My son plays club volleyball because there is no rec or school volleyball available for boys in Houston(unless you are going to put them in private school which is a whole other level of $$’s). Is there a chance he could play in college, probably. He has a better chance of playing volleyball in college than he does playing football, basketball or baseball because there are substantially less boys playing volleyball then there are in the other sports. In that sense, it’s a lot like girls golf. Do I expect him to get a free ride to play volleyball in college, no it at all. The money for full ride scholarship’s in men’s volleyball isn’t there.

So true.

Also. I had no idea there were roughly 350 Division 1 volleyball programs. Probably 250 division 2. 200 NAIA.
200 Division 3. (No money, but with grades can be significantly reducrd$.

I just had no idea there were 1000 college volleyball programs out there. Plus beach is growing as is boys.

And of course I’m 6’5 and my daughter is 5’3 and shortest on team.

We are about to play on our first pay team. Basketball for 10 to 12 year olds. It is $390 for the season total though so compared to other sports it isn't bad. We play free through school but my daughter wants to keep playing so it is our only option since regular season is over. She plays tennis for free through school so I will let her play since she loves it. This is still just for fun unlike her friends in club volleyball or soccer which costs way more. Volleyball is expensive!!

Maybe it was select ball. But in 83' at 13, I was "invited" to a D1 coaches brothers house, where he had a full sized baseball field complete with lights, for a tryout. I made his team, and it was LOADED at every position. I thought I was at worst, the third best hitter, fastest on the bases, and the best outfielder. Coach didn't see it that way. I ended up being a reserve right fielder, and hit 9th every game. And R/F is the position they used to get everybody in the game. Sometimes he'd start me, so I could pinch run later, if we needed a run. Mom asked coach why I wasn't playing much and he said it was because he was "campaigning his 14 year olds. I'd have to wait till next year.' Three seasons under his tutelage and I was done with baseball. I didn't pay a dime, and got picked up for practice. I guess the same people who paid for his lights paid our fees.

I played select soccer growing up, played at the State and Olympic Development Program and I made it to the D1 arena at Northeastern University in Boston. Had other colleges that made scholarship offers, but NU had some programs I wanted to study, and Boston was a really cool town for a college kid.

My take on it: select soccer gave me the advantages of learning from some great trainers, first and foremost. We had former professionals that knew what it took to get to the next level and they trained us for that. Add that in with the fact that you generally play more than in rec leagues, and you are working more on your craft. Many may have read Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 Hours (great book!)....the main idea being the more you practice at something, eventually you can master it. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team. That motivated him and he put in more hours than others around him...and we know the result. Macklemore mentions this in his song, 10,000 hours, a nod to Gladwell: "The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint. The greats were great because they paint a lot".

With select sports you actually play more than rec leagues. We had two training sessions a week, plus games and tournaments on the weekends. We played in tournaments all around the country, and played year round for the most part.

Part of it is you have better trainers, sometimes better facilities, and you play against "better" competition, which in turn can help you rise your own level of competition. Also, select sports have more tournaments where college scouts come to watch. There are tournaments called the "Junior/Senior showcase" where scouts for colleges (and some pro teams) would come see you play. The exposure, better training, and more hours played is what I feel gives select players a leg up on getting to the D1 level. However, talent and hard work can come from anywhere...I've seen rec players that can wipe the floor with select kids. But maybe they don't want to commit to the extra hours of select ball, or maybe they can't afford the extra few hundred (or more) dollars a month it costs.

Select soccer is what helped me get to the D1 level. I still play (I'm 39) at a very competitive level and play with guys that are former pros. The best forward, who leads our entire league (70 teams or so) in goals for the last two years, never played select ball. But he also never got scouted out and didn't play D1. If he had the exposure of a select program, he would have had a full ride to some of the top D1 schools in the country. BUT, he had to work with his family business to help his family out, right after high school....so perhaps that hindered his ability to play select ball. Maybe it wasn't an option financially, or personally. It's about choices, and financial ability, in some cases.

Select sports - It's a $$$ commitment and it's a time commitment. It's not for everyone. But if the individual really takes everything they can, and woks on their 10,000 hours, the exposure of select will give you an advantage of getting into a college program or perhaps a scholarship.

My grandson was offered spots at colleges with a better baseball program but he decided on the one where he could get a better education. It's just D III level baseball but he gets to continue to play the game that he loves.

