Top !0 Volleyball Schools

[Seta4life22]

"The run Brentwood had is similiar. They were the first school to embrace year round play and to use "club" to have an extra season. I still think this is wrong, because I don't think it is good for the athlete."

 

 

In order for the caliber of volleyball to continue to increase in the state of TN, club must become a norm. Look at Louisville, California, Chicago, etc. girls... what do you think they are doing during the spring? They play year round because it is the only way to improve themselves and improve the sport as a whole. Brentwood was one of the first programs in the state to realize this correlation and look at the success it brought them.

 

The level of play in TN has increased across the board since I played just a few years ago, and that is mostly due to the fact that more girls are playing year round. Clubs like Impact, Dig To Win, etc. have promoted this and with Impact's great showing at JO's over the past few years, the national recognition of TN volleyball has increased as well.

 

As an added note.... if you want to play in college, unless you are an Alix Klineman or Cynthia Barboza, the main way college coaches see you play is in club tournaments. And, yes, playing year round can potentially lead to burn out; BUT if you love the game enough to want to play it in college, it's a small concession for a such an amazing opportunity in the future.

Edited July 21, 2006 by Seta4life22

[oldsklvb]

"The run Brentwood had is similiar. They were the first school to embrace year round play and to use "club" to have an extra season. I still think this is wrong, because I don't think it is good for the athlete."

In order for the caliber of volleyball to continue to increase in the state of TN, club must become a norm. Look at Louisville, California, Chicago, etc. girls... what do you think they are doing during the spring? They play year round because it is the only way to improve themselves and improve the sport as a whole. Brentwood was one of the first programs in the state to realize this correlation and look at the success it brought them.

 

And, yes, playing year round can potentially lead to burn out; BUT if you love the game enough to want to play it in college, it's a small concession for a such an amazing opportunity in the future.

 

Wise beyond your years seta4life...your assesment is right on and eventually Tn might catch up to someone like KIVA in the Louisville area.

 

"They Louisville teams aren't better, they are different"

 

Nice spin on this BratMav but your arguement seems to compare to TSSAA's revelation that they know what's best for the athlete. If the girls want to play year round and improve on the game they love, why should you or TSSAA have an issue with this. Also, the Ky teams are better since they receive better coaching at the club level. The KIVA program is a benchmark on how club programs can work to the benefit of the girls in developing skills over the years. Yeah, I know they start at a young age but there's a reason Ron Kordes coaches the younger teams and not his older girls. When you look at the size of the two areas, L'ville & N'ville, the ability/quality of the teams to our neighbors from the north is quite a bit higher, generally speaking. There has to be some reason(s) for this.

[VballDaddy78]

In order for the caliber of volleyball to continue to increase in the state of TN, club must become a norm. Look at Louisville, California, Chicago, etc. girls... what do you think they are doing during the spring? They play year round because it is the only way to improve themselves and improve the sport as a whole. Brentwood was one of the first programs in the state to realize this correlation and look at the success it brought them.

 

The level of play in TN has increased across the board since I played just a few years ago, and that is mostly due to the fact that more girls are playing year round. Clubs like Impact, Dig To Win, etc. have promoted this and with Impact's great showing at JO's over the past few years, the national recognition of TN volleyball has increased as well.

 

As an added note.... if you want to play in college, unless you are an Alix Klineman or Cynthia Barboza, the main way college coaches see you play is in club tournaments. And, yes, playing year round can potentially lead to burn out; BUT if you love the game enough to want to play it in college, it's a small concession for a such an amazing opportunity in the future.

Well said! It seems to me that some feel an "athlete" should play multiple sports in HS (especially at smaller schools) in honor of their school, no matter what their preference or personal goals are. Speaking from experience, my daughter wanted to quit basketball "before" her freshman year in HS, to concentrate on Vball. I "requested" that she give it one more year and see how it went from there. Well, she proceeded to get her shoulder damaged after game 1 of the Bball season (missed the rest of Bball) and missed the early part of club because of the injury. Well to make a long story short, she did not play Bball after her freshman year, focused on Vball and now will go to college next year on a full athletic scholarship in Vball!

