PVA, Performance Volleyball Academy

Club Director: Christi Lutman
Fees: $675- $2800

PVA is a premiere club. One of my daughters played for them last year and it was a great experience, intense but great. For the athlete who pushes themselves to do better this is the club for you. If you have an athlete who is comfortable with being middle of the pack I would suggest going to another club. To be happy in this club, the player will need to be able to push their skills to the limit and never give up. The coaches with PVA are highly trained and are some of the best I have seen. PVA also has a new 80,000 sq ft facility in Overland Park. I contacted players and parents to get their reviews and have not received a response from anyone yet.  Below info was taken from PVA's website.

Mission Statement

PVA will provide a rigorous volleyball experience that empowers each player to realize what it takes to become a CHAMPION.  PVA will commit themselves to teaching and training individuals sportsmanship, self confidence, and the principals involved in being an exceptional athlete.  PVA will prepare their athletes to be ready to compete at the next level.

Club Structure

PVA is geared to the athlete searching for a club program that puts volleyball at the forefront of their lives. We desire competitive, driven athletes who desire a high level of training and competition.

It is PVA’s belief that in order to achieve greatness -both personal and athletic- coach, player, parent and staff must work together to develop a relationship which puts the team and players first. Our complete fee structure and itemized expense breakdown are available at our informational meeting. Additionally, PVA costs are all inclusive excluding national and local travel for the coaches and are highly competitive with other organizations.

Teams within PVA will compete both regionally and nationally. Travel is directed by the club directors.  PVA will take all their National level teams to the same qualifiers.  National travel is designed to expose our athletes to college coaches and recruiters, and expose our players to a higher level of play they don't get to see at home.


http://www.performancevba.com/default.html 

Southside Swarm VBC Review

Club Director: Chris Heman
Flub Fees: $695-$1150



I have had many opportunities to see Swarm teams play and see their coaching styles. Overall as a whole, Swarm is a great club to play for. I have met and like the club director very much. I do have a few concerns though.  My concerns lie with the individual coaches.

Some of the Swarm coaches only experience is in coaching park and rec teams. I feel not all of their coaches make the mark. One coach in particular I have experience with. We played against each other many times. I observed him become quite belligerent when his team was loosing. I witnessed girls brought to tears and parents irate with his behavior. Another coach I witnessed as the director of a tournament. She was great. She was quite the opposite of the coach before mentioned. She knew how to bring the best out of her players, which is exactly what a coach is supposed to do.
Parents who daughters played for Southside Swarm gave me the following comments.

" We loved playing for Swarm. The coach was great and we had a successful team."

" The overall experience was okay. We had a coach who seemed less knowledgeable about volleyball than we thought they should be. The coach was good at individual skills, but lacked the ability to teach and coach the game, like setter rotation and transition."

" Our team did very well. We liked the coach and their style of coaching. Our daughter improved a lot while playing for Swarm"

http://www.southsideswarmvbc.com/index.html

Invasion Volleyball Club Review

Invasion Volleyball Club
Director: Cliff Robinson
Fees:$1200-$2400 (Current 2012 fees not posted)

Invasion is one of the most sought after clubs in the KC metro. Is it worth the hype.....Yes....and No.  They do attract many top level players and their coaching staff is Top, but they also have flaws I feel are worth mentioning. If your daughter cannot handle intense coaching tactics,  this club is not for you. If your daughter can push herself and accept intense coaches then maybe this is the club for her. Many coaches don't know how to motivate without yelling, and harsh words. I have heard this may be an issue with Invasion coaches. My personal belief is you can coach with love and respect. As a coach I can honestly say that I loved each girl I coached like a daughter. I tried to remember that young girls are already susceptible to poor self esteem and put a lot of pressure on themselves to be perfect. As a coach to young girls it is their job to increase their abilities with out berating them in the process. Read on to hear what players and parents had to say about invasion.

"I was so happy when they offered my daughter a spot on a team, only to rescind their offer when it was too late for my daughter to tryout for another club."

 The problem, this is against HOA Volleyball Rules.   HOA site Here

"Our experience with Invasion was wonderful. We had quality coaches and a great group of girls."

"Our daughter played one year for Invasion. She hated every minute of it. She refused to tryout for them again and went on to play for Swarm." 

"I played 4 years for Invasion and was recruited for a Division I college, where I am still playing."

"Our daughter cried on the way home from every practice. She  felt picked on by her coaches. When we went to the coaches they stopped coaching her all together."

**UPDATE 10/24/2012**
Last night one of my daughters attended an Invasion Open Gym. Overall It went well and was run smoothly. Immediately the coach chose 4 girls to be the setters he obviously knew them from previous experience, other girls who were also setters did not have the chance to set. I bring this up because it is an open gym where the girls should be able to work on not only their all around skills but their position they play also.


 
 Tryouts
Saturday, November 3rd:
13's - 8:00-10:00 AM
14's - 11:00-1:00 PM
11's & 12's - 2:00-4:00 PM
Saturday, November 10th:
15's - 8:00-10:00 AM
16's - 11:00-1:00 PM
17's & 18's - 2:00-4:00 PM

http://www.invasionvbc.com/Home/tabid/53/Default.aspx

Next review Southside Swarm