Houston Volleyball Academy

HVA Policy Manual for 2002-3

Many of our players have and will come from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and family situations. Therefore, for continuity sake we have decided to communicate our expectations with players and their parents prior to the start of our season.

Attendance :

Player attendance at all practices and other mandatory meetings is critical to the success of the player’s development and the development of the team. Absences and tardiness take a physical and mental toll on the team and the coaches. Therefore, we, as coaches, must demand that our players place the appropriate priority on attendance and timeliness. We insist that volleyball be made a priority in order to players to participate at this level.

That being said, education should always be a higher priority. We have years of experience with players who needed extra help after school to those who were valedictorians and salutatorians. In all cases, we have found that those students who make volleyball a priority will make time management decisions that will allow them to achieve high marks both in the classroom as well as on the court. We understand rare exceptions due to academic demands, but we will communicate with the players when we feel that he is taking it too far. It is for this purpose that we have set our practices to meet a MAXIMUM of one weekday evening.

Further, we understand that there are many extra curricular activities that are attractive to students, and applaud their efforts to be involved in their school. We feel that players wishing to be involved with a Junior Olympic level club such as ours need to understand that the demands rise with the level of competition. For example, those adult members of our USA Volleyball organization who seek to play on our country’s National and Olympic teams have decided to make significant sacrifices. We expect our players to make sacrifices to the level that correspond with our elevated level of competition, but should be balanced by their age. Our middle school players, for example, should be involved in various sports and other activities. We feel that this is too early an age to specialize to one sport.

These expectations are placed on the coaches as well as the players.

Player Behavior :

With the various backgrounds that each of our players come from it is virtually impossible to expect that all march to the same tune when it comes to behavior. We have a code of conduct that we expect each player to abide by. Throughout our history, there have been players asked to leave the club during practices, local tournaments and even during the national championships.

We demand that players treat everyone involved with our club with the utmost respect in their actions and words. Further, we will not tolerate un-sportsmanlike conduct of any kind with others teams players, fans, or the officials.

We wish for our club to compete at a high level and behave at the same lofty levels while on and off the court.

Players will be notified when their behavior is out of line with our policies and be given fair warning and time to correct the issue. After this time, the player is subject to termination from the club. In such case where a player termination is necessary, the action will be taken with no refund of fees paid.

Ten Guidelines for Being a Positive Player-Parent:

The foundation of our coaching philosophies are crtically dependent upon healthy and productive relationships with our players' parents. We HEAVILY encourage maximum parent participation at practices and matches. However, experience has taught us some harsh lessons. We have taken the list of guidelines below from USA Volleyball and, respectively, ask that our parents follow them.

Cheer your son on, be supportive of him, console him, but do it without judging him, his coach, or his teammates.

Many things will aggravate you that do not even faze your son. Do not make something into an issue if it is not an issue.

Encourage your child to seek his own answers. Coaches respect players who come to them and privately question their playing time or role; it immediately indicates they want more.

Understand the rules of the game, and the coach's philosophy. Substituting in volleyball has consequences.

Do your physical part as a parent. Get your child to practice on time and pick him up promptly. Demonstrating responsibility and commitment can be incredibly effective. When attending out of town tourneys, do not ask for your child to be excused from all team activities until after all players are excused following the completion of the tourney.

Positions and talent sometimes do not match up. Coaches attempt to do what is best for the team, putting the best physical mix and the best "chemistry" on the floor. That may mean that sometimes your son may be playing out of position in an attempt to strengthen the "team." A positive spin by you can go a long way in helping him adjust to a new role. Stay positive, and maybe he will flourish.

If you have real concerns, and your son has unsuccessfully attempted to work things out with his coach on his own, schedule a meeting with the coach, and have your child attend with you (you may not be hearing the whole story - a common occurrence). If you are trying to resolve a problem, help your child by being a role model in the problem solving procedure.

Never approach a coach with complaints after a tough game. Wait, and schedule a visit after everyone cools off. Most coaches are highly competitive and, just like players, do not like to be confronted after tough games.

Please think before criticizing anyone connected with your son's club or team. Criticism is contagious and often hurtful. The damage you do could be irreversible.

Visibly show that you enjoy watching your son perform; this will make him feel better about his participation, no matter what his role is.

When these guidelines are followed the results can be tragic. Read an example of one such story written anonymously to USA Volleyball by a veteran coach.
CLICK HERE FOR STORY

Parents will be notified when their behavior is out of line with our policies and be given fair warning and time to correct the issue. After this time, the player is subject to termination from the club.

Refunds

As stated in the assumptions section above, the player’s fees are based on a certain number of players per team to share the team’s costs. Therefore, if a player leaves the club or is removed from the club there will be no refund. However, if the player finds another player who wishes to join the club and assume the same fees that the previous player had, then the club would refund the appropriate amount to the ex-player. This will be done within 10 days of receiving funds from the new player.