Sunday, January 1, 2017
Happy New Year
Hope 2017 turns out to be great for all of you and you find what you need to improve and grow in your love for volleyball
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
My daughter (or son) didn't make a club team. Now what?
This question comes up every year...and it is time for frank talk.
First, there are a number of reasons kids don't make club teams:
First, there are a number of reasons kids don't make club teams:
- They tried out for the wrong teams. That is, teams that were too good for their ability or teams that really didn't need any players and were just going through the motions at tryouts.
- They got cut from a team they made last year and didn't have any backups
- They got cut from teams that they were sure they could make.
- They missed tryouts all together
- They didn't understand about select teams and so failed to even try out.
There are many more, I am sure.
Second, there is a chance, a good chance, that your daughter or son just isn't very good at volleyball but they like it and want to get better. That doesn't mean they are a non-athlete. They just, for whatever reason, don't have the skill set to make a select team at this moment. Note that in grade school there are a number of kids who play volleyball because they have failed at every other sport. I have seen this time and time again. Kids that really shouldn't be playing competitive sports wanting to play them. Still, the system should exist that those kids get a chance to work on their skills and become the best players they can be. I have personally seen kids who had no ability in volleyball continue to work hard at it and become good high school players.
Let me say this: ANY kid who actually wants to play a sport and truly wants to get better at it should have that chance. There are plenty of opportunities for kids to improve in volleyball outside of select teams. In fact, it may be a blessing that your son or daughter got cut from a select team as there are some really bad select teams out there. Maybe it is due to bad attitudes by the players, bad coaches, lack of practice time, low skill level of the team, whatever. Whatever the reason, parents and players who got cut from select teams should begin with thinking that it is really a blessing in disguise. For a kid with limited volleyball skills the old Groucho Marx one-liner comes to mind 'I wouldn't want to be part of a club that would have me as a member'. Translation: If your son or daughter doesn't have the skills to play a select sport yet and is average (or smaller) size, what does it say about a team if it is filled with those players and how much will they actually improve?
So, once you have come to the realization that it is probably a good thing your child is not playing select, now you should consider other options. Here is what I normally advise parents to do:
1. There are leagues for kids who get cut from select teams. They normally play in the winter. Sometimes these are run at your local Y. Sometimes these are run by sports facilities looking to fill court time. These are sometimes run by club teams as a public service and/or as a fundraiser. Be warned that these are generally VERY basic, maybe not even as good as a grade school league, but these are places where your kids can constantly get touches.
2. The cheapest club team (besides mine) that I have found is $600. Teams generally cost over $1000 and can go as high as $3000 a year per player, all things considered. If we look at the low end of $1000, that is a lot of money. I have done a calculation that showed that if you just consider touches on the ball, if you just go to 4 one-week, 8 hour a day camps you are likely to get more touches on the ball (and likely better individual instruction) than you would get on a local-only club team. Plus, those touches would be in the summer right before the grade school or high school tryouts, meaning your child would polish their skills right when they need it, as opposed to getting better at volleyball only to have those skills atrophy between April and August. How many summer, week-long camps do you think you could go to for $1000? I think, if you choose correctly, the answer would be 3-4. For many people, this will be money better spent than playing on a low level club team.
3. Here is the big one for me: parents have to get involved. In addition to finding out about 1. and 2. above, you have to be willing to get involved in their child's improvement. Be honest, if your child is doing well in school do you spend 2-3 hours a night helping them with their homework? Probably not. However, if they are struggling in school don't you put in more time to help them? Probably. The same is true for volleyball. If you, as a parent, can learn more about volleyball technique you can be the biggest asset your young athlete has. Practicing with them in the back yard or at the playground is a great way to get them plenty of touches on a ball. Here is just one example of a good drill that you can do with your child.
Passing: stand underneath the basket of a basketball court and have your child stand facing the basket at the top of the key. Toss them the ball and have them try to bump (forearm pass) the ball into the basketball basket. Once they are good at doing that you can toss the ball a little to their right or left to give them practice at accomplishing that skill if they have to move.
Setting: Do the same drill but stand perpendicular to foul lane, halfway between the end line of the basketball court and the foul line about 10 feet away from the foul lane and have your child stand at the foul line facing the basket. Toss them the ball and have them set the ball into the basket.
Serving. Have you child stand at half court and have them serve the ball so it hits the backboard. This works for overhand as well as underhand serving. Or, if you are in the back yard and have a garage, draw a line on the garage wall about 8 feet off the ground, have your child stand 40 feet away from the garage wall and serve the ball over that line. Note that I have seen kids make select teams just because they could serve hard overhand and all they did to learn that skill was to practice over and over again for months in their back yard serving the ball off their garage.