I was a softball tournament Dir for over a decade covering all levels of rec and travel clubs. I can tell you that in softball, the college coaches don't bother to scout HS games, with the exception being the later rounds of the state play-offs. They do show up in droves for the Gold level travel tournaments, primarily because of the concentration of talent. In fact some tournaments are billed as "scouted" tournaments where the Dir will promise coaches X number of colleges are there. I don't know of a single girl out of our system that garnered a scholarship that didn't play for a high level travel team.

Is it worth the dollars spent by parents? Only if it pays off. In most cases it doesn't, but I'm not going to tell someone their kid's not good enough to bother.

IMO, this is something that can't be stressed enough for the kids that make it though the process and are thinking about playing in college. Sometimes taking the spot on the D1 team isn't the right decision. My daughters club volleyball team had a lady that played D2 volleyball come out and talk to some of the travel teams. The lady and her best friend were both recruited to play college ball. She went to a smaller D2 school and the friend went to a big name D1 school. She ended up getting to play on a regular basis and graduated after 4 years with all her friends. The D1 girl was red-shirted her freshman year and then rarely made the court for the next 4. After 4 years, the D1 girl got to watch all her friends from high-school graduate college and start working/making money. Meanwhile, she still had another year of school and was a year behind her friends in the workplace. Which of the two had a better college experience playing volleyball, I would say the D2 lady did.

I have a question as a parent that has a son who is deep into select baseball:


What was the takeaway from all your time and money playing at a select level? Did it pay for any college? After college, did it help you in you career or was/is it a hobby that you enjoy and have carried with you ?


What i'm trying to understand, for the kids that don't get into college, get burned out, don't go pro, etc.....what is the Uptake to spending the time and money? Time is the huge factor imo, the money, while important, is secondary.

That’s an intereating take - maybe you’re right if playing volleyball is the only lens through which the college experience is viewed. But IMO that’s part of the problem with an emphasis on sports.I think it’s a shame when a kid who could get into a top tier D1 school chooses to attend a lesser school instead just to play sports for a few more years.

All parents will say it’s because the kids loved playing.

I think there is a lot more too it than the kids loving playing? which kid wouldn't love traveling around and playing baseball all the time?


I think that a lot of the parents enjoy being apart of the "culture" of being a select ball parent.

I did play DI baseball, and professionally for 5 years, so take it FWIW using baseball as an example. I understand the attraction of the select league type system (Perfect Game) to the parents and kids. I will not deny that it gives them huge exposure that the rec leagues/HS level doesn't give them. I also understand as well as anybody that these show cases, etc are a huge money maker for the Perfect Game's of the world. My buddy who I played AAA ball with is still a scout for the Giants org and he hates these things for that very reason. When your kid gets invited to one of those showcases, the marketing hype begins with a list of college coaches who will be there. Of course they will be there as they don't' have to travel to 100 different HS games in Houston to see kids play. It is convenient for them to go to one place. 30 minutes after watching one of these PG showcases and you will see that 75% of those kids have no business being there, but thier parents had to shell out big $$$$ to get them there. Keep in mind the fact that 3% or so get to play at the DI level, and fewer than that actually get to play pro ball. The odds are not in your favor unless you are pretty much an elite talent, of which there are relatively few. Now I'm not saying that a guy should not try and give his son every advantage available if that's what they choose to do, but you need to be realistic about it. As txtrophy 85 mentioned, it does mean a lot t the parent as well, as they can brag all over town that their kid plays select ball, and/or got to attend a showcase in Phoenix last Summer.

I read through Son of a Blitch's post above and agree for the most part, especially the "work harder than everyone else" practice. That's what will take you far in life, not necessarily the sports world. There are many, many talented people who never make the big league's because there are things like politics involved, being at the wrong place at wrong time, etc. I personally believe you need a certain amount of God given ability to be one of the elite players. Michael Jordan was mentioned, and he was arguably the greatest basketball player ever. He sucked at baseball though. Tim Tebow is the same story, and I like Tebow a lot. If it weren't for his name and the fact that he can sell tickets, he wouldn't be a 28 yr old in AA ball, and the fact that he may go to AA ball is a joke based on his performance. Everybody knows it.

Lot of good stuff above. Recruiting has changed so much in the past 25 years.

Division 1 or 2 was a huge discussion around our house this last week.
I asked my daughter did she wanna play volleyball in college at a D2 level or go to large university And not play volleyball.

I used Fort Hays State as an example. D2 program in a small town in Kansas or attend Arkansas.

This is the biggest decision. She said she wanted to play. So, there are recruiting companies to get you more exposure, like NSR. I will go that route and see what’s out there. Were not opposed to a preferred walk on at a larger school.