[KYdigsTN]

"The run Brentwood had is similiar. They were the first school to embrace year round play and to use "club" to have an extra season. I still think this is wrong, because I don't think it is good for the athlete."

In order for the caliber of volleyball to continue to increase in the state of TN, club must become a norm. Look at Louisville, California, Chicago, etc. girls... what do you think they are doing during the spring? They play year round because it is the only way to improve themselves and improve the sport as a whole. Brentwood was one of the first programs in the state to realize this correlation and look at the success it brought them.

 

The level of play in TN has increased across the board since I played just a few years ago, and that is mostly due to the fact that more girls are playing year round. Clubs like Impact, Dig To Win, etc. have promoted this and with Impact's great showing at JO's over the past few years, the national recognition of TN volleyball has increased as well.

 

As an added note.... if you want to play in college, unless you are an Alix Klineman or Cynthia Barboza, the main way college coaches see you play is in club tournaments. And, yes, playing year round can potentially lead to burn out; BUT if you love the game enough to want to play it in college, it's a small concession for a such an amazing opportunity in the future.

 

VERY well said!

[KYdigsTN]

Well said! It seems to me that some feel an "athlete" should play multiple sports in HS (especially at smaller schools) in honor of their school, no matter what their preference or personal goals are. Speaking from experience, my daughter wanted to quit basketball "before" her freshman year in HS, to concentrate on Vball. I "requested" that she give it one more year and see how it went from there. Well, she proceeded to get her shoulder damaged after game 1 of the Bball season (missed the rest of Bball) and missed the early part of club because of the injury. Well to make a long story short, she did not play Bball after her freshman year, focused on Vball and now will go to college next year on a full athletic scholarship in Vball!

 

Also, it should be noted that there is no way your daughter would be talented enough to play for Georgetown had she not been a club player. The girls that play there are AMAZING. I'll bet you are very proud of her, and you should be. Georgetown is a top notch program and very good academic school. Not much chance they would have even known that your daughter even existed without the national exposure club provides.

Edited July 21, 2006 by KYdigsTN

[oldsklvb]

Wow, if club does all of this why have a high school program? Totally disagree with KYdigs (what a surprise. at their tournament they sell hot dogs as BRATS). Club is NOT the only way to play in college. I stand by a previous post that you will not find a tennessee club coach as good as Neely; Berry; Campbell; the AC guys or Paul Brock. Girls that play for these coaches get better instruction then they ever would in club.

 

The only way to play in college is a myth play club is a myth that is told by club coaches who want your money.

 

Is club going to make you a better player. Of course, so would staying in the gym for six months working on skills. I see club being run by a bunch of coach wannabes. Why else would Paul Brock be fired.

 

I wish Coach Leo at Bryan College who I know gets on here and give his view. His top returning player didn't play club. His all everything setter that just graduated didn't play club. Coach, how did you find these girls? According to these guys you can't play college ball without club.

 

Playing for your school is special and should always be seen that way...I don't read the posts as saying Club is the only way to advance. I think what a lot of people are saying is that Club has it's merits and is a great way for the girls to enhance and improve on skills. As far as your list of coaches that could not be touched by club coaches, Berry coaches in club, not sure why Neely, Campbell or the AC coaches wouldn't want to except for the fact that they like the time off or have other personal reasons. There are good club coaches and bad club coaches, no different than at the schools.

 

Staying in the gym for six months working on skills doesn't do much good if you don't have a coach who can teach and then teach during the matches. How would you learn different offenses or defenses. What about becoming more focused/competitive during matches that are tight and competitive. Girls that play club get the benefit of both, especially in match play where they learn to win in difficult situations. It's no different than most sports these days. It's time to accept this and move into the 21st century with brats in hand.

 

Club isn't the only way to a college scholarship but it sure helps if you want exosure to dozens of schools as opposed to maybe only a few. It all depends on what your daughter wants and where her abilities can take her. I haven't heard of Bryan College, I'm sure it's a fine school but what if your daughter didn't want to go to a small school or wanted more choices. Club can afford this where school play makes it more difficult due to the overlap of seasons.

