My Nonprofit Reviews

I had two daughters in the Rolling Thunder program. This review is intended to help other parents who are stressing out as they evaluate the best program to develop their children. Pass on Rolling Thunder. As other posters have mentioned, we will not be returning nor are most of their teammates.

1. Peter (owner) does a terrific job of "selling" the club. He visits local schools with his RT logo jacket, walks around like a scout, and drops nice full color brochures. But (no offense to used car sales people) like a used car the package "looks" good but then starts to fall apart once part of the program.

2. in 2013, almost everyone who tried out made the teams. Sounds good. Unfortunately, this had two consequences. First, they stacked the teams with 12 players which means much less playing time. Second, Peter didn't have enough "qualified" coaches. Created tons of teams as his marketing worked, but then started asking Mom's with no prior coaching experience to become a coach. So we paid over $1K for inexperienced coaches? The first few games were embarrassing as many coaches were unable to correct faulty rotations and did not understand substitution rules.

3. Peter is terrible with communications after you sign up and paid. Like a good salesman right?

4. If you are not on the top 2-3 teams in an age group you get no attention. This is where Peter & Spencer focus all their time. This is what fills the brochure with college & high school success stories. They also get the best coaches and believe it or not MORE tournaments than the other teams. Yes - you read that correct. So I paid the same $1K+ for my daughter, I get a first time coach because she is middle of the road in talent (came here to get better) and they go to 2 less tournaments than the top 3 teams? I'm paying for the top 3 teams to play more?

5. Peter is just plain rude and demeaning to his coaches and yes, even the children. I'm all for a little "tough love" coaching to push your athletes rather than always cuddling them - if done the right way. Yelling at kids for mistakes during games and at practice - and not in a positive way. Let me explain. It's not about improving the kids for their benefit - but rather "how do you think your performance makes me and the club look?" I can't make this stuff up.

One thing I agree with Peter on is volleyball clubs are all about giving your kids repetition and conditioning. But...you can get this at any club without feeling your in the movie "Grumpy old men."