North Atlanta Volleyball Club || FAQ's

What is North Atlanta Volleyball Club?
What is club volleyball?
Why Play Junior Olympic Volleyball?
Why Club?
How long is the club season?
When, Where, and How often are practices?
When and Where are tournaments held?
How is team placement handled?
Will I play the same position that I play in school?
How is tournament play time handled?

What is North Atlanta Volleyball Club?
We are a non profit Junior Olympic organization dedicated to the growth of volleyball in Atlanta. Developing young athletes ages 10-18 yrs old, to the peak of their ability. Our club is part of the national volleyball program administered by USA Volleyball Association; we will participate in local, state and national competition.

What is club volleyball?
USA Junior Olympic (JO) Volleyball or Club Volleyball offers athletes the opportunity to play volleyball after their high school season. Club Volleyball is an avenue for girls 10 (or even younger) to 18 to play in competitive tournaments and get advanced training. Most JO Club seasons run from November or December until April. A few clubs continue training with their top teams until the National Championships, held in June. Club volleyball provides additional training, knowledge, and tournament play. Players will be placed on a team based on their age and skill level. Most tournaments offer 5 age group divisions (18's, 17's, 16's, 15's, and 14's; and sometimes even 13's & 12's). This allows girls to compete against each other in their same age group. Younger players may play up in an older age group, but players are not allowed to play in a younger age group. Each player has a different experience as a club member. Naturally, some players are more successful than are others. Players who put more effort into the program get more out of it.

The following are some of the benefits of JO:

FITNESS & IMPROVEMENT
You will get better! That is a guarantee. Every time you touch the volleyball makes you better than your competition.

NEW FRIENDSHIPS
Bringing girls together with similar goals from various schools makes friendships. The relationships that have been formed through practice and team play will be friendships that last a lifetime.

EXPOSURE TO COLLEGE RECRUITERS
College coaches regularly attend JO tournaments. The majority of colleges now recruit directly from club programs. Last year over 98% of the high school girls from Georgia and South Carolina who received college scholarships played club. Remember, if you want to play in college, plan to play club!

TOURNAMENT PLAY
JO Tournaments are where the hard practice pays off and many favorable memories are made. Understand that practice and training is where you receive the most instruction and experience. Tournament play is only a supplement to participating in Club. Club tournaments are usually far more competitive and more physically demanding than high school matches.

Why Play Junior Olympic Volleyball?
Junior Olympic (JO) volleyball programs have exploded all across the country. Only 19 years ago, the first National tournament was held, and only 20 teams made the trip. Today, in contrast, the National Tournament held in 2000 hosted 576 teams, was played on over 40 courts, and lasted 10 days. So successful are JO programs that most college coaches recruit exclusively from the JO program ranks. The fact is that if you plan to play in college, club is a MUST! We find that most girls have several goals. Some players want to learn more about the sport, improve their skill level, and get playing time in tournaments. For others, it's simply to extend their high school season by 6 months. For others, it may be to challenge starters on their school team for playing time next season. For a few, it will be the exposure needed to compete for future college scholarship opportunities. Today you will find that literally all athletes who play in college participated in club volleyball during high school. All participants enjoy competitive tournament play. Many successful high school coaches are encouraging their athletes to play club volleyball for the experience, instruction, and additional training time. Also, where you find successful high school programs, you will find players who participate in club volleyball. That is a fact! Is JO volleyball only for the college bound athlete? Certainly not! We are interested in building teams in the younger age divisions, as young as 12 and under (ages 10 and 11 and younger are encouraged), athletes who are just beginning their volleyball experience. For most players, JO volleyball is simply another challenging experience that should lead to a lot more fun on the court as playing skills improve. Many girls find that club ball is “their volleyball season” due to the fact that they experience little playing time during their high school season and find that tournament play is very rewarding.

Why Club?
It is our firm belief that enrolling your daughter in club will give her the edge she needs to succeed in volleyball in the future. The sport of volleyball is growing in popularity and expanding in its number of players each year. If your daughter is planning on playing volleyball in college or thinks that she might like to play volleyball at the collegiate level, then it is imperative that she plays club, now. We cannot stress this enough! Even if she can only play for one season, that alone will improve her game tremendously. Your daughter might be the best player at her school. If that's true, then great. The unfortunate thing is she always plays with and against people that are not as good as her. She may never be challenged or, even worse, play at a level that is below her potential. If she plays club, she will be playing with girls that are equal to or better than her. This will push her and make her the best player she can be.

How long is the club season?
The USAV season lasts from Nov to July, however most teams conclude their seasons in April if they don’t qualify for additional tournaments such as Nationals.

When, Where, and How often are practices?
Club teams practice 2 times a week
Power teams practice 3 times a week
(Each coach will determine teams practice schedule)
Our usual practice locations are North Atlanta High School, Riverwood High School and St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Marietta although other facilities may be used.

When and Where are tournaments held?
Club teams will go to 6-8 tournaments in a season
Power teams will go to 8-10 tournaments in a season
The Southern Region consists of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama and while most tournaments are in the southern region, coaches may want to travel to surrounding areas to be exposed to different regions and better competition. Places we have traveled to in the past are Kentucky, Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, and Florida.
Coaches will work with parents and the club director to determine a season schedule that suits everyone. Most teams will stay local for half of the tournaments and travel to the other half.

How is team placement handled?
Another major concern for many players and parents is team placement. I can assure you that the tryout system we use is very fair and accurate. There will be players who are on the border between being placed on a higher or lower team. If a player is a number 7,8, or 9 player on the team, they could be the number 1,2, or 3 player on the next team. There are advantages to playing on a lower team, more playing time, being one of the top players verses the lower players, self-esteem, etc. Our entire coaching staff evaluates each player and a committee makes placement decisions. Teams from previous years are not necessarily kept together, each year talent is re-evaluated.

Will I play the same position that I play in school?
Not always. We may move and train a player to play a different position than they played in school based on the need of the team. On our top teams, you must be willing to play any position.

How is tournament play time handled?
Most parents want or expect their child to play all the time during tournament play. This is the number one problem of clubs throughout the United States. We hope the following will resolve most concerns. NAVC has designed a program to offer everyone a choice. All players should get equal practice time. NAVC will give NO guarantee of playing time for the teams, they will offer fair playing time to each team player. Fair is not equal, we will play your daughter as much as possible taking into consideration skill level, competition, position, and attitude.

The player and only the player can discuss playing time with a Coach. Do not discuss playing time at a tournament. The time to discuss playing time is at the practice following the tournament.

Since 1991 the North Atlanta Volleyball Club has been a Junior Olympic Club dedicated to the growth and development of volleyball players from 10 to 18 years old. Our players come from Atlanta and the surrounding areas to play and compete in USA Junior Olympic volleyball tournaments.

Southern Region Volleyball