Avon/Albany Junior Olympic Volleyball Organization Season. Player and Parent Handbook

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1 Avon/Albany Junior Olympic Volleyball Organization Season Player and Parent Handbook Welcome to Avon/Albany Junior Olympic Volleyball This Junior Olympic Volleyball Organization was started 16 years ago (there were a couple of teams the year before) to provide opportunities for volleyball players to improve their skills and game play through playing time in tournaments and spring practices. Mission and Purpose Our Junior Olympic Volleyball Organization is non-profit. Students pay what it costs to run the program. Fees go to gym rental, coachesʼ salaries, membership fees, tournament entry fees, and uniform costs. Each player is also expected to buy one volleyball to use during their JO years. (That ball belongs to the player, not the organization.) Our Junior Olympic teams comply with North Country Region Junior Olympic rules and regulations, as well as Minnesota State High School League Regulations. (For more information about the NCR, see as well as At this time, we are running our 11ʼs -15ʼs teams through the Minnesota Sports Federation. Their membership fees are less, but they also offer only a few tournaments, so we are limited in our choices of weekends to play. We can play in a couple of locally run tournaments (Melrose and Osakis) under the MSF, but cannot attend NCR events. This program is designed to give opportunities for players in the Albany School District to excel in the sport of volleyball. Players will acquire basic skills and, as they get older, advanced skills, to help them achieve a higher level of performance. The players also learn the value of teamwork, sportsmanship, communication and self-discipline.

2 Involvement in Junior Olympic Volleyball does not guarantee a player a spot on the high school team. Not everyone is able to play Junior Olympic Volleyball, due to time constraints, or inability to pay fees. The high school team is determined by the skill level of a player when tryouts are held during the first week of the high school league season in August. Our Junior Olympic Organization is a competitive program, but we also want all volleyball players who have the desire to learn to be better players to have this opportunity. We do not turn any volleyball player away from Junior Olympic Volleyball that wants to participate (and can pay the fee). We attempt to keep teams at 10 players or less, to maximize playing time, and to provide individual skill instruction in practices. If we have more than 10 girls at an age level, we look at moving players up a level to another team (if a team above is short of players), or we have a team with more than 10 players, or we try to get enough to split the team into two teams. Our goal is to provide a valuable learning experience to all volleyball athletes involved in the program. Although occasionally at the 13ʼs and 14ʼs level, we have players who do not play school volleyball, this program is meant to be an enrichment type program for volleyball athletes. Club sports are available to athletes to enhance and improve their skills in their chosen high school sports. (AAU basketball, club swimming, JO volleyball, etc.) They are not school run programs to provide recreational opportunities for athletes who have chosen another sport as their school sport. Our program offers a balance of competitiveness and participation. At the lower age levels: 12ʼs, 13ʼs, and 14ʼs, we try to play everyone close to equal time, but do not guarantee equal playing time. We also try to play all players in both the front and back row at these age levels. (Exceptions to equal playing time are at the coachʼs discretion, and can involve missed practices that are not due to a school activity, or failure to do something the coach asks, or in playoffs of a tournament where a win would give us another match, etc.) An example here would be a player that cannot serve the ball overhand, but refuses to serve underhand when asked to by the

3 coach; we want the players to think in the best interests of the team, and to comply with coaches requests and suggestions. At the 15ʼs level and above, the athletes have played a specialized position on their high school team. These teams will play by position, and have defensive specialists play back row only. We do want our hitters to develop back row skills, so an effort will be made to rotate which player the defensive specialist goes in for, to give hitters back row and serving opportunities. We do want to play competitively at these age levels, but will still provide playing time (not necessarily equal) for all players in tournaments, especially pool play rounds. In playoff rounds, the coach will decide how to play the players to try to advance. The coach always has discretion to sub players based on performance, attitude,etc. In playoff rounds at 15ʼs and up, the coach has the discretion to play the lineup that gives them the best opportunity to win and advance in the tournament. We may ask players to play up an age level, if those teams will be more competitive with the younger players added to the roster, if the player will benefit from playing at a higher level, or a team is short of players in a certain position, etc. (An example here would be younger players who have already played at the varsity level; they would benefit more and improve more if they play at a higher level of JO than their age level). Registration/Orientation Meeting Our plan is to hold this meeting in early December of each year. We will announce the meeting date and time at the fall volleyball banquet, and put it in school announcements for Junior High and Elementary students. (11ʼs - 15ʼs - January) Attendance at this meeting is highly recommended for all players and parents. You will receive the handbook, registration papers and teams will be formed. Parents and players will complete paperwork at that meeting and pay fees. This will get our paperwork in early enough so teams can register