There are many more things you can do to help your child improve. The internet is full of volleyball technique videos. You don't have to be a volleyball player to teach your child volleyball. You just have to surf the web to get the information and have to have a passion for your child being successful at something they like. Any kid can become proficient enough at volleyball that they can be an important part of a team. It might require more hard work than taller or more athletically gifted athletes but it is worth it, believe me. But it has to start with the parent being an advocate (1. and 2. above) and a supporter of their child getting better.
If your child isn't good enough to make a select team it means they have some deficit in their skill set. Help them to fill in that deficit by being their advocate and their biggest supporter.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Agenda Teams
What, you may ask, is an agenda team? Good question. Here is my definition:
In club volleyball, any team whose goal is something other than to make all the players on the team the best they can be.
Unfortunately, any team that has favoritism in playing time or whose goal is to qualify for nationals might fall in such a category. But, for now, let's limit our definition of agenda teams to those who are put together for some defined volleyball purpose and that this purpose may or may not be in the best interest of individual development of players as volleyball players.
Hey, don't get me wrong. I think agenda teams have their place in club volleyball.
In the past, select basketball teams whose players also play high school volleyball have gotten together to play volleyball just to keep their skills sharp. The season was tailored to and made so it didn't interfere with high school and select basketball
There have also been clubs over the years, especially clubs founded in rural areas, that are designed to help keep their HS program strong from year to year by getting the kids from a HS team to play together all year.
There are probably more examples of agenda teams that I haven't thought of.
The key in all this should be the coaching and the commitment of the players to excellence.
I have seen too many times that an agenda team has bad coaching or the commitment of the players is less than necessary to accomplish the goals of that team.
I have seen HS coaches who have steered their kids towards a team that helps their HS program but not making sure that team has a competent coach, at least as good or better than what those players would get if they just went to tryouts like everyone else.
So, as parents, when you are asked to be on an agenda team, just make sure that you are getting your money's worth. No favoritism, good coaching, reasonable fees and enough commitment from all the players and coaches to make it worth while. Ask these questions and, if necessary, have a frank discussion with your HS coach to make sure they are aware of any concerns you have.
Good luck at tryouts!
In club volleyball, any team whose goal is something other than to make all the players on the team the best they can be.
Unfortunately, any team that has favoritism in playing time or whose goal is to qualify for nationals might fall in such a category. But, for now, let's limit our definition of agenda teams to those who are put together for some defined volleyball purpose and that this purpose may or may not be in the best interest of individual development of players as volleyball players.
Hey, don't get me wrong. I think agenda teams have their place in club volleyball.
In the past, select basketball teams whose players also play high school volleyball have gotten together to play volleyball just to keep their skills sharp. The season was tailored to and made so it didn't interfere with high school and select basketball
There have also been clubs over the years, especially clubs founded in rural areas, that are designed to help keep their HS program strong from year to year by getting the kids from a HS team to play together all year.
There are probably more examples of agenda teams that I haven't thought of.
The key in all this should be the coaching and the commitment of the players to excellence.
I have seen too many times that an agenda team has bad coaching or the commitment of the players is less than necessary to accomplish the goals of that team.
I have seen HS coaches who have steered their kids towards a team that helps their HS program but not making sure that team has a competent coach, at least as good or better than what those players would get if they just went to tryouts like everyone else.
So, as parents, when you are asked to be on an agenda team, just make sure that you are getting your money's worth. No favoritism, good coaching, reasonable fees and enough commitment from all the players and coaches to make it worth while. Ask these questions and, if necessary, have a frank discussion with your HS coach to make sure they are aware of any concerns you have.
Good luck at tryouts!
Friday, September 9, 2016
Here's how it should be done!
OK, I have hinted around it but now is time to put all the cards on the table. Two problems I think exist in club volleyball in our region:
- Volleyball is too expensive in the Gateway Region. Club volleyball has become a big business and with that comes high overhead which is passed on to parents. Plus the smaller clubs, seeing how much the bigger clubs are charging, think that it OK to charge a lot because it will still be much less than what the bigger clubs charge.
- This region has become saturated with clubs and teams. When there are 80+ teams in a division and close to 500 girls TEAMS in our region how likely is it that your daughter will end up with a good coach? Or, how likely is it that 700 kids per age group really need to be playing club volleyball and how does that effect the quality of the learning experience for the better players if the progression of training is based on the weaker players on a team?
What we are left with is mediocrity. That is not necessarily a bad thing as only 10-15% of kids who play club volleyball in this region are likely to end up with college volleyball scholarships and most of those that do are concentrated in the top clubs. But with mediocrity (as defined by just getting better for your HS team) should come low cost and THAT is what is not happening.
Many clubs are STILL having their kids buy warmups and bags. Some of the lower ranked teams in our region are STILL going to out-of-town national qualifiers and big tournaments spending over $1000 per family per tournament if they go with their child. Clubs are also not looking for cheap practice facilities because the cost of practicing doesn't matter to them because they just pass it on to parents AND, since most clubs are charging $700 or more per player per season, there is room in the budget to pay for expensive practice time.
