Gulf Coast Region of USA Volleyball

The Gulf Coast Region provides top-quality USA Volleyball sanctioned events and programs.

Beach Series - free beach volleyball clinic on Friday, July 30

(July 27, 2010) - The Gulf Coast Region will host a beach volleyball clinic from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 30 at the site (see map) of the Gulf Shores tournament to be held the following day. Participants ages 8 to 18 are welcome. Cost is free for USAV members, $20 for non-USAV members (the $20 covers the cost of joining; see the Beach page for full details on what you need to do to join).

The Beach Series has been awesome. The host clubs have been fabulous, and the participating teams have improved weekly. A lot of fun is being had by all. .

Our friendly, well-run tournaments, sanctioned by USA Volleyball, are attracting media attention: WMBB-13 news story | AL.com story with photos. The Gulf Coast Region's Beach Series concludes with a championship event on July 31. For full details, see the Beach section of this website. Here is the schedule:

June 5 - Gulf Shores, AL.
June 12 - Panama City, FL.
June 26 - Navarre Beach, FL (juniors). Map.
June 27 - Navarre Beach, FL (adults) - Full details for this new tourney are now on the Beach home page. Map.
July 10 - Waveland, MS - See Beach page for directions to playing site. - canceled due to oil spill.
July 17 - Fort Walton Beach, FL - canceled due to oil spill.
July 31 - Gulf Shores, AL - Grand Championships. Map.

Also available - promotional flier. Please print, post and share with beach volleyball players and fans!

Congrats to our region champions!

(May 11, 2010) - The Gulf Coast Region congratulates the 2010 Gulf Coast Region champions:

Volleyball Pensacola 12 Black.
Club Bomba 13 Pink.
Pensacola Beach VBC 14 National.
Pensacola Beach VBC 15-2 Sellers.
Volleyball Pensacola 16 Black.
Mobile Storm 17 Craker.
Pleasure Island VBC 18s.

Next season's championships will bring back together the bids and the regionals into one large tournament on April 16- 17, 2011 at the University of West Florida.

Event schedule

2010 region event schedule | Clinic protocol for officials and scorekeepers | Officials clinic contacts for clinicians/directors

Commissioner sends memo for start of 2010 season

(Oct. 16, 2009) - Commissioner Philip Bryant has kicked off the season with a message to club directors, encouraging everyone to get started now on the required forms, background screenings and procedures. Highlights include:

Agenda for the region's annual club directors meeting, which will be Dec. 5 in Pensacola at the University of West Florida - Health & Leisure Building, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Fee structure for the Gulf Coast Region current season.

From the commissioner:

Hello, 2010 junior and adult directors,

I would first like to say congrats to those teams that represented the Gulf Coast Region at the 2009 Junior Nationals in Miami and at the High Performance Nationals in Fort Lauderdale. We are very proud of your efforts.

The 2010 Nationals will be here before we know it. Adults will be in Phoenix. Junior girls will be in Reno. Junior boys will be in Austin. Let's play a lot of quality volleyball between now and then and have several teams participating in the gold medal division at this season’s respective nationals.

Registration

We are beginning to disperse 2010 information. The Gulf Coast Region will continue implementing online registration this year as in previous years. All player/coach/staff/official registrations for the 2010 season will be conducted online.

Jennie Cook will again serve as our registrar. She can be contacted at (850) 341-6035 or jencook_01@yahoo.com.

A member registering online will sign his or her 2010 membership registration form online. For juniors, the parent will sign online and verify his or her signature via driver’s license number. Also for juniors, once the membership information is submitted, the site is designed to generate the 2010 medical release form (as in prior years). This medical release form must be signed and notarized and retained by coaches at all club activities. The online system is set up and ready for registration data now.

The online system will track the background screening for your coaches and staff as they register. If they are new or were screened two years ago, the system will request the information necessary to begin the screening process. This year, the background screen will be $20. This fee will be sent to the region office when you send your individual fees and team fees.

Remember: Each team must have a chaperone who has completed registration and a background screen prior to practice participation.

All fees must be presented to the region office no later than Jan. 21 for clubs and 14 days for individuals after registration.

