TNT was founded by volleyball parents that believe that volleyball should be fun and affordable. Through years of coaching and playing club volleyball, we believe that we have created the full club experience and can provide it for a lower price.

There are 2 important principles that we believe in as a club:

• Improving players is our main purpose while allowing athletes to enjoy the process
• The club volleyball experience should be fun for the players and parents

Updates for 2023-2024 (aka How TNT continues to improve)

The TNT Bunker is our facility on 1050 Bethlehem Pike in North Wales that contains 3 volleyball courts dedicated to TNT players.  This means we have the ability to offer Friday night skills clinics, Saturday scrimmages, pick-up games, private and semi-sessions, etc. There will be no competition with basketball for court time, no courts off limits due to school holidays, and no conflicts with other teams who are saying they reserved the court.  These courts are all ours! 

Floating Coaches.  TNT is committed to improving skills as well as providing an all-around great club experience.  For this reason, TNT has employed a full-time floating coach that is not responsible for coaching just 1 team.  This coach, and other TNT technical coaches, will be available to attend team practices and work with positional players.  Floating coaches will also be leading skills clinics aimed at improving a players skills.  We all know that as skills improve, the team improves.

We will also offer academy-style clinics for our players during the club season. See our 2023-2024 Season Details page.

National, Travel, and Regional teams will compete for TNT this year.

TNT Recruiting Support Other clubs label teams as Elite or Premiere or some other adjective that tells you that they ignore all of the other players at that age group.  Parents have been asking for a focus on college recruiting, so TNT will continue to offer sessions on college recruiting to athletes and their families about how the recruiting process works. There is much more involved in the process than a coach wandering around with a tournament with a clipboard searching for talent. Further, all TNT teams will continue to receive strong coaching, and the Club Director will pay attention to all teams, not just the top team in the age group. 

FAQ
How is TNT's philosophy different from everyone else's?

TNT views volleyball as a game, and not a way to make money.  We feel it is our duty to create lifelong volleyball players, and not to just focus on winning tournaments or volleyball milestones such as making a middle school, high school or college team.  We believe that players that are having fun are much more likely to be successful than those not having fun.  95% of our 2020 players rated their TNT experience Positive or Overwhelmingly Positive.

TNT also believes that the volleyball club experience should be fun for parents as well.  We do everything possible to take the drama out of the game.  We offer hotel parties for parents and players in the attempt to bring members of the entire club together and encourage team bonding and a family atmosphere. To us, the club volleyball experience does not end when the tournament is over.

Why are you cheaper than everyone else?

TNT is not in the volleyball business to simply make money.  This means that we don't mark up our club fees with the purpose of making a profit.  We don't employ an administrative staff.  We don't charge players for extra sessions that they don't use, and we don't force parents of players to overpay for an extravagant uniform package.  We also allot appropriate amount of travel based on the level of teach team (national, travel, and regional) to further be mindful of parents' time and money.  Our goal is to make volleyball affordable to all, while providing you with everything needed to grow as a player while also having fun playing the sport.

As we continue to grow, we modify our offerings based on what parents and players want.  When TNT started in 2017, parents wanted the cheapest possible way to play volleyball.  As TNT grows, we have hired more coaches, differentiated our offerings for our levels of teams to attend more (and varied) tournaments, extended the season duration, and started adding in tools for college recruiting, not to mention opening our own facility,
We continue to be committed to keeping our costs far and reasonable as we are volleyball coaches as well as parents ourselves.

How many players are on a team?

Our guideline is Minimum 9, Maximum 12, with the ideal being 10-11.  There are cases when a team may take additional players, but our desire is to never go to a tournament with more than 11 players on the bench.  While many volleyball clubs tell you that you are paying for practice time, we fully understand that players don't want to sit on the bench during tournaments because there are too many players on the team.

How long is the season?

Boys' Tryouts occur during the summer as their season runs from September - March.
Girls' Tryouts are usually the end of October / Early November.  Teams start practicing together around December 1 and the season ends for most teams in Mid-May but in June for our nationals' teams.
For TNT teams that are attending nationals in June, TNT will help with fundraising events to help mitigate the extra costs.

