Club Volleyball 2017 ... Taking This Show On The Road

Ahhh, the end-of-season meaningless-consolation round game. Such fun.

At least with out-of-town travel teams, the option of just saying 'the hell wth it" and leaving isn't as common.

 

Well, I wouldn't say it's meaningless. For some of these girls, today's might be the last formal matches of their lives.

 

Yeah, but probably not too many are really thinking that way.

Just like Doc Graham: "I thought, ' well, there'll be other days.' What I didn't realize was that was the only day."

 

Their parents are ...

 

Team DaughterQuant closed it out with two come-from-behind wins today. They lost the first set of the first match pretty badly (I think it was 25-11) to a lower-ranked team -- probably the worst set the team played all year -- but blew 'em away 25-10 and 15-5 in the tiebreaker to advance. There they ran up against a pretty good team (ranked 13 spots higher) and promptly fell behind 15-7 in the first set. Gradually they eased back in it, though, finally edging ahead and winning 25-23. Set No. 2 was a nip-and-tuck affair, with neither team ever ahead by more than a couple. The other team got to 23-22, but Team DQ ran off three straight to take the match 25-23.

DaughterQuant played a lot and played well. Nothing much happened with the delicate genius, but I'd be very surprised if she and this coach are on the same sidelines again.

As was usually the case, we had connections to several of the teams participating in this tournament, and one of those had a funny story unfold today. Those girls are at that next level up from Team DQ and played their way into the quarterfinals of the gold-medal bracket, one win away from a bid to the nationals later this summer. Alas, they lost, but it was the furthest they'd gone in a big tournament, so they were pretty content.

As they were having their end-of-tournament confab, however, they were informed that there was the possibility that the 5th-place team would be awarded a nationals bid and that, at their option, they could join in on a four-team bracket for the spot.

The girls said no.

Then their parents said oh hell yes.

You can probably imagine how well those girls played in that bracket.

 

Haha DQ, that's awesome. And good for those girls who tanked. They could play in the NBA!

 

Following up with, perhaps, a closing out of my career as a volleyball chronicler:

As the school year winds down, all the non-academic coaches/teachers/directors are getting their acts squared away for next year. Further, the transition from freshman to sophomore is when the vast majority of students choose their paths. Of course, the vast majority also choose only one path (and for the vast majority, only one path is a possibility). For DaughterQuant, however, multiple paths are possible, and as a result volleyball may be over.

At her school, music and the performing arts are fabulous, and like Elder DaughterQuant and SonOfQuant she's very much into these. Like SonOfQuant she's also apparently very, very good. She was concertmaster (1st chair/1st violin) in her freshman orchestra, and she was All-Region as an alto in choir.

For DQ, dropping out of choir is a non-starter: That ain't gonna happen. She loves it and she's good. Her directors are pushing her to attend an All-State camp this summer, and when she mistakenly suggested to them that MommaQuant and I might not be up for paying for it, the directors started nominating her for scholarships. They really want her there, and, besides, choir really isn't the issue, since it's only one regularly-scheduled course.

Volleyball and orchestra, however ...

At DQ's school, both volleyball (beyond the freshman year) and any advanced orchestra would typically be scheduled via double-blocking, so being in one would take the schedule space of two classes. You could do both, but it'd awfully, awfully difficult. And, of course, the opportunity has to be there ...

DQ has to date not shown all that much passion for the orchestra. She's enjoyed it, but it hasn't been her thing. That's why MommaQuant and I had it in our heads that if DQ was offered a spot on the JV team next fall (she was ... yesterday), the decision would be easy. She'd jump at volleyball and then see if it might be possible to work an orchestra in.

The orchestra directors have thrown her a bit of a curve, though. Earlier in the week the directors told her they want to put her on the school's No. 2 orchestra. For a sophomore violinist, that's a huge jump. It means that the directors largely see her as a candidate for the top orchestra, which is ridiculously good (it appeared in Carnegie Hall last year and is going to be playing some big venue in Chicago next year). Per SonOfQuant, who was in that top orchestra as a junior and senior, if you're in No. 2 as a sophomore you're going to be in No. 1 as a junior. Further, she really enjoyed learning and playing the more challenging music required for auditions. If given the choice of a high chair in a lesser orchestra or a low chair in a higher orchestra, she'd go for the latter every time. I know her pretty well, and I can sense those competitive fires being fanned.