 

Bratmav, you must be over 40 and remember the good ol' days when you didn't have club/travel teams and kids had a great time playing several sports. Sounds pretty good to me as well but club/travel does serve some purposes and look how many girls have benefited from this.

 

You have been a busy boy with six posts in one afternoon!

Edited July 22, 2006 by oldsklvb

[play4keeps]

Wow. Let's talk about all the good coaches that ARE coaching club...including some that Brat named...

 

Coach Berry coaches 13U and has for years. Used to at Impact, now at Williamson Select. Coach Brock coaches (or coached--depends on who's reporting) 18U at Dig to Win. Coach Golysteyn (formerly Franklin) coached 16U at Impact. Coach Frazier (formerly Brentwood) coached 14U at Impact. And college coaches...Brandon Rosenthal (Head coach Lipscomb University): 17U at Impact, Tony Howell (First Assistant Coach at Belmont University): 18U at Impact, In Sik Huang (Head Coach at Christian Bros University): 14U at Memphis Metro, Josie Hackworth (Graduate Assistant Coach at Belmont) at Williamson Select, there is an MTSU coach at Xtreme coaching 18U and the list goes on.

 

Saying that there is not good coaching in club is just not true. Many of the best coaches in the state support the club system as it ultimately benefits their programs and the athletes.

Edited July 22, 2006 by play4keeps

[KYdigsTN]

Wow. Let's talk about all the good coaches that ARE coaching club...including some that Brat named...

 

Coach Berry coaches 13U and has for years. Used to at Impact, now at Williamson Select. Coach Brock coaches (or coached--depends on who's reporting) 18U at Dig to Win. Coach Golysteyn (formerly Franklin) coached 16U at Impact. Coach Frazier (formerly Brentwood) coached 14U at Impact. And college coaches...Brandon Rosenthal (Head coach Lipscomb University): 17U at Impact, Tony Howell (First Assistant Coach at Belmont University): 18U at Impact, In Sik Huang (Head Coach at Christian Bros University): 14U at Memphis Metro, Josie Hackworth (Graduate Assistant Coach at Belmont) at Williamson Select, there is an MTSU coach at Xtreme coaching 18U and the list goes on.

 

Saying that there is not good coaching in club is just not true. Many of the best coaches in the state support the club system as it ultimately benefits their programs and the athletes.

 

The best coaches here all coach club. Kordes from Assumption always coaches the KIVA 14 Red team. Garvey and Cecil from Mercy and Sacred Heart coach MAVA 13 and 14 Elite teams. Amshoff from Presentation KIVA 14 white. The reason for this is not just because they are the best at developing young talent necessarily, but because they are not allowed to coach any of their own high school kids during club season. By coaching 14 red Kordes adheres to the rules of not directly coaching his Assumption players even though most will attend Assumption the following HS season.

 

Club may not be the only way a girl gets to play on a college scholarship, but you better be well over 6' otherwise. The times are changing and Bratman just doesn't accept it. I wont even debate whether it's a change for the better or not. That's irrelevant. The reality is club is growing and more and more players are dramatically improving their skills over those that dont play. These are the girls the college coaches want. If a college is counting on a smaller non club player at setter or DS they are going to struggle in todays game.

 

As for the Bratmans opinion of me being a bad line judge, all I can say is I'm fairly sure I didn't cost AC enough points to lose 25-18, 25-17 to Lafayette last year. They lost because of poor ball control skills. Tallest girl on Lafayette's team was one 5'10" girl at MB. The rest about 5'7" or less. AC towered over them but got crushed by a team that controlled the ball better and therefore ran their offense better. Had AC's girls played in the off season as much as Lafayette girls did, they would have blown them off the court with their superior size and athleticism. VERY good athletes and seemed to have good coaching, but good passing takes more time than three months a year to develop. Lafayette played nine TN teams last year and Independence, Centennial, and BGA were all better teams because they all controlled the ball better than AC. I dont know it for a fact, but my guess is all three of those teams were made up of majority club players.

