Mamma on the Bench: Prepping for our Second Season of Club Ball

I have been coaching the same group of girls for about three years in recreation volleyball.  We have been successful, won our divisions and moved forward in the leagues.  Three of my ten girls made club ball last year.  I expect that I will have a couple more girls join club ball this fall.  I was new last year to club ball and shared everything I did to try and get my daughter on a club team with the parents of girls that were  also pursuing club ball.  I was definitely a newbie and wish I knew then what I know now!

So how am I going to get my daughter ready for tryouts this year?

·      I have already started. During the summer, Southwind Rising hosts an eight week camp called Summer Intensity.  The girls workout twice a week for three hours each time.  They work on physical conditioning, volleyball skills and game strategy.  My daughter has learned so much and has improved immensely. It began in June and will end in July.

·      This summer I have perused the club calendar, several times week.  There are a ton of opportunities for your daughter on the club calendar.  Besides Summer Intensity training, Southwind Rising offers two series, one called Skill Series and another called Game Series.  These are segmented out based on your child’s age.  The Skill Series works on focused areas of volleyball. For example, there are training sessions on specific skills, such as setting, serving with topspin, forearm passing, spiking, blocking and middle hitting.  These are great practices to fix or fine tunes areas of your athlete’s game. The Game Series teaches strategy of the game based on the player’s position. This training session focuses on the strategies of the game by training in game like drills and scrimmages. Both of these training sessions can fill up fast.  That is why you have to check the calendar frequently. We have done a several of the training sessions and they have been tremendously helpful. Theses sessions run during the summer and will go on in September and October.

·      We have done a few private lessons and group lessons with coaches. Opportunities for these are also listed on the club calendar. Parents should remember, that a coach has a team of nine players and may practice for one and half hours twice a week.  There is not enough time for the coach to break down any trouble areas for one player without sacrificing the time of the rest of the team.   Privates or group lessons can address problem areas for your child. We will continue doing these until tryouts to keep skills sharp. Privates and group lessons will go on in September and October.

·      Open gyms will begin in October.  The dates for these can be found on the club calendar. The times are allocated based on age groups.   There is a nominal fee ($10). Usually there are one or two open gyms per age group prior to tryouts.  The girls get to play and work on skills.  A club coach staffs the practice.  These fill up fast, so check the calendar frequently.

·      Tryouts are at the beginning of November, usually the younger athletes are the first weekend and the older girls are the next. At our tryouts last year, there were hundreds of girls.  We will definitely wear a notable shirt, shorts or something so she is easy to remember and pick out for the coaches.

Club ball is competitive and there are a lot of girls going for a few spots. This time around we are better prepared.  We have tried to take advantage of many of the training sessions. We have sharpened our skills and increased our exposure to the club coaches.  Finally, we are staying aware of the timeline of the club by checking the club calendar frequently.

See you at the gym!

Thank you to Jamie Hofmann for her final blog entry on our site. We hope you find her insight helpful as we get closer to the club season.