A Parents Perspective at the AAU Championship - We need to start them Younger w/ Top Coaches

As a parent who's child is playing volleyball at a high level for the first time, the AAU National Championship was the grand crescendo to an incredible year. We were all amazed on the opening ceremony with the players parade and a fantastic choreographed dance routine to kick off the tournament by Mickey Mouse and company on Friday.

To see hundreds upon hundreds of young ladies from across our great nation competing was truly a joy to see. During Pool play: Saturday, Sunday and Monday we won some but lost most. Finally on Tuesday our team played well into the semi's before falling short. Our team was just an average Tri-County type team and was clearly over matched as we faced elite teams from Puerto Rico, Texas, Indiana and Louisiana.

Over-all, our girls have realized more than ever that they truly love the sport of Volleyball and most agree that they have to get to work and greatly improving their skills.

There were a few things that I observed from many 10U and 12U teams that is not commonly seen in the South Florida area. First hand I witnessed teams that had most of their girls jump serving line drives over the net. These girls were playing bump set, spike to perfection - again I said 10-12yr olds. As I witnessed this high level of play I realized that I had not witnessed anything like it when I attended Tri-County tournaments. Which brought about a profound question - WHY NOT?

Seeing that I am no expert I can only propose a question to all the club directors and coaches in the South Florida area.

What can we all do to make our girls perform at a higher level and at an earlier age?

A few suggestions:

* All clubs need to have a developmental league for 9-11 yr old beginners.
* The girls need talented teachers (coaches) that can show them to play at a high level. Within the second month the girls need to be scrimmaging with one another.
* By the forth month all the clubs need to have their young beginner team participate in a tournament.
** There needs to be an aggressive beginner program that can transform the girls from sweet little novice players to elite or a least solid player in 4-6 months.
* We need to see greater participation of the different clubs by offering more gym time to members and more practices during the season.

EXAMPLE: During the recent AAU Championship we spoke with one of the Puerto Rican teams and they practice 4 days a week for four hours a practice. No wonder they are so good. I was literally in shock when they told us how much they practice that It took several minutes for mind to ask a simple question: so when do the girls study for school?

Overall - as a first time parent involved in travel volleyball I must admit I love it, my kids love it - it's great. Although I am concerned that other states seem to do it better.

SFVR: Special thanks to the above parent that wished to write anonymously but shared a very interesting perspective on a players commencement at a young age into the sport. We all need to do our part to make sure that our girls and our teams excel Nationally and Internationally.