Most club volleyball tryouts are nerve wracking.
They involve playing in a different gym, seeing new coaches armed with clipboards and pens
ready to make notes, and long lines of nervous girls anxiously attempting to impress the other players and coaches with their abilities. Many players and their parents enter such an event believing that the way to make a good mark is to have good skills such as a great serve, good hands, and a hard spike.
While these skills are important, coaches have different philosophies and may have different criteria for their clubs’ tryouts. Some coaches measure sport specific skills, such as passing, setting, or serving. Other coaches will evaluate general athletic skills such as jumping, leaping, speed, strength, or agility.
Tom Hogan, a coach in the CU Women’s Volleyball program and former USOC assistant coach, told a group of players at a TCA Volleyball Club tryout in Boulder that standout athletes possess the following qualities:
• They read the play and they react to the ball, even when it is not coming directly to them.
• They move their feet and get to the ball.
• They communicate on the court – they get along with their teammates and support them; they talk when they are going for the ball; they have a positive presence on the court. While Hogan’s list was specific to volleyball, it applies to most other sports.
Very few of the players and their parents would have populated their tryout list with these qualities. In other words, a high-caliber coach has a different perspective on the sport and what makes a quality player. This is something for parents and players to keep in mind as the club season progresses.