Digs Fall From the President Rebecca Johannes, President. Change is in the air.

Transcription

1 From the President Rebecca Johannes, President Change is in the air. As the summer comes to an end and the temperature begins to fall, another season of CHRVA volleyball is upon us. As we get more involved in high school, college, beach and club, the overlap can cause us to forget to take a personal time out to recharge. The blend of seasons and the schedule of life prevent us from keeping focused at times. With change comes progress. Webpoint has been updated with a new look. We have also worked to streamline the process for referee and scorer certifications. There will also be a new rule book this year. The goal is to update our organization s needs of our membership and stay in tune with today s technology as well as continued growth. The Board had created a strategic plan to be executed in the coming years. With this plan comes focus groups, committees, and feedback from the membership. Support and input is welcome and greatly appreciated. While our Board members are hard at work, I would ask if any member has experience or desires to help with this process, I hope you reach out and join us in this endeavor. I want to say thank you to many members who I have seen on and off the courts with encouraging support in my new role as CHRVA President. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I hope to lead us into a great season.

2 Commissioner s Corner Lisa DiGiacinto, CHRVA Commissioner Preparation for the upcoming indoor season is well underway for our members. A few changes are coming this season such as the net rule, new scorer procedures, and 18 s girls national changes. Keep reading for more info. Renewal of your membership for the 2016 season began on September 1. In order to stay current with your membership you must renew by October 31. If you wait until November 1 or later, your user name and password will expire. Remember to look on the website for directions for everything you need to be active in our region. Our award winning website gives you all of the information you need to manage your players, teams, coaches, etc. Certificates of insurance for practices or tournament hosting will need to be requested again in order for your practice or tournaments to be covered by USAV insurance. Remember, all participants must be USAV/CHRVA members for the USAV coverage to be valid. So if you use a site where multiple sports are being played, the USAV insurance only covers our CHRVA sanctioned volleyball activity. When requesting certificates of insurance you must supply me with your team/club name and address, the facility name, address, and dates of use. For junior clubs, before you request certificates of insurance, you must have your tryout schedule approved. If you are a team or club that does not use the USAV insurance, you must provide me with a copy of your own insurance prior to the start of any activities in order to be in good standing. Allow three-five business days to receive your certificate once you me the information. Time to lace up those shoes and play volleyball!

3 CHRVA is Planning Our Future Lynette Muller, Strategic Planning Chairman Two years ago the CHRVA Board developed a strategic plan to support the needs and advancement of our organization. The three focal areas of the plan are (1) Governance; (2) Technology; and (3) Membership Recruitment. We've further identified some specific items we plan to address under those broad topics (e.g Bylaws review, technology assessment). We feel input from are members is important. If you'd like to participate in some capacity, we want to hear from you. We are seeking feedback and comments, but no level of intense commitment is required. If interested, please send me an .

4 Adult Program Update for the 2016 Season Julie Briggs, Adult Program Director There are many new things season, both rules of the game and the adult program. WHAT S NEW? New Rules and Changes Probably what you will consider the most exciting is going back to the old net rule. No more touching the net if you are involved in the play. Here they are: Contact with the net by a player between the antennae, during the action of playing the ball, is a fault. The action of playing the ball includes (among others) take-off, hit (or attempt) and landing Each team has the right to designate from the list of players on the score sheet up to two specialist defensive players: Liberos. 3. New USAV 5: The Libero CAN be team captain, game captain, or both. 4. New USAV 5.1.3: The captain does not sign the score sheet after the match. It is no longer required that either coach sign the score sheet after the match to verify the results. Solid Color Jersey Rule Is NOW in Effect for Adults Remember, starting this season, Adult teams must comply with the solid color jersey rule*. 1. Either the libero or the rest of the team must wear solid uniform jerseys OR both may wear solid-colored jersey as long as the libero jersey is contrasting 2. The solid colored jersey must be in contrast to the other jersey or jerseys 3. Numbers must be in contrasting color to uniform jersey *For details on what qualifies as a solid jersey, see the Officials page of the CHRVA website. As you purchase new uniform jerseys, if you are not sure if your choices are compliant, take a picture and it to the Ref Chair. He will review the picture and get back to you as soon as he can with a verdict. Also, don t forget that your libero jerseys must be in a CONTRASTING color from the others. Here are some examples of what will NOT be accepted: White/Yellow White/Heather or Light Gray White/Pastel Colors Two Light Colors A Dark and a Light Shade of the Same Color Black/Dark or Slate Gray Black/Navy or Royal blue