4 early for tournaments. Teams will meet at this meeting to look at tournament dates, and try to develop their schedule (Please bring calendars and know weekends with conflicts.) Deadline for completing forms and paying registration fees will be at the meeting in December for 9th-11th grade players. (5th-8th grade deadline will be the date of their playdate/meeting as well.) Fees will be determined by each team based on needs. If a team needs uniforms, the cost will be higher. The number of tournaments entered also determines part of the cost. Each team will pay for one coach (Currently $20 per practice, and $60 per tournament). Team Assignments We currently do not hold tryouts for our 11ʼs - 14ʼs teams. We have scheduled a Playdate which helps us to evaluate skill and try to form teams based on this evaluation. Teams are formed by age level (grade level), for all teams of 11ʼs through the 14ʼs level. The 15ʼs, 16ʼs and 17ʼs teams will have a skills evaluation/tryout in order to place athletes on teams, according to ability and position. If there are enough players at a grade level for 2 teams (at 11ʼs, 12ʼs and 13ʼs levels, it is our philosophy to not divide them by ability into an A and B team. We try to keep our athletes in volleyball; and it has been our experience that B players feel they do not have a chance to make the high school team, and then they quit. Some of these players have the potential to develop into good players, and we want to keep them out for the sport until they reach that potential. The playdate and skills evaluation will help us to divide the teams as equally as we can. From the 14ʼs level and up, if there are enough for 2 teams, the coaches will decide whether to divide by ability (and position) or to divide equally. This again will be based on what we see at the playdate/skills evaluation. Having players at each position for each team will be a priority when dividing into more than one team.

5 Membership Fees Fees will be determined by each team based on the needs of that team. Costs include gym rental (to be divided by all teams in the organization), coach salary, membership fees in North Country Region (Or Minnesota Sports Federation), tournament entry fees, and uniforms, as well as balls for anyone who does not already have one. All money is used for team costs; anything left at the end will be retained in that players account and be used for those same players the next season. (If a player does not return the next season, any remaining money in their account will be refunded to them). Checks for fees are to be made out to: Avon JO Volleyball, and will be given to the team rep or the treasurer of our JO Organization. Fundraising Some people have expressed interest in doing this; what do we want to do; how should this be organized? (Each team, or the Organization as a whole?) Volunteer! Because this Organization is non-profit, we need volunteers to run it. Parents are needed to be team reps; each team needs at least one person to be in charge of getting all paperwork completed, setting up a date to go to an officials/scoring clinic, get tournament registrations filled out and to the treasurer, arrange transportation to tournaments, etc. (16ʼs and 17ʼs teams need a team rep. Younger teams will be organized by the coaches and the club director). Currently, gym space and time is set up through Community Education. The Club Director will be responsible for setting the schedule with Community Education. We need a treasurer to write checks for tournament entry fees, membership fees for teams, etc. This person will also keep a balance sheet/spreadsheet

6 with each teamsʼ revenues and expenses detailed, so each team spends only the money they have collected in fees. We need a person to be the Club Director. This person is the contact with North Country Region. The Region sends out paperwork forms, any changes in rules and regulations, and other miscellaneous information to the Club Director. The Club Director is also the contact person if an adult does not pass the background check. This person will set the annual Registration/Orientation meeting, and help organize the players and parents at that meeting. The Club Director will also find coaches for each team, and make sure coaches get the necessary training. Rules and Regulations Our Junior Olympic Organization will provide a balance of competitive play and participation. Playing time will be more equal at the lower levels (11ʼs, 12ʼs, 13ʼs and 14ʼs), with more competitive, specialization of positions at the 15ʼs, 16ʼs, and 17ʼs levels. Through pool play, the emphasis will be on trying to play all athletes (but based on positions at 15ʼs level and up) (This does not mean equal time; the player must be able to perform in the position they are played in. Some players will only play front row; some only back row. The lower age levels will play both front and back row; the coach can sub players out if they are having problems (example, just canʼt get a serve in today!), or if they need to talk to them about what they need to do on the court, etc. In playoff rounds, the coach can try to play a lineup that gives them the best chance to advance to the next round. Again, at lower age levels, this is not the emphasis, so all players will still be played, but might be subbed out in the front or back, or be replaced if they struggle with serving, etc. At 15ʼs level and above, the emphasis is on developing a competitive team and attitude.

