Club Volleyball team selection - Question #5847

First, thank you so very very much for answering questions and posting them in your site, your answers and site were extraordinarily effective and comforting during the recruiting process for our older daughter (MB).   Last November our older daughter signed her scholarship NLI at a mid level D1 school that was a perfect for for her.  You were a significant part of the “village” that got her and her hard work to that point.   Thank you!!  

Now....  :)  our younger daughter...   she just turned 15, is a HS freshman (following your “freshman free” advice), she plays OH, is 6’ and will probably end up 6’ 1” or 2”, she’s still a bit long and lanky and is just now starting to grow into her body.  

My question:    Well, questions: 
From a college recruiting point of view, would it be better to be on the “B” team of one of the nations top clubs (easily the states top club), but they only play in USA, not OPEN, and not stand out too much, or, would it be better to be on the “A” team of a competitive (only in the state, top 5-ish club) club and stand out as the best OH/player on the team.  

The “B” team, highly rated club, has a “A” team that is LOADED, with some surely future high level D1 players.   Would the coach tend to overlook the “B” team players?  

On the locally competitive “A” team club (Open qualifiers), what if the number 1 outside is super high level? Would it hurt my daughters recruiting to be the “2nd best” OH on the team?

Last question..  sorry.  Recruiting in qualifiers..  open vs USA ?  Does it matter?

Thank you so much!!!!
Almost empty Nester ;)

​Congratulations on the recruiting success with your first daughter!  ​

When looking at club teams for your freshman daughter, focus on the training/practice quality of a club rather than the schedule.  While players are growing into their bodies, improving skill sets is the critical factor for later recruiting success.  In a nutshell, determine which club team will train her better?

College volleyball coaches recruit talent and our job is to locate and evaluate talent.  Our first look is talent driven; all the other periphery items fade into the background.  

At Qualifiers, the Open division tends to 'attract' more coaches but this can be misleading - the power conference programs will be at the Open division and seeing all those big name program coaches tends to skew the recruiting picture for families. Waxahachie State and Penn State are inverses of each other; Penn State will be at the Open matches and drive by a couple of USA courts while Waxahachie State will be at the USA matches and drive by a couple of Open courts.

Power conference programs attend the Open clarification because this is where the vast majority of their recruits will be playing but but but, if they get a video from a player who they feel has the talent to make their team better then they will go watch the Tailgate division!

No matter what division an athlete plays, they must market themselves to those types of schools which are the best fit for the player and the family!  Unless you are a stud player with early developed height and skill sets, you still must be reaching out to schools to get yourself on their radar.  If the coach thinks you have the potential to make their team better, they will come see you play.

Last comment on club team selection; it is better to be on the court than on the bench - If being with Super Duper club means riding the pine (old school term, as I don't think there are more than 20 wood benches left in the United States), then that makes it tougher for college coaches to evaluate you.

Good luck and focus on skill development now!

Coach