Club volleyball in our area can be done differently and I have said how over and over again. Now, here is the proof.
My club is QUICK VBC. In the 2015-6 season we had two teams. They both cost under $300 to play for, uniforms included. We didn't do any fundraising. We just kept costs down to the bare minimum by effort and in the spirit of volunteerism. Here were their results:
- The 8th grade team finished ranked 26th in the region. All 9 of the kids on that team made their varsity as freshmen. I would like to see any other club make that claim and, if they can, tell us what it cost the parents over the past 4 years to have that result. The parents of our 14s have paid barely over $1000 to parents TOTAL over the past 4 years to play for this team. Most other clubs charge over $1000 for just one year. And, while I love these kids and they are all good volleyball players and athletes, they all come from the North County CYC program, which, annually, has ZERO teams even win one match in the City/County playoffs IN ANY AGE GROUP. So, its not like we just got a bunch of great players and they had this success on their own. Bottom line: these kids worked hard and were trained well and we did it cheaply.
- The 17s team practiced once a week, on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon. We only played tournaments in Illinois to keep the traveling down for parents. This team finished ranked 36th in the region (out of 80+ teams). Bottom line: we fit our schedule into the players' lives and not the other way around and STILL were successful and trained the kids well and cheaply.
Hey, I am not trying to get you to play for QUICK VBC. We don't have enough coaches or facilities yet to grow the program bigger than it currently is. However, EVERY club should be able to do what we have done...and do it every year. That is, keep costs down and train the kids well.
So, as you go into the club season starting with open gyms, I think you should ask yourself these questions:
- Why do I need to pay $10 a player for open gyms or tryouts? I doubt that people are getting their $10 worth but the clubs, who sometimes have over 100 kids show up per age group, are certainly getting their money's worth. Should we really be funding these open gyms for the big clubs when, realistically, 95% of the kids who attend the open gyms for larger clubs have close to ZERO percent chance to make the #1 team or even the #2 team in that club.
- Why do I need to buy all this extra equipment like gym bags and warmups?
- Did my club work hard enough to find free or cheap gyms?
- Is my club being fiscally responsible with my money?
- Is my club going to play my daughter at the position SHE needs, instead of the position where the team needs her to play?
- What is my coach being paid and are they worth it?
So, what is the bottom line for parents: Do your research. Club volleyball has become and will remain a business. Unfortunately, unlike websites that rate businesses and services or the Better Business Bureau complaint system, there is not a single place you can go to get a rating of clubs.
Start now and do your research. That research will help parents become better consumers. Looking at regional rankings from last year is a good tool. Asking clubs in advance of tryouts what they will charge and having frank discussions with them about whether they are REALLY looking for a whole team or whether they are just looking for a couple of players. Asking them about their travel schedule also will help.
To clubs I say let's stop the overcharging families and giving them a crappy product. I once heard that a certain club director said that they wanted to personally make over $100,000 a year running their club. Another club director quit their steady, decent paying full time job to become club director. Another club allowed undertrained grade school coaches who had no business coaching a select sport to not only coach but to have their kid play for free in that program. Just because they needed a coach for a team they wanted to have in their club. Teams are traveling to expensive tournaments spending a lot of the parents' money when they have no chance to do anything but win 1-2 matches, usually on the last day of the event when they are playing other teams like themselves. There are hundreds of stories of kids having to play out of position because the team needs them to do that for the success of the team. Hey, isn't this about parents pay the money to get clubs to train the kids at the position best for that player, not what's best for the team? There are story after story in this region of people making money and not providing a good product. None of these examples above should EVER happen if this is really grassroots volleyball and if providing good training at a reasonable price is the goal, as it should be FOR EVERY TEAM IN EVERY CLUB.
To clubs I say let's stop the overcharging families and giving them a crappy product. I once heard that a certain club director said that they wanted to personally make over $100,000 a year running their club. Another club director quit their steady, decent paying full time job to become club director. Another club allowed undertrained grade school coaches who had no business coaching a select sport to not only coach but to have their kid play for free in that program. Just because they needed a coach for a team they wanted to have in their club. Teams are traveling to expensive tournaments spending a lot of the parents' money when they have no chance to do anything but win 1-2 matches, usually on the last day of the event when they are playing other teams like themselves. There are hundreds of stories of kids having to play out of position because the team needs them to do that for the success of the team. Hey, isn't this about parents pay the money to get clubs to train the kids at the position best for that player, not what's best for the team? There are story after story in this region of people making money and not providing a good product. None of these examples above should EVER happen if this is really grassroots volleyball and if providing good training at a reasonable price is the goal, as it should be FOR EVERY TEAM IN EVERY CLUB.
So, to end, here is some more advice for clubs:
1. Don't build your club budget on having 3-4 teams per age group. The last team (or two teams) in an age group almost always gets the crappy end of the deal. There was a #2 team in a big club that, this past year, finished in the bottom 15% of teams in the region in their age group. Thousands of dollars and they finished that low. Ridiculous. Did that club give the parents a refund for such a bad product? I doubt it.
