Introducing Kids to Club Volleyball: What First-Time Parents Need To Know
Last February, I was leaning against a scuffed cinder block wall in a suburban rec center, twisting my car keys around my finger, ready to text my 12-year-old daughter Lila that we were leaving. We’d driven 25 minutes for an open tryout for local club volleyball, and I’d just spent 10 minutes listening to two parents by the water cooler talk about how much they spent on airline tickets for out-of-state tournaments, and how their 14-year-old hadn’t had a free weekend in 18 months. I’d signed up on a whim after Lila begged for three weeks, following her rec league season where she’d spent half the time on the bench because there were 18 kids on the team, most of whom would rather chat in the out-of-bounds area than pay attention to the game. I was already second-guessing everything.
Lila had already wandered inside to bounce a ball around with the other kids, though, so I stayed. The coach for the development team came out to greet the waiting parents a few minutes later, and I asked her straight up what the time commitment and cost was for new players. I expected the sticker shock I’d heard about, but she said entry-level teams for kids new to club practice once a week for two hours, tournaments are one Saturday a month within 45 minutes of town, and no out-of-state travel is required for that level. The full season cost was $650, which is less than I spend on my gym membership and weekly coffee runs in three months, honestly. I relaxed a little.
When Lila came out after tryouts, her hair was stuck to her neck, she had a scrape on her knee from diving for a ball, and she was grinning so wide her cheeks looked sore. She said it was the most fun she’d had playing volleyball ever. Every girl there actually wanted to be playing, no one was dragging their feet or texting under the bench. She made the team, we signed the forms, and I went into the season with pretty low expectations, just hoping she wouldn’t quit after the first month.
Our first tournament was in March, at a high school 40 minutes away. Lila’s team lost all four games that day, by pretty big margins. I waited by the exit, holding her favorite lemonade, prepared for the waterworks. Lila used to storm off and cry if she lost a round of Uno, so I figured a full day of losing would be rough. She came out with three other girls on the team, all laughing about how one of them accidentally served the ball straight into the coach’s clipboard. They asked if we could stop for ice cream on the way home, and no one even mentioned the losses. That’s when I realized something I hadn’t expected: the competition level was higher than rec, but the pressure was lower for Lila, because everyone was there because they wanted to be, not because their parents signed them up to check an activity box.
A lot of parents I’ve talked to since assume club volleyball is only for kids who want to earn a college scholarship and play professionally. That’s the biggest misconception I ran into before we started. Most local clubs now split their programs clearly into development and elite tracks. If your kid just wants more court time and more fun playing the sport, you don’t have to sign up for the expensive cross-country travel team. The first concrete tip I share with other parents curious about trying it is to always ask what entry-level, no-travel options a club offers before you rule it out entirely. The second is to ask about their cut policy for younger players: a lot of clubs don’t cut new 10 to 13-year-olds anymore, they just sort everyone into teams by experience, so no kid goes home disappointed just because they haven’t been playing since they were 7. That’s what happened with us, and it took so much stress out of the tryout process.
It’s not all perfect, of course. We have to rearrange dinner and homework every Tuesday for practice, which is our team’s fixed practice night. Last month, Lila had a science project due the next day, and practice ran 20 minutes late because the team wanted to extra practice serving after their drill. She had to glue her poster board together in the car on the way home, and she missed her favorite weekly TV show, and she was grumpy about it for a full hour after we got home. We adjusted after that: now she does any big assignments or homework due the next day before practice, instead of saving it for after. It’s a small change, but it works, and it’s taught her to plan ahead in a way she never had to before when all her activities were low-stress and flexible.
I still get questions from other parents at school asking if it’s worth the time and money. It’s more expensive than rec league, sure, but it was less than I spent on weekly dance classes that Lila quit after two months a couple years ago. And the time commitment is totally manageable as long as you don’t jump into elite play right off the bat. I never would have tried it if I’d listened to all the scary stories about overpriced, overcompetitive club sports, but it turns out there’s a spot for casual kids who just love the game, too.
This season ends next month, and Lila already asked if she can sign up again next year. We still have weeks where we’re rushing around, where she’s tired after practice and can barely finish her homework, where I forget to bring a folding chair to the tournament and end up sitting on the hard bleachers for four hours with a cramp in my leg. It’s not for every kid—if your kid would rather draw or play soccer or climb trees than hit a volleyball around, that’s a much better fit for them. But if your kid keeps asking for more volleyball after rec league, you don’t have to write off club entirely because of the horror stories you hear from parents of elite athletes. It’s been good for us, so far. We’re taking it one season at a time, and right now, that’s enough.
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