I was dreaming last night...

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Author	Comment
Torami	I was dreaming last night...	Lead	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 724 (05/20/08 2:05 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None ...my wife and I were having a glass of wine on the patio, chatting about the club volleyball season while the kids cleaned the house. I'm really getting excited about the trip to nationals, honey. I can't believe the team will be playing Open without ever having to travel outside the region to qualify! Pretty amazing, huh? Costs have really gone down since the new qualifying process went into effect. And can you believe the trip to nationals is so cheap? No markup on the hotels has really made a difference. Sure has, but the biggest difference this year has been the new non-profit club we encouraged Ashley to join. Encouraged? If she hadn't joined that club, we would have disowned her! Shhhhhh! Yes, that's true, but keep your voice down. She thinks it was entirely her idea. Okay, okay.. but it really has made a huge difference. With parent representation on the board, the open books policy, and especially having the players, coaches and parents all sign up to the team philosophy and goals for the year. And I love the frequent feedback sessions where the coach goes over progress, let's us all know where things stand, and sets specific goals for the future. What a breath of fresh air it has been. Not just for us, but for Ashley too. She always knows exactly where she stands with the coach, and trusts that playing time decisions are made objectively. That has taken away all the drama most teams have. She is having fun again! Well, it doesn't hurt that there are only nine girls on the team. I'm glad the parent committee voted to limit the team size and pay just a bit more. With the reduced travel, and without the markups on all the costs, the club pays its coaches more than any other club, and we still come out ahead. Ahhh… this is a good wine. Do you think the kids have finished the vacuuming yet? I just heard it shut off. They must scrubbing their shower now. Of course. And can you believe how much Ashley has developed both as a person and a player this year? Pretty amazing what happens when player development is given top priority. And to think that the team still has a great record and is competing for a national championship. Well, they can sub in anyone they want without losing a beat, because all the girls have sound fundamentals from the great coaching, are constantly improving, and all of them want each other to really succeed. Sounds like a winning approach to me. Me too. Now lets finish the wine while we go over those latest recruiting letters, okay? We need to decide which college to disappoint this week. Okay, but just remember what we talked about… it has to be the right college, not just the right volleyball team! ........................... Hey Jim! Jim! Wake up! The club is calling because the supplemental payment for Ashley's trip to nationals is due! Wake up! Yaaaawwwnnnn. Well, it was nice while it lasted.
Karl		#1	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 21 (05/20/08 2:18 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Our club has the trip to nationals built into the season fees. This way there are no suprises come summer. On a quick side note, after watching the pink guys in your avatar pepper for a few hours, I have come to the conclusion that the guy on the left has way better hands, but the guy on the right has a nicer armswing. I assume the guy on the right is a starter, but if your setter is struggling, you might want to give the guy on the left a shot. He rarely doubles his sets.
expertidiot		#2	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 325 (05/20/08 7:16 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I'm guessing it was a nice crisp New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc... just right for a patio dream. I like Karl's analysis of the players in your avatar, but I think they both need to put some serious time in on fixing their footwork before either of them sees the court on my team. Hey... Torami... with all of those great thoughts on how a volleyball club ought to be run, why not start your own club? I'm not being sarcastic, I mean it. It's not that hard to do. I'm sure there are some top clubs represented on this board that just aren't that old... and that started out with a "dream" similar to yours. (Except their dream may have started out with an unctuous Pinot in the basement, I don't know.)
VolleyDad9		#3	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 1523 (05/20/08 7:36 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Very nice T! Very fun read...especially the girls cleaning their shower...almost fell out of my chair on that one! Fun? You mean Volleyball is supposed to be fun??
Noreaster		#4	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 262 (05/20/08 10:07 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I know there are for profit clubs out there, but aren't MOST clubs non-profit? I'm not sure what you mean about knowing where she stands with the coach, but if she doesn't trust to coach(es) to make decisions objectively, and in an honest attempt to achieve the stated goal (usually to win, improve, or have fun), and she ISN'T developing as a player AND person you really should try another club.