7 We do want these teams to be competitive, especially the older teams; so we expect all players to make every effort to be at every tournament and practice. A scheduled school event, however, always takes precedence over Junior Olympics. Practice We practice one time per week for 2 hours. We expect all players to attend all practices, unless a scheduled school activity interferes wit h our practice time. Missed practices that are not because of a school activity can affect tournament playing time. The practice schedule is usually for Sunday nights. Currently, this is the only night we can schedule gym space with enough courts for all of our teams. Our teams all practice the same night (if possible) and at the same time, to allow for scrimmage time, and to keep costs of gym rental at a minimum. Players and coaches need to be ready to practice at the scheduled time. Please arrive early enough to change shoes, etc., before practice starts. Practices are challenging, and focus on skill development, as well as team concepts. Players develop skills through repetition, and need to focus on improvement during these reps. Game situations will be practiced, so athletes are able to think and react on the court during games. Tournaments Which tournaments to attend will be based on the schedules of the athletes involved. The team coach and Club Director will work to choose tournaments that accommodate the schedules of the athletes. The number of tournaments will be determined by the team, depending on their available budget (We try to do 5 tournaments for the Spring season, 10 for Jan.-May season). The teams playing MSF have a pretty limited choice of tournaments, so the schedule is based on what they offer.

8 If a team starts in January, they may charge more in fees, so they can attend additional tournaments. (They also need to pay the extra gym rental time on their own). We expect all players to attend the tournaments scheduled, so the tournaments are scheduled so as not to conflict with school sponsored sports activities. If a player cannot attend a tournament, the coach needs to be informed before the day of the tournament (except in case of illness). This will allow us to replace that player if necessary. Parents are responsible for transportation to the tournaments. Each team can decide how to do this. Carpooling and taking turns driving is one option. Other teams leave it up to each parent to arrange transportation for their daughter. The time to arrive at the tournament will be communicated to the athletes by the coach at the practice before each tournament, and by to the parents. When leaving a tournament site, players must clean up their area, and leave it as they found it. Pick up garbage, clean up any spills, etc. Officiating Officiating is the shared responsibility of the entire team. All players are required to attend an officiating/scoring clinic run by the North Country Region. Players must learn to score and/or officiate. Players also are responsible for being line judges, keeping the scorebook, running the scoreboard, and officiating. (MSF teams do not officiate or score.) NCR clinics are now available online as well. New for 2016: players can train for a specific job: Referee, Scorekeeper, etc. The coach will assign duties as necessary. If not everyone is needed to work a match, players will rotate, and some work the first assigned match, and the others the next match. All players will stay at the tournament until all matches are played, and all officiating duties are completed, unless excused for a legitimate reason by the coach.

9 All athletes must attend the scorekeeping clinic at the start of the season to be certified to officiate (if attendance is not possible for an athlete, that athlete must line judge for their part of the duties). Good Sportsmanship and Conduct As representatives of our community, it is expected that all players, parents, coaches and fans attending a volleyball event will conduct themselves in a proper manner, showing respect and good sportsmanship to others and to property. Coaches Coaches are expected to be at all practices and tournaments, or find a replacement if they have a conflict. Questions/Concerns If a player is unsure of their role on their team, they need to talk to the coach about it. The coach will communicate what they expect from that player, and what the player can do to increase their skill level, etc. Parents concerns should be respectfully communicated to a coach only after the player has attempted to address and resolve their concerns with the coach. Please do not confront a coach before, during or after a tournament. Call or to set up a time to meet with the player, parent and coach. Website/Information This handbook and a calendar with practice and tournament schedule can be found on my teacher website: go to Albany Elementary School, Teacher Websites, and go to Annette Brewer. Website address: I will also post pictures and tournament summaries on the JO Volleyball Page.