Select Volleyball

[Ungawa]

My daughter is in 8th grade and is interested in select volleyball, so the wife started checking into it.

Is it standard practice to charge a player just to tryout for a team?

I think the whole thing seems too much, too expensive, too time consuming and pretty much a money maker for someone. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyone with any experience let me know your story on this, please. Its all new to me. Thanks

[clinthwt]

My daughter got on one this year. We were not charged to try out but once she made the team, that when I had to stroke a check. I will say that the tournaments and the practice have taken her game up a notch. She wasn't getting the playing time I thought she should be getting in 8-9 grade, so we went with the "work harder than the others to earn playing time". It is a pricey investment, but I saw her improve very quick and she is getting more playing time. I think she gets more out of the private lessons we also do, if you can find a private coach that may be a better route.

[sboudreaux]

I can’t say we have a lot of experience with it but my daughter is playing on a club team this year for the first time. They did charge for the tryout & it’s definitely not cheap. The prices varied from club to club & what level they are playing at. My daughter loves the sport so we are going to stick with it as long as she still does.

[Ilik2hunt]

Our daughter played club volleyball,I don’t remember paying to try out,yes it’s expensive but if she is planning on playing high school volleyball she almost has to play club ball to compete with the other girls who did play club.Our daughters high school team were all club players and pretty much all played together on the same club team.Your talking about cost,the team is just the beginning,we traveled all over the U.S. for tournaments,there’s airfare,rooms,etc. for her and the parents,but with all the expense and time we had a blast and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.It also helped with college,as in offers,and scholarship money.

[Ungawa]

Thanks everyone. Yes I can see the difference in those that play select and those that don't. Our school district is in a low income/rural area and it shows. Most of the other schools are from the Austin Metro area and it was pointed out to us the reason the teams they play are so good is because of select play.

She is in 8 grade and her school has yet to win a game since she began playing in 7th. I would have done quit back in my day.

I'm just not sure about paying $50 to be told NO and her having to deal with that. She is surprisingly concerned on how much we spend on her and her brother. But then again she could be missing out on an opportunity.

[rtp]

Are they just trying to cover the costs of holding a tryout or do you think this is a money maker for them?


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[Ungawa]

Are they just trying to cover the costs of holding a tryout or do you think this is a money maker for them?



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I have no idea, this is all new to me. I have heard of select baseball and I thought it was the teams come looking for players, but it seems the players come looking for the teams now days. Seems like a lot of money involved. Not sure if it mainly covers travel, food, facilities, uniforms or what? or is it mainly going in someone's pocket. Don't know. That's why I posted on here. Good honest answers is what typically is offered up on here! Keep them coming, I'm just trying to educate myself on this.

[easeup]

club sports

Our daughter played club volleyball,I don’t remember paying to try out,yes it’s expensive but if she is planning on playing high school volleyball she almost has to play club ball to compete with the other girls who did play club.Our daughters high school team were all club players and pretty much all played together on the same club team.Your talking about cost,the team is just the beginning,we traveled all over the U.S. for tournaments,there’s airfare,rooms,etc. for her and the parents,but with all the expense and time we had a blast and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.It also helped with college,as in offers,and scholarship money.

ungawa, you need to stop and think about what goals and dreams you have for your kids. that is what you spend your money and time on. In this case, if one were to wish that their son/daughter could one day suit up on the varsity team, then they need to prepare years earlier to obtain the skills needed to compete. It is clear as night and day which ones have and have not been competing when they become teens. School teams are competitive. Kids when the join, they want to play and contribute and fit in. If they dont have the skills, they cant do any of that. Sports then become a lose/ lose deal.

Invest early to reap a reward later.
For us our kids are grown now, but we are happy we went the club route as our children learned all the good things athletic competition brings, they have good memories of it all too. I think if we had not done so, at best they would get a team jersey and always sit the bench; at worst they would have been cut at the tryout and potentially grow up with the I cant do that attitude or I will never be good enough for something else they might want to do.

best wishes to you

[BrandonH]

My daughter has been in club for several years & is a freshman this year. I'm familiar with most of the Houston area clubs & the tryout fees are anywhere from $50-75. I've never seen a club host tryouts without charging a fee. I'm sure they make money off the tryout fee, but at the same time they do have costs such as the building & coaches. Most clubs have several levels of teams starting at one that play all local tournaments, ones that stay within the state & usually the top 1 or 2 teams in each age group travel nationally, playing up to 5 or more national level tournaments.

We hope she gets a chance to play on the collegiate level, but I can promise even if she gets a full athletic scholarship we won't be saving any money after what we are spending on club, camps, & private lessons.

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[OldRiverRat]

The fee is used to cover some of the costs for tryouts but it’s also to weed out those that aren’t serious or that can’t afford what it costs after the tryouts.
I enjoyed it when my daughter played club VB, I’ve always enjoyed watching the sport. Moves quick and it’s indoors so weather isn’t an issue
In the end my daughter chose to focus on softball.


