An Extra Serving : Once Meant for Fun, Club Volleyball Has Its Serious Side

Some people, hearing of club volleyball for the first time, envision a fun-filled game on a sun-splashed beach.

They believe Club Med volleyball would be a more-appropriate name.

They’re wrong.

Club volleyball is anything but fun in the sun. It’s a lot of work, a lot of pressure and the result isn’t always fulfilling.

The season lasts nearly seven months and can cost a player $2,000 in travel expenses, a tab usually picked up by Mom and Dad.

The investment sometimes pays dividends because college coaches flock to club tournaments, which are held nationwide almost every weekend and reach a crescendo in June and July. If a college coach likes a player, scholarship money may be on the way.

James Park coaches the Zuma Bay club team, made up of nine girls from seven high schools, a typical club combination. Park has coached club for eight years and has seen the changes.

“In some ways, the fun has been taken out of it,” said Park, who also coaches the Thousand Oaks High boys’ team from February to May. “Most people now think club is a channel to Division I scholarships.

“It’s intense. It’s a lot of work for everybody. I don’t ever think it’s only about having a good time.”

Because he believes the original mission of club play was to provide an enjoyable diversion, Park tries to keep practice drills fun.

But the discerning eyes of college scouts and coaches are rarely far from focus.

Why should a college coach go to a high school match featuring one or two prominent players when a club tournament can offer dozens of future stars?

“College scouts are so thick [at some tournaments] you have to avoid them walking through the aisle,” said Bob Ferguson, who coaches the Royal High boys’ team but does not coach club. “They’re wall to wall, vying for the top talent.”

Certain tournaments even charge college coaching staffs as much as $200 to attend. Usually included in the fee are comprehensive notes on each player. Players are ranked on performance, somewhat blurring the distinction between high school athletes and racehorses.

Ferguson’s daughter, Heidi, will be a senior at Royal in the fall. She plays setter for the Westside club team and realizes the importance of club exposure.

“Some play club just for fun, but mostly it’s serious business,” she said. “There’s college coaches all over the place so you have to be very focused.”

But, she maintains, club volleyball is more than a gateway to a scholarship.

Friendships are made, even though club teams can be made up of athletes from many high schools.

“I’ve never seen a closer group of girls on a club team,” Heidi said. “We’re like sisters, holding hands and hanging out with each other.”

Skills also can improve dramatically.

“Every time you step on the court, you get better,” Heidi said. “Volleyball is all repetition.”

Club also presents an opportunity where there wasn’t one locally in the past.

“The Westside schools are usually so much better than Valley schools because they play on the beach,” says Tim Jensen, who coaches the Westside club which, despite its name, has a Valley-area nucleus. “But with club, Valley players can play against top-notch competition and don’t have to worry about driving to the beach.”

Heidi Ferguson and Jensen recently returned from the Nike Festival in Davis, Calif., a monstrous club tournament. Westside placed 36th out of more than 200 teams at the 18-year-old level.

There were also divisions for 14- and 12-year-olds.

Nearly 7,000 girls competed. The Sacramento Convention Center was turned into a state-of-the-art volleyball complex: 27 courts were set up to accommodate the influx ofplayers.

“It was absolutely awesome,” Heidi Ferguson said. “There were volleyball players everywhere, screaming and yelling.”

It’s not difficult to imagine what the girls’ Junior Olympics--the pinnacle of club volleyball--was like last weekend in Florida.

It’s also easy to imagine what happens to high school volleyball programs whose players don’t compete in clubs during the off-season.

“If our kids don’t play, we’re going to get left behind,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Jess Quiroz said. “Everyone’s looking for that edge right now and you’ve got to stay competitive.”

Almost all of Harvard’s varsity team plays for the Santa Monica Beach Club.

“During the off-season, there’s not a lot of volleyball going on,” said Harvard outside hitter Trevor Julian, who will be a junior. “You get into tourneys and everything with club volleyball.”

And of course. . . .

“It helps with exposure because not many college coaches go to high school games.”

Julian hopes to play basketball in the fall for Harvard.

He says Quiroz and basketball Coach Greg Hilliard allow him to play both sports because the seasons do not overlap on the high school calendar.

But some non-volleyball high school coaches bristle at the mention of club volleyball. Its long season sometimes conflicts with other sports.

“I want my players to play year-round, especially if they have potential to go beyond the high school level,” Ferguson said. “But I don’t want my kids to play club at the expense of another sport. If it came down to a club tournament on a Saturday and a high school varsity or junior varsity basketball or softball game, I would tell them to go to the high school game.”

Said Quiroz: “I don’t feel everybody has to play club. I encourage kids to play other sports as well. [But] It’s awful tough to be a three-sport athlete.”

It’s just as tough sometimes to be a club volleyball player.