News U Can Use: “Club Teams Become the Price of Admission to Youth Sports”

“... The season there starts in November, the day after the high school state tournament ends, and runs well into June and often July. Players on top teams often play volleyball 10 or 11 months out of the year.

“I really want to play college volleyball, and playing club volleyball is the way I get recruited and the way my skills get better,” Grutzmacher said.

Her story has played out hundreds of times across the metro area, where basketball, baseball, soccer, softball, hockey and lacrosse have all seen an explosion of private, for-profit programs dedicated to youth sports.

Barely 20 years ago, clubs and organizations devoted to a single sport were few. Today, it’s become increasingly rare for an athlete to join a high school team in the most popular sports without having extensive, and often expensive, training from a club program....”

READ MORE AT: “The Star Tribune”