have club basketball players and volleyball is SO much more expensive. Is it just a supply and demand situation or am I missing something?

Even if you are invited to the invite only clinics- you only have >50-60% chance of among the team

Any club team that participated in regional and/or national bid tournaments have invite clinics- be they open or “secret”…. So if you have not received that invite, make sure you have other options.

I forgot to mention tryouts ...

Last year, U15 tryouts were bananas. One club had 150 prospective players show up with the intent of earning a spot on one of four teams in that age group. I hear that the club eventually fielded a fifth team given the interest. Another club had about 75 players show up for slots on two teams in the age group. A third club (playing at a fairly-low level) ended up adding a third team given how many prospects showed up.

At this point, I can only hope that U16 tryouts are "less bananas." Now, I also understand the power of invite-only clinics ... and I'm trying to get my player seen by some clubs at their pre-tryout and invite-only clinics before the tryout weekend. I don't want her to be an unknown face who happens to walk through the door in November.

The Volley Truth (Coach Johns) did a few videos last year about the process last year.

TVT Ep. 5 - Choosing the Right Volleyball Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KpFW2z9PE
TVT Ep. 15 - Trying Out for Multiple Volleyball Clubs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHsPLiftZqQ

Virginia Elite is the only club that posts its all-in pricing on the website (https://www.vaelite.com/club-fees). While the numbers will give most sticker shock, I'd say that it is probably on-par with other clubs that play at the highest level once you include travel, uniform, and other expenses. (No, my DD1 does not play for VA Elite, so I have no first-hand experience with the club.)

If you are looking to strike a balance between club VB costs and level of play, I'd look at the AES rankings to see where clubs/teams typically sit for your player's age group. Filter by region (Chesapeake, in the case for most of us) and go from there. Clubs at the top are likely similarly priced once all costs are considered. As you work your way down the list, you may not want to pay similar prices as those teams at the top. Perhaps those middle-to-lower tier teams compete in more regional tournaments versus the larger national qualifiers ... and their costs remain relative with their expected level of play.

U15 rankings example (look at 2022-2023 in the "Historical Seasons" pulldown): https://advancedeventsystems.com/rankings/Female/U15

...

I think an additional challenge with rec VB is finding coaches with available time. DD1 "started" with with our local club (FPYC) and my spouse ended up signing up as a coach with no prior experience. With some patience and plenty of "Coach Koko" videos, the team and coach made it through.

FPYCparent wrote:Based in DD1's limited (less than 2 years) experience, invite-only clinics are standard practice in this area. I guess there's too much disposable income that needs a home.

I think Virginia Juniors is the only club that openly mentions the existence of invite-only clinics (with dates and times posted on their website!).

Jrs. definitely likes and utilizes the invite-only clinics the most. Metro does an invite-only clinic on a Fri/Sat the week before tryouts. Paramount has done invite-only clinics in the past (similar to Jrs), but the last two seasons all of their clinics have been open to the public. VAE's clinics are similarly open to the public; MDJRS the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New volleyball parent trying to navigate this seemingly complicated volleyball world. I had to Google CHRVA for starters and it looks like I need to pay for a membership with them before I can even figure out which club my DD should tryout for...speaking 9f which....
Why is it so difficult for these different clubs to post when and where practices would (potentially) be? Although some have their fees listed and tournaments scheduled, not all of them do.
For example, Elite has a Loundon address. So does that infer practices are out all the way out there too (we're in Springfield so, yes, Loudon Co is "all the way out" there for us)?

Curious, too, how do families with siblings do this? It's seemingly impossible to trek out to Sterling (NVVA) or battle rush hour traffic trying to get to Telegraph Rd (Evolution) for practices 2x/3x/week. I have other kids besides DD who also have sports and extracurricular and throwing travel volleyball ("club" is such a misnomer) is really time consuming to the point of impossible for 2+ kids in a family.

I had no idea how intense this would be . Dd is on freshman volleyball team, but either of us didn't realize how expensive and committed off season training would be.

We easily spent 10k/year for u15 and u16.

Wow!
This is quickly becoming unaffordable, I'm not a SAHM, nor is DD an only child.