Do you play in a league?

Club volleyball is different from a school or CYO team.  We do not play in a local league.  TNT will enter single day tournaments within a 2 hour radius.  Tournaments start around 8am on a weekend day, and last until late afternoon.  Your team will play 3-4 matches during the day, and the top teams will advance to playoffs. 
In addition, TNT will enter into multi-day tournaments where the team would play matches on Saturday and Sunday.  Most of these tournaments are within the same 2 hour radius with some exceptions (Boston, for example, for nationals' teams).  Many parents choose to get a hotel room to maximize the weekend experience, which is typically the most memorable part of the season for the girls (and hopefully parents as well).

Why are your tryouts on a different date than all of the other clubs?

TNT does not register with USA Volleyball (except for Nationals' teams) and only participates in tournaments that don't require USA Volleyball membership except for a few select tournaments for our nationals' teams.  This allows us to conduct tryouts whenever we desire.  We are not tied to the tryout dates prescribed by USA Volleyball.  Simply put, we can make our own rules, which, in our opinion, is a major differentiation between TNT and other clubs.

How much team travel should we expect?

Single day tournaments are generally within 60-90 minutes from home.  TNT teams with the exception of regional teams will participate in multi-day tournaments, the number of such events varying by season and team. These events may vary by team, but generally speaking, they are all within 2 hours from home, with some exceptions.

TNT tries to limit the travel for multi-day events.  Other than nationals, we have never attended a tournament where airfare was required.  The farthest events we have attended other than nationals in Orlando are locations such as Pittsburgh, Ocean City, MD, and Virginia Beach. This season, our nationals' teams will go to Boston. Over the years, we have found that there is plenty of quality competition to be found without expecting parents to jet-set across the country every other weekend, as is the case with other clubs.

How do tryouts work?

Tryouts will be held in a 2 hour session.  Players ideally sign up in advance.  When they arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled time, they will be given a T Shirt with a number.  We take the tryout process very seriously as our teams are not pre-planned.  Every player who tries out is given fair consideration and evaluation. 

The first hour of the 2 hour tryout will involve isolating (or blocking) a specific skill and recording data.  Players will be asked to serve, set, pass (free balls and serves), and spike.  TNT coaches will be recording every single touch of the ball.  Statistics captured will be based on success as well as difficulty.  For example, a missed serve is 0, a super soft easy serve in play is 1, a harder serve is a 2, and an ace is a 3.  

In hour 2, we focus on game play.  Coaches will be looking for things such as overall skillset, communication, eager attitude, teamwork, etc.

Coaches will then get together after the tryout and determine which players they would like to offer a spot on the each team for the various age groups. If there are multiple teams at each age group, those teams will be filled via the same process.  As players accept or decline positions, there is considerable shifting among teams.  For a detailed explanation of the process and club volleyball in general read this document.

TNT also offers a second tryout session for any player who has not yet received an offer.  Keep in mind, not all offers are extended on the first day.  Just because your child's friend may have received a call when the process begins doesn't mean that your own child is not in a position to receive a call as well.   

We keep adjusting the roster and making calls until the entire roster is complete.  Sometimes, this process takes 5-7 days to complete from the tryout dates.

We apologize in advance for the stress that the tryout process causes to you and your athlete. We don't like the system either, but teams are capped by facility availability and coaching resources as we strive to provide a quality experience while offering as many teams at each age group as possible.

If the focus is on having fun, does that mean you don't care about winning?

We believe that having fun and winning are connected.  If players are having fun, they want to be there and will working hard.  When a player works hard, they improve their skill level.  When the entire team improves their collective skill level, the team wins.  The minute the team 's focus is shifted to winning, there is an added level of pressure placed on the players and coaches that takes away from having fun.  While we totally agree that winning is fun, we also believe that a team that has fun is far more likely to win, and our results are a clear indicator that the TNT way of doing things works.

What if my athlete has aspirations of playing in college?