I had some full scholarship offers to play at D2, and some partial at D1. I might have had one D1, but none from schools I really wanted to go to, or they were in states that I was not interested in living in. So, at NU, I didn't get any scholarships, but I really wanted to go there. I was an only child, and my parents said..."go where you want. If there were two of you, we wouldn't be able to make that offer." If that were the case, I would have chosen a school that offered a full ride, D1, D2 or D3. I just loved the game, so I would have wanted to stick with it. After 1.5 years on the team at NU, I stepped down and decided to just play on an intramural team at NU. 3-4 hours of time a day for D1 soccer and a coach that I didn't get along with aided that decision. If I was on scholarship, I would have stuck it out. It's a task to play D1 AND keep up with all your school work, sometimes!

The credentials of playing select and then college ball definitely helped me to land a high school coaching job. I also coached a few rec league teams - for U8 girls and U12 boys, and one select u12 boys team. It helped me to land those gigs as well, I think. I did have some offers to be a goalkeeping coach for a select team here in Houston, but I was touring with my band often and couldn't commit to their schedule. So, it opened up some doors, and if that was my career choice, that investment would have been even more beneficial.

I agree with there being a huge time and money factor. My parents let me take the lead with where I wanted to play and how much I wanted to do during the select years....ie: extra camps, training sessions. They could afford it (it was a tad cheaper 20+ years ago), so I was able to keep going.

I think the uptake is, you are allowing your kids to pursue what they want to pursue, to find out what makes them happy, and maybe just as important, where their limits are. When I played at the collegiate level, I knew I was good enough to play D1 college, but I soon learned I wasn't going to be a superstar at that level. I also (quickly) recognized I was not going to be a professional. Through select ball, I learned what it took to be at the top of my game, to work hard to be the best I could, and that I needed to continue to get better on my own to succeed. All great lessons for a kid. And I learned my parents had my back....THAT was the biggest takeaway...how much my parents sacrificed and supported me! THAT is what I remember most from those days. We played a traveled a LOT! That was an investment in love, which is impossible to quantify. HOWEVER, I really wished I could have made my college more affordable for my parents with a scholarship. To combat that feeling, I worked 2-3 jobs at a time, took the extra honors classes (free) and worked my butt off to make great grades. I had the mindset that they invested in me to the Nth degree, and since I didn't choose a school that paid for my education, I wasn't about to take college lightly, or make my parents pay for everything. That lesson came from their investment in their love, time and money. And I took those lessons of hard work and commitment and that has helped me succeed in life, and now as a parent.

*I have many friends that did make a career out of soccer: coaching D1-D3 schools, becoming select trainers, or playing for the MLS, USMNT, or professionally, overseas. ALL of them will say that the select programs paved the way to those levels of future success.

my son does love to play but the life lessons and attributes he is learning along the way will help him throughout his whole life. Discipline, teamwork, work ethic, hard work, networking, overcoming adversity just to name a few. There is way more to sports than just running around beating your chest and trying to get drafted into the pros.

What Sapper said is spot on!

All this select baseball is really elevating D league slow pitch

my son does love to play but the life lessons and attributes he is learning along the way will help him throughout his whole life. Discipline, teamwork, work ethic, hard work, networking, overcoming adversity just to name a few. There is way more to sports than just running around beating your chest and trying to get drafted into the pros.
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Amen, and agreed 100%. I'm a huge proponent of sports for that very reason.

Someone is mad that they always got picked last when it came to sports.

From the time we are born until the time we die, we're competing for something. Even if it's just the air we breath. Today's attitude with some rec sports that there are no winners or losers is just plain

My kid played select baseball, he started HS this year and is playing ball there. He may or may not keep playing select after the HS season ends, he is undecided. He thouroghly enjoys the sport in general, and is always eager to practice and play. We did not pay more than $500.00 per year, and he is fully aware he is not Div 1 material. On a side note, the yoga pants scene is pretty decent at most select ball tournaments, just an added bonus.

100%. I coached Little League and we also played tournament baseball on another team. The talent level is night and day difference. Sure, you can go spend $7K-$10K to be on a club roster for tournament ball. But you can also pay about $800 like we do to be apart on a good tournament team and compete (this only covers uniforms and tournament fees and some equipment). The dad's still coach, but the other dad's help out and we have a GREAT team with good talent and compete very well with the other expensive club teams. I know several parents who spent $7K-$8K for one season of baseball on a club team. Everyone of them had major issues with coaching, other parents, and the team organization as a whole. I see it almost every weekend. I do think those clubs are crazy.

But if you want your young athlete to be challenged and compete, tournament ball is it. Rec ball is not what it used to be.