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 I was kind of a nervous wreck all day; checking the clock, checking the Club A website (which has kind of an outdated information minimalist vibe) and finally arrived at the gym a full 45 minutes early.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.