Athletic Experience
The Athletic Experience has Changed
September, 2017--
When we were growing up, an athlete could play multiple sports and still have time to spend with family and friends. In today’s sporting world, athletes are encouraged to focus on one sport. Many athletes maintain a schedule as challenging as a CEO of a company. I can only imagine how this affects the family schedule. It takes a special athlete to passionately engage in one sporting commitment from the time the athlete is two through college. Not every athlete is Tiger Woods…
Today’s high school athletes find themselves at a disadvantage when they have not played club sports in the past. Many parents and players have learned this lesson the hard way. Players without club experience struggle to find meaningful playing time on varsity level high school teams. Within Omaha, more than 90% of varsity players competing in Class A or B programs play club volleyball. No matter how you feel about it, that is a fact. If a player wants the best opportunity to make a varsity level high school team or play college volleyball, then club sports are the best option.
Parents invest time, money, and increased stress into club sports. Parents should expect a return on their investment. That return may manifest in life skills, character development, physical skills, teamwork, work ethic, social skills, playing time, a college scholarship, or occasionally a championship. However, this culture of competitive youth sports often challenges players and parents to maintain the proper perspective on sports. They get lost in the competitive rigmarole of being the best and lose sight of the value of the journey. Finishing first with humility is a process. Finishing last with grace, perseverance, and renewed effort is a core characteristic of a person worthy of respect.
Fewer multi-sport players compete at the varsity level in their respective high school than 10 years ago. As an organization, we believe that multi-sport athletes have experiences through other sports that make result in better volleyball players. Over the past 10 years, we’ve had players achieve national recognition in ice skating, swimming, and gymnastics. We’ve had multiple athletes win state championships in other sports (tennis, soccer, basketball, and track). However, many of these athletes will be forced to make a decision to limit their participation to only one sport.
Is Nebraska Elite contributing to this change? Yes and no. We have contributed to the change because our organization is competitive. However, we have always been committed to using sports to empower players to succeed in life. Our final objective has never been to simply win. Our focus is on the process. That focus has resulted in unparalleled success. Yes, we do provide many more opportunities than other clubs, but that is because we have and operate our own facility. We also have more resources than other organizations. We respect the commitments of our families and expect them to make the best decision for their family. Some families choose to take advantage of every opportunity. Other families don’t have the same time, resources, or goals.
The current cycle of youth sports is a challenge. Youth sports require a commitment of time, finances, and singular focus. It is for all of these reasons that we have been evaluating how Nebraska Elite helps players achieve their goals. We want to make Nebraska Elite volleyball available to more people. To do this we have decided that we needed to evaluate the volleyball opportunities we provide.
As we evaluated the programming we offer, it became clear that we need to offer programs that better match the needs of each individual family. For 2017, we will once again offer our Regional Program. This program will complement our already Nationally Recognized Club Volleyball Program. The Regional program will have a fixed cost (no additional fees), a shortened season (December 1- March 31), competes locally (less school and work conflict), and provides the same great training that has made Nebraska Elite the top club in Nebraska. The addition of the regional program will offer more opportunities for players to train for prep volleyball and potentially a scholarship someday. This program should also empower multi-sport players to better manage their sport and academic calendar.
