IVC compared to other local clubs? We would love to be able to provide services to all athletes in our area however we just do not have the space to do so. There are other clubs in the area that we often have athletes come from or go to. We harbor no bad feelings either way and just hope that families will choose the club that best suits their athletes needs. We support all of our surrounding clubs.
Q: Why don’t we do larger tournaments, more 2 days, and expand where we go such as Houston and Austin?
A: Each year the tournaments offered vary. IVC signs up for the USAV/NTR Season. One day tournaments have become very popular with alot of clubs. One day tournaments provide an opportunity for parents to save money on travel expenses and still guarantee your team 8-10 total sets. Depending on the type of 2 day tournament you are getting 10-12 sets (so a possible difference of 2 sets) and 2 day tournaments require more commitment on the athletes family in terms of time/money spent (more hotel stays/more eating out..etc). Also there’s no guarantee that a two day tournament has better competition than a one day due to the growing popularity of the one day’s. Competitors can add and drop tournaments at any moment thus changing the difficulty of the tournament depending on the remaining teams signed up. As long as there’s a team that is ranked ABOVE your current team your team has an opportunity to “steal” that team's ranking points. This info is all accessible to the public, not just club directors or coaches have access to this information. If you ever want to learn more about this schedule, a meeting time with Coach Mindy.
Q: Does the Dallas area provide enough competition level for our teams?
A; Yes, there is plenty of competition to be had in the DFW area!! The North Texas Region has numerous high level teams and provides our area with several very competitive tournaments throughout the year.
Q: What if my athletes team wins a bid?
A: If your athletes team is in a BID tournament and they win a BID it may lead to extended season opportunities. The Regional BID Championships are normally held in Dallas and are usually the last weekend of April. If they get to participate in this and then receive another BID at this tournament they would possibly be expected to travel out of state to the USAV National Tournament. Both tournaments mentioned above require your team to EARN a spot in. Not just every team can sign up for these. IF your team earns spots in the extra tournaments then it will require extra costs that were NOT built into your original club dues.
Q: Why aren't there more coaches assigned to the team?
A: Each of our IVC Club teams will have ONE HEAD coach. Depending on the team and coaches preference there might be a head team parent that assists the coach when needed. Your club dues aren’t high enough to provide compensation for two paid coaches. In very rare circumstances we will provide a part time assistant coach.
Q: Why are the fees so high?
A: Coaches get paid, tournaments cost, hotels cost, gas costs, food costs, our facility costs (rent/electricity/water), the time it takes to enter all teams into the system to start the year and maintain the club itself costs. Since IVC started 6 years ago we have not been in business for monetary profits. Our goal each year is to just break even and provide you all with the best opportunities to improve your athletes skills in the sport and in life. If you look up clubs in the DFW area, their Regional Teams are very comparable to ours, however their parents don’t really have to deal with travel costs since most of the events are actually local. The average regional DFW team costs for 2022 were approximately $3500 compared to our fees which are less than $2000. Our fees have been designed to make sure that we can compensate the coaches, pay our facility bills, and are still low enough to not break your pocketbook with all the travel expenses that you have in order to travel to and from Dallas, Tx.
Q: Why do we do so many Longview Tournaments?
A: For the 2021-22 season ALMOST ALL of our teams played in at least one if not two Longview tournaments. We consider Longview to be local. We do not consider Dallas to be local. We build schedules for each team based on coach and player availability. ALSO, we take pride in supporting our local community and it’s growth in the sport. Over the past two years the area athletes have gotten much stronger and clubs are starting to pop up in many surrounding towns. We have designed a tournament package for this next year that provides your team a way to earn their way to more difficult tournaments. However, as discussed in a different area of this document…playing in a Dallas tournament over a Longview tournament doesn’t guarantee better competition or more ranking points.
Q: Why doesn’t the team select different captains throughout the tournament/season?
A: At the tournament the coach must select 1 or 2 captains for the team. Those captains do not JUST do the coin toss. They are also in charge of speaking to the head ref when it’s necessary and the captain must remain on the court at all times. Meaning normally this player DOES NOT sub out of the game. The captains are normally selected based on the players position and leadership skills as well as their understanding of the game as a whole. If your child is NOT trained to work the score sheet then this will keep them from ever being chosen as a captain. Most coaches do not have girls take turns being captain (especially in 13U and up). Rotating captains would be more for the 10U-12U age groups or League ball.
Q; What is the club doing to help the older age groups in terms of recruitment for college and being seen by college coaches?
A: Next season 22-23 we will be implementing a recruiting package to our club plan. Athletes will be filing out recruiting profiles, specific practices will be videoed (those will be scheduled in advance) and teams will have more opportunities to enter BID Tournaments. Most BID tournaments are covered by Baller TV (that’s a separate service) but that allows parents to buy highlight reels specifically for their child in order to have to send to college coaches. Once your athlete has entered their recruiting profile they will begin to send letters about showcase camps that are held mostly in the summer and have nothing to do with your club. Responsibility ultimately falls on the parent and athlete. Getting recruited will take time and effort on the player and their family, however we will be here for guidance along your journey. If your athlete has discussed with us interest in playing at the next level we will be providing them with access to game footage in order to create highlights for recruiting purposes. The word “exposure” and the word “experience” are two different things and sometimes get mixed up. Some feel like going to a different state or a far off city provides exposure but that’s not necessarily true. The Florida National tournament is open TO EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES!!! The lowest ranked teams can get into these tournaments just like the highest ranked teams so that is a tournament that’s providing experience. Exposure will come as the teams level of play advances them to “invite only” type tournaments. For NTR which is the region we are governed under they provide several BID Tournaments throughout the season. In order to earn a bid your team has to come in the top 4 places in either the club/open division OR enter a POWER POOL BID Open Division and get into GOLD OR SILVER. Your team then has to meet another qualification in order to get into the REGIONAL BID CHAMPIONSHIPS (INVITE ONLY).
Top Team vs Second Team? At IVC we are proud to have enough athletes to be able to provide two (sometimes 3) options in each age group. Much like an A team and B team at the school level. We do not make teams that we feel are not competitive (meaning we do not just take everyone that pays). Our biggest age groups are the 13-14U because at that age/grade level the athletes like to dabble in many activities to see where their passion lies. We feel like these athletes deserve a place to learn and grow their skills and we are excited that we are able to provide the community this opportunity.
Contracts? Once tryouts are over there will be offer letters sent to your email stating what position IVC is offering your athlete. Once you accept the contract terms your athlete will be a member of IVC. This will officially last until the NTR/USAV Bid Championship date. Meaning, they will not be able to start playing with one club and then go to a different club mid-season. They would be ineligible unless released by the club director. You can read further into this situation on the USAV/NTR Volleyball website.
Practices? Each team 13U and up will receive around 3 hours of practice per week. We work hard to provide a practice plan and environment that suits the team. However, there are only so many days in the week and the coaches also have regular everydays jobs that may not allow them to coach practices on certain days. We will be incorporating more scrimmage time into our practice plans. Each team will not be guaranteed 4 entire hours of a private team practice. Please understand that as the season progresses teams will be in and out of the gym due to various conflicts meaning more private practice time will become available. We will be matching your team up with a like level team(s) to provide ample scrimmage opportunities and this will also give your athlete a chance to hear feedback from multiple coaches besides their own.
If you have any additional questions please reach out to ivccoachmindy@gmail.com