Also, at this point she's a bit weary of the school volleyball scene. Part of it is that every other school day since August she's been practicing with the same 30 or so girls. Lots of those girls, their careers have been over since the fall season ended: They played on the lower freshman team and won't ever be playing again. So these practices have become pretty tiresome affairs, with very few girls actually taking them seriously. DQ's not at all wired that way; half-assing it isn't in her makeup. Secondly, the volleyball clique is awfully, awfully tight-knit. DQ has very few, if any, real friends among the girls who will be continuing, and she's leery of a repeat of this year with, perhaps, no friends around.

Neither the coaches nor the directors are insisting that she double-block next year, so it's really not as difficult a decision as it appears. I suspect the practice dynamic will be very different once the field has been winnowed, and the higher level of competition -- the JV practices with the varsity, and there may be instances when she gets to dress out with the varsity -- will stoke her interest. And we've told DQ that if she wants to give it a go and decides she doesn't like it, after the season ends (mid-October), we'll do whatever's necessary to make sure she's not spinning her wheels. My only requirement is that if she starts the season she should finish it, just to be fair to the girls who'll try out and won't make it.

All of this raises the question of why we (MommaQuant and I) are so invested in the volleyball part of all this. Part of it is that, for us, it's been an absolute blast, and well outside our experience. Volleyball's an awfully fun sport to watch, especially when your kid's out there. Secondly, we've been doing the volleyball thing since DQ was in the 4th grade. For awhile, it's just another form of parental torment, something you do to make sure you have a minimum of free time. Then it starts to become something else; you become a volleyball parent, not just a parent with a kid playing volleyball. The thought of saying goodbye to that, even if you're doing so so your kid can pursue some other thing ... well, it's a little unsettling. Yes, weekends free in the fall (and all the $$$ not spent) ... that has its allure. But pretty soon MommaQuant and I are going to have a lot of free time on our hands: That nest, it's only a handful of years away from being empty. And right now I'm having a hard time imagining what the hell else I might do.

 

Yep. Cliques and sub-cliques develop in and around the youth sports world, largely based on how "committed" kids or parents are -- to the school team, to the club team, to getting a college scholarship-- and sometimes when you get cut out, you really get cut out.

The pressure to specialize in one particular sport, or to play for one particular club or coach, is a major example.

A lot of coaches -- and not only coaches -- really talk down people with outside interests, performing arts, etc etc. And sometimes really dump on other sports.

If the social/personal aspects -- the personalities in a given program -- are bad, kids can be awfully temped to just say "screw it."

 

Bumping for an update: DaughterQuant hemmed and hawed most of the summer but seemed to be settling on not trying out for the school team. MommaQuant and I stayed out of it, letting her work through it on her own. With tryouts beginning on Tuesday morning, MommaQuant and I spent a wistful weekend reminiscing a bit over all our volleyball adventures.

But when DaughterQuant stared down the cold reality of walking away ... she blinked. Teams were announced today and she made the JV.

Her triumph is bittersweet, though, as lots of girls we've known over the years will be hangin' 'em up. One poor girl, she's been on our volleyball scene since the 4th grade. Wednesday, the second day of tryouts, I saw her walking into the gym and thought to myself, "That doesn't look like practice wear." I was right. She didn't think she'd make a team and told the coach she wanted to just shift over and be a manager. I feel terrible for her, even though in the past she's been more than a bit of a pill toward DQ. Her dad died late in the spring after a losing run with testicular cancer. What an awful year she's had at such a young age.

Another girl, she and her (fraternal) twin sister have been playing with DQ since the 5th grade. The shorter, faster twin made the team as a back-row player, but the taller one (not that tall, though) is done. All of us thought that was likely to happen, but it's still gotta make for some awkward times around home.

Finally, there's the girl whose family we knew long before volleyball ever reared its head. Her mom played varsity at this high school and has always been convinced her daughter would also do so. Nope. Not a surprise to anyone but the mom and the daughter, I'm sure, but she washed out today, too.