Directors: Do not conduct any club activities until your coaches have registered online and cleared their background screening. Also, all junior players must be registered, with a medical release form in your club’s file, prior to practice or tryouts.

If your club conducts tryouts and there is a chance you will not select an attendee to be in your club, they still must register online prior to your tryouts. Instruct them to enter “Undecided” for the club and “Unpaid.” If they make your club, they can go online and change the info. You as a director must send to the region your rosters and proper fees as registration occurs. For tryout attendees not selected, list them on a separate page.

Certificates of insurance

2010 certificates of insurance are now available. If an additional certificate of insurance is needed, email the region office to make the request. The format is as follows, or use the form:

Facility.

Contact person(s) - Boards, president, directors, etc.

Facility address.

Contact phone number.

If a certificate was requested last year and you will request the same this year, you must still use the above format.

Forms and resources

Here are forms and resources of note for the upcoming season:

1. 2010 director and club information form - To be returned by Oct. 31 as acknowledgment of your intent to be director of a club in the region.

2. Directors Annual Meeting agenda – Dec. 5, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Pensacola at the University of West Florida, Health & Leisure Building.

3. Board of directors voting form for BOD position #6 - Must be returned by Oct. 28 at noon. Nominee bio for this position.

4. Board of directors nominee form for BOD Position #4, Adult Membership Growth – Must be returned by Oct. 28. The original two nominees for this position declined to accept this nomination.

5. 2010 medical release form with notary – Several of you have requested this be available.

6. 2010 request for additional insured certificates.

7. 2010 player age definitions.

8. 2010 Gulf Coast Region fee structure.

Upcoming registration forms

On Nov. 12, we will email the following 2010 forms that you will use, as in prior years, to register your club/teams:

Club registration form.

Team registration form.

Individual registration form – For use if a family cannot get to a computer; you as a director will have to input the data.

Tournament sanctioning form - If hosting a tournament, proper sanctioning forms and fees ($75 one-day, $90 split-days, $ 150 two-day) must be presented ASAP. To secure your date, use the sanctioning form provided in the 2009 handbook. The Gulf Coast Region acknowledges the booking of tournament dates on a priority, based on reception of proper fees and sanctioning forms.

Tournament registration form - Many clubs choose to register early for tournaments.

We are presently working on the region’s master tournament schedule for website distribution. If you have a tournament date in mind, email it to the region ASAP. Please include divisions, location, times, entry cost and whether it is a two-day event.

Annual meeting and IMPACT clinic on Dec. 5 in Pensacola

Directors annual meeting – Dec. 5, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Pensacola at the University of West Florida, Health & Leisure Building.

9:30 a.m. - New directors meeting - For first-year clubs.

10:00 a.m. - Directors meeting – For juniors and adults directors.

11:30 a.m. – Board of directors meeting.

Noon – Officials meeting – For officials and adult players.

12:30 p.m. - IMPACT clinic - For all junior club coaches who need coaching education certification. In the Gulf Coast Region, each coach must be at least IMPACT certified prior to the regional championships. IMPACT certification is good for 5 years. CAP-level certification is perpetual. Directors, I highly encourage you to send your coaches to this early-season IMPACT clinic. Cost of $35 includes textbook and four hours of instruction. Email the region office by Nov. 28 with your roster of coaches attending.

Again, get an early start, and contact Jennie to secure necessary online information to start your club’s registration processes.

Directors: You, your coaches, players and families have done a wonderful job over the years in growing the great sport of vlleyball in the Gulf Coast Region. If over the past months you have fielded inquires from interested parties who are new to our region, and are forming clubs, please share this information with them.

I want to encourage you to make all time frames. This is necessary to develop the online contacts for all regions to use to contact our clubs.

If I can be of service, please call.

Philip Bryant
Gulf Coast Region
Commissioner

Region office

Philip Bryant - Commissioner
Tournament Seeding Chair
P. O. Box 1985
Orange Beach, AL 36561
251-979-4287 cell
251-981-4746 office
251-981-7526 - fax
e-mail: worldbb@gulftel.com