5 Black/Any Dark Color Two Dark Colors ADULT Program Changes (Do Not Apply to Junior Teams) The new USAV Molten ball is the approved ball for MEN S competition, while the WOMEN will return to using the Molten SuperTouch ball. These should be used when a host is providing new balls. However, the rule for used balls as outlined in the Handbook is still in effect. (Source: National Office) Fellowships will have a new format and a lower cost in order to encourage more participation. (See Fellowships.) Members in good standing who are not attached to an adult team may be borrowed by teams that cannot fill out their rosters for a tournament. That member may play TWICE, whether it be twice with one team or once each with two different teams, before they must attach themselves to an adult team. These borrowed players will be considered as being borrowed from outside of your club so those rules apply (see the Handbook). Also, rules in regards to level of play will also be in effect. The level will be considered the level that the players have put on their membership. (So, if a player has declared A and a BB team wants to borrow that person, it is not considered legal) (Source: CHRVA Handbook) PILOT CHANGE TO THE ABOVE RULE: The only exception to this rule would be if a team is playing up a level (i.e. BB team playing in an A tournament), the BB team may borrow ONE A player. In this case that player will be treated as if he or she is from another club so the team must follow all rules associated with borrowing from outside the club. If there are problems with enforcing this rule or it is misused, the Board will not approve it for inclusion in the 2017 season Handbook. When an Adult team is reduced to five or six players and is not able to borrow from within its club or is not a member of a club, that team may borrow one or two players from outside of its club so long as the borrowed players do not increase the number of players participating in the event to greater than seven. However, if two players will be there for only half the day (one if the morning and one if the afternoon), as long as the two players do not play in the same match, they can be counted as if they are a single player. (Source: CHRVA Handbook) For in region play only, players who have played on an Adult Team may change to another Adult team of the same or higher level once during the season as long as the following circumstances have been met: o Change must be made in writing to the Registrar and copied to the Team reps from the current team and the new team o All obligations to the current team have been met including financial and the return of equipment and uniforms o The player cannot play with the new team until the Registrar has approved the move and made the necessary roster changes. Until that time, the player would be considered borrowed. Split playoffs will be continued. However, there must be at least three teams for each division to split the playoffs

6 CHRVA will sanction Just for Fun tournaments during the regular season. See section on Just4Fun, for possible format and rules. CHRVA will sanction post-season tournaments. The post-season begins after Regionals through Nationals. Teams will be allowed to play with any roster (for example, to get ready for Nationals), as long as all players are USAV members in good standing. This includes using USAV members from other regions. Players will be required to provide proof of USAV membership. These events will be self-officiated. See what I mean? Lots of changes. Please see the CHRVA Handbook and/or the Adult webpages on the CHRVA website for any other changes and further details. Just4Fun We all like official tournament play that comes when playing USAV-sanctioned volleyball, but we also like to play just for the fun of it. CHRVA has put together a Just4Fun program. This is open to Adults and Juniors (Juniors must follow all rules associated with playing on a Junior team). We plan to sprinkle two or three into the regular season schedule. The host will choose the format, apply for a sanction, and then collect the money and set the pools through SportsCommander. Here is what will make it fun: You will not be required to use a Webpoint roster. You can play with any number of other players from other teams including outside your club or even outside the Region. The only roster requirement is that ALL players must be USAV members in good standing and be able to show membership at check in. No certified refs or scorers will be required. All matches, including playoffs, will be selfofficiated No uniform requirements, but any rules in regards to hats, casts, or wearing anything that could injure the player or another will not be allowed. (Safety first!) Mixed levels of play are allowed Formats could include: o Regular men s and women s sixes o Co-ed sixes o Reverse co-ed sixes o Fours of any variety Rules for each format will be posted before the start of the season. Stay tuned to your division webpage. FELLOWSHIPS CHRVA/AVVO will be hosting the Fellowships this season. We have tentative dates for each weekend in November (except Thanksgiving weekend) at locations around the region. Since Fellowships are used to rate referee and scorer candidates, the format will be regular men and women. However, you will be allowed to play with any make up of players you wish as long as everyone is a USAV member in good standing. Fellowships are a great way to get back into the swing of tournament play with your team; try out new players or new teams; meet new people, especially if you or a friend are new to this