2. If you are NOT a top 10 team in the region, don't charge a lot of money trying to be.
3. If you are in the bottom 1/3 of clubs in the region in terms of average performance, stop going to out-of-town qualifiers and large tournaments, wasting the parents' money. You are there to train their kids just to make them better. From 30 years of experience I can tell you that traveling out of town does little or nothing for most of the kids in this region to make them better volleyball players.
4. Clubs need to stop asking kids to buy sweatsuits, gym bags, etc. Nobody really NEEDS those things and, guess what, looking good doesn't make you any better as a player...or as a team.
5. Stop charging so much for the cattle calls that are tryouts and open gyms. Stop using it as a club fundraiser. The tryout system is so set in stone by now that charging $5 instead of $10 for open gyms and tryouts will not significantly increase the number of kids who show up. The only thing it will do is make your club make a little less money and to that I say SO WHAT?
6. Coaches need to stop asking to be paid if they can't vastly improve every player on their team every year. I sincerely doubt that there are over 500 coaches in this area that can do that. You should coach because you love it and if clubs can't get enough coaches that love to coach AND have the ability to do that, they should have fewer teams instead of paying mediocre coaches to do a mediocre job. If you are not good at coaching why would you expect to be paid for doing it? It's like life. If you are good at your job you usually get paid for it. If you are not you usually get fired or can't get that job.
7. Don't form any new clubs or teams out of frustration with the current system. There are already too many clubs out there. I don't know for a fact but I would say as many as 10-20% of kids who play club volleyball get cut before they make their varsity team in high school. That is a sign to me that too many kids are playing club volleyball. If parents would just save those thousands of dollars and spend it on summer camps they would likely be better off, in my opinion.
It is time to make a change to club volleyball in St. Louis. Time to make it better and parents should not expect to be crapped on and, when it happens, they should not say "May I have some more, please"
As long as the parents put up with overcharging, bad coaching, not putting each player's development first AND paying the large amount it costs to play on many of these clubs, the situation will not change.
Time to make club volleyball a better, more cost effective part of the St. Louis area. It should be both things, with clubs improving across the board so that EVERY kid has the best experience possible. And, if the clubs can't do that they either should have fewer teams or not be in operation.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Balance between volleyball and life
We have probably all seen the t-shirt slogan "Volleyball IS Life".
Let's start by saying that people with some passion are generally more driven people than people who just go through life like life is a buffet.
So, if your passion is volleyball I am there with you.
Passion for an activity is something that makes you forget about the ups and downs of that activity, the lack of fairness, the heartbreak, the individuals you have to deal with on your way through that passion. To coin an expression, you can change your job but you can't change your expression.
So, how do we balance our passion for volleyball with the reality of the world?
First, understand that your passion or vision of what that passion should be is not the same as that of everyone else who claims to have a passion for that activity. I cannot tell you how many people over the years whose 'passion' for volleyball died out soon after their kids stopped playing it. I also don't have enough fingers and toes to count the individuals I have met over the years whose passion for volleyball died away when they found they couldn't make a living at volleyball and, instead (gasp!) had to get a real job.
Second, understand IF your passion is just because your kids love the game. Yes, that is enough and it can be pure and not just self-serving. A lot of great coaches got into the game because they were coaching their own kids. The ones with passion, however, continued to learn, take clinics, become nationally certified, etc. They were TRULY passionate about volleyball.
Third, to build on #2, surround yourself by people who share your passion. If the coach who coaches your child can't prove to you that they are constantly improving themselves as a coach then they don't have passion. I don't know what the number actually is but my guess is that 80% of coaches or more in this region do absolutely nothing but coach and maybe work at camps. When I was young I had a real passion for coaching. I became a CAP Level II coach and attended three NCAA D-I final four tournaments and the associated coaching clinics. I paid for that all myself because I wanted to learn. There are coaches in this region who still do that. Unfortunately for the average family in our region, those coaches usually coach for upper level age groups in upper level clubs. Saying, as a coach, that you love the game and want to share that game with kids is a prerequisite for coaching. However, it is not the only thing a coach needs. They need to constantly get better. Most coaches are getting paid for coaching now. In any business you expect your employees to have continual self-improvement.
Fourth, and final, if this is truly your passion, give it more time and effort than any other activity in your life. In my almost 30 years of coaching I have seen parents who started CYC coaching their own kids and then just stayed around, even after their kids were grown, and coached other CYC teams and trained new coaches.
Passion is important in volleyball. We all need to have balance in life between our passions and the rest of our lives. However, the really passionate people about volleyball or anything, blur that line because their passion gives them fulfillment. Surround yourself and kids by people passionate in the sport and you will be creating young people with the passion for the sport.
