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We are excited to let you know that club registration for the 2024-2025 season opens on August 1, 2024! You will be able to register your club from this date onward and start the processes for setting up for the next season.
From August 1 you will be able to see the new Club Handbook, competition schedule, and associated documents on our youth club volleyball page here. We also attach a graphic with key dates for the upcoming season.
In our last email we acknowledge some key areas for change that we heard from you after the 2024 season. We would like to update you on some of the ways we will be addressing these areas during the 2025 season:
1) Delays or changes in the schedule makes it incredibly challenging for you to organize and respond to your members
- We will release the 2025 competition calendar with regions by Aug 1 and with cities by Dec 1.
- We will release dummy draws after tournament registration closes.
- We will release final draws a minimum of 10 days before each event.
- We will establish a communication protocol for any changes to the schedule/ draw.
2) The current competition structure may no longer meet our needs and needs review - there is a need to look at alternative competition models, approaches to ranking, rule and format changes etc.
- We have issued an RFP for a full competition review and consultation from 2026 onward and are in the process of selecting a consultant who will be undertaking this work over the next 8-10 months. In light of this, we will not be making structural changes to the competition format in 2025. However we will be making some adjustments including:
- We have removed “mandatory” travel: Only teams who wish to be in Division 1 (or 2 in some cases) will be required to attend a minimum of 2 events. No minimum events for other divisions.
- We have removed the 6-spot penalty for not attending an event.
- We will separate age groups where there is a critical number to be able to do so (eg. 17U and 18U boys)
- We will be consulting on the use of tripleball among 13U teams
- We have made additional minor adjustments that are highlighted in the new Club Handbook that will be launched August 1
3) Volleyball BC has strong relationships in the volleyball community in some areas more than others. We may not be leveraging the connections that exist within our community which in turn can negatively impact our ability to deliver.
- We have created a Working Group with club and referee representatives in order to oversee the competition review - thank you to those of you who have stepped up to be involved.
- We will establish a process for clubs to proactively request and submit discussion items at the Regional Development Committee
- We will be distributing minutes / key decisions from the RDC meetings to the Club Directors.
- Our Regional Managers will continue with monthly Club Director meetings in each region.
- We are reviewing our staffing across the regions to ensure that we are set up to respond to increased demand.
- We will continue to try and accommodate travel teams in scheduling of tournaments (recognising that our primary principle is that we want to accommodate all teams so this may not always be possible).
4) Clear and responsive communication is really important: There are varying response times for enquiries and we do not always clearly communicate or share decisions that get made or provide context for these decisions.
- We have created a new Coordinator of Member Services role to be a central point of contact for membership enquiries and SportLomo issues
- We will be releasing information earlier as outlined under #1.
- We will publish rankings for all ages and genders throughout the season, along with an explanation of how rankings are determined
- We will be creating "How to" guides to help navigate SportLomo
- We will be hosting pre-season webinars for Club Directors and coach education/screening contacts on key topics (eg. Persons In Authority Checks, coach education process)
- We will be creating a Guide to Club Volleyball for Players and Parents to answer FAQs on the system.
5) There are inconsistent experiences at club tournaments in terms of on-site staffing, facility issues, and availability of officials.
- We will be creating an internal Facility Tracker to track facility bookings, availability, and useful information, accompanied by proactive site visits to ensure that facilities meet our needs.
- We will send out proactive pre-tournament communication outlining facility access and amenities.
- We will be recruiting our tournament coordinators earlier and providing consistent training.
- We will be switching to teams only minor officiating their own games.
- We will be working with the Referee Committee representatives on the competition schedule and recruitment.
6) Volleyball BC could provide more support in terms of navigating the administrative requirements of the club season, including new club onboarding, coach education, and person in authority checks.
- We have created a new Coordinator of Member Services role to be a central point of contact for membership enquiries and SportLomo issues
- We will be creating a new Welcome Pack for Club Directors at the start of the season with all the relevant key information to get set up.
- We will be hosting pre-season webinars for Club Directors and coach education/screening contacts on key topics (eg. Persons In Authority Checks, coach education process)
- We will be streamlining educational requirements for coaches - what can we say on this?
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