Is there no happy medium?
Is there no rec league - type volleyball where practice is at the nearest rec ctr (ie something closeby) 2x/week and the game is either also at the rec ctr or at a local ES/MS/HS (any place with a gym)? And doesn't break the bank financially?

Club play vs. rec league are entirely different worlds. Metro had some rec league as does VA Elite in the past but dramatic skill development comes at the club level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New volleyball parent trying to navigate this seemingly complicated volleyball world. I had to Google CHRVA for starters and it looks like I need to pay for a membership with them before I can even figure out which club my DD should tryout for...speaking 9f which....
Why is it so difficult for these different clubs to post when and where practices would (potentially) be? Although some have their fees listed and tournaments scheduled, not all of them do.
For example, Elite has a Loundon address. So does that infer practices are out all the way out there too (we're in Springfield so, yes, Loudon Co is "all the way out" there for us)?

Curious, too, how do families with siblings do this? It's seemingly impossible to trek out to Sterling (NVVA) or battle rush hour traffic trying to get to Telegraph Rd (Evolution) for practices 2x/3x/week. I have other kids besides DD who also have sports and extracurricular and throwing travel volleyball ("club" is such a misnomer) is really time consuming to the point of impossible for 2+ kids in a family.

I had no idea how intense this would be . Dd is on freshman volleyball team, but either of us didn't realize how expensive and committed off season training would be.

We easily spent 10k/year for u15 and u16.

Wow!
This is quickly becoming unaffordable, I'm not a SAHM, nor is DD an only child.

Is there no happy medium?
Is there no rec league - type volleyball where practice is at the nearest rec ctr (ie something closeby) 2x/week and the game is either also at the rec ctr or at a local ES/MS/HS (any place with a gym)? And doesn't break the bank financially?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New volleyball parent trying to navigate this seemingly complicated volleyball world. I had to Google CHRVA for starters and it looks like I need to pay for a membership with them before I can even figure out which club my DD should tryout for...speaking 9f which....
Why is it so difficult for these different clubs to post when and where practices would (potentially) be? Although some have their fees listed and tournaments scheduled, not all of them do.
For example, Elite has a Loundon address. So does that infer practices are out all the way out there too (we're in Springfield so, yes, Loudon Co is "all the way out" there for us)?

Curious, too, how do families with siblings do this? It's seemingly impossible to trek out to Sterling (NVVA) or battle rush hour traffic trying to get to Telegraph Rd (Evolution) for practices 2x/3x/week. I have other kids besides DD who also have sports and extracurricular and throwing travel volleyball ("club" is such a misnomer) is really time consuming to the point of impossible for 2+ kids in a family.

I had no idea how intense this would be . Dd is on freshman volleyball team, but either of us didn't realize how expensive and committed off season training would be.

We easily spent 10k/year for u15 and u16.

Was this at a top-tier club or a more mid-level club?

Anonymous wrote:New volleyball parent trying to navigate this seemingly complicated volleyball world. I had to Google CHRVA for starters and it looks like I need to pay for a membership with them before I can even figure out which club my DD should tryout for...speaking 9f which....
Why is it so difficult for these different clubs to post when and where practices would (potentially) be? Although some have their fees listed and tournaments scheduled, not all of them do.
For example, Elite has a Loundon address. So does that infer practices are out all the way out there too (we're in Springfield so, yes, Loudon Co is "all the way out" there for us)?

Curious, too, how do families with siblings do this? It's seemingly impossible to trek out to Sterling (NVVA) or battle rush hour traffic trying to get to Telegraph Rd (Evolution) for practices 2x/3x/week. I have other kids besides DD who also have sports and extracurricular and throwing travel volleyball ("club" is such a misnomer) is really time consuming to the point of impossible for 2+ kids in a family.

I had no idea how intense this would be . Dd is on freshman volleyball team, but either of us didn't realize how expensive and committed off season training would be.

We easily spent 10k/year for u15 and u16.

Based in DD1's limited (less than 2 years) experience, invite-only clinics are standard practice in this area. I guess there's too much disposable income that needs a home.

I think Virginia Juniors is the only club that openly mentions the existence of invite-only clinics (with dates and times posted on their website!).