Gulf Coast Region of USA Volleyball

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

AVCA National Collegiate Sand Championship coming to Gulf Shores

(Dec. 16, 2011) - The 2012 AVCA National Collegiate Sand Championship is coming to Gulf Shores, Ala. The event will be April 26 through April 29. It also will include a USAV beach coaching accreditation seminar. See the event flier for full details.

2012 schedule is published

(Dec. 16, 2011) - Here is the schedule for the upcoming 2012 season.

Aiming for the Nationals

Congratulations go to those teams that represented the Gulf Coast Region at the 2011 Junior Nationals in Atlanta. We are very proud of your efforts!

The 2012 Nationals will be here before we know it:

• Adults in Salt Lake City.
• Junior girls in Columbus, Ohio.
• Junior boys in Dallas.

Let's play a lot of quality volleyball between now and then and have several teams participating in the gold-medal division at this year's respective Nationals.

Grassroots membership includes free T-shirt

Remember that 8-and-under membership is free, 11-and-under for developmental/youth leagues is $15. Everyone should consider grassroots volleyball for your club. The region will again host several tournaments over the season specifically for the grassroots programs. As an incentive for membership, the region will provide a volleyball and a Gulf Coast Region logo T-shirt for every grassroots player in your club for free - yes, free -as a way to say thanks for the effort you have established in your community to provide playing opportunities for younger players. You will have to commit to a consistent training schedule that has a term of at least 60 days to receive these perks. We would like to see at least 16 to 20 training sessions and two tournaments participated in.

Last year, 285 grassroots players and families enjoyed the season, including Claire, who was our youngest member at 5 years old, playing for Mobile Storm; great job, Coach Keshock. Give grassroots strong consideration. View the Grassroots program description.

Registration

All player/coach/club staff/official registration for the 2012 season will be conducted online, paid at time of registration by credit card. The Webpoint system is now accepting registrations.

A member registering online will sign the 2012 membership registration form online. For juniors, the parent will sign online and verify their
signature via their driver’s license number. Also for juniors, once the membership information is submitted, the site is designed to generate the 2012 Medical Release Form (as in prior years). This medical release form must be signed and notarized and retained by coaches at all club activities. Also generated as a paid-in-full member will be the member's USA Volleyball membership card, which must be carried to all club events. The online system is set up and ready for registration.

All membership categories are NON-REFUNDABLE. This must be clearly stated in all literature dispersed to tryout attendees and club members.

Also, there is NO ONE-EVENT REGISTRATION at this time. Tryouts are considered sanctioned events and ALL of those participating MUST be a full member. This would include all club staff and all junior members participating. Remember, one-event membership is not sanctioned by the Gulf Coast Region at this time.

2012 registration began Sept. 15 (2010-2011 membership is valid until Oct. 31, 2011). Each member of the region received a registration renewal reminder on Sept. 15.

All club administrators of the Webpoint system were encouraged to register prior to Oct. 31 to remain active to monitor their club registrations and database. After Oct. 31, a new request will have to be made for club admin access. Those new clubs that have not requested access should do so after the designated club admin registers.

All membership payments are in full at time of online registration. For a junior player to try out, that participant MUST register as a regular junior member.

All junior players must be registered, with a medical release form, as well as a USA Volleyball membership card in your club's file, prior to club events, practice or tryouts. If your club conducts tryouts and there is a chance you will not select an attendee to be in your club, the attendee still must register online before your tryouts. Instruct the attendee to enter "Undecided" for the club. If the attendee is selected by your club, he or she can go online and change the club information. As a club director, you must send to the region your rosters and proper team fees as registration occurs. For tryout attendees not selected, list them on a separate page.

Club activities and the high school season

Please note that NO club activities outside of community announcements may take place until after the respective sanctioned high school season has ended for the school program in which that player has participated. This includes and is not limited to meetings, tryouts, practices, fund raisers, etc. The end of the high school season is interpreted as the concluding date in which the school's members have either won or been eliminated from sanctioned school participation by that state sports association. That conclusion can occur at the following levels:

• End of regular season with no playoff advancement.
• Area championship, regional championship/sub states and/or state association championships.

A club in violation of this Gulf Coast Region policy will be fined $500 and will be placed on one year's probation.

Insurance

Request for additional certificates of insurance will remain the same as in prior years. Email the region office with:

• Name of facility.
• Contact person(s) - boards, president, directors, etc.
• Address of facility.
• Contact phone number.
• Email address.

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

All club events must be sanctioned

All club events (MEETINGS, TRYOUTS, PRACTICES, TOURNAMENTS attending or hosting, FUNDRAISERS, etc.) must be sanctioned by the region. This new policy is dictated by the USA Volleyball insurance carrier for Insurance to be in place. Each club MUST send prior to their club events the following:

• Event.
• Event location.
• Date.
• Time of day.
• Leadership present.

While this could be a laborious task, especially with rotating practice schedules due to gym space, it can be streamlined by blocking information and event schedules. This is for the benefit of ALL members and creates an additional layer of protection for club directors.

Tournament scheduling

All directors who plan to host tournaments in 2012 are encouraged to present your sanction forms and sanction fees to the region office. Only those tournaments with dates secured by aforementioned requirements can be posted and recognized by the region.

Please be reminded that region tournaments have limited entry divisions and fill up quickly. If you see a tournament date that you would like your teams to play on, contact the host to reserve a spot. They in turn will indicate how you may register your team(s) for that event. Only a completed registration form with proper fees secures your team's spot in the event. The GCR junior tournament registration form is available in the Forms area of the website (several tournaments have online registration; again, check with host).

Coaching certification

The region is planning four IMPACT coaches certification courses this year. The first will be in conjunction with the December directors meetings. All coaches must be at least IMPACT-certified prior to Regional Championships.

Background screen

Directors, do not conduct any club activities until your coaches have registered online and cleared their background screening.

Whereas USA Volleyball requires a background screen every two years, the new law in Florida requires a screen every year. We have worked with SSCI and USA Volleyball to establish this updated screen as a supplemental screen at a cost of $10, as compared to the full screen cost of $25.

The online system will track the background screening for your coaches, chaperones and club 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 full background screen will be $25. If a coach, chaperone and staff member was screened last year, a supplemental screen will take place for $10. The off-year supplemental screen became necessary when the Florida passed a law requiring ALL adults working with minors to have yearly screens. Remember, each team must have a chaperone who has concluded registration and a background screen prior to practice participation.

Fees

Here is the fee structure for the 2012 season in the Gulf Coast Region of USA Volleyball. All team fees must be presented to the region office no later than Jan. 21 for clubs.

Libero serving

The region will again petition USA Volleyball Central Rule Committee for a waiver to allow the libero to serve in region events this 2011-2012 club season. If allowed again, the use of the amended rule will be in effect for non-qualifying events only, meaning that the use of the libero serving would not be allowed in the Regional Championships in April, on the premise that this event is a qualifier for National Championship participation, where the libero cannot serve.

Beach series wraps up - a successful season!

(Aug. 30, 2011) - The 2011 Beach Series has concluded, and it was a fantastic season with phenomenal growth in the game. See Beach page for full details. Congratulations to all teams, individuals and our sponsors who made these events possible. We look forward to next season in the sand!

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

© 2004-2012 Gulf Coast Regional Volleyball Association, Inc. All rights reserved.