club volleyball vs. alternatives

Question
If we really can't afford club volleyball, what are the best alternative options?  Our daughter is currently on the high school freshman team and played during junior high too.  We want her to be ready for next year try outs but club ball is so expensive.  We are being told that club is our only option at this level if we want her to make the team next year.  Thanks for any advice you have.  We are in Katy, Texas.

Answer
Hey Cheryl!

Good evening and welcome to www.allexperts.com!

You want her to be ready for tryouts next fall, but you won't be able to allow her to play club?  That's like saying, "I want my son to be ready for football, but I can't get him to a weight room."  Whoa.  Don't know if that will be possible.

Here are some of my thoughts.  

a) Will the lack of club ball hurt your daughter's chances of playing school ball?

YES IT WILL, if the school has a very good team and/or nearly all the girls play club ball from 7th or 8th grade on up.  Unless your daughter is some freak of nature athlete, playing for 3 months a year will not allow her to keep up with her teammates who are playing 8 months a year.

NO IT WILL NOT, if the school has a weak team, if it's a very small school with very few girls trying out, or almost no one plays club thus keeping your daughter on an even playing field.

b) Can your daughter play college vball or bball w/o playing more than high school?

Almost impossible.  So, if your daughter has dreams of playing ANY sport in college, 3 months of school ball and summer camps is not enough.  Period.  If she thinks it is, she doesn't realize that there are thousands of girls across the USA playing 7, 8, 9 months of their favorite sport a year from the time they're 7th grade...and your daughter will not be able to compete with them for a spot on hardly ANY college team, regardless of the size of that college.  Most girls on teams at even D3 schools played club ball when they were high school after they finished their school ball season.

c) Is there ANY thing you can do?

I have a few ideas, but it'll be just as expensive as club volleyball.  Maybe even more so.

--> Private lessons.  Some coaches charge $100, some charge $20.  In many places, you can't find them at all.
--> Lots and lots of summer camps.   The fact that she'll be spending 25 hours a week on volleyball is both good news and bad news.  Sure, the week after week reinforcement will be nice and will have her sharp at tryouts.  Or, the week after week "abuse" may make her injury prone, as she will begin the season with a worn out shoulder and over-used knee %26 hip joints.  
--> Attend open gyms.  But most coaches don't offer anywhere near the # of open gyms a girl would need to replace club ball.  When I'm a high school and club coach, I offer nada open gyms until club season is over around April or May.  By that time, the club kids have gotten 200 hours of contacts, and that's impossible for the non-club kid to catch up on.  
--> Attend other schools' open gyms.  Some coaches allow girls from other school to attend their open gyms.  But you'll have a find a school where the coach isn't coaching another sport AND most of his girls don't play club either, so he's forced to have open gyms so as not to get embarrassed next fall.  :(  

But from my coaching club ball for 18 of the past 19 seasons, there's no replacing the 3 or 4 days a week, 4 to 6 months of club ball.  Camps don't replace it, lessons won't replace it, open gyms won't replace it. It's an athletic, social and travel extravaganza!  

Final word:  If your daughter is in a competitive program full of quality volleyball players, and her teammates are playing club and she's not, then her future in the sport at that school is about over.  And that's not punishment.  Her teammates will just get so much better than her, she will not be able to stay with them any longer and thus she will be of very little benefit to the team effort.

Thank you again for visiting.  I need now a favor from you!  :)  Would you please visit me at www.coachhouser.com?  I think the smiling faces will make your day!!

Contact me anytime I can be of service.
Coach Houser