DQ would have been bummed had she not made it, but she would have had something -- several things, actually -- to move on to quickly. Some of those girls, that's been their thing -- their only thing -- for so long, they've never really thought about doing anything else.

 

Yep, the years of Grades 9-10-11 are the big cutdown years.

Assuming you have a sufficient pool of players for teams each year, you have to get rid of half your players every year.

And although many schools may think they're extending a great opportunity to play if they field both A/B freshman teams, really all you're doing is expanding the number of players you have to tell to go home every season.

If you have 12 volleyball players on each squad and field freshman A/B, JV and varsity teams, half the participants in any given year are done the next season.

And then also, more and more, in many different sports, you have the deities who swoop in for varsity tryouts after having played only travel/club ball before -- never on the junior high or sub-varsity teams.

Especially in basketball, that can completely destroy internal support for a varsity program. You can have a group of 6-8 kids who have been playing on the rec teams, then the grade school teams, then the junior high teams, then freshman and JV teams, for ole East Podunk for 8-10 years, then the AD, principal or somebody on the school board, buddies up to an AAU street hustler (or even hire him as coach), and he trucks in six transfer players from Asphalt Heights, and all your good solid loyal East Podunk kids get cut.

 

Well, with that blast of cynical vinegar out of the way, Sis-16, the oldest of StarSis's girls, a junior, is currently in preseason practice for the Starrville HS varsity.
The varsity graduated most of its players from last year, and Sis-16 was the best player on the JV last season, which went about 14-7 on the season (nobody seems to really know for sure). She's been a setter/DS most of her career, but sprouted up from 5-3 to 5-7 this year, and also played front line for some of the club season. Anyway by all logic she should certainly make the varsity, and probably start.
BUT.
The varsity coach, who had been there for 10 years, and who had also coached S-16 for four years in grade school/junior high (their seasons did not directly overlap so they could pull it off), knew her very well, although she never seemed really personally warm, and had more or less groomed her for a varsity slot the next couple of years, was fired in the springtime.
Not allowed to retire; fired. Told to stay home. She offered to continue as JV or freshman coach; the AD nixed that.
There are no allegations of any improper conduct; she's a mid-fifties grandma with adult kids who has been in the community 20 years. As best as anybody can really ascertain, the decision was made strictly on the basis of wins/losses and player development for college. (In both areas her long term record has probably been about average.)
Anyway Mrs Former Coach, who appeared to be S-16's patron saint, is gone. They hired a new coach with a big rep among local club teams (for whatever that's worth; the Starrville area is not known as an overwhelming source of high level volleyball talent).
The team, as a group, including S-16, did go to a couple college day camps in July and S-16 reported things went "okay" with your typical 16-year-old girl enthusiasm.
But rumor has it there are a couple incoming freshmen who have been superstars on the club scene who may elbow into the picture for varsity roster slots, playing time, or starting positions. First varsity match is on Aug. 26; final squad cutdowns are the 17th.
StarSis is on alert status for a bombshell.

I suppose Sis-16's fallback option is softball. She dropped softball last season to concentrate on volleyball (and also, she said, because most of the girls on the team were "a bunch of bitches.")

Normally, I'd chalk that up to normal teen-girl drama stuff, but during the season, 8-10 more girls quit the program, icing the JV team and barely leaving them enough players to field a varsity team at all, so apparently S-16's viewpoint is not isolated.

Anyway, head coach Varsity Vinny (see the Youth Softball thread) likes Sis-16 and has personally asked her to come back several times. (Sis-16 says she likes him ok, not great, not horrible. She also says the team dissension has little to do with him personally -- it's mainly players not getting along with each other.)

With the huge roster turnover plus they lost 4-5 seniors to graduation, a good number of the "bitches" may be gone anyway. S-16 does have a couple friends on the team, including the star pitcher, one of her best friends from grade school.

She was the best player on the JV as a freshman 2 seasons ago, so she's probably qualified on a talent basis, but Vinny needs all the players of pretty much any description he can get, so it would appear she could go back to softball essentially any time she feels like it. So that might be the escape hatch if she's unexpectedly bumped from volleyball.

If that happens, she's got from September to March to get back in semi-softball shape.

 

How big is Starrville HS? DaughterQuant's HS has a total enrollment of about 3,300.