Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once some CHRVA teams earned higher/better bids at qualifiers, a few USAV bid slots opened up for those bids that went "back to region." With some teams finishing tied for 5th/7th/whatever at Bid Regionals, what is the proper procedure for the region to fill those available bids. Did CHRVA decide what teams make it based on a coin flip?

Don't have any direct knowledge of whether there was a coin flip or not, but a few years ago there was a strange decision made by CHRVA that seemed arbitrary and resulted in some similar controversy. At 15 bid regionals in 2022, Liberty Elite upset Metro 15 Travel in the semifinals and VA Juniors beat Paramount in the other semifinal match resulting in a Liberty Elite vs VA Juniors final which Liberty won. There was a consolation match to determine 3rd and 4th place between Metro and Paramount which Metro won meaning the final results and the corresponding bids earned the day of bid regionals were:

1. Liberty Elite - National Bid
2. VA Juniors - American Bid
3. Metro 15 Travel - Freedom Bid
4. Paramount

Things were fine until the reallocations started. Paramount had subsequently earned a USA bid by placing 3rd at Big South. When CHRVA received another National bid to award to a regional team, rather than giving it to VA Juniors, who had come in second at the bid regional tournament and was seemingly in line to get that bid, CHRVA gave it to Paramount supposedly under the reasoning that Paramount deserved the higher National bid because they were holding a USA bid which was higher than the American Bid that VA Juniors had. This completely disregarded the results of the bid regional tournament which seems pretty arbitrary and unfair. After all, isn't the whole point of the bid regional tournament to decide how CHRVA distributes bids?

Later in that same year, CHRVA also received another American and Freedom bid to reallocate for 15s. The American bid went to Metro, their Freedom bid rolled down to the 5th place (because Paramount now had the National bid, I think their USA bid had gone back to a team that had finished behind them at Big South). There were 4 teams tied for 5th place having lost in the quarterfinals. That year, they gave the 2 Freedom bids to MVSA and VA Volleyball Academy. It was my understanding that they had looked to match record/set record/point differential from the bid regional tournament to decide which of the four 5th place teams got those 2 bids but maybe they flipped a coin?

After 2022 and other controversies relating to bid reallocations, I thought CHRVA had revised their rules for bid reallocation to make it more clear and to avoid things like coin flips or somebody just deciding, but I can't seem to find any updated policies on the CHRVA website. With so many more bids being made available to the regions and bids potentially going all the way down to 7th place finishers (or even lower) at regionals in some age groups , CHRVA needs to be more transparent about how these decisions are made.

Anonymous wrote:Once some CHRVA teams earned higher/better bids at qualifiers, a few USAV bid slots opened up for those bids that went "back to region." With some teams finishing tied for 5th/7th/whatever at Bid Regionals, what is the proper procedure for the region to fill those available bids. Did CHRVA decide what teams make it based on a coin flip?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once some CHRVA teams earned higher/better bids at qualifiers, a few USAV bid slots opened up for those bids that went "back to region." With some teams finishing tied for 5th/7th/whatever at Bid Regionals, what is the proper procedure for the region to fill those available bids. Did CHRVA decide what teams make it based on a coin flip?

VAJRS parent asking about the coin flip, right? I heard their club is upset about their 14s team that finished tied for 7th place at Regionals not getting a bid because the Region used a coin toss to break the tie. To me, if you finish 7th place at Regionals, it’s hard to say you deserve a bid to USAV GJNC, so any basis for complaining goes out the window. If you don’t like it, do better and win more, that way you’re not in a position to have your fate decided by a coin toss.

Anonymous wrote:Once some CHRVA teams earned higher/better bids at qualifiers, a few USAV bid slots opened up for those bids that went "back to region." With some teams finishing tied for 5th/7th/whatever at Bid Regionals, what is the proper procedure for the region to fill those available bids. Did CHRVA decide what teams make it based on a coin flip?

FPYCparent wrote:Is The St. James too far from Fairfax/Burke to travel for volleyball? My high schooler played her first club season there. We "commuted" to practice from near Fair Oaks Mall ... and, ironically, we were the closest family of all involved with that team.

Anonymous wrote:
Before my daughter joined a club team, she participated in the NVVA Galaxy league and went to their clinics. She was very happy with those and they were a nice bridge between rec and club for her. She was in middle school so I don’t know what Galaxy is like for the high school age group. Have you tried emailing them? I remember the phone being hit or miss when I tried to call back then but I had better luck with email or just driving there and asking questions if you live close.

Anonymous wrote:I'm grateful for all the insights on this thread. Question at the other end of the skill set - We're out in Fairfax/Bruke area. DD (rising sophomore) got a late start in VB. She's been playing for just over a year and most recently participated in Evolution's in-house program while also taking up lessons/open gyms at NVVA and clinics with X-Factor.

She'll try out for her school JV/Varsity teams this summer, but looking past fall sports, she was hoping to try out for a regional club to keep playing for enjoyment and at a little more competitive level in U16. Based on what we've seen and read, mainly looking at NVVA, X-Factor, BRYC, Monument and No Panic as possible options. NVVA seems to have a lot of options, but comms with them is always a struggle.

Just wanted to get a sanity check from folks - are we looking in the right grouping of teams? Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some clubs try too hard and come out weird. I've also seen some posts from MVSA trying to explain away why they lost one of their pool games or why they ended up second. It just sounds very insecure. On the other hand, some of the less established clubs simply brag about their teams earning a spot in whatever bracket they ended up. It feels like a much better strategy.

Really? I haven’t noticed this. From my observation MVSA is comfortable in its lane…not one of the big dogs but do well enough. They know they will lose players to metro and paramount but not much they can do about it.

I feel like they’ve been trying to enhance their brand this season to perhaps stop the mass exodus of their best talent to Metro and Paramount. I know they recently named a recruiting coordinator (something which they’ve never officially had before), and it feels like their social media has been more aggressive. These all seem like moves designed to retain their talent as the girls get older.

Let’s not talk about how Metro illegally poached MVSA’s 16s setter this past tryout cycle after this player had already committed to MVSA in writing. This player accepted her offer in writing after MVSA’s tryouts, then Metro still proceeded to reach out to this player even though she had already committed to a club (which is a clear CHRVA violation). The most unfortunate part is Metro 16 T runs a 5-1 most of the time now, so she hardly ever plays….

Definitely seeing a trend for many of the clubs to pack the rosters with 15 players! So now there are 6-7 players not getting much play time at all. For the younger age group parents, PLEASE focus on putting your DD on the most competitive team that she will still get a good amount of play time. Maybe by 16, 17, 18 can try to move up to another club. I have seen many of the Metro travel and Paramount players that have sat on the bench from 13 or 14's, very few of them get any real playtime (never truly get developed). If those clubs need hitters, they just recruit from outside. Clubs will say anything to get you to sign and then hide behind the "got to fight for the spot". Parents, please don't fall for the trap of a "winning" club is a good club - it all depends on your coach and the players on the roster.