Page last updated 04/21/2008

Click here to register as a new club

Simple as 1-2-3   Read below or click on this power point presentation.

1. Where and Who :  Where can you practice, who is doing the training and who is doing the club administration.  
2. Plan, Promote, Promote, Promote:  Unless you have a ready made team, you need players J
3. Implement your plan – all the little stuff.

Here is a low cost estimate of fees, based on being able to borrow equipment and get a facility at no cost and participating in 4 regional tournaments.

The Detail Stuff ………..

A club begins in the mind of a coach, player, or parent.  Someone has to be the Big Dog and head us this endeavor.  This person should be organized and motivated, not a talker, but a doer.

1)  You must have a place to practice and a person to train.  Secure a location, if you do not have one, look for churches, elementary, or middle schools first.  Typically, these locations are easier to get in than high schools, due to less conflicts.  Ideally, you want to be able to practice twice a week per team.  Two teams can share one court.  Of course, try to get the facility donated.  Part of your fee to join USAV includes insurance for the facility, if requested. Contact the region office for details.

Your coach is very important.  Find someone that is knowledgeable, has the desire to train and the time to invest into the team. We suggest you pay the coach, some will volunteer, but we find, these will be less committed.  An average pay is $10-$20 per practice hour and $50-$100 per tournament day.

The club or team administrator should have the motivation to do this and be a well organized person. Of course, the more teams and players you have, the more work is involved.  We also suggest this person have some pay, at least reimbursement of all expenses.  If paid, suggest $20+  per player for the season. This may vary based on the work load this person is assigned.

2)      Plan and Promote :  Come up with a plan on the following:

·    How many teams you desire to offer. This is normally dictated by the facility you can get in. If you can only get one court twice a week, you will be limited to a maximum of two teams. Also consider how many you want on a team. We suggest 8-10. For new clubs, 10 may be better, you will find 1 or 2 will drop out before or during the season.

·    What age division you want to target. Eg: If you want to start with young players – do your promotion to middle school or younger.  Specify you goal age, if one, on your brochure.

·    Determine when you want to start, typically, this should be in December for tryouts, so you can get into the clinics and certification tournaments in January.

·    Determine how long your season will be- most clubs continue until the state regional championships, which are held late March to early April.

·    Unless you have a pre-committed team of players- you must promote to the local schools,  the earlier- the better!  Design a promotional letter or brochure for a information / sign up meeting.  Contact us for a sample. .  Get this information out to the schools. Personal contact to the coaches is highly suggested- get them sold on the idea.

·    Determine a date and place for your information meeting.  We suggest this be done in November or early December.   At the meeting, you want to provide information on (a) teams (b) ages offered (c) Cost – see how to determine a budget (d) beginning and end of season (e) introduce coach.

3)  Implement your plan :

Once you have your plan and goal, running the club is not to difficult. Normally the club administrator or director is the primary contact person with the region. We will assist in helping you with all requirements. Most are listed below.

·    You will need to meet all the requirements of joining the Palmetto Region.  See instructions on registration page.

·    Once you fulfill the region requirement to get players, coaches and teams registered, you will need to do the following. 

                    i.      Get players and coaches certified to officiate.  All coaches and most of your players need to be certified to officiate matches in tournament play. See section on “ Officiating requirements of a region team”

                    ii.      Determine the number of tournaments you desire to play during the season. We suggest you enter these as soon as possible.  Due to limited space at junior tournaments, often these fill up early. Make sure you have players “committed”  to attending the dates you choose before you enter. Note the withdrawal region rules- you don’t want to lose money, should you have to withdraw from a tournaments.

                    iii.      The region will assist you with suggestions as to what division to play.  We normally offer two talent divisions, Power (stronger) and Club level. Also, each age group is offered in each division, 12s-18s.

                    iv.      It is suggested you consider a website.  www.Eteamz.com offers a free website for sport teams- you can have a up and running website in a matter of a few hours with average or above knowledge of computers.

Suggestions on how to avoid problems with a new club:   Below are suggestions from established clubs and pitfalls you want to try to avoid.

• Once you determine you expenses and fees, we suggest allowing parents to make payments. For example, if your fees are $400 a year, allow 3 or 4 installments.  Plan to start installments early (get a deposit early so you know who is committed, usually at the first meeting) and end payments early.  You want to try to have last payments by late Feb. or early March.  If you have 9 on the team, base your budget on 8.. most likely you will have unexpected cost and/or someone will not pay.
• Expect two consistent problems that are universal with all clubs.  Team Placement (if you have more than one team, someone is going to complain because they didn’t make the “higher” team.) Most clubs have ranked teams, like 1 and 2, rather than dividing talent equally. Try to have fair tryouts, the smaller the numbers, the easier it is. 
• Second problem is “Playing Time”.  Determine what your goal/plan will be to allow playing time.
• Commitment- don’t expect every person that signs up to stay with your team for the entire season. Generally, higher the level of talent, the higher the commitment.  As a general rule, you will start to loss interest and attendance toward the end of your season.  We also suggest you work around school sports as much as possible.
• Communicate with your players and parents (email is ideal). Make sure practice plans and tournament information is announced well in advance.  Avoid last minute practice changes- makes for very frustrated parents.