 

For the record, Bryan College went 11-24 last year and finished 8th in their small NAIA conference. Georgetown went 40-9, won their conference undefeated and made it to the NAIA national championships in CA last year. They finished ranked in the top 10 nationally. Georgetown is made up of all club players and I suppose Bryan is not according to Bratman. I'm not slamming Bryan College. I'll bet if you asked their coach he would tell you he would prefer all his players were experienced club players. Makes it much easier to compete.

Edited July 22, 2006 by KYdigsTN

[clifford20]

This is a great post and am really enjoying the takes. As far as being recruited strictly out of high school it is very difficult unless you are a freak OR you send a ton of game file out. But I would suggest that the kid that is sending game film out is also playing club ball. If you want to play college ball 1) you need to play club for the skills and 2) you neeed to play for the exposure. It is fairly rare for a player to play college ball *and contribute* to their college team.

 

Speaking of Georgetown, I have so much repsect for that program, yet if you mentioned g-town to players they would first not have a clue who they were and then they would think..."just an naia school". So many athletes have the "D-1" myth in their head, yet G-town would pound many D-1 programs. (by the way how is their new coach?)

 

Since this is the Top 10 Volleyball programs thread and we are bordering on changing the content. I look forward to the day when we can throw Siegel in on that list...just not there yet!

 

And I agree- many coach's don't coach club cause they need a break.

[bd4vols]

In Talking to as many college coaches as I do, they all tell me emphatically that it better for a player to play both club and high school because of the reps that they get with both. They realize that this is a sport where development comes with "ball touches" and the more they have the better off they are. They Univ. of Kentucky coaches (and others for that matter) go so far as to track the amount of touches each player gets in practice each day. Players will average over 500 touches in a single practice. They do like to see players with upside, but they definately like players to have well developed skills....especially if they are recruiting someone to come in and make an instant impact.

[catuballer]

GULP!!!

 

Okay, way past 40 close to 50. That hit close ro home oldsklvb!!!

 

I have never slammed club, my daughter did it for a year. Just don't like the overwhelming egos of some involved.

 

After a terse phone call I learned that the AC coaches are now involved in the Smokey Mountain Club and I was told in no uncertain terms to get off of clubs back or my football parking priviledges were gone. Soooooo,

 

"I realize that club has earned an important place in the developement of high school volleyball in the state of Tennessee. Through the support and cooperation of the schools mentioned on the lists at the begining of this post club has become a welcome partner girls volleyball."

 

Is that better?

 

As to Kydigs. Never said you cost AC a match. Just echoed the comment that you were an awful line judge. Watched you blow a half dozen calls during the day. Loved the tournament, liked your school, but you bring me down.

 

I yearn for a kindler gentler America.

If I would have been involved in this thread, there would already have been a warning to keep on thread and to keep things more positive. Now, I suggest everyone keeps on thread and stays positive. Because, if you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all.

[hillmen]

Wow. Let's talk about all the good coaches that ARE coaching club...including some that Brat named...

 

Coach Berry coaches 13U and has for years. Used to at Impact, now at Williamson Select. Coach Brock coaches (or coached--depends on who's reporting) 18U at Dig to Win. Coach Golysteyn (formerly Franklin) coached 16U at Impact. Coach Frazier (formerly Brentwood) coached 14U at Impact. And college coaches...Brandon Rosenthal (Head coach Lipscomb University): 17U at Impact, Tony Howell (First Assistant Coach at Belmont University): 18U at Impact, In Sik Huang (Head Coach at Christian Bros University): 14U at Memphis Metro, Josie Hackworth (Graduate Assistant Coach at Belmont) at Williamson Select, there is an MTSU coach at Xtreme coaching 18U and the list goes on.

 

Saying that there is not good coaching in club is just not true. Many of the best coaches in the state support the club system as it ultimately benefits their programs and the athletes.

Just to make on little correction and to add a name.

 

It is not Extreme Volleyball Club out of MTSU any more, it is Tennessee Lightning. The coach your are referring to is Tyrone Jenkins and I will go out on a limb here and say he is the best technical and skills coach in the area.