|
Post by Paulj on Jul 5, 2014 7:00:24 GMT -5
As the parent of a girl with HUGE goals, please share your view of the most important attributes in selecting a volleyball club
|
|
|
Post by hoosierdraft on Jul 5, 2014 7:30:18 GMT -5
Might I suggest that the first step that you take is to define your 13 year old daughter's goals and your goals for your daughter. Once you have an agreed upon set of goals then finding a club that will help move your daughter in the direction of reaching those goals is an easier task.
|
|
|
Post by volleyguy on Jul 5, 2014 11:19:38 GMT -5
I think the first step is to be brutally honest with yourself regarding your daughter's ability and potential. How tall is she, what level can she realistically attain, in what type of environment does she respond best, etc. Then, actively search for a club that can best meet her actual and potential abilities.
|
|
|
Post by vbnerd on Jul 6, 2014 10:30:07 GMT -5
As the parent of a girl with HUGE goals, please share your view of the most important attributes in selecting a volleyball club Until she is in HS you go to the club closest to your house. Ask how much $ and where do they go, and see if you feel like you can trust your daughter with them. Repeat as needed until you find one you like. The hs coach will eventually weigh in, if she's good you'll have other clubs coming to you. It will make sense in time. But before 15 the most important thing is that she enjoys it or it doesn't matter how good she gets.
|
|
|
Post by dgo on Jul 6, 2014 10:36:37 GMT -5
I think the first thing to look for is coaching. Everything starts with a good coach, so I'd be focusing on picking a good coach and not necessarily picking a club. In my experience (more limited than many on this board), a good club doesn't always equate with good coaching. Where I live, there are some great clubs that have excellent coaching at some ages, and mediocre coaching at other ages (or even excellent coaching on a 1's team and mediocre coaching on the 2's team). Try to get a chance to watch coaches in action and talk with them. Watch tournaments, practices or private lessons. Ask a lot of questions and talk to other parents. Also, be wary of coaches whose practices consist of nothing more than scrimmaging other teams in the club. Scrimmaging is is a valuable tool, but if that's all the team does and there is little or no drilling and working on specific skills (down to very specific technical aspects of footwork, positioning, etc.), it's hard for a player to really improve. Ask parents what the typical practices looked like the past season. If it's limited to scrimmaging all the time, I think that's a real red flag from the coaching perspective. We've had experience with a coach who scrimmaged constantly to hide the fact that he had very little to offer by way of actually teaching skills. He had been a great coach for younger girls, but he was relatively inexperienced and didn't really know how to keep the girls progressing as they moved beyond his experience level.
If you've done self-reflection that hoosierdraft and volleyguy mentioned, and your daughter really is a top player with big goals, I think second to coaching it is helpful to get her on a team of similarly talented players. Again, it's less about picking the "club" than it is about picking a team. Assuming you have a good coach, this will help ensure that the instruction is at a high enough level to keep progressing. Also, it hopefully will ensure tougher competition in tournaments.
|
|
|
Post by ja on Jul 6, 2014 11:44:05 GMT -5
Question number one you have to ask your self, how those HUGE goals are correlated with your daughter REAL potential! Your goals have to be attainable and realistic, otherwise you are (and your DD too!) for a very long ride! Another question is what position your daughter wants to play and would she be able to play this position at particular club? If so, look at girls playing the same position on 15, 16 and 17 teams and see how they developing. Coaching is the most important part of any player development, specifically at early age, so be very serious about finding well rounded coach, who will push your daughter to work hard on her fundamentals!
|
|
|
Post by brickwall on Jul 7, 2014 23:08:42 GMT -5
Most important attributes of a club: somewhere with great coaching, where your daughter feels comfortable yet pushed to succeed. Do your research on a club and its coaches. Find one that feels like a good fit. If she proves to have the talent, doors will open for her over time. Just get her the training now that will help her build a solid foundation.
|
|
|
Post by ciscokeed on Jul 8, 2014 16:07:43 GMT -5
Umm, first make sure that these goals are your daughters and not yours....
|
|
|
Post by newenglander on Jul 8, 2014 20:23:56 GMT -5
I'd also add that your daughter (and you guys) need to realize that her huge goals come with a tremendous amount of sacrifice too. Picking the right club is maybe half the battle (or even a little less). The other part of the equation is her desire to show up to every practice, seek extra reps, go to camps or play sand/grass doubles in the summer and pick volleyball over social life a lot. With many kids it's easy to do when they are younger, much harder as they hit their junior year and later.
|
|
|
Post by brickwall on Jul 8, 2014 23:57:40 GMT -5
I'd also add that your daughter (and you guys) need to realize that her huge goals come with a tremendous amount of sacrifice too. Picking the right club is maybe half the battle (or even a little less). The other part of the equation is her desire to show up to every practice, seek extra reps, go to camps or play sand/grass doubles in the summer and pick volleyball over social life a lot. With many kids it's easy to do when they are younger, much harder as they hit their junior year and later. You know that t-shirt that says, "I can't, I have volleyball?" It's not funny when it's the truth. This is the reality of a volleyball player shooting for the stars... My 13 year old has quickly realized this when joining the club and the team that could help her with those goals. She loves it, but there is always disappointment when you miss the social event of the summer for practice. Reality. Feed those goals, but follow her lead. Don't invest so much (financially, emotionally) that you can't afford to let her quit if she hates it in a year or two.
|
|
|
Post by newenglander on Jul 9, 2014 17:53:44 GMT -5
That's an awesome t-shirt phrase... have to get some with that next year!
|
|