UniversityAthlete		#5	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 135 (05/20/08 10:33 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	You must have known right away that you were dreaming since the kids were cleaning the house. That NEVER happens.
volleysisters		#6	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 54 (05/20/08 11:32 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Well at least when the vacuum went off and you KNEW they were cleaning their shower i'd be peeking for the alarm clock. At the Ponytail Palace where the Volleysisters contest their reign with the QUEEN, when the vacuum is on, I swear they are texting in the back bedroom cause dustbunnies multiply and the t-cans are still full of things that should have gone to recycle. BRATS!This thread improves, thanks all for the ha ha
Torami		#7	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 724 (05/21/08 11:01 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Yeah... there were a lot of clues early on that it was dream, but why wake up from such a great fantasy, huh? The image of the kids scrubbing the shower is just too great to let go of! And actually, our club does reasonably well in most areas, but my step-daughter and the family as a whole is still on the verge of burnout. Like someone mentioned on a different thread, club volleyball creates a lot of love-hate relationships. But I love it enough that I mught just do as EI suggests and start a club. Since I'm a newbie hack as a player and haven't coached, I figure using my adminitrative skills and bossy nature to run a club might be the best way I can contribute.
tsalcido	Hmm interesting question...	#8	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 35 (05/21/08 12:23 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Noreaster wrote: I know there are for profit clubs out there, but aren't MOST clubs non-profit? I wonder if most clubs are non-profit. In Southern California there are 282 teams in the 14U division. Using some basic assumptions on the cost ($2000) and number of players on a team (10) one can see there is A LOT of money (~$5.6M) being spent by parents to get their 13 or 14 daughters on the court just in Southern Cal. And the numbers don't include all the extras that even the basic club team girl will require or additional tournaments. Sadly IMHO youth sports has really become more of a business than anything else in a lot of cases.
MervinSwerved		#9	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 140 (05/21/08 12:33 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	A significant portion of volleyball clubs establish themselves as non-profit organizations for tax-exempt purposes. Not to say the director(s) aren't taking a nice salary, but they work to reduce costs, return any funding overruns to the members, and/or reinvest in the clubs infrastructure (equipment, facilities, staff) with any excess money. Each club handles it a different way. I've worked in two not-for-profit clubs. One actually refunded all excess money to the families (if there was any) and the other took the cash and used it for coaches' bonuses (trust me, nobody was getting rich off of it, but it was great to see a little extra dough) and on equipment so some of the future costs for members could be reduced as much as possible. Both systems worked great.
tsalcido	You made me take a second look at the subject.....	#10	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 35 (05/21/08 2:43 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	MervinSwerved wrote: A significant portion of volleyball clubs establish themselves as non-profit organizations for tax-exempt purposes. Not to say the director(s) aren't taking a nice salary, but they work to reduce costs, return any funding overruns to the members, and/or reinvest in the clubs infrastructure (equipment, facilities, staff) with any excess money. Each club handles it a different way. I've worked in two not-for-profit clubs. One actually refunded all excess money to the families (if there was any) and the other took the cash and used it for coaches' bonuses (trust me, nobody was getting rich off of it, but it was great to see a little extra dough) and on equipment so some of the future costs for members could be reduced as much as possible. Both systems worked great. In my previous statement I spoke to the costs that parents now pay for youth sports and my general feeling that it is getting a bit much. However I do acknowledge the many factors that are outside the control of directors/coaches dictate a lot of the cost. Insurance, tournament fees, gym fees, coaches pay, equipment, web cost, and a host of other items all add up. I know most coaches aren't doing all the work that it takes for the money as the per hour cost it probably low. I am not blaming the clubs per se but the general youth sports marketing machine. Before you had kids play little league baseball or softball in the spring, enjoyed their summer, football in the fall, and basketball in the winter. Now kids are choosing one sport early on and playing only that sport for the entire year. Here is Southern California my son played 11 months out of the year on a travel baseball team since he was 10 years old and usually played ~100 games a year. Club soccer, basketball, softball, all do the same. This has its good and bad effects. Injuries happen because they use the same muscles over and over instead of mixing it up. Some lose the joy of playing the game after doing it for so long. However for those who really love it they tune their skills and become very talented. Every parent is proud of their kids and early on have dreams of what they can become. However now a days it seems to me that everyone thinks their child is going to be the next <insert name here>. I have also noticed that in many high schools if you haven't played club in your sport you are at a severe disadvantage and likely not being able to make the team. I freely admit to being part of the problem but wished there was something that could be done to let the kids enjoy sports in an competitive environment that wasn't too politically correct, didn't cost too much, and get the kids to really love the game.