Low Cost NOT Low Level
Don't make the mistake of thinking that the lower cost club volleyball equals lower level or less competitive. You don't have to pay a lot of money to be a good volleyball player, to work hard in the gym, to compete hard and be passionate about the game! Good teams are formed by bringing good players together with good coaches and working hard in the gym. Just because a player is highly talented or skilled does not mean that spending $1,000s on club volleyball dues and travel is a family financial priority. That does not make that player uncommitted, untalented or unmotivated.
Here is our basic concept. Finding ways to keep our costs down without compromising how we train allows us be financially accessible to a large number of players. Being financially accessible to a large number of players gives us the best opportunity to bring together as many players as possible. More players means a deeper talent pool and more opportunity to field teams at both the Open and Club levels.
A large portion of the cost of club volleyball comes down to the travel/tournament schedule. There is a wide range of opportunities for us to find appropriate competition levels without breaking the bank. From the perspective of cost per match played - The truth is that single day events are the most economical and provide the greatest return on investment. Taking into account tournament registration and reasonable reimbursement of coaches expense - the cost per match played for a single day event is around $10 per player for the normal minimum of 4 matches and it goes down as you advance in playoffs (max of about 6). The cost per match played for a 3 day event is at around $20 per player per match for a normal minimum of 7 matches over a 3 day period (max of 9 or 10 matches if you advance through playoffs) PLUS $350-$550 travel cost. Two day events are a good balance of cost between the two.
We can also save money by not going overboard on our uniform packages. We will be upgrading this year but staying pretty basic with our base uniform package. Players will also be able to re-use uniforms next season. Our past teams have often had well dressed teams sitting in their snazzy warm up while working playoff matches for our t-shirt wearing teams. How you play and how you train is more important than how you dress. Keeping our uniform package more basic helps keep cost down and makes us more financially assessable to more players. Again, we are not against dressing for success or having nice gear... but every perk adds cost... we can make optional additional gear available for those who want it.
MAKING IT WORK
We feel that at the $350 base for Entry Level and $750 base Regional level that any player who is motivated can raise at least half of their dues on their own with a little initiative and hard work. My girls worked many jobs to put themselves through most of their club careers funding $1,000s per season of dues and travel expenses on their own. We feel that, if needed any player should be able to earn at least $350-$400 on their own to help their family fund their own opportunity. It does require sacrifice but in the end it also builds character and a strong sense of accomplishment, self reliance and responsibility.
WHAT IF WE WANT TO DO MORE EXTENSIVE TRAVEL?
Please realize that we are NOT opposed to more extensive travel and multi-day events. Two and 3 day events can be fun and for higher level players interested in playing in college as they get older these events can be an important opportunity to be seen by college coaches. For higher end teams, they can also provide a premium level of competition. If a team is not an elite level team, attending large multi-day events you will ultimately end up playing similar caliber teams on the 2nd and 3rd days anyway... similar to the level of competition we should be able to find within the region. We feel that for a large number of our athletes the Open level within KRVA would provide a very appropriate upper end level of competition. If we are dominating at that Regional level, then we may need to go look for more competition. Also, some players just want that experience of the large convention center, huge event. If that is the case, we are COMPLETELY OPEN to and capable of providing those opportunities as well. These opportunities will add cost for each player and can be discussed and agreed upon by the players, their families and coaching staff. We are all about creating opportunities at ALL levels!