TNT has 4 coaches that have coached or are currently coaching college teams.  In addition, there are multiple TNT coaches that have played college volleyball.  As a small club, TNT can offer the one-on-one help to build connections and navigate a player through the college process.  For the sake of costs, TNT does not focus on entering large national tournaments (other than Nationals in Orlando) that require airfare and expensive hotels.  However, TNT does attend large local tournaments that college coaches frequently attend.  So if you develop a passion for the game and want to continue playing in college, we at TNT can help you get there.

What if my athlete also plays travel basketball?

Part of why TNT was formed was to accommodate the multi-sport athlete.  We strongly believe that players should not be forced to pick just one sport at a young age.  There are many current TNT players that also play other sports.  Our position is that we ask for players to be committed to TNT, of course, but we do not impose strict consequences when life prevents you from making everything.
If your child's AAU basketball team has practices at the same time as the club's volleyball team, for example, and you expect to miss a few of the tournaments, then we suggest that TNT my not be a fit this year. 
However, if you believe that you can make an honest commitment to attending practices, and do what it takes to make the tournaments, then we are happy to work with you to provide any accommodations needed.  The simple point is, we expect a level of commitment that is fair to the team and TNT, but we don't put players in a difficult situation when the occasional conflict arises.

What if I want to try out for TNT as well as other clubs?

You will notice that TNT tryouts are sometimes a week before all of the other clubs.  That is because TNT is not registered with USA Volleyball and therefore does not have to follow USA Volleyball tryout rules (That is a good thing).  Our bid process will give players 48-72 hours to decide if they want to accept the TNT offer.  In fairness to those players that are committed to playing TNT, we have decided to not leave an offer open for a week to allow a girl to try out for USA Volleyball clubs and compare the other offers that they may receive.  We made this decision because our mission is to provide a no drama experience.  Families that want to be part of TNT are more likely to embrace that philosophy. We hope that this decision does not translate into talented players leaving TNT to play for other clubs. However, if families feel the need to spend thousands of dollars more for the ability to fly to exotic locations like Raleigh, Columbus, or Minnesota to play volleyball, we understand.  

Does TNT hand out offers before tryouts?

USA Volleyball (KRVA) has started allowing teams to make offers prior to tryouts.  However, TNT believes all players should have a fair chance to make the team, and does not hand out early offers.  When you try out at TNT, you will be evaluated by multiple coaches in order to get as many perspectives and opinions as possible.  We pride ourselves on being a family at TNT, but we also pride ourselves on being fair to all players.
When tryouts begin, TNT has extended ZERO offers.  This means that all positions are available to the player that earns them.

What is your position on playing time?

The age old question that never has a clear cut answer because of so many factors.  Our position on playing time is that all players will play an important role on the team.  We will never bring a player to a tournament and make them sit on the bench all day long.  Coaches will do their best to ensure that a player does not sit in back to back games (sets).  However, there are certain factors that contribute to how much playing time a player receives:

1. Position played - certain positions will carry more playing time than others, such as a setter.  Parents and players are instructed to not judge their value to the team based solely on time on the court.
2. Skill set - As a general rule of thumb, strong hitters will play front row.  Strong passers will play back row.  Strong servers will get a chance to serve, and strong setters will set.  Players with a well-rounded skill set are more likely to see more court time than a player with a less rounded skill set.  Coaches will work on improving player skills in all areas of the game during practice.
3. Players Attitude and willingness to try new positions - Players that are willing to work hard in practice, learn new positions, and do whatever is asked of them by the coach will be more likely to see more court time during a tournament than a player that refuses to play a different position than what they want. 

4. Game situation - Coaches will have the discretion to change lineups in must-win situations, such as playoffs.  While we still try to allow all payers to contribute to the team success, there may be cases where a coach alters the lineup in a must-win situation in order to achieve team success.  Every match during a tournament will not be considered a must-win situation.

5. Discipline reasons - Coaches may have a reason for limiting a players court time.  If so, this will be clearly communicated to the player.

Clearly, playing time is the biggest contributor to a player/parents unhappiness.  We will do everything possible to ensure all players understand their role on the team as it pertains to playing time, and that all players feel that they contribute to the team's success.