Club Tryouts in NJ/CT
It's come that time of year again...
High school state tournaments are in full swing with the top teams knocking each other out for a chance to be crowned champions. Meanwhile, club and college coaches are scouting these tournament matches looking for top players to add to their programs.
The club options in Connecticut are fairly limited, and the same year to year. But in New Jersey there are a few new club options out there (and coach attrition to and from different clubs...but that's a whole different story...)
For those high-school aged players out there with aspirations to play in college, or even just improve your game, the best way to do so is to play more volleyball. And the best way to play more quality volleyball? Join a club team. Seriously. Do it.
(I apologize for being late on this post. Many clubs have already begun try-outs.)
Here are the options (known to me) available in Connecticut:
CT Impact (Boys/Girls) Bethel, CT
CT Juniors (Boys/Girls) Woodbridge, CT
CT Volleyball Academy (Girls) New London, CT
Eastern CT (Girls) Pomfret, CT
Husky Volleyball (Boys/Girls) Tolland, CT
Mizuno East (Boys) Bridgeport, CT
And here are the programs I know of in New Jersey:
Allegro (Girls)
Atlantic Valley (Girls)
CJVA (Girls)
Central Jersey Heat (Girls)
Cutshot (Girls)
DIGS (Girls)
Essex (Girls)
Jersey Shore (Boys/Girls)
Legion (Girls)
North Jersey (Boys/Girls)
Phoenix (Boys/Girls)
TCA (Girls) Contact Rich Pickrell at asics77@optonline.net
Warren SixPak (Boys)
West Windsor - Princeton (Boys/Girls)
Others listed here: http://geva.org/juniors/club-tryouts
Relevance of Physical Benchmarks
Often times as a coach, player, or fan of a sport you will be bombarded with physical benchmarks and athletic performance metrics. At the professional levels of sport you will hear about so-and-so player's vertical leap, 40-yard dash time, or bench press. Think of the NFL Combine where they have potential NFL draftees go through a series of physical tasks in order to rank their athletic potential and performance.
But that is at the professional level, where the athletes would have already developed the necessary skills and knowledge to perform at the highest level. At that level, physical traits can differentiate between a good player, and a great player.
How is this relevant to the high-school juniors level of volleyball?
Club Try-outs in CT/NJ
Playing some form of volleyball year-round is pretty much a necessity for any aspiring college player. Practice makes perfect, as they say, and what better way to get practice than to play organized volleyball at a competitive level? Add some coaching on top of that and you have the potential to improve greatly before your next high-school season (or in preparation for college.)
For you juniors players in CT, there are only two clubs I know of in the area: Husky Volleyball and CT Juniors. Husky is based out of Windsor, and CT Juniors is based out of Woodbridge. So it's essentially a north vs south sort of thing.
Husky tryouts for both boys and girls had first day evaluations last Sunday, and will continue try-outs this upcoming Sunday, November 22nd. See www.huskyvolleyball.com for more information. For girls, I am speaking specifically about their "High Performance" program.
CT Juniors girls tryouts begin Nov 29th. The boys do not have a posted try-out date posted on the website. Head to http://www.volleyballcenter.com/cjvahome.html for contact information.
There is a lot more to choose from in NJ, and I don't think I know all of them. TCA has completed try-outs for this year, whereas the other programs should be in the midst of try-outs. Check out the following links for the clubs I know of in NJ:
TCA
Digs
CutShot
AVVC
Allegro
South Jersey
Central Jersey
North Jersey
Legion (This one is new.)