Top Travel Team Option

With the increase of very talented players, we have formed this option in an attempt to better service these athletes.

Our coaching committee discussed this a great length. This is in no way to take away from any other teams in Club South, be a regional or another national team.

In the past, we planned for some of our top national black teams to continue training and they attend the USAV Nationals or AAU Nationals. This was considered Phase II, which had an additional cost and was considered after Regional championships and ended with the National tournament, normally late June. This is simply asking parents and players to plan for additional training and tournaments. Teams will take off after the Nat. Qualifier for 3-5 weeks in order to give the girls (and parents) a break.

Should this be the case, we want to plan from the beginning to continue past Regional championships. We also will plan to have additional training, specific skill sessions especially designed for these groups. In addition, we plan to send these teams to different tournaments that would be a higher level of competition. Basically, focus on our top athletes in the areas of training , competition, and preparation to play at the elite level. We would like to also help these athletes in college preparation and recruiting.

We feel the cost will be approximately the same as we would have charged in the past for Phase I and II. Our national coaching staff is committed to this and desires to give what ever it takes to push our top players to a higher level and enhance their possibility of college scholarships.

Our coaching committee will know during tryouts if we have the talent level to form a Top Team in a specific age group. We are looking for a group of top quality athletes, who are well advanced for their age division and can compete on the national level. It is possible we will have TWO Top Teams, based on the number of talented athletes in an age division.

All this will be dependant on (1) IF we have the sufficient talent in an age group. (2) The parents agree to this level of commitment. We hope you will commit to this, should your child be chosen. We are seeking the athlete that desires to play volleyball in college and is committed to do what it will take to prepare for this. We expect that if you are on these teams, you should have the best chance of playing in college.

What is the Difference in our Black National Teams and Top National Teams?
We have been doing what we are outlaying above for years, we simply are pre-planning for top teams to be aware of plans to continue past state championships and attend a national tournament. Cost is more, but these teams will attend different tournaments and will be coached by our top national coaches, along with a longer planned season.
Our 2nd (or 3rd) National Black Teams will continue to have the same training and attend similar tournaments they have attended in the past. There may be times we will have similar talent that we may create two Top Teams. Black National teams are formed when the coaching committee determines the level of talent can compete in the national level.

WE have budgeted this option at $1200, paid by 6 installments of $200. This may vary slightly if tournament cost increase, that we are unaware of currently. We do not expect it to vary more than $100 per player, it could be less if we are unable to get into some tournaments. National teams (2nd or 3rd teams) will have a cost of $800.

Dear Parents,

As you know every year it seems that Club South just seems to get bigger and bigger. Just a few short years ago we started with 6 teams and have now grown to an organization with over 500 athletes and 30+ teams. we have won two national qualifiers and have the best finish at nationals that a team from South Carolina has ever had. The unprecedented growth has not come without growing pains. We are presented with difficult and complicated situations every year that force us to make tough decisions.

At the end of every season the coaching committee sits down and we reevaluate the past year and decide what we need to change or how we could have done things differently. It is our goal to help the season go as smoothly as possible. With the increase in the level of success there is also the increase in the expectation level. It is almost a given now that we expect every top team to win regionals and go to nationals every year. In order to stay competitive nationally we have had to change the way that our national team program is run. Tougher practices, longer season and more travel tournaments are some of the changes that have been considered. We also have changed our national team commitment to keep pace with the raised expectations that have come from our increased success on the national scene. This comes from a number of problems that we faced in previous years from families making commitments in order to get on the top team, then failing to adhere to that commitment during the season.

We have created the commitment in its current form to be as fair as possible to all the players that will make a Top National Team this year. We want to give these athletes every opportunity to become competitive college athletes. We do not want to limit any athlete who wish to pursue other activities but we have to remain true to the other girls on the team that are committed to each other and the goal of a regional and national championships. The commitment agreement states clearly that any athlete on the top team will be expected to attend 90% of the practices and all tournaments ( three of the tournaments being mandatory, Palmetto Regionals, the National Qualifier, and the June National Tournament.)

We cannot state this clearly enough. we are not going to punish any athlete who wishes to participate in other school sports. School sport conflicts are excused, but only school sports, not outside club sports. We do expect you to clear your schedule for the mandatory tournaments mentioned above. We are not saying do not participate in other sports, we only ask for our top team, volleyball comes first during season.

There are many options at club south that will still be available that will not have the commitments that a top team would have. The top national program is an elite program that requires a high level of competition and commitment. If we want to compete for national championships, this is the direction that our national program must go. We appreciate every family that plays for Club South. It is our goal that every athlete reach her potential and the goals that she has set for herself.

It is not fair to the other girls on the team if we allow these requirements to be ignored. If you cannot agree to these requirements then unfortunately we will not be able to consider you for one of the top national teams. Please note, we are graduating over 96% of our seniors who come out of our Top National teams to play in college with scholarships valued upwards of $50,000!! It is our goal to make this 100%. We need committed athletes to accomplish this goal.

We are looking forward to a great season and a wonderful future.

National Coaching Committee