Let's start by saying that people with some passion are generally more driven people than people who just go through life like life is a buffet.
So, if your passion is volleyball I am there with you.
Passion for an activity is something that makes you forget about the ups and downs of that activity, the lack of fairness, the heartbreak, the individuals you have to deal with on your way through that passion. To coin an expression, you can change your job but you can't change your expression.
So, how do we balance our passion for volleyball with the reality of the world?
First, understand that your passion or vision of what that passion should be is not the same as that of everyone else who claims to have a passion for that activity. I cannot tell you how many people over the years whose 'passion' for volleyball died out soon after their kids stopped playing it. I also don't have enough fingers and toes to count the individuals I have met over the years whose passion for volleyball died away when they found they couldn't make a living at volleyball and, instead (gasp!) had to get a real job.
Second, understand IF your passion is just because your kids love the game. Yes, that is enough and it can be pure and not just self-serving. A lot of great coaches got into the game because they were coaching their own kids. The ones with passion, however, continued to learn, take clinics, become nationally certified, etc. They were TRULY passionate about volleyball.
Third, to build on #2, surround yourself by people who share your passion. If the coach who coaches your child can't prove to you that they are constantly improving themselves as a coach then they don't have passion. I don't know what the number actually is but my guess is that 80% of coaches or more in this region do absolutely nothing but coach and maybe work at camps. When I was young I had a real passion for coaching. I became a CAP Level II coach and attended three NCAA D-I final four tournaments and the associated coaching clinics. I paid for that all myself because I wanted to learn. There are coaches in this region who still do that. Unfortunately for the average family in our region, those coaches usually coach for upper level age groups in upper level clubs. Saying, as a coach, that you love the game and want to share that game with kids is a prerequisite for coaching. However, it is not the only thing a coach needs. They need to constantly get better. Most coaches are getting paid for coaching now. In any business you expect your employees to have continual self-improvement.
Fourth, and final, if this is truly your passion, give it more time and effort than any other activity in your life. In my almost 30 years of coaching I have seen parents who started CYC coaching their own kids and then just stayed around, even after their kids were grown, and coached other CYC teams and trained new coaches.
Passion is important in volleyball. We all need to have balance in life between our passions and the rest of our lives. However, the really passionate people about volleyball or anything, blur that line because their passion gives them fulfillment. Surround yourself and kids by people passionate in the sport and you will be creating young people with the passion for the sport.
Saturday, August 6, 2016
High School Volleyball: What should your child have gained from club volleyball
It is high school tryout time. Missouri tryouts were completed yesterday. Illinois high school tryouts are next week. As kids from my club were trying out this past week I thought to myself: what should kids have gotten out of their club team that will help them in high school volleyball? In my opinion the player should expect to get trained to be effective in her high school environment with training in skills and positions that should maximize where and how she plays on her HS team. A freshman should make her JV team or, in some cases, even her varsity team. A sophomore should be on the varsity full-time and, in some cases, be all-conference, a junior should be an all-conference level player and a team leader and a senior should be a go-to player and a team leader and, in some cases, conference MVP, an all-area and maybe all-state player.
So how should club teams do that?
1. You should expect to be trained in the fundamentals of volleyball
While this is a given for what parents pay for club volleyball, what should happen is that EVERY player should be trained at all skills. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen an 8th grade girl who is subbed out in the back row and never got to serve, play defense or pass serve. When I have asked the parents of that kid, in many cases they say that their daughter really didn't get to do those skills much in practice, either.
When that girl gets to high school she is most likely to be considered a one-dimensional player. Unless her team has an extreme need for height, she is likely to be on the JV or freshman team.
One of the girls who played for me ended up as state player of the year, played on the junior national team and played D-I volleyball. She came to play for me because I promised (and followed through on that promise) to train her in the back row IN PRACTICE and to give her at least a few back row chances in games. Doing this helped make her a more well-rounded player in high school, where she was given the chance to play all the way around as a freshman. It also helped get her to the junior national team.
2. You should be trained at the best position for you, not the position to help make your club team win more.
Look, sometimes in high school a player is forced to play a position they are not the best at. If you are the only tall kid in your high school you will likely find yourself playing middle blocker. If you have only ever played OH or libero you may be asked to set if your team doesn't have a setter. That is because the emphasis is to put the best team on the floor you possibly can.
Club volleyball should be different. For what parents are paying their children should be trained at positions that are the best for their development as a player, NOT because playing a particular position will help the club team win more. That is really the difference between club and high school. Club should be 90% training and 10% winning and high school should be more like 70% winning and 30% training.
