The following is some general information for all the new players of the Cascade Volleyball Club regarding volleyball tournaments. For those of us used to quick in-and-out local community center games, the tournaments come as a bit of a shock. Here are our tips.
Tournaments are LONG!
Tournaments often start at 8 or 9 AM and can last until 5 or later (groan…) in the afternoon. Remember, that we may also have an hour drive or more to get to the tournament site. We often play for an hour and then may have to sit or referee another game for up to two hours until it’s our turn to play again. After a few tournaments, the kids quickly get used to this routine, while the parents seldom ever do. Here are our survival strategies.
KI
PARENTS: Think about carpooling (See more on Carpooling below). Believe us -- 8 or 9 hours can seem like eternity if you haven’t brought something to do. Parents should bring your laptop, books, sketch books, bills to pay, photo albums anything to chew up the time. Some schools are pretty close to coffee houses and places to buy foods. Others can be out in the woods. When the weather gets nice, throw a tennis racket in your car, some of the schools had decent courts. Or bring running gear.
Bring one of those fold-up chairs you use at soccer games. Some gyms will have bleachers, but many will have the bleachers closed up and parents fight for limited space along the walls. The chairs are great for holding a spot and are also great when the sun comes out and you can go outside and catch some rays at lunch. Tie something (bandanna, yarn, ribbon) onto your chair to distinguish it from all the other Costco chairs.
Adults Can Volunteer
to Help
Help is always appreciated. Just ask the coach. Some possibilities include keeping track of our balls and gear, taking stats (ask coaches what they want tracked), taking pictures, organizing carpools or snacks. If you want to the Scorekeeping/Referee Clinics and signed up as an Adult Chaperone, you help with refereeing, scorekeeping or calling lines if we are short on girls or if they need some rest.
Because different clubs sponsor tournaments, you will find tremendous variation in how they are run. Some are setup with great little snack bars where you can buy snacks, pop and coffee. Some tournaments run like clockwork -- everything starting when it should. However, most tournaments have a few glitches. They might not be able to get the nets set-up on a court or the refereeing team may be delayed, which can delay games on that court for an hour or more. Be prepared for things not to run well, and be thrilled when they do. Referees are usually just coaches/parents like us, so don’t get too upset when a referee makes a mistake on a call.
Usually, we don’t know our game schedule for the day until
we get to the tournament. Therefore,
it’s very hard to time it if you want to just come watch an hour or two. Sometimes the girls will have access to a pay
or cell phone. If you want them to call you with the game schedule, let them
know ahead of time. There are usually
two rounds to the tournament. In the
morning, each team will be in a pool of 3 to 5 teams and we play each of the
teams in our pool one match (2 games or best 2 out of 3 games). Then after all
the morning games are done (note that the “morning” round robin matches are
often not over until
Be prepared to see some awesome volleyball. Ours is a young club. There are other bigger more established clubs out there that have had multiple teams at every age level from 11 to 18 for decades, and have started their girls playing at 10 or younger. Our girls will improve a lot through the year, and remember that every game they play gives them the experience it takes to become stronger players. Don’t get too caught up in the win-loss record, but try to notice how many good passes we’re making, how many good sets, or how many successful serves. Focusing on their little successes each week will help the girls notice their own improvement over the season. Encourage your girls to spend some of their “down time” at the tournament watching other teams play. This is an excellent way to learn new skills and to aspire to a higher level of play.
When our team is not playing, we often have to referee
another game. This is part of our
responsibility at each tournament. It’s
especially difficult when it’s
We often are playing at schools quite far from
You can still be an involved parent without coming to every tournament. It’s worth the effort to develop carpools. One parent can drop off, watch a bit of the morning, and then take off. The other parent can come mid-afternoon, watch a bit of the tournament and drive the crew home. Note that the afternoon shift can vary a lot in length, since it’s harder to predict the ending time of our tournament play or refereeing.
Our goal this year is for all the girls to develop volleyball skills that will allow them to return to their High School teams as much better players and to have some fun. We are carrying 12 girls on the roster of each team this year to allow flexibility with people’s schedules. Don’t feel guilty if you can’t make all the tournaments/practices, but do try very hard to make all the events and do give us as much advance notice as possible of planned absences. During most tournaments we will rotate players in and out more freely in the morning round robins to allow all individuals some playing time as best we can. However, the playing time will seldom be equal due to player roles. In the afternoon during the single elimination phase, coaches may utilize more of the players with the most experience and skill or those playing best on that particular day. Parents should not discuss playing time issues with coaches at tournaments. (See Cascade Policies).
Scott’s cell phone number is 206-769-1874. Please call it for emergencies. Coaches and some of the girls also have cell phones –just ask and check the roster.
Thanks- Scott Baumler, Director Cascade Volleyball Club.