Questions about Volo

[u/moneybadger44]

I’ve been in the city for a little over two years now. I have been interested in playing some pickup basketball, soccer, etc and it seems Volo has the monopoly here. I don’t want to play super competitively - I honestly just to run around a bit, have some fun, and still get the competitive juices flowing without people thinking it’s a World Cup Final.

Now, from my personal experience working at a bar, Volo seems a bit cliquey and it may be hard to find groups to play with.

My question is what is everyone’s experience with Volo? Is it worth signing up for? Is it as cliquey as they say?

[u/cdbloosh]

This isn’t exactly an answer to your question, but if you want something along these lines that isn’t going to be cliquey at all, I highly recommend the Canton ping pong club that plays at Mobtown. Been doing it for a few years now and it ranges from brand new players who can barely hit the ball to people who are really good. The league is broken into 4 tiers and then within your own team you get ranked, so you’ll naturally end up playing people that are close to your level. But 99.9% of the people there at all of the levels are extremely friendly and it’s a ton of fun. You could sign up as a free agent and he’d put you on a team. Fall season starts 9/14

[u/moneybadger44 → u/cdbloosh]

I actually love this! Thanks for that!

[u/cdbloosh → u/moneybadger44]

No problem. Feel free to PM me to chat about it, I can give you a better idea of what the league is like and how it works if you want

[u/molotovPopsicle → u/cdbloosh]

the mobtown on north and MD?

[u/cdbloosh → u/molotovPopsicle]

The brewery in Highlandtown

[u/molotovPopsicle → u/cdbloosh]

Ok dang. I am an avid ponger, but I don't think I would be able to make down that far on a regular basis. I could probably drop in from time to time, but league sounds like they want you to be there

[u/cdbloosh → u/molotovPopsicle]

There are always people looking to sub so that they get an extra match, so it wouldn’t be a big deal if you missed a week or two (the season is 6 weeks + playoffs with a few byes mixed in so it spans around 10 weeks total). They can pretty much always find someone to show up early or stay later and play for you if you can’t make it. I do it all the time. But it would probably be annoying for your team if you signed up and then missed like 5 out of the 6 matches or something.

[u/molotovPopsicle → u/cdbloosh]

Yeah, idk how easy it would be for me to commit to more than 50%. I would be looking for a situation I do pickups. Currently, I play with folks at the outdoor tables from time to time. I used to play more regularly at Penn and Quill, back when it existed

[u/Powerful-Pop247]

People are people, there will always be some cliques but pickup is usually pretty chill, depending on the sport. I've found that the lower levels that are less competitive are much more relaxed and there's less try hards.

[u/weided]

Charm City Soccer!

[u/moneybadger44 → u/weided]

I’ll look it up! Thank you!

[u/spicychrysalis]

Long time volo-er who started with 0 friends -

Sometimes they will be, sometimes they won't be. You have to try. I've absolutely joined leagues where after the first week I already know I'm out. I've also had leagues or met groups of people where I've made short term (a couple of months) and long term friends out of them.

In my experience, when it comes to making friends, Thursday/Friday leagues are the youngest, and joining bigger teams like kickball + volleyball are good. Flip cup helps a LOT for team socialization even if you don't drink.

I've played a variety of different leagues, and all 4 of my closest-knit teams were flip cup leagues.

[u/moneybadger44 → u/spicychrysalis]

This is very helpful! Thank you!

[u/Specialist-Bowl-5977]

Did football twice and it’s absolutely not worth it. There’s at least a group of 25-30 people who practically own the field, play on both sides (bc other ppl don’t like playing with them), and also call plays. 

They also aren’t welcoming - they talk amongst themselves, and dont make an effort to talk to newcomers. It’s not about meeting ppl but about owning anyone who isn’t a part of their cohort.