Notre Dame

[Pree 4 three]

Thought I would throw my 2 cents in..as a former scout I have talked to a number of athletes, coaches and parents. The student athletes of today are being forced in many cases to choose what sport to "specialize" in at earlier and earlier ages. There are a number of reasons why..1)many of the kids and their parents are told if they want to play at the next level, this is what they have to do..2) many coaches demand year round participation in their sport and off season programs in order for them to be on the team and give little to no leniency to those who do not conform.(do you see where im going with this?) The ironic thing is when you talk to college coaches most like to see kids that play multiple sports because they say it shows the athlete is multi talented but mostly it shows they can be coached by different coaches with different styles and philosophies. My daughter played multiple sports throughout grade school into middle school but in seventh grade she decided on her own basketball was her love and quit playing all other sports, much to the chagrin of my wife who played softball up into college lol...There is a big difference between a kid that chooses to make that decision and one that is forced to. And now I'll step on some toes... a lot of the blame imo rests on the shoulders of the H.S. and club coaches. Im not saying every coach, but if you're a parent and have had a kid playing sports you know what I mean. But some blame must fall on some parents who, and believe me I understand, shell out hundreds if not thousands of dollars to club teams for fees, travel, and the thing that irks me the most, Admission to the events. Some of these parents decide that since they're shelling out that cash that their kid is going to specialize in that sport. I had a kid that i was interviewing for the program we had and was a stud. All Region, All State honorable mention. Played AAU ball all through middle school through junior yr. The dad had the check book on the table ready to sign him up and I was thinking about what I was going to do with the commission check I would be getting lol! It was a lock! Then I asked him one simple question...Is playing college ball your dream? Is it what you want? His answer...NO..I guess my point is to parents, talk to your kids about what they really want; dreams, goals..you will save yourself a big let down at the end of the journey and probably save some money along the way.

 

Great post.:ylsuper:

[nees1212]

Really? I don't buy that. Good sales pitch by club coaches. So you don't need to play select basketball? Why not?

 

I have heard by multiple people that to play on NDA’s volleyball team, you must play club volleyball. That is not true for soccer, but odds are most, if not all, play club anyways.

[nees1212]

At Notre Dame your never going to have middle schoolers playing sports.

 

Unless you’re talking basketball and volleyball, this is a false statement.

[Voice of Reason]

I have heard by multiple people that to play on NDA’s volleyball team, you must play club volleyball. That is not true for soccer, but odds are most, if not all, play club anyways.

 

Are the Notre Dame volleyball coaches connected to the Club volleyball program they are requiring girls to play for?

[nees1212]

Are the Notre Dame volleyball coaches connected to the Club volleyball program they are requiring girls to play for?

 

I don’t think they’re requiring them to play for the club they’re associated with. They just have to play club somewhere.

 

As far as other posts on the demands these clubs make on their players, some are extremely strict while others are not.

[Voice of Reason]

I don’t think they’re requiring them to play for the club they’re associated with. They just have to play club somewhere.

 

As far as other posts on the demands these clubs make on their players, some are extremely strict while others are not.

 

I think that is a scam. If there is a 6'2" girl who is an excellent volleyball player and she chooses to play basketball instead of volleyball, would they really not let her play volleyball at NDA? Let's step back even more ... if a girl who doesn't play club volleyball shows up at tryouts and is clearly good enough to start, what are the coaches going to do?

[rjal]

I’m not sure what they would do with a freakishly tall girl, but our friend’s daughter was told she couldn’t try out because she didn’t play club. Mom was furious. She said cut her if she isn’t good enough but everyone should have a chance. This was about five years ago.

[Gretchen Stephenson]

Having coached volleyball at NDA and having two daughters more recently go thru the volleyball program, I can tell you the volleyball coaches do not care one bit if girls play other sports at NDA. Most NDA volleyball players play club because they know to “make the team” they need to play volleyball year round. They also have goals of playing in college and that happens from club exposure, not high school. In the past four graduating classes, almost all the players could have or did go on to play in college.

 

I know for a fact the past two head volleyball coaches never said anything to athletes who played more than one sport. Prior to that, Bob Wood and Kim Gunning before him, actively encouraged multiple sport athletes.

 

I don’t know anything about the basketball program at NDA but did want to add my two cents about volleyball since it is mentioned several times.

[Gretchen Stephenson]

I’m not sure what they would do with a freakishly tall girl, but our friend’s daughter was told she couldn’t try out because she didn’t play club. Mom was furious. She said cut her if she isn’t good enough but everyone should have a chance. This was about five years ago.

 

I was on the volleyball coaching staff five years ago and I promise you no one was ever turned away from tryouts at NDA. We had girls come out for the team who couldn’t even serve over hand so they obviously had only ever played middle school ball. Everyone gets a fair shot and the best are chosen regardless of club experience and/or club affiliation.

[rjal]

I don’t think anyone is saying the volleyball coaches at NDA are not allowing it. It is the clubs that are requiring significant volleyball commitments during basketball season that are making it difficult. And as said multiple time above without playing on these club teams you aren’t going to be good enough to play for the high school basically making the high school coaches opinion irrelevant.

[rjal]

I was on the volleyball coaching staff five years ago and I promise you no one was ever turned away from tryouts at NDA. We had girls come out for the team who couldn’t even serve over hand so they obviously had only ever played middle school ball. Everyone gets a fair shot and the best are chosen regardless of club experience and/or club affiliation.

 

 

I am only going by what she said. The kid ended up going to another high school and actually playing volleyball there and having a great experience so it worked out. I know when I went to nda years ago they let whoever tryout but if you weren’t club you got the “there, there” head pat so yes everyone got to tryout in theory.

[Voice of Reason]

I’m not sure what they would do with a freakishly tall girl, but our friend’s daughter was told she couldn’t try out because she didn’t play club. Mom was furious. She said cut her if she isn’t good enough but everyone should have a chance. This was about five years ago.

 

If I am the AD, that volleyball coach gets a tongue lashing. If the coach doesn't agree to let the girl try out, the coach is fired. The club volleyball scam would not happen if I were AD. Was NDA's AD made aware? What was the response?

[Gretchen Stephenson]

If I am the AD, that volleyball coach gets a tongue lashing. If the coach doesn't agree to let the girl try out, the coach is fired. The club volleyball scam would not happen if I were AD. Was NDA's AD made aware? What was the response?

 

There is so much misinformation on this board. I was on volleyball

coaching staff at NDA five years ago. Everyone who wanted to tryout got to tryout. Not one person was ever turned away.

[Voice of Reason]

There is so much misinformation on this board. I was on volleyball

coaching staff at NDA five years ago. Everyone who wanted to tryout got to tryout. Not one person was ever turned away.

 

Thanks for posting. Did anyone who is not a club player try out?

[Gretchen Stephenson]

Thanks for posting. Did anyone who is not a club player try out?

 

Yes there were often girls who only played middle school ball come out for the team. The fall sports at NDA have freshman “sign up” for tryouts at the spring Open House. They were all put on an email distribution list and contacted as a group about summer open gyms and tryouts. We did not go through the list and determine who played club and who didn’t.