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[meathunter]

My daughter played from the time she was 8 until she graduated. She is now a freshmen on scholarship in college. Not playing because of the whole Covid issue. Hope she gets to have a few normal years as a college athlete. Anyways, most of the bigger clubs charge a tryout fee and the if you make the team and commit, they apply it to your fees. Covers gym rental and coaches pay for those running the drills. My wife played at A&M and coached club until my daughters 18s season which payed all club fees, saved us a ton of money.

[glen]

If you do choose to go that route don’t keep up with how much is cost or it will drive you crazy. Just go enjoy trips with your daughter.

[dhall1414]

It's pretty standard to charge for tryouts. As others have stated it covers the cost of the gym rental, insurance, coaches wages, and depreciation on equipment (there's always a few balls that go missing and they're upwards of $50 new). Although things vary from club to club and definitely from region to region. You should be in the Lone Star Region.

I've been involved with girls club volleyball for 10ish years and coached my own teams for 7, all in the DFW area, aka the North Texas Region (NTR). And my dad has been involved with junior club volleyball since the 90s after having played since the early 70s when they used dinosaur leather for the balls.

Your daughter being in 8th grade should put her in the 13s or 14s age bracket, depending on her birthday. These two years are critical for the development of a volleyball player and establishing good discipline and technique early will pay huge dividends when they're 16/17. However, at 13/14 the girls are typically just starting to mature and those with natural talent will begin to standout more obviously. By 15s you'll start seeing the athletes drop off that are lacking either the passion for the game or the drive to be successful. The total population of the age group will also drop by about 50% each year.

Unfortunately there really is no easily available alternative to club volleyball. You might get lucky and find a coach somewhere that works outside the club system but they're rare and hard to find. For the vast majority of girls it's pretty cut throat. The schools have utterly failed at training kids to become athletes in their respective sports, with the exception of maybe football, hence why you're seeing girls playing club ball getting a distinct advantage against those that don't. They're simply getting more practice with better coaches.

The other big consideration is if you think your daughter has a future in volleyball, specifically through college. If she already has or could develop the talent, it's an excellent way to get scholarships. This was always the thing I pushed the hardest on the parents I worked with. It's by no means easy, but if your daughter can put her work in and develop solid skills in the volleyball she stands a very real chance at getting college partly or fully paid for. College coaches almost exclusively scout club volleyball and almost universally ignore high school ball, so the chances of an athlete getting to play in college without participating in club ball are extremely limited. They're basically relying on walk-on tryouts, which most coaches don't take seriously. I've spoken with dozens and dozens of college coaches about this.

I could go on for quite a while on this but I'll leave it here for this post. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like more info. I could even translate some of the jargon for you if the coaches or club directors try to dump it all on you at once.

[coachk]

club teams are making some people WAYYY rich!!! my wife is a head HS volleyball coach and our oldest has been playing club ball for 4 years...it is absolutely INSANE what all that crap costs!! my wife keeps telling me it will help her get a scholarship but I'm pretty sure we could pay for most of her college with what we're spending on the club scene! i told her we need to build a big air conditioned barn and start up our own team!!ha Granted, it has helped my daughter improve just by the sheer number of games she gets to play...and some club coaches are better than others of course, just like anywhere! make sure ya do your homework on the club/team/coach!

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[jonate98]

club teams are making some people WAYYY rich!!! my wife is a head HS volleyball coach and our oldest has been playing club ball for 4 years...it is absolutely INSANE what all that crap costs!! my wife keeps telling me it will help her get a scholarship but I'm pretty sure we could pay for most of her college with what we're spending on the club scene! i told her we need to build a big air conditioned barn and start up our own team!!ha Granted, it has helped my daughter improve just by the sheer number of games she gets to play...and some club coaches are better than others of course, just like anywhere! make sure ya do your homework on the club/team/coach!

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^^^^this...we did it for 5 years on national travel team...cost me out the ***...went to Orlando 3 times, Philadelphia twice, New York City once and Chicago the last season not to mention all the in state tourneys all over Texas chasing some stupid *** “bid” for nationals. my daughter was on the top team every club season and played all around while on the court, but I finally had to to put the brakes on this year...fees were getting ridiculous and we had a toxic mom who’s daughter made the team this past season and she literally broke the whole team apart, most went to other clubs because of her and we had a great core group that had been playing together for three years. We opted out this year and putting that money aside for her college fund. It’s kinda sad that colleges only look at club kids these days, heck I can remember back in the day if you were a stud in regular school ball scouts were at the Games vetting you. Like mentioned up top do your homework, some clubs offer a “scholarship” to help offset the cost. But be ready to fork out some coin if they bump here up that travel team!


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