Here are a couple of anecdotes to show what I mean:
a. A number of years ago I coached a 14s team that had two 5'8" kids and three 5'5" kids. Most coaches would have just played the taller kids in the middle and the shorter kids on the outside as that is where they played on their previous club and grade school teams. However, I played the 5'8" kids on the outside because that was better for their development and played the 5'5" kids in the middle. We qualified for nationals that year and even went in as the #1 overall seed based on our wins that year against open-division teams. The following fall in tryouts the 5'8" girls made their varsities as freshman and the 5'5" kids made their JV and ended up having good high school careers.
b. More recently, I coached a year in a big club at the 14s level. We had a 5'7" girl with an incredible vertical leap. We had the luxury of three 5'10" or taller girls to hit middle so we could play the 5'7" girl on the outside. She was dominant. I saw a recruiting video of her on the internet with her hitting middle while playing for a different club. As an outside hitter (she is now 5'9" I believe) with her vertical and power she could have been an attractive player to colleges. As a 5'9" middle, probably not so much. How she ended up as a middle for the other club is a mystery to me. My guess is that with her height and vertical leap they felt it was best for that team if she hit middle.
b. This summer, while scouting HS summer league games, I saw a 5'8" girl who had played for two years for a big club in the area as a middle blocker. In addition to being 5'8" she had a good vertical leap, making her the 2nd best middle blocker on her club team. In this summer league game, however, the girl played outside hitter. Once she got into the flow she was just crushing the ball and appeared to me to be the best outside hitter in the gym that day. My question was how could this club team put that girl at middle blocker? My guess is because they looked at her and looked at the rest of the team and saw that their best chance to win was to have her hit middle and let a shorter girl hit outside. To me, that wasted the years that girl had with that club. As a big club I am sure they trained her in all the skills but they played her a position that was clearly not the best for her long term projection as a volleyball player. In my opinion, this was to help the team be successful.
In summary, playing players at positions that are best for them while, in the process, maybe sacrificing team success, is not new. Sports Performance in Chicago has been doing that for over 30 years as they would routinely pick a tall, thin, athletic girl and turn her into a setter in 6th grade when most people would have made her a middle blocker and even the most inventive team would have had her play outside. They developed some great setters for years doing this as when those girls got to high school they were competing with much shorter setters in both club and for college scholarships. For those of you familiar with high level volleyball, would you rather have a great 6'2" setter or a great 5'9" setter? I think the choice is obvious but, for these girls, that choice was made for them at a young age by a club coach who had to either choose to make the PLAYER the best they could be or the TEAM more successful. For the money parents are paying for club volleyball, I think we, as coaches, should always choose to make the player better and even sacrifice team success to do that. You never know. As I found out, you might even be able to have extreme team success and still think about the development of the players, as well.
So, when you look at how your daughter did in her high school tryouts this year, reflect back and think it any of that had anything to do with how she was trained in club and the position she played on her club team. As an FYI, we had 9 girls on the 14s team in our club last year. Seven of them made their high school varsities as freshmen, one will play both varsity and JV and one will play JV with a chance to play on varsity if the need arises. So, playing kids at appropriate positions and giving them rounded training can make a difference.
I urge all of you, when you go to club tryouts this year, make sure, if you are invited to play on a team, to ask the coach/coaches what position they expect your child to play. If they tell you they are going to take your tall, athletic child and play her at middle blocker or they are going to take your ultra-quick 5'1" daughter and play her at setter because she has great hands or are gong to take your 5'8" daughter with great hands and play her at OH or MB, you might want to think about looking for a different club that will play her at a more appropriate position for her skill set. Probably at the most 10-20% of club volleyball players end up playing volleyball in college. My guess is that a good number of other players are on teams just to fill out the rosters for the good players. For what you are paying, your child shouldn't be just a roster filler, at least in my opinion.
So how should club teams do that?
1. You should expect to be trained in the fundamentals of volleyball
While this is a given for what parents pay for club volleyball, what should happen is that EVERY player should be trained at all skills. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen an 8th grade girl who is subbed out in the back row and never got to serve, play defense or pass serve. When I have asked the parents of that kid, in many cases they say that their daughter really didn't get to do those skills much in practice, either.
When that girl gets to high school she is most likely to be considered a one-dimensional player. Unless her team has an extreme need for height, she is likely to be on the JV or freshman team.
One of the girls who played for me ended up as state player of the year, played on the junior national team and played D-I volleyball. She came to play for me because I promised (and followed through on that promise) to train her in the back row IN PRACTICE and to give her at least a few back row chances in games. Doing this helped make her a more well-rounded player in high school, where she was given the chance to play all the way around as a freshman. It also helped get her to the junior national team.
2. You should be trained at the best position for you, not the position to help make your club team win more.
Look, sometimes in high school a player is forced to play a position they are not the best at. If you are the only tall kid in your high school you will likely find yourself playing middle blocker. If you have only ever played OH or libero you may be asked to set if your team doesn't have a setter. That is because the emphasis is to put the best team on the floor you possibly can.
Club volleyball should be different. For what parents are paying their children should be trained at positions that are the best for their development as a player, NOT because playing a particular position will help the club team win more. That is really the difference between club and high school. Club should be 90% training and 10% winning and high school should be more like 70% winning and 30% training.
