In the world of boys volleyball, maybe a little competition is a good thing
Thursday, November 18th, 2021
By Holly Jablonowski
Badger Region Board Member
Historically speaking, when someone mentions junior boys volleyball, USAV has been the sole organization.
If you asked a player or coach which region typically yields the most success, many would say Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA). Since I entered the boys coaching world in 2016, I’ve heard rumblings about clubs being unhappy with USAV and SCVA and their dedication and attention to boy’s programs.
In August of this year, SCVA boys club directors sent a letter to other boys club directors informing them of their dissatisfaction with SCVA/USAV, and that they would not be attending USAV nationals this year, but would attend AAU nationals instead. Since the SCVA clubs are very competitive, many other clubs across the country were faced with a decision to join and attend AAU nationals or to stay the USAV route. Despite this movement being made public in August, it took USAV until November to publicly announce when and where nationals would be held. This late announcement makes it extremely difficult for clubs to plan their budgets for the year, and in turn the dues they will charge their members.
I know girls clubs have encountered competing organizations for years, and due to the sheer numbers both USAV and AAU remain competitive. Unfortunately for boys clubs, there are significantly fewer clubs across the country so directors are faced with the decision to participate in a competitive event and leave USAV, or to stick with USAV and not participate in strong events.
At our September board meeting we talked in length about what Badger Region could do to show our members that they matter to us. This was the longest discussion centered around boys clubs that I’ve been part of since joining the board in 2016. We ended up passing a motion to earmark up to $50,000 to be used to incentivise USAV programming for boys and girls clubs within the region.
So far, Badger Region has used some of that money to put on an Advanced Skills Clinic for boys coming up on Nov. 19. The event comes on the eve of the Third Coast Classic, which is a three-day, AAU-sponsored event being run in Milwaukee. Skills clinic registration was capped at 160 participants, with 90 of those participants being from BR and the remaining 50 coming from other regions.
Badger Region worked to obtain a great cadre of coaches to run this event, where boys will be given instruction on some of the skills youth boys need to improve on most before college. Some of the cadre includes Colin McMillan (Penn State University), Matt McCarthy (Loyola University Chicago), Hudson Bates (Ohio State University) and Matt Pollock (Pepperdine University). Badger Region felt it was important to run an event that demonstrates that there are USAV regions who are dedicated to both boys and girls programming.
The Third Coast Classic has teams and recruiters flying in from all across the country, and is sure to be extremely competitive. Since Badger Region is one of the few regions that has tryouts later in the year, this tournament could not have been planned at a worse time to be held in Milwaukee. Clubs had tryouts the weekend of 11/13, which left them one week to fill their team, obtain uniforms, and be ready to compete against the top teams in the country. So, despite AAU trying to capitalize on USAV’s missteps, they clearly have some learning and areas to improve on as well.
Competition, although frightening at times, can also be a really good thing. When there is no competition, people get complacent and stop trying to make their offerings the best they can be. With competition, customers usually end up getting a better product, as organizations have to work to create a product that customers want.
Now, all of that is only possible if USAV can acknowledge that they are losing members and choose to do something about it. Being on the board I’m a little biased, but I think Badger Region does a good job of evaluating the market and trying to gather information to meet and exceed our members’ needs. I don’t pretend to understand the inner workings at USAV, but my hope is that this will be a wake up call for them and they will spend time evaluating their boy’s offerings.
