Clubbing

The high school-club rub is increasingly frictional. High school coaches who grew up with high school ball as the only "game-situation" athletic activity during any particular season are frequently troubled that their players have year-long commitments to out-of-season sports away from school. "It's showing up," says Goddard volleyball coach David Gardner. "It's not so much in the same sport for high school and club but the ones that cross over. There's more interference for me with club soccer and club softball taking players away from high school volleyball." While the three-sport athlete is a necessity at small schools like Moundridge, bigger schools have more and more one-sport athletes who play club the rest of the year. "I always encouraged my girls to play other sports. If you're good at basketball, too, then help the other girls be better," says Bryan Otte, a five-time state champ at Moundridge who takes over at Valley Center this fall. "Although I can certainly understand when a girl has the chance to play quality club ball. "I just feel at some point the demands on our kids' time will hit the fan. I've seen players get burned out, and there are issues with the shoulder. A kid can only handle x amount of swings. I've heard 200,000 as the number tossed around." Kids' commitments to their sport year-round have reached unprecedented levels. Gone are sandlots and driveway hoops, replaced by year-long, weekend tournament schedules. "You can tell the ones that have played club ball and don't play, unless it's a superstar athlete who's going to be good no matter what," says Gardner, a leading area high school coach with five state title wins in his own past. "(Playing club) does make a ton of difference for an average player. "I don't require it, but I tell my players that if they want to get looked at by the bigger schools, they have to play." "Girls are forced more and more into making a choice [of what sport to play exclusively], and it seems to me a shame to force a kid to do that," adds Otte. Whereas football remains the lone high school sport serving as the central recruiting field for its players, national showcase tournaments for club teams dwarf the stakes which once existed in other prep sports. Recruiters can look at thousands of players at a tournament in Texas, Chicago, Denver, Florida or California, so why bother stepping foot in Kansas to watch a handful of teams at a time? "The more touches you get, the better you get - in any sport," says Gardner. "The problem is that it becomes elitst. The higher up the club, the better teams you play, the more you travel, the more it costs." Which is one reason why Kayla Zoglman, the starting setter and team leader at Goddard, hasn't decided yet whether she'll play for the Redline club this winter. "If I play, I may not get to play basketball [at Goddard], which I'd be okay with, but my parents may not be, because it's more money with the traveling. "But I like playing at the high school because I like our coach, and we get to do more, and our high school team is actually better," continues Zoglman, who has played local club volleyball since sixth grade. Because high school sports are local, they have remained an equal opportunity enterprise. Despite the club climate's imperfections, top-level club ball has given us many outstanding area talents, honing their skills and offering extra game experience. Among high school-aged players, the game of volleyball has risen to a new level, and positives from the club effect have seeped into preps. Brittany Brown is one of those superstar athletes. A basketball player throughout childhood, the powers that be quickly took notice of her potential as a volleyball player when she entered high school at El Dorado. Brown is 6'4". "Volleyball is more for me," says Brown. "Basketball became too demanding for my body." Brown is the consummate power hitter, the position at which she focuses her efforts for the Shockwave, the area's top club team which travels to national tournaments. "High school ball is nothing compared to club," says Brown of the disparate levels of competition. "But high school gets me more reps, and it's good for me because I get to play all around the court, working on my passing and defense [in addition to hitting]." "It's more exciting to play club, and it's so much better competition," says Sammie Shook, a former Shockwave player who had the option to play volleyball at Wichita State but has chosen softball instead. "You get to travel - we went to Las Vegas once - and there are tons of scouts. "But high school is cool because you know who you're playing. You want to make your school stand out, and it's cool to play in front of your friends." Tryouts for the Shockwave and most club teams begin at the end of November, a month after the high school season ends. The club season then ends in April, unless the team makes the Junior Olympics in June, as the Shockwave did this summer. "Nationals is big deal, because everyone is there, but it's far away," says senior Sabra Clark of Andover High, a member of the Shockwave since sixth grade. "Whenever you're at state, it's for your school. You represent everyone," continues Clark, weighing the differences between club and high school. "You take the seasons one step at a time. But if you want to play in college, club is more important." Is it all too much? According the Trinity Catholic's Emme Russell, it's never enough. "I've always been in the gym, maybe third grade was when I started," says Russell. "Around eight, I started doing club. Once it gets in your blood, you can't stop. "High school and club are a lot different. Club is five notches higher. If you want to see girls six-eight, just creaming the ball - it's insane. "But for high school, I'm so excited. The club intensity is higher playing-wise, but it's not as great. High school girls are going to be your friends forever. As long as I'm on the volleyball court, I'm happy." And if top club players come back to their high school teams ready to lead, good things happen. El Dorado's Brown is just this type of team player. "This year, (El Dorado) will be so much better," says Brown of a program which struggled to compete in 2007. "More girls have the determination to play. You can already tell there's a better attitude. "During the summer, girls volleyball had its best attendance to lift weights, and our new coach [Jane Squires] is great. The seniors have definitely showed leadership every morning, and I've been encouraging girls to come. "There's going to be a huge improvement. People will say, wow, this is El Dorado?"