Set or Pass?
Should My Kid Play Club Volleyball?
By some accounts, volleyball is now the most popular youth sport for girls. But when I tried to find inside information on club volleyball a few years ago in order to decide whether my daughter should play, I did not find much out there that I found useful, practical or not overtly biased. So now that we are a few years in to the club experience, I thought I would share some experience with those making this consideration. I’m certainly no expert, but I was not looking for an expert — just what to expect.
Background
When my daughter first wanted to play club volleyball three years ago, I did not even know what “club” volleyball was. When my wife told me how much it cost, I thought it was a bad joke and I had no interest in joining the club. My daughter already played volleyball on her 4th grade school team and the thought of paying a few thousand dollars to play for a few months at the end of the season seemed fairly insane to me. I wouldn’t even consider it. Now, two paying seasons later, we pay multiples of that initial quote and hear of clubs that charge up to $6,000 per season. It is crazy or “worth it?” I’ll share some considerations we have learned both directly and from parents who have been doing it for far longer.
Giving it a Try
I always wanted my daughter to play team sports in order to build teambuilding skills and competitive qualities. Before volleyball, she was on a competitive swim team. Swimming is not my idea of a great team building sport. I wanted her playing the same game, at the same time, with teammates working together. Volleyball fits that bill very well. You have to pass to each other, rely on your teammates and work together to be successful. It is just good for life skills (at least in my mind). A year later, we decided to give it a try and started our first club season. Depending on your goals and motivations, it may be a fit for you and your daughter.
Will my Kid Fall Behind?
Club volleyball is not the only way a kid can play volleyball and build these skills. School teams provide the things I want to see her experience. However, does your child have a realistic chance of playing for the school team if she does not play club? Some of my daughter’s school teammates played club volleyball and we thought she might fall behind. She just wanted to play club because she loves to play any chance she gets. Turns out, this is a very good reason to play club. Many public schools will not have team volleyball until middle school or later. We are fortunate in that our school team starts in 4th grade. However, already as of the 6th grade, the kids on the school team that do not play club are way, way behind the club players. An acquaintance of mine is a retired administrator at a Catholic High School volleyball powerhouse. She indicates that kids really need not even try out for this high school without significant prior club experience. “[Parents] have no idea,” she told me. “They show up at tryouts with kids as freshman who have never played and they have absolutely no chance.” School coaches are also commonly local club coaches so the kids that play club will probably know, and be known, by their school coaches prior to tryouts. Maybe your kid is a great athlete and it will not matter. For most, high school success is going to require significant club experience.
Is it about a College Scholarship?
College scholarships do not rank very high for me as a justification for club volleyball. My daughter feels differently and sees herself playing in college. She is self-motivated in all of this. Who knows, she is only 12 now and could easily change her mind. What she does not need to know right now is that the odds of getting a college scholarship are not very good. Look at the statistics for yourself. There seems to be around a 6% chance of getting a scholarship at any level. That includes all colleges, even junior colleges, and all scholarships — even those providing only minimal financial assistance. Getting a “free ride” at a major college must defy astronomical odds. Never-the-less, this is the carrot that many clubs want parents to buy into when writing big checks.
We routinely play tournaments at a huge club with thousands of girls who have played over the years. They are very successful as a club and even have national championships to their credit. They proudly display the colleges where players have gone to play on a huge banner that hangs for everyone to see. I am always more struck by how few names are there relative to the total number of kids that have played as well as the abundance of scholarships from very small local schools or junior colleges.
If you are doing this for a valuable college scholarship, club volleyball is a bad idea in my mind. The cash value of a full scholarship to a junior college is not likely to come close to what you will spend on years of club fees and travel expenses. For the vast makority of club players, college volleyball at any level will not even be an option. If you are hell bent on trying to get a scholarship, club is probably a necessity — both in building the necessary skill level and because colleges seem to recruit at club tournaments more than high school events.
What Should I Expect?
When I was making the decision, I really wanted to know what to expect from the club experience. I had so many questions. What type of parents would spend thousands of dollars on a kid’s sport? How would these clubs be run? What is the real difference between levels of teams for the same ages at the same clubs? Where would we travel for tournaments? What level of coaching would we get? There is simply too much to cover but I will try to provide some things I wish I knew.
You are mostly paying for coaching. Know the credentials and experience of your coaches and do not pay until you are comfortable that you are really getting what you should be getting. Our first year of club season, we got a bait and switch and the coach ended up being the 15 year old daughter of the club organizer. Needless to say, the level of instruction was not high. We made the most of it but would never be placed in that situation again. A highly regarded coach left town this year right before the season started. We really never got the spot replaced (even though we are paying for an assistant coach). In this case, the head coach is good enough that it probably does not matter.
Try out for multiple clubs in your area and make sure your daughter is playing with teammates that are at her level or higher. As a genuine team sport, playing with very weak players will not properly advance your daughter’s game. Keep in mind that an “elite” team for a smaller club may be weaker than a “select” team at a larger club. The terms differ but they do have different levels for each age group. The highest levels usually cost more, have more practices and tournaments. In my view, place your child on the highest level for which they are accepted at the best club. If cost is an issue, try out for an older team on a smaller club. We were offered a spot on a 15 year olds team for our 12 year old. We decided that was too big of a difference in ages for social (as opposed to athletic) reasons.
Don’t expect clubs or tournaments to be run in a professional manner. Many clubs are nonprofits run by jocks. Organization will be hit or miss, at best. Dedicate yourself to simply rolling with it. Nothing will happen when or how they say it will. Tournaments will change, start late, finish late. Material referee roles at large tournaments will be played by children from other teams when they are not playing in their own games. They will miss obvious calls and not pay attention while keeping score. Your kid will be required to referee for other teams. Rest assured that it will be a total cluster and try not to let it stress you out.
Try to stay in an area hotel for games more than an hour away. You will get out late at night and be expected back early the next day. The schedule will not say that, but this is what will invariably happen. Again, expect absolute chaos.
Parents tend to not be as crazy as one might predict. Our experience has been very good so far. Sure, people lose it at games, yell at child referees and make their kids cry but, by in large, the people we have met have been balanced and sane. Expect the same nonsense you see in other child related activities: coaches playing their own kids to excessive and unwarranted degrees, politics as to who plays and gets on one team or another. . . You cannot get away from this stuff. Club volleyball is run by people like anything else. Do not anticipate a meritocracy because it most definitely will not be one.
So a few years in, our daughter is one of the youngest players on the “elite” team in the biggest club in our area. The cost is higher and the travel is more frequent. What have we decided for the future regarding club volleyball? Absolutely nothing. This is a major time and financial commitment. Luckily, we are in a position to make that work financially and my wife is a stay at home mom that can cart my daughter around to the frequent practices. That said, this is a year-by-year decision for us. Next year, we may drive even further for a more talented pool at a larger club in a larger area. We may make a move based on coaching. We may decide not to do club at all. This will be mostly based on our daughter’s drive and interest but we have no preconceived ideas about playing at the club or with the team we are on this year.
My daughter loves the game and has enjoyed club volleyball. If you decide to play, I hope your experience is a good one overall as well.
