Club Teams Help to Pave the Way for Volleyball Success : Investment: Programs not only add to the success of high school teams, but they also can pay off in college scholarships.

Bob and Michael Perkins never thought twice about paying $1,600 a year so their children could participate in Charlie Brande’s club volleyball programs.

They figured it would pay off someday, and it did. Son Jason earned a scholarship to USC three years ago and daughter Prentice got a partial scholarship to Cal State Long Beach this fall.

The Perkinses, as well as thousands of other parents around the nation, have learned that sending children to college can carry a heavy price tag--even if they earn athletic scholarships.

Parents are investing some big-time bucks to ensure their kids can bump, set and spike with the best.

“There’s no question it’s an investment,” Michael Perkins said. “Club volleyball is one of the reasons both of our children are in universities they want to be in and getting financial help.”

Parents pay anywhere from $100 to $300 a month so their children can participate in a girls’ season that stretches from January to early July or a boys’ season that starts in June and ends in November. The money pays for uniforms, gym rental, travel, balls and registration fees.

“I think it’s a little expensive, but there’s tremendous sponsorship support for volleyball in Orange County,” Michael Perkins said. “Prentice paid her dues one year by selling ads for the program.”

The investment can pay off. College coaches weigh club volleyball experience more than high school play when evaluating players’ potential. Club volleyball offers participation in three age groups--18 and under, 16 and under and 14 and under.

“It’s becoming a cold reality that they have to play club volleyball to get a college scholarship,” UCLA women’s volleyball Coach Andy Banachowski said. “They have to be involved in club ball to be considered. It’s a rare occasion that they get one on high school play alone.”

Brande, whose Orange County Volleyball (girls) and Balboa Bay Club (boys) have consistently won national age-group titles since the late 1970s, said the clubs offer better coaching and competition than at the high school level. The high school season has been reduced to little more than conditioning and playing for school pride for most club players.

“The high school season gets all the media attention, so everyone thinks that is a big deal,” Brande said. “But the insiders know it’s not. The coaches couldn’t get as good a look at the talent, because you have a couple good players on a team with some other, inexperienced players who are out of position all the time.”

It was Brande’s association with club volleyball that ultimately cost him his coaching job at Corona del Mar High last year. Corona del Mar Principal Tom Jacobson charged that Brande violated Southern Section rules by coaching his high school players during the off-season, from January to June.

Brande, who sat out last year under an agreement with the Southern Section, contends he violated no rules, and that he only oversees the programs during the spring and coaches in the summer, which is permissible under section rules.

Still, the decision upset high school and club coaches throughout Southern California. Several filed letters of protest with the section office, saying the rule could kill the future of club volleyball.

Almost half of the high school coaches in Orange County are involved with club programs. And the Southern Section is the only one in California with rules that limit coaching players during the school year.

“I’m the most ethical guy around,” said Brande, now an assistant with the Edison girls’ team. “I work my kids hard, push them very hard, but I’m ethical, and I go by the rules.”

For now, club volleyball coaches still can coach in high schools, and club participation is at an all-time high. There are more than 100 boys’ and girls’ clubs in Southern California, and 10 in Orange County.

Tim Mennealy, who coaches Ocean View High girls as well as the Cal Juniors’ 18-and-under club team, said more than 400 girls tried out last year for 120 positions with the Huntington Beach-based club.

Orange County’s traditional high school powers feed off players from club programs.

Boys’ and girls’ teams from Laguna Beach, Corona del Mar, Capistrano Valley, El Toro and Newport Harbor usually have at least five or six club players each. The Corona del Mar girls’ team that won the state Division I title last year was composed mainly of Brande’s club players.

When Newport Harbor played Corona del Mar in the 1987 Southern Section 5-A girls’ finals, both lineups consisted entirely of Orange County Volleyball players.

Brande said a high school team can’t be successful without club players in the lineup.

“At least not anymore,” he said. “La Habra won Division II last year with only one club player (Missy Clements), but they couldn’t have made it without her. At a school like Mira Costa (top-ranked in 5-A), you couldn’t be part of the team if you weren’t also playing club.”

Some involved with club volleyball think it could replace high school competition. Recent athletic budget cuts have threatened several teams, although volleyball has yet to be cut at an Orange County high school.

“The high schools just don’t have the money to put into the programs anymore,” Michael Perkins said. “With the school systems all over the state making these cuts, these clubs could be the only way for kids to play.”

Brande said club volleyball also opens opportunities for young coaches. More than 40 coaches have worked in his club, including Huntington Beach High’s Rocky Ciarelli, Mater Dei’s Laura Kennedy and Edison’s Dave Mohs.

Brande and his coaches are demanding. Many of his players come home from practices crying.

“That’s probably the negative of playing,” Brande said. “It’s demanding, and requires a lot of time and commitment. It’s a lot like the Army. You hate it while you are there, but you look back at it and remember it fondly.”

Such is the price of success. Brande’s boys’ teams have won 15 age-group championships since 1977, and 122 girls from his club have moved on to Division I college programs, with 38 currently playing.

“All but one of our girls who have gone on to college have graduated,” Brande said. “I think that’s directly related to their club experience.

“They had to learn discipline, how to work hard, go to practice three times a week and to go to bed early on a weekend night because of a tournament, while all their friends are out partying.”

Every woman on UCLA’s NCAA champion volleyball team last year played for a club team while in high school.

Banachowski, whose daughter, Amy, and son, Bret, played club volleyball since junior high, said: “There are so many kids playing club volleyball right now, that if kids don’t play, they are so far behind experience-wise that they couldn’t catch up to skill level of the other players. It would take two or three years to catch up.”