Here are a couple of anecdotes to show what I mean:
a. A number of years ago I coached a 14s team that had two 5'8" kids and three 5'5" kids. Most coaches would have just played the taller kids in the middle and the shorter kids on the outside as that is where they played on their previous club and grade school teams. However, I played the 5'8" kids on the outside because that was better for their development and played the 5'5" kids in the middle. We qualified for nationals that year and even went in as the #1 overall seed based on our wins that year against open-division teams. The following fall in tryouts the 5'8" girls made their varsities as freshman and the 5'5" kids made their JV and ended up having good high school careers.
b. More recently, I coached a year in a big club at the 14s level. We had a 5'7" girl with an incredible vertical leap. We had the luxury of three 5'10" or taller girls to hit middle so we could play the 5'7" girl on the outside. She was dominant. I saw a recruiting video of her on the internet with her hitting middle while playing for a different club. As an outside hitter (she is now 5'9" I believe) with her vertical and power she could have been an attractive player to colleges. As a 5'9" middle, probably not so much. How she ended up as a middle for the other club is a mystery to me. My guess is that with her height and vertical leap they felt it was best for that team if she hit middle.
b. This summer, while scouting HS summer league games, I saw a 5'8" girl who had played for two years for a big club in the area as a middle blocker. In addition to being 5'8" she had a good vertical leap, making her the 2nd best middle blocker on her club team. In this summer league game, however, the girl played outside hitter. Once she got into the flow she was just crushing the ball and appeared to me to be the best outside hitter in the gym that day. My question was how could this club team put that girl at middle blocker? My guess is because they looked at her and looked at the rest of the team and saw that their best chance to win was to have her hit middle and let a shorter girl hit outside. To me, that wasted the years that girl had with that club. As a big club I am sure they trained her in all the skills but they played her a position that was clearly not the best for her long term projection as a volleyball player. In my opinion, this was to help the team be successful.
In summary, playing players at positions that are best for them while, in the process, maybe sacrificing team success, is not new. Sports Performance in Chicago has been doing that for over 30 years as they would routinely pick a tall, thin, athletic girl and turn her into a setter in 6th grade when most people would have made her a middle blocker and even the most inventive team would have had her play outside. They developed some great setters for years doing this as when those girls got to high school they were competing with much shorter setters in both club and for college scholarships. For those of you familiar with high level volleyball, would you rather have a great 6'2" setter or a great 5'9" setter? I think the choice is obvious but, for these girls, that choice was made for them at a young age by a club coach who had to either choose to make the PLAYER the best they could be or the TEAM more successful. For the money parents are paying for club volleyball, I think we, as coaches, should always choose to make the player better and even sacrifice team success to do that. You never know. As I found out, you might even be able to have extreme team success and still think about the development of the players, as well.
So, when you look at how your daughter did in her high school tryouts this year, reflect back and think it any of that had anything to do with how she was trained in club and the position she played on her club team. As an FYI, we had 9 girls on the 14s team in our club last year. Seven of them made their high school varsities as freshmen, one will play both varsity and JV and one will play JV with a chance to play on varsity if the need arises. So, playing kids at appropriate positions and giving them rounded training can make a difference.
I urge all of you, when you go to club tryouts this year, make sure, if you are invited to play on a team, to ask the coach/coaches what position they expect your child to play. If they tell you they are going to take your tall, athletic child and play her at middle blocker or they are going to take your ultra-quick 5'1" daughter and play her at setter because she has great hands or are gong to take your 5'8" daughter with great hands and play her at OH or MB, you might want to think about looking for a different club that will play her at a more appropriate position for her skill set. Probably at the most 10-20% of club volleyball players end up playing volleyball in college. My guess is that a good number of other players are on teams just to fill out the rosters for the good players. For what you are paying, your child shouldn't be just a roster filler, at least in my opinion.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Why is your son or daughter playing club volleyball?
What do parents and players expect to get out of club volleyball? Let's examine some of the answers and look at the truths and the myths:
1. Playing to get a college scholarship:
Scholarshipstats.com (http://www.scholarshipstats.com/volleyball.htm) estimates that 4% of US high school girl volleyball players get college volleyball scholarships. Obviously not all high school players play club volleyball. While I can't find stats on it, let's estimate that 25% of all high school players play club volleyball, probably more in suburban and urban areas and less in rural areas. That means that roughly 1 out of 6 high school girls who play club ball actually get a college volleyball scholarship with the vast majority of those coming from the traveling clubs who tend to accumulate the players most desirable to college coaches. So, not a lot of club volleyball players get college scholarships. What club volleyball likely DOES do is give its best players more opportunities to get college scholarships. That is, the best players are seen by more schools than they would be if they just played high school ball, giving them more schools to choose from. Also, some of the kids who play with those kids are seen by those same colleges, meaning that those kids are more likely to get at least 1-2 scholarship offers that they might not have gotten if they played just in high school.
