Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Division 4 my apologies you were correct

To put things in perspective, last year there were only 4 players who made it on the MVSA teams from the division with no club experience. One was in the 14 age group and three were in the 13 age group. The MVSA tryouts were a waste of time / money for most players with no club experience.

Do you know about the likelihood of an MVSA Rec Division 5 player getting on any MVSA Club 13U team? My DD has one year of club experience, few years of rec/MS, and is 5-5.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Division 4 my apologies you were correct

To put things in perspective, last year there were only 4 players who made it on the MVSA teams from the division with no club experience. One was in the 14 age group and three were in the 13 age group. The MVSA tryouts were a waste of time / money for most players with no club experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got it. So basically after doing club they come back to rec and get in the higher division for exposure then tryout for MVSA after already playing club elsewhere with hopes of making it.

Good for them! Seems we are late to the sport. All good though. I looked up MEVC and that seems to be a good option. I really appreciate your help!

MVSA invites everyone in their rec league try out for the club - this is how they attract around 100 players to compete for the 30 spots they have for each age group. You have little chance to make one of their teams without club experience. The one exception that gives you an advantage is being tall. They seem to offer positions to tall players, even those with obvious talent / experience deficit. You look at them and you wonder: how did MVSA take players with two left hands? They likely take a long-term approach and believe they can develop those players over the years. Being short works against you - you have to overcompensate by having a lot more experience and being extremely athletic.

You are not late to the sport - we were in your shoes last year. If your daughter likes the sport, keep going and you will find options for her to continue. Last year I had the same approach as the one you outlined: my daughter deserves to be in one of the best clubs in the area. The difference is: you asked for advice and I didn't. I feel like the outcome will be different: we struggled and stressed as a result, you have more realistic expectations and a better approach. My daughter still got on one of the best teams (not the best team in the area, but the best team for where she was at the time).

Anonymous wrote:I'm helping DD research teams now for tryouts and we've read through MEVC's website and cannot find where they hold their practices. Does anyone with experience know? We are looking at 16U age group.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got it. So basically after doing club they come back to rec and get in the higher division for exposure then tryout for MVSA after already playing club elsewhere with hopes of making it.

Good for them! Seems we are late to the sport. All good though. I looked up MEVC and that seems to be a good option. I really appreciate your help!

MVSA invites everyone in their rec league try out for the club - this is how they attract around 100 players to compete for the 30 spots they have for each age group. You have little chance to make one of their teams without club experience. The one exception that gives you an advantage is being tall. They seem to offer positions to tall players, even those with obvious talent / experience deficit. You look at them and you wonder: how did MVSA take players with two left hands? They likely take a long-term approach and believe they can develop those players over the years. Being short works against you - you have to overcompensate by having a lot more experience and being extremely athletic.

You are not late to the sport - we were in your shoes last year. If your daughter likes the sport, keep going and you will find options for her to continue. Last year I had the same approach as the one you outlined: my daughter deserves to be in one of the best clubs in the area. The difference is: you asked for advice and I didn't. I feel like the outcome will be different: we struggled and stressed as a result, you have more realistic expectations and a better approach. My daughter still got on one of the best teams (not the best team in the area, but the best team for where she was at the time).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the fee of mvsa around $2000, if coach fee added that'll be around $1000 more(100 practice x $10 per kid ). So seems $3000 for a travel heavy team, with 3 practice per week ?

Also, MVSA practices almost exclusively in MCPS facilities. According to their website, gym rental at a MCPS school for a non-profit organization is $17 per hour (it’s $22.50 per hour for a for profit). Commercial facilities and private schools tend to be a lot more ($75-$100 per hour). Another thing MVSA does to offset costs is host a LOT of tournaments. These allow for their teams to have priority to play in these tournaments (and presumably they don’t pay tournament fees for their own events) as well as make some extra revenue to help offset other costs. Many teams will have parents help at practice or serve as assistant coaches. It’s a wonderful organization that provides a great option for the families whose kids are able to make one of their teams.

All of that said, replicating what they do would be really challenging. Running a club of even one team per age group is a full time job for at least one person for most of the year. Finding qualified coaches even for clubs that pay is difficult. Attracting players to a new, unproven club can be tough meaning it would probably take a few years to have some success. It would be great if someone were to take on such a project, but it doesn’t seem likely.

MVSA has been around a long time, that's the biggest advantage. It helps with finding coaches when you are on your third generation of players. Those good coaches tend to coach the younger ages, which is great and not something most clubs prioritize. Their costs are low too. Parents helping out is great even if they don't know volleyball. Sometimes its good to have someone with a coach that thinks about the non-volleyball side of the team, watches attitudes, etc.

That said, their 2nd and 3rd teams can be very hit or miss in consistency of both coaches and players. One of the reasons those teams rank high in the region is because they play a lot of 1 day tournaments where the competition level is highly variable. At the older age groups they tend to lose talent to other clubs that travel more and/or have better recruiting success. Historically, they were also known for telling players that if they left the club for a year to try somewhere else, don't bother coming back.

None of this is meant to be judgemental every club has its positives and negatives and we need more clubs like them in the area. But good info helps everyone make good decisions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the fee of mvsa around $2000, if coach fee added that'll be around $1000 more(100 practice x $10 per kid ). So seems $3000 for a travel heavy team, with 3 practice per week ?

Also, MVSA practices almost exclusively in MCPS facilities. According to their website, gym rental at a MCPS school for a non-profit organization is $17 per hour (it’s $22.50 per hour for a for profit). Commercial facilities and private schools tend to be a lot more ($75-$100 per hour). Another thing MVSA does to offset costs is host a LOT of tournaments. These allow for their teams to have priority to play in these tournaments (and presumably they don’t pay tournament fees for their own events) as well as make some extra revenue to help offset other costs. Many teams will have parents help at practice or serve as assistant coaches. It’s a wonderful organization that provides a great option for the families whose kids are able to make one of their teams.

All of that said, replicating what they do would be really challenging. Running a club of even one team per age group is a full time job for at least one person for most of the year. Finding qualified coaches even for clubs that pay is difficult. Attracting players to a new, unproven club can be tough meaning it would probably take a few years to have some success. It would be great if someone were to take on such a project, but it doesn’t seem likely.

MVSA has been around a long time, that's the biggest advantage. It helps with finding coaches when you are on your third generation of players. Those good coaches tend to coach the younger ages, which is great and not something most clubs prioritize. Their costs are low too. Parents helping out is great even if they don't know volleyball. Sometimes its good to have someone with a coach that thinks about the non-volleyball side of the team, watches attitudes, etc.

That said, their 2nd and 3rd teams can be very hit or miss in consistency of both coaches and players. One of the reasons those teams rank high in the region is because they play a lot of 1 day tournaments where the competition level is highly variable. At the older age groups they tend to lose talent to other clubs that travel more and/or have better recruiting success. Historically, they were also known for telling players that if they left the club for a year to try somewhere else, don't bother coming back.

None of this is meant to be judgemental every club has its positives and negatives and we need more clubs like them in the area. But good info helps everyone make good decisions.

This must be very historic. I’ve seen players left there top team and return. Maybe that is how it was during Heard’s time but I’ve seen players left, come back for 1 season and left again.

Anonymous wrote:Got it. So basically after doing club they come back to rec and get in the higher division for exposure then tryout for MVSA after already playing club elsewhere with hopes of making it.

Good for them! Seems we are late to the sport. All good though. I looked up MEVC and that seems to be a good option. I really appreciate your help!

Anonymous wrote:Division 4 my apologies you were correct