7 region; and just play because you love it. Uniforms will not need to be matched or meet the solid-jersey rule, but they must have numbers. So what s different? Some will be a full day of 10 matches per court, but others will be a shortened day with three or four teams per court with only six matches. The shorter days will be at a significant fee reduction. The shorter version will run in what the Juniors call waves. One group will play in the first part of the day and then the next group will come in to play later in the day. Teams are invited to register to play in both on one day. The other difference is that along with the team registration, teams will be given twothree referee and/or candidate rating slots if needed. One of the big problems in the past has been the availability of the online clinics and tests before Fellowships. It is my understanding that some, in not all, are currently available. All should be up and running by October. That being the case, plan now to get certified or renew your certifications by November 1 so that you can be ready to play and/or get rated by the first Fellowship weekend. (See the Officials webpage for instructions to certify or maintain your certification.) Right now there are no plans for any ratings tournaments in December as we have held in the past. As of publication, we don t have all the facility contracts in place or all the details for entry and ratings nailed down. All information will be posted in the first week of October on the Adult and Officials webpages of CHRVA website. REMINDERS Renewing Your Membership Renewal of your membership for the 2016 season began on September 1. In order to stay current with your membership you must renew by October 31. If you wait until November 1 or later, your user name and password will expire. Only the Registrar can do the following for you and your teammates: Renew your username and password if it expires Change your name (if you don t change your name in the system, but use another name for your officials certifications, your certifications won t show up on your record) Change your mailing address Move your registration from another region to CHRVA (Tell your teammate(s) to speak to the CHRVA registrar before registering in another region) Add Junior team coaches to Adult team rosters Add Collegiate members to Adult team rosters Remember to choose your club. If you leave it at the default of undecided, your team rep will not be able to add you to your team roster. If you are not sure of your club name, find out before your register. If you or your teammate(s) are registering as Collegiate, the registration is not complete until the Registrar has received proof of fulltime student status. This can be ed as a PDF.

8 No registration is complete without payment! For questions, contact the Registrar, Barb Cline. Team Registration (for Team Reps) The process is the same. 1. You fill out the top portion of the form with your team name, club name (if applicable), division, and gender, and your contact info. 2. For the returning players, you only put their names. However if someone has moved, this is how you report that info to the Registrar. 3. For players who are either new in general or new to your team, you must fill out all info for those players. 4. If any of your players fit the Collegiate membership category, they CANNOT be added to your roster until those players have sent proof of their student status to the Registrar. This must be sent every year. 5. Any players who are younger than 18 must submit the special permission form signed by a guardian even if the player is already registered as a Junior player. 6. If you add anyone to your team who was a member of another region last season, that player must make a written request ( is fine) to the Registrar or the Commissioner to have that membership transferred. That player will not be able to register in Webpoint until this is done. 7. The team registration form allows for digital signatures. Please the EXCEL document (no PDFs please) to the Registrar. She will verify that all players are fully registered and paid and then issue you a team number. You must have a team number. No team number will create problems for you when you try to enter tournaments. We all hope that these changes bring you many enjoyable playing opportunities. Have fun! Adult Program Staff WAA/A Coordinator Joan Ryan joan.ryan@chrva.org WBB/B Coordinator Karen Love karen.love@chrva.org Men s Coordinator Julie Briggs julie.briggs@chrva.org Director Julie Briggs julie.briggs@chrva.org Any one of us is happy to answer any questions or help you out.

9 Juniors Update OUTDOOR Irv Rodrigues, Outdoor Coordinator This was a great year for CHRVA Outdoor Volleyball. Mid-Atlantic Volleyball set up more than 100 nets and hosted a record number of players for First Rites at Rehoboth Beach. Our region added several new clinics, camps, and tournaments, offering more training and playing opportunities for juniors. We estimate approximately 600 juniors participated in events this season. More than 90 attended Beach HP tryouts. The Regional High Performance beach program had its best year to date with 24 participants in camp, and eight teams traveling to the Beach High Performance Championship (BHPC). All of the teams performed well and finished in the top half at the BHPC National Championship. U15 and U17 teams qualified for medals. Several CHRVA teams also qualified for the Junior Beach Tour (JBT) National Championship at Virginia Beach. I am pleased to say, all of our teams made it to the gold bracket. In addition, the 1st Annual Mid-Atlantic Cup (MAC) Beach Championship was held at Ocean City Maryland this year. Participants received bids by winning one of seven tour-stop events, or via participation in the Regional HP program. The weather was fantastic, and the teams invited played some impressive volleyball. Several of our juniors won or were finalists in events around the nation and even played at open division level. Grass regionals were held in August in Laurel, MD. Please see the CHRVA Facebook page for photos of our various events. INDOOR Dado Singer, Director of Junior Programs Parent Membership In our last issue, we introduced the CHRVA Parent Membership, geared to the parent or guardian of a junior player who would like to be more involved. We were recently informed that anyone with a Parent Membership will need to have a background screening. The cost is $17.50 and can be done through the same Webpoint system as registration. Please note that the Parent Membership does not replace the Regular Membership requirement to be a Chaperone or Team Rep. You still need a Regular Membership in order to be on a team roster. The Parent Membership allows you to shag balls at practices or tournaments, be a line judge upon completion of the on-line clinic, and help at the scorer's table. Recruiting Policy If it's fall, it's time to start thinking about club tryouts. The Recruiting Policy is posted on the website. As we did last year, you will be able to find tryout dates and times for all of our member clubs on the website under the Juniors tab. Click on Club

10 Tryout Dates and you can access the spreadsheet. Remember that you must have a current USAV membership in order to tryout. Good luck! Boys The Boys' Open Tryout Period begins on October 3. We are planning the Regional Championships for March 12, Girls The Girls' Open Tryout Period begins of November 4 for players trying out for age groups up to 13. For 14s and older, the first date is November 11. Please note the shorter Open Tryout Period this year. It is a total of seven (7) days as opposed to 10 days in the past two years. Our Regional Championships for 18s will be held on March 13. The other age groups will play over April 9 and 10 and April 23 and Girls' Junior National Championships A First Person Perspective The Girls Junior National Championships! What an honor and privilege to be able to win a bid to and get to play against the best teams in our country! And of course, to represent our CHRVA Region. Here at Brandywine Volleyball Club we were lucky enough to win two National and two American bids and to have an additional one of our teams (our 11's) commit to attending in the Patriot Division. I say lucky but I would like to give our players and coaches the credit they deserve for working as hard as they did to get there. For CHRVA I would say that I think this year might have been one of the best showings (finishes) that as a Region we have ever had over all with some of our teams finishing in the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brackets and generally speaking even finishing well in the Flight Brackets. Our congratulations go out to Metro American 18's team, first place finisher in the Gold Bracket of 18's National an unprecedented feat from CHRVA to my knowledge! And congratulations to a couple other top finishers: Metro's 16's team that finished in second place in the Gold Bracket of the 16 National Division and Brandywine 13's that finished in a tie for fifth in the Gold Bracket of 13 National! I worried initially about the fact that Nationals were being held in New Orleans this year. Certainly an expensive and wild place, I thought, but to be honest with you it was a great place to hold Nationals. Speaking for my club only, I would say without question that it was one of the most fun Nationals we have ever attended. The city itself was very welcoming and they certainly had experience in handling large crowds of people. The food was amazing and there was plenty to do in the off time. I know many of the families from my club extended their stay to be able to take advantage of the area and to have a little extra vacation! Going to New Orleans for Nationals this year was also very nostalgic for me because the last time that Nationals were held in New Orleans was 1999 which was the very first year that we at Brandywine VBC won a bid and got to go to Nationals. It was an eye opener to be sure! Coming from what then was a smaller region (we have grown so much since then!) to play teams from

11 all over the country really made us realize that we needed to "up our game" if we ever wanted to be able to compete at that level at all. It truly gave us a new perspective on playing at a higher level and a great thirst to get our players there! We have been fortunate to have been able to win at least one (or more) bids to Nationals every year since then and hope to be able to work hard this year to get to 2016 Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana!

12 From the Ladder Bryan Strong, Referee Chair September is here and things are really ramping up. Rulebook and Rule Changes The link to the new Domestic Competition Rulebook (DCR) is available on the Officials page of the region website. Download it. There aren t too many changes. Here are the highlights: Contact with the net by a player between the antennae, during the action of playing the ball, is a fault. The action of playing the ball includes (among others) take-off, hit (or attempt) and landing Each team has the right to designate from the list of players on the score sheet up to two specialist defensive players: Liberos. 3. New USAV 5: The Libero CAN be team captain, game captain, or both. 4. New USAV 5.1.3: The captain does not sign the score sheet after the match. It is no longer required that either coach sign the score sheet after the match to verify the results. This includes Juniors matches. Solid Color Jersey Rule Remember that all teams, adult and junior, must comply with the solid color jersey rule this season. As you purchase new uniform jerseys, if you are not sure if your choices are compliant, take a picture and it to me. I will review the picture and get back to you as soon as I can with a verdict. Also, don t forget that your libero jerseys must be in a CONTRASTING color from the others. Here are some examples of what will NOT be accepted: White/Yellow White/Heather or Light Gray White/Pastel Colors Two Light Colors A Dark and a Light Shade of the Same Color Black/Dark or Slate Gray Black/Navy or Royal blue Black/Any Dark Color Two Dark Colors Level 2 Junior Referees For Junior players, there will be a new emphasis on getting Level 2 referees certified. Charles Ezigbo will be heading up this effort. The hope is that more players will get this certification and be available to work as paid officials at junior tournaments and eventually become adultcertified referees. Some of the requirements are below:

13 1. Must have been a Level 1 referee the previous season. 2. Must work at least one tournament per season to maintain the certification. 3. Must take the clinic and test each season. 4. Must maintain a junior scoring certification each season 5. Must get one R1 evaluation and one R2 evaluation each season to maintain the certification. 6. Must own a referee uniform and equipment. Currently the region is planning on providing some of the equipment upon certification 7. Must be able to travel to assigned tournaments Adult Player Referee The Adult Player Referee designation is for referees who will only act as refs for their own team when the team is playing. This designation does not allow you to work as a paid non-playing referee (NPR). All Adult Player Referees must maintain their certifications by taking the online clinic and pass the appropriate test; take the online scorer clinic and pass the appropriate test every other year; and get one rating during the regular season by a Regional (or higher) NPR every third season. Everyone have a great season!

14 At the Scorer s Table Dixie Collins, Scorer Chair Pens UP!!! Scorer Certification Process: We continue to look for opportunities to streamline the certification process for our member community. For the past five years we have made incremental changes to enhance the process and there are exciting changes for the season!! The CHRVA Website has been upgraded to include a link directly to the USA Volleyball Training Website thereby eliminating the need to go to another website in order to take training. The USA Volleyball Training Website has had a major upgrade! There is a different look and feel to the site and it is easier to navigate. You will be able to print your completion certificate directly from your profile page!! Scoresheet Changes: There are no major changes to the scoresheet this season. A complete list of changes will be posted to the CHRVA website: Sample of changes: The T-Bar is replacing the hourglass in the running score column USAV The Libero may serve as Team Captain USAV Coach or Captain are NOT required to sign scoresheet at the end of the match REMEMBER: For detailed certification or recertification instructions go to the Scorer Requirements website. Volunteer Opportunities: Would you like to get more involved in supporting the CHRVA community? There are numerous activities available. For example: Scorer Rater Team Scoresheet Review Committee Designated Regional Championship Scorer If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me.

15 PVL Program Update Daniel Davidson, General Manager By way of background, PVL is USA Volleyball s effort to create a professional volleyball league in the United States. There are USA Volleyball regions that sponsor either a men s or a women s team. In the Chesapeake Region, we have both the Rising Tide! The Chesapeake Rising Tide men s and women s programs wrapped up the 2015 season in May, following their showings at the 2015 Open Nationals in Detroit. At Nationals, the men s team finished the 2-day pool play 7-0 the highest finish of any team in the tournament. The third day found them in a very tough playoff bracket of three, with Great Lakes Lightning (the team the won the 2014 PVL Nationals, beating the Rising Tide in the finals) and Team Pineapple (USA Olympian Lloy Ball s team). They had close losses to both teams, which knocked them into the silver bracket, and to an eventual a 7 th place finish. In case you thought seedings and brackets are always accurate, both Team Pineapple and Great Lakes when on to take first and second in the tournament, respectively. The women s team had a tough pool as well, including Team North Texas who, with setter Micah Hancock and outside Ariel Turner, took seventh overall. The Rising Tide was close to advancing to gold, and needed a win over Great Lakes. They unfortunately lost the well-fought battle in five sets, but then went all the way in the silver bracket to leave the tournament with a win. Having won the bronze bracket in 2014 and now the silver in 2015, they are definitively on an upward trajectory. Gold in 2016? On that note early planning has begun for the season. Like before, tryouts will take place in the January February timeframe, with practices and local exhibition matches occurring in March and April. The Winter DIGS newsletter, as well as the Rising Tide website will have all information, once it is available. As always, we are open to ideas on ways the Rising Tide can get involved in the community, so please send your questions, comments and suggestions to me! Go Tide!

16 On the Beach Rebecca Johannes, Beach Referee Chair Last season eight referees received their local beach certification. As the outdoor season comes to a close, the indoor season continues and will be in full gear sooner than we think. There is a need to grow our beach cadre of officials as the sport continues to grow. Just this past June the NCAA announced it would host its 90 th NCAA Championship Beach Volleyball. Beach Volleyball is the fastest-growing NCAA sport with 50 colleges and universities sponsoring it as of January The growth has even come to our area. If you have any interest in clinics, officiating, and referees for your tournaments or club events please contact me.

17 Join One of Fairfax Volleyball Club s Fall Indoor Leagues in Sterling or Alexandria, VA Kathy Hood, Fairfax Volleyball Club Administrator The good news about summer coming to an end is that our Indoor Season starts up soon and registration is open NOW! Interested in Coed, Reverse Coed, Men's, Women's, 4s? With 12 different leagues, there is something for everyone! Strike up that conversation around the water cooler, send those s, and text your teammates now to get your team together! Visit the Fairfax Volleyball Club website to get the 4-1-1! Matches are starting now so act now! Each team plays eight (8) matches (24 games total) and top teams advance to playoffs (number of teams that advance depend on court space and league size). Back by Popular Demand: the Mixer League! Register as an individual and play each week with different team mates. Contact me if you have questions or plan to register a team!