2. Improving your ability to make your HS team:
It is a given that the more you touch the ball the better you get. It is also a given that the more quality the touches you get the faster you improve. In grade school touching the ball is probably nearly as important as playing at a high level, especially for inexperienced players. However, once you get to a certain level, say varsity in high school, it becomes more about the quality of the touches and the level of play in club rather than just playing on a club team. Quality, high level select volleyball does help improve players for their high school varsity season as it replicates and, in some cases, exceeds the speed of the game in high school. It is not clear, however, how much just touching the ball in a low level club benefits players trying to make their varsity. It would only benefit the players if the speed of the club ball was greater than the speed of the high school game. If the speed of the club ball was similar or slower than the speed of the high school varsity play, then the utility of low level club ball compared to just going to summer camps is questionable. This is probably really true for kids with very competitive high school programs who have little or no club volleyball experience coming into high school. Those kids need to get better right away and just playing low level club ball might not benefit them as their rate of advancement might not be fast enough due to the level of coaching they will get and the level of play their teammates are capable of. So, once again, getting with a good coach and good teammates is probably the key if you want to advance fast in high school volleyball. If the goal is to just keep your skills up to the level they were the previous year or maybe incrementally improve those skills, or for weaker players who really want to advance their skill level quickly, then getting touches are important and getting those touches closer to the next high school season (say at summer camps) is probably more important than getting those same touches during the winter and early spring on weak club teams that can't compete at a high level.
3. Just love playing the game and hanging out with friends
This sounds bad but it isn't that bad. Kids who don't even play in high school play club ball, probably for some of these reasons. There are so many levels of club ball that there is plenty of room for kids like this if they can find a team with the same goals for the season as they have. Heck, when kids start playing in adult leagues many of them are playing JUST for these reasons so it is not unexpected that even back at the high school level you will find kids playing with the same goals.
Just some things to think about as your son or daughter gets into high school, makes their high school team and then is looking for what to do this winter.
1. Playing to get a college scholarship:
Scholarshipstats.com (http://www.scholarshipstats.com/volleyball.htm) estimates that 4% of US high school girl volleyball players get college volleyball scholarships. Obviously not all high school players play club volleyball. While I can't find stats on it, let's estimate that 25% of all high school players play club volleyball, probably more in suburban and urban areas and less in rural areas. That means that roughly 1 out of 6 high school girls who play club ball actually get a college volleyball scholarship with the vast majority of those coming from the traveling clubs who tend to accumulate the players most desirable to college coaches. So, not a lot of club volleyball players get college scholarships. What club volleyball likely DOES do is give its best players more opportunities to get college scholarships. That is, the best players are seen by more schools than they would be if they just played high school ball, giving them more schools to choose from. Also, some of the kids who play with those kids are seen by those same colleges, meaning that those kids are more likely to get at least 1-2 scholarship offers that they might not have gotten if they played just in high school.
2. Improving your ability to make your HS team:
It is a given that the more you touch the ball the better you get. It is also a given that the more quality the touches you get the faster you improve. In grade school touching the ball is probably nearly as important as playing at a high level, especially for inexperienced players. However, once you get to a certain level, say varsity in high school, it becomes more about the quality of the touches and the level of play in club rather than just playing on a club team. Quality, high level select volleyball does help improve players for their high school varsity season as it replicates and, in some cases, exceeds the speed of the game in high school. It is not clear, however, how much just touching the ball in a low level club benefits players trying to make their varsity. It would only benefit the players if the speed of the club ball was greater than the speed of the high school game. If the speed of the club ball was similar or slower than the speed of the high school varsity play, then the utility of low level club ball compared to just going to summer camps is questionable. This is probably really true for kids with very competitive high school programs who have little or no club volleyball experience coming into high school. Those kids need to get better right away and just playing low level club ball might not benefit them as their rate of advancement might not be fast enough due to the level of coaching they will get and the level of play their teammates are capable of. So, once again, getting with a good coach and good teammates is probably the key if you want to advance fast in high school volleyball. If the goal is to just keep your skills up to the level they were the previous year or maybe incrementally improve those skills, or for weaker players who really want to advance their skill level quickly, then getting touches are important and getting those touches closer to the next high school season (say at summer camps) is probably more important than getting those same touches during the winter and early spring on weak club teams that can't compete at a high level.
3. Just love playing the game and hanging out with friends
This sounds bad but it isn't that bad. Kids who don't even play in high school play club ball, probably for some of these reasons. There are so many levels of club ball that there is plenty of room for kids like this if they can find a team with the same goals for the season as they have. Heck, when kids start playing in adult leagues many of them are playing JUST for these reasons so it is not unexpected that even back at the high school level you will find kids playing with the same goals.
Just some things to think about as your son or daughter gets into high school, makes their high school team and then is looking for what to do this winter.
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