Club posted schedule vs. reality, WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Our team’s posted schedule seems very different from what’s actually happening, and I’m trying to figure out how best to address it.

The team website still lists AAU Nationals and suggests there would have been a parent decision involved. However, our team hasn’t qualified for USAV Nationals, and as far as the parents at practice last night could recall, there was never any discussion or vote about AAU Nationals.

In addition, we’ve now been told we’re no longer attending the South Atlantic Championships, another tournament still listed on our schedule, without a clear explanation, after we booked hotels. Instead, it sounds like the club may add a one-day local tournament, but that doesn’t really make up for it. The posted schedule says 3–5 local tournaments, and we’ve only played 3.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Would you raise this with the director, or just move on? We are new to club volleyball this year, so are not sure if this is normal or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our team’s posted schedule seems very different from what’s actually happening, and I’m trying to figure out how best to address it.

The team website still lists AAU Nationals and suggests there would have been a parent decision involved. However, our team hasn’t qualified for USAV Nationals, and as far as the parents at practice last night could recall, there was never any discussion or vote about AAU Nationals.

In addition, we’ve now been told we’re no longer attending the South Atlantic Championships, another tournament still listed on our schedule, without a clear explanation, after we booked hotels. Instead, it sounds like the club may add a one-day local tournament, but that doesn’t really make up for it. The posted schedule says 3–5 local tournaments, and we’ve only played 3.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Would you raise this with the director, or just move on? We are new to club volleyball this year, so are not sure if this is normal or not.

It’s pretty normal for the schedule to vary from the plan that is provided after tryouts. Clubs have to register for tournaments months in advance and don’t find out if teams are accepted until months later. Can’t tell if South Atlantic Championships had enough teams register that they had to turn some away, but that could be why it dropped off the schedule.

On AAU nationals, some clubs make it very clