Club Volleyball: Let's Go!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Kate sandwiched the day by attending both Husky games on Wed and Fri. Disappointing loss yesterday but now it's time for the NCAA Tourney. Good luck, ladies! We are kind of in that dead zone between tryouts and first practice. We begin on Thursday and Kate is very excited to get things going. I am just kind of feeling a sense of relief that Kate made a team this first year, regrets that we didn't start this process 2 years ago, and pride that she is going into this an open book with a desire to be the best volleyball player she can be.

Club Volleyball: First Team Meeting

Got a chance to meet Coach F last night and Kate and I liked her. She played at DII and has coached for 5 years now. She said practices will be tough and she will not hesitate to ride someone to make them better. She thinks the girls will come to understand that they are better than they even thought they could be. This will all be a giant splash of cold water in the face for Kate. In the 7 years of recreational soccer she played, no one ever yelled at her or pulled her aside for a bit off ass kicking. Same in her year of 8th grade volleyball. So I think this will be the season she starts getting some serious coaching that has consequences. It will be fascinating to see her do it in tandem with Jr High Varsity.

I really think The Animals are going to be a good fit for us this year at the U15 level. By this time next year one of 3 things will happen with her: she will decide volleyball is not something she wants to continue, it is something she enjoys and wants to continue recreationally on this level of team, or her skills have gelled and she is committed to being the best and playing in college thus resulting in trying to get on an elite travelling club. A poster on prepvolleyball (pirateVBfan) has given me permission to copy his excellent post here on his take on 'elite' teams. Great stuff.

I think the most important things in a club are the quality of the coaching, the quality of the teammates and the club reputation. The reputation is built over years and is based on the broad range of results of a number of teams over the years. I think that encompasses your "win/loss" and "multiple team" comments. But it also is built on having players recruited by and playing in major universities. In 2006 UW could put five KJ players on the court and three were starters (a fourth, Jill Colleymore, is now a starter). 

Why is reputation important? Well for many reasons. Number one it helps attract the top coaches and players. Number two it opens doors. When our older daughter was being recruited we had a number of college coaches tell us "She played for KJ, of course we want her". Everyone on her KJ 18 team is playing volleyball in college, most on D-I scholarships.While the top players will get seen regardless of the club (assuming a fairly top club that travels) the club reputation (and those top players) can pull in coaches to look at the other players. Having coaches and a club director with connections to a wide range of colleges can really enhance the recruiting of the non-star players. If that is important to you, then club reputation and connections are very important. 

As to club volleyball rankings, I think KJ, WVBA and (at least in the past) Puget Sound have consistently been the top clubs around here with Sudden Impact a small step below. It will be interesting to see how the transition at PS goes. It is a big step they are taking building a new facility and changing ownership at the same time.I think UPVBC has been rising and is about at the same level as Sudden Impact now. They have had the results over several years from several teams (although not as much as the top tier teams yet) but the question will be how well they make the transition into college recruiting. 


The question was "What are the best clubs" but I realize that the criteria for "Best" very much depends on your goals. If you want to be an elite athlete, lead your HS team, get a scholarship to college, etc, then clubs like KJ and WVBA are the best and the best fit. If you want to have fun, make HS varsity and have no plans on playing in college, then WVBA, KJ, PS, etc are a waste of money and you would be miserable there. 

The "elite clubs" (I know I am going to get in trouble for that term, but you know what I mean) have a totally different set of expectations than the more "normal" clubs do. You will be competing against the best players in a large geographical area for playing time (it is not uncommon for players to drive 50 miles for practice - heck, one player used to fly from Idaho to play for KJ). You will travel to three or four (or more) out of state tournaments and try like mad to make Nationals. You will practice about three times a week and the practices will be very intense, often harder than the games. You will start club basically as soon as HS season is over, then overlap club and HS in the summer, have the mandatory three weeks off in August, and then start right back with HS. You will have college coaches around your court pretty much any time you play out of state, sometimes two or three deep around the court. Assuming you are a top player on the team you will have multiple offers to play D-I volleyball and the absolute best players will get multiple PAC-10 offers - the "holy grail" of college recruiting. 

But that is definitely not for everyone. Even on elite teams (or should that be "especially on elite teams") playing time is earned and a third of the team may never see the court in a tournament. You may not understand the coaches decisions on playing time but you have to grin and cheer. 

So, the best fit for many players is not the KJs and WVBAs of the world, but rather the Above the Net, NW Juniors and Cascades of the world - good programs that play good, fun volleyball and turn out good HS varsity volleyball players, but will have limited potential/desire for a college scholarship. 


Again, great stuff. Any time any of you have advice or stories or experiences or news of other clubs to share, please email me and I will build it into the blog.

Club Volleyball: Makeups

Kate's club (I will call them 'The Animals') had a makeup tryout last night so Kate, her mom, and I went. I wanted Kate to see a tryout without the pressure of being in one. There were 20-25 girls there last night and as I watched these 14 year olds go through their drills, I felt kind of bad knowing that there are a ton of volleyball loving girls out there who won't even get a chance to play on a team. One girls stood out. Not real tall, but she did a great job passing, had a nice vertical as a hitter, stood out in her Nevillisms shirt and just generally looked like she would be a great addition on any team. She had heart. I think that's one of the shortcomings of club volleyball tryout weekend. Many girls will make teams based on their height or the skills they showed, but you cannot judge heart in a tryout with 50 girls. I saw it in #82 because I watched her closely...but I don't even know if she made the team as we left before they started talking to girls. I hope she did, and if she didn't, I hope she doesn't give up on her dream because I'd take a team of girls like her (and Kate) any day of the week. Tonight we meet the team.

Club Volleyball: Tryouts Aftermath

What an exhausting weekend. And we only went to 3 tryouts! Club D was well run and there were only about 40 girls (which still seems like an awful lot) but the coaching staff seems great. The downside? $4200. I was stunned. 4 years of D and I could pay for a year of college. I kind of question the need for that much travel, especially at the U15 level, but I'm sure we will be looking at them again next year. This was a good experience for Kate. She's only played one year of junior high volleyball and it was clear that another year of playing and coaching is needed. We made Club A and are happy to be with them. No travel and not so many tournaments, but Kate will also be playing 9th grade varsity concurrently so this will probably be a good fit. By the time tryouts roll around next year, she will have played a full 9th grade season, a full 10th grade season, and a full season of club. She'll have a full year of hitting behind her, as opposed to NO hitting behind her. What she does have is plenty of raw talent and enthusiasm. And probably a growth spurt. Her father is very proud.

As far as tryouts...there HAS to be a better way. I would love to hear everyone's feedback on their tryout experience. I hope all of your DD's found what they were looking for! More after the team meeting tomorrow.

A Long Long Day

The mood after tryouts today is a little more subdued than it was on Thursday night. Just got home from  Club C tryouts: 70 girls for 12 spots which includes the girls who played on their U14 club. I think Kate is a solid, hard working barely 14 year old with one season of Jr. High Volleyball under her belt and plain and simple, she did not stand out among 70 other girls, many who have played club ball before based on their logo t-shirts. The folks at B were very nice, but they ran through drills on 2 courts for about 75 minutes and then the coaches went away and spent a half hour picking their names. Compare that with Club B: 24 girls today and 24 girls tomorrow. They had a separate sheet for each person and called them by name to do drills where they actually watched and evaluated. The facility was great and we would be thrilled if they offered Kate a spot. No word on that; they will start calling people tomorrow. But even if we don't make B, I feel like she got a fair shot. Not so on C and I'm pretty worried that D will be the same. I'm not sure how you break into the 'travel' teams as a newcomer. I guess you work your butt off on the school team, do a camp during summer and try again next year. There's supposed to be a level playing field, but I didn't really get the feeling that that was the case at C. OK. It's been a long day. Tomorrow we give it a shot at Club D but I hope its more like B and less like a cattle call. Good job today, Kate!

Strategy Explained

I appreciate all the comments! I am in full agreement about Club A. We tried out with them for several reasons:

1. Tryouts were on Thursday so it was a great way to have Kate experience a tryout BEFORE the madness and step up in competition that comes with the weekend.

2. If Kate had NOT been offered a spot, I would have been more concerned this weekend. As it turned out, she goes into the remaining tryouts full of confidence. Being one of 8 out of 45 chosen is still a great accomplishment.

Even if we do not make another team we know we'll be playing organized club volleyball this season. She has only played one season of Jr. High ball and will be playing JH Varsity concurrently with Club, so Club A would be a low pressure way to build up skills and stay busy until high school team. By tryouts NEXT near, she will have 9 solid months of playing and training behind her. Remember, this is a girl who told me 10 minutes into the Moxie tryout that she now wants to be an outside hitter...a position she had never played! More power to her! See you all this weekend!

Club Volleyball: Club A Tryouts

Finally. Our first tryout ever. I was kind of a nervous wreck all day; checking the clock, checking the Club A website (which has kind of an outdated information minimalist vibe) and finally arrived at the gym a full 45 minutes early. I guess I wasn't the only parent champing at the bit as there were several girls there already. They hadn't even set up the registration table yet, but soon Kate was checked in and found some girls to begin warming up with. The first thing I noticed was the range of body types. Many were very very thin. They almost looked brittle. Also several pretty small girls.Kate is 5'8" which seemed about average compared with the other 45 girls. But she is not skinny. Kate will not blow over in the wind.

The gym was split into 2 courts and they announced that Club A would have 3 teams from the U15's and 16's, but did not really clarify what that meant. They had the 45-50 U15's go to one side and the 35 U16's go to the other side. I don't know how the other tryouts are going to play out, but that seemed like an awful lot of girls to evaluate. They ran through a number of drills, but the lines were long and there was alot of activity. It was disappointing to wait for Kate to touch the ball and then note the coach wasn't looking up right then. I think I would make a first cut about 45 minutes in so you could really evaluate the girls who have a real shot.

Kate was a setter in the 8th grade and went into the tryout as a setter this time, but during the first couple of drills they did not separate the girls out by position. Kate was on a drill on the outside left, got a good set and just nailed it into the back of the court. She went back to the end of the line and when she passed me she said "I don't want to be a setter any more. I want to be an outside hitter." I told her that was cool but she should show them she was versatile so when they asked for drill setters she volunteered, had some good sets, but then went back to the hitters. Then they separated the groups into setters, hitters and middle blockers. She continued to hit the ball well on her opportunities and I thought she held her own pretty well.

Some observations:

• If you are over 5'10" and 15 and athletic you can pretty much write your own ticket. There were 2 or 3 girls that blocked well and were tall like that. They were not the brittle body types I mentioned above.

• Nail your serves. I could not believe the number of girls who missed serves. Kate was 5-5 and it really stood out.

• Hustle. I don't think she did it on purpose (although it is a strategy we may discuss heading into our next set of tryouts!) but Kate went after a bad ball and dove and ended up at the coach's feet. I did not see alot of girls diving to get balls which were nearly impossible to save, but those that did were noticed.

• Club Volleyball Parents: don't yell at your kids. Kate said later "dad, I didn't hear you yell once. Good job!" I only got her attention twice: to tell her to not stand with her arms crossed while waiting in line because it looked like she was bored and then to suggest she volunteer to do some sets in addition to outside hitting so they could see she was well rounded.

The end came rather suddenly. I noticed them pulling a few girls out and telling them to go see the coach on the other side of the net where she was standing alone. The tall middle blockers went first. They got the entire group of 45 girls together and yelled Moxie and that was it. Kate came over and grabbed her bag and I said "is that it?" and she said she guessed so. There was no communication to anyone as to what the process was and several girls and parents looked confused. Then one of the coaches came up to Kate and said "congrats, you made it. Go over there with those other girls." The look on Kate's face was something I will never forget. Pure, unadulterated joy. There were 8-10 girls that they were talking with. When they were done, Kate came running up to her mom and me and excitedly told us that they were guaranteed a spot, that they knew there were other tryouts all weekend, but that they would contact her on Sunday evening to see if she wanted to play for Club A. I'm a little confused by it all; Kate had friends over on the U16 side and all of them were told that Club A would be following up with them via phone or email...so why was it that 8-10 U15's (Kate included) were told that they had a spot being held for them? I will definitely be watching how the next 3 tryouts are run compared to this one.

So all in all, club volleyball dad is quite happy. We are definitely looking forward to the other 3 tryouts this weekend and understand that Club A is a new club and that there would be no JO or Nationals or anything like that, but if the rest of the weekend does not result in an invitation, we will be OK cutting our teeth with them.

I told Kate this morning that she will be offered spots on other teams down the road, she may win tournaments, she may play in college...but nothing will ever be more special than the very first time she beat out 40 other girls to be offered her first spot on a team. Whether she plays with Club A or not, that moment will never come again and she should be proud and cherish it. I know I do.

Tryout #1

More tomorrow, but let me just say there is great joy in the house tonight. Good job, DD!

Hats off to the UW Women

Hats off the UW Women's Volleyball team, not only for their national ranking and great program, but for taking the time to chat with my DD via their Facebook page. She has attended several games this year, got autographs on a team poster, and is truly excited about communicating with them. Go Huskies!

Her Junior High VB coach gave her some good advice going into club volleyball tryouts tomorrow: to show the coaches that you are coachable. If they ask you to do something differently, do it enthusiastically. Don't say "my school coach said to do it this way." Not earth shattering, but good unselfish advice from someone who will be coaching her during the upcoming JH volleyball season.

Today's mission: a trip to Ben Franklin for ribbons. Gotta tie back that hair. Tomorrow: update after  Club A tryouts.

Club Volleyball: T minus 2 Days

Having just been woken from my club volleyball blog silence (thanks SBL!) I turn now to something of great importance: the bleacher chair I ordered a week ago has not arrived. And tryouts start Thursday! Funny what you focus on in times of stress, and for some odd reason I am feeling a little stressed. Soccer wrapped up on Saturday and we are having our team party tonight. When I asked Kate if she was fired up for Tuesday, she said "what's Tuesday?" "The soccer party," I replied. "Oh," she sighed, "I'm only thinking about volleyball now." That made me smile. It seems like it is taking forever for tryouts to begin, but begin they do with our first one scheduled for Thursday. 2 more on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. I have my ideas on which team I'd like Kate to play for, but there seem to be lots of things going on in my head. The Thursday tryouts are for a team considered a step below the other teams, but wonder if she doesn't get asked to be on this team. That will not bode well for the rest of the weekend. If she is asked and we say maybe because we want to see how the other tryouts go, wonder if they say 'we can't hold a spot' and then she does not make the other teams and we then have nothing? I know I'm overthinking this; all I want for Kate to do is to do her best, have fun, take it all in, and we'll let the chips fall where they may. As a complete newcomer to this, I will say that at first glance, the whole club volleyball tryout system with overlapping times etc. seems crazy. There has to be a better way. I am looking forward to observing the process. Kate is probably nervous too, but I know she's ready and we've taken in everyone's great advice about being enthusiastic and energetic and coachable and talked about it and the weekend is upon us. Now if only my chair could arrive!

Club Volleyball: Tryout shirt

Yesterday we shopped for shirts to wear at club volleyball tryouts that begin next week. This was a big discussion! An orange designer tee from Plato's Closet? Tie die? White with a quote from 'Lost'? Kate is starting to get fired up. She's doing crunches, practicing serves, stretching, hydrating and getting in the zone. One last soccer game this Saturday and her career as a defensive sweeper comes to an end. I must say that over the last 8 or 9 years, soccer has been really fun for us. Kate's team has had a core group of girls together for about 5 years now and I've even become the assistant coach for the last 2...what a pleasure it has been to see these little girls turn into young women in the 9th grade. We will miss this team and the friendships we've made, but next year it conflicts with HS Volleyball, so guess what wins? A good friend had a daughter in Club Soccer and I swore I was never going to let me life become taken over by something like that. And I wont; all our matches are indoors! Anyway, one week until Club A tryouts. Can't wait!

An Inspiring Story

Here is a great story about a local high school athlete who has come back from injury to help her team. These are exactly the kinds of stories I encourage Kate to read: a 5'6" player wearing a BRACE who leads her team with spirit and hustle. Height is genetic; the drive to win is not. Good luck, Riley!

Issaquah setter still goes all-out despite back brace

Expectations

Kate posted on Facebook yesterday that she was nervous about club volleyball tryouts and it made me pause. As a parent I am often guilty of having monstrous expectations when it comes to her participation in sports. As someone who spends a pretty fair amount of time watching the Mariners and the Rams and the Olympics, I see athletes perform at incredible levels every day...so much so that it looks almost 'easy.' And I'm sure that carries over to my expectations when I watch Kate play soccer or volleyball. It looks easy for the pro's so it should be easy for her. And that is a poor way to think. It's NOT easy, and to put ANY kind of enhanced pressure on her is wrong. I forget that she is a 14 year old girl just beginning to find her way...so dads pledge to her is to simply lay off. I will encourage and cheer and suffer along with her, but the goal now is to have fun and test the waters. If this truly becomes a passion that will be great, and if it doesn't, that will be great too. So be nervous, but be confident and have a good time!

Club Volleyball: Down to Four

So after reading all the club sites and using some calculus to determine a feasible tryout schedule, we are left with 4 teams that we will be trying out for. Although the Washington Volleyball Academy was not one of them due to how far away practices would be held, they seem top notch and depending on how Kate progresses, maybe its something we will look at next year. We begin our quest for club acceptance on Thursday, November 19th for Club A. Of the four, Club A seems the least intense and expensive. They are coached by a 2nd year college player. I'm happy the tryouts are on Thursday because it will allow Kate to get a feel for what it will be like the rest of the weekend. Saturday will be busy as we start out with Club B  from 12:30-3 then head down the street to Club C from 4-6. If Kate is not burned out by Saturday night, she may be a cyborg. Sunday will see us wrapping up tryouts with Club D. I really have no idea what to expect. We have heard really good things about Club B, but volleyball-wise they are probably a step down from Club C & D; no out of state tournaments, no JO, no Phoenix in June....but all that may be OK  this 9th grade year. Kate will be playing 9th grade volleyball at her junior high simultaneously...so...not going to stress. We try out for all 4 clubs and see what happens.

Club Volleyball: The Beginning

My journey down the road of club volleyball actually began a year ago. My daughter Kate (not her real name), 13 at the time, was about to try out for the junior high team and, having had a brief yet disappointing foray into a club several years prior, was open to the idea of joining a more organized league. When my Google results (Seattle club volleyball) came back I was a bit taken aback: 2,180,000 results. I read every one and then realized that most of the tryouts were the same weekend Kate and I would be in Mexico. Club Volleyball was officially ON HOLD. A year later, a year in which the 13 year old turned 14 and decided Twilight was stupid, a year in which much volleyball was played at school, we are back to square one. Googling. But this time I was prepared. This time I had done a little more research by having Kate ask her friends and coaches about local clubs. There are dozens and dozens of clubs in the Seattle area and with practices that occur 2-3 times weekly, it is necessary to weed some of those clubs out due only to geographic necessity. Thus I was left with several clubs to investigate:

Northwest Juniors
High Velocity
Washington Volleyball Academy
Moxie Juniors
YMCA Blaze
Island Thunder
Sudden Impact
Rain City

Much to their credit, they all have websites. OK, some more professional than others. And by late October, most has posted their tryout dates. Several things became clear. Your daughter does indeed need to try out. For one of 12 spots. When I was in Little League so many years ago, you went to your tryouts and you were assigned a team. Not so in club volleyball. We're joining a club to get better, but you have to be good to even be ASKED to plop down your $1-4K. Which segues right into the expense. It's not cheap. No no no. Dues, travel, equipment, hotels, time....but it's for Kate. I get it. One of my assumptions was that all the clubs would communicate with each other and coordinate their tryout schedule. Ummm....no. It is adversarial. I suppose that's natural when they are all going after the same talent. So after checking each club out, determining when and where practices would be and mapping out a tryout strategy, I was left with 4 clubs. 4 sets of tryouts spread over 3 days in late November. All or nothing. Next, which clubs and why.