To much politics at Dandy, Nuna or Knox better options

You will find that many of the clubs that are the contemporary regulars at VC level mostly only care about their firsts, and maybe their seconds, and the rest are just for revenue generation. If you expect your daughter to be a firsts player, go to the clubs perceived as the very strongest. Otherwise, I would say go to a second tier club like a Ringwood or a Kilsyth, where likely all teams are valued equally. At those clubs, a player destined for 2s/3s at the very strongest clubs will likely play 1s / 2s.

^ not really it will depend on who they get to develop that program, they have been saying that for the past 20 yrs lol, unfortunately if your any good you move to the big clubs, that will not change, its been the same for decades, so unless the likes of Pakenham and Casey start to attract the ones who are actually in it to develop players at a young age and do things to keep them then its hard to break into those top spots. The top spots are determined on the previous years group and where they end up being ranked, if your not ranked in the top 40 you have little to no chance to get into the top 20 the following year which means those clubs who always have teams in div1 and div2 are always going to be in a better position to stay there.

My question is why are you looking to move?
Is it coaching? The players? Your thought your daughter should be playing VC?

I've only just started coaching in the VJBL after coaching seniors all over Australia and have noticed the fact parents in Melbourne "THINK" their child is a super star and anything lower than VC is beneath their child.
Let's face it, if your child was a super star there would have been a quite word to you already. Now if you want better coaching I then understand, better coaching doesn't make for a better level of competition. You could play Metro 1 or 2 and have a great coach.

Good luck, because playing VC doesn't build character which is the most important thing

But speaking to people maybe to hard because that way this father/mother may have to face some cold hard facts about their daughter. Honestly you need to ask yourself first "why the move?"

Big J you raise a very good point. A lot of parents fall into the "grass is greener" trap and shift their kids around needlessly. Usually the grass isn't greener. The reality is that a kid will end up in a team that plays in the right grade for the players in that team. I'd say that in many cases it is the ego of the parents that is at play rather than the child agitating to go elsewhere; I have seen that many times...one player in particular changing clubs nearly every year because the parent was never satisfied.

Thanks very much for the advice. My daughter already plays VC and has been in a 1's team for the past two years (both as a bottom age and now top). She plays for a smaller club and has been told numerous times over the past year and a bit that she should move to a larger club for the coaches/pathways/experience etc both by coaches at Championships and SCC. She is keen to look at options for next season but so far all of our conversations have been clubs saying that 'they are the best/have the best pathway/ will look after her the best' etc.

That's why we tried this forum to see if there were opinions on the clubs. We certainly have been off our 'butts' as one person mentioned but we thought that this was also another avenue.

We certainly don't think she is a superstar, nor that the grass is always greener but are simply exploring the options as we have been approached so much and she is keen to look around. It has nothing to do with our ego just a 13 year old girl who is keen to look around after more than five coaches at a high level telling her that that's what she should be doing. We don't know which way to lean so want to make a good informed decision with her.

Thanks very much to all of the helpful comments ;)

This is an absolute no brainer, i know the clubs and the girls in this age group well.
If she is top 14 this year going into bottom 16 next year then go to Knox. They lost one girl who was top 14 last year and one girl who was bottom age 14.
both vic kids and this has left a really good gap for you and a good opportunity.
Knox have also lost quality kids to Nunawading as Nuna and Dandy geared up for nationals.
They will always be right up there given the size of the domestic comp and coaching calibre so a good result all round for them and you.
It is a really good move bottom age because you dont have to fight imports top age 16 and she will settle into the club for a year.
If she was bottom 16 now going into top age 16 next year then i would say Dandy and Nuna if she is at SCC level.

I would stay away from Frankston as they have lost all their good coaches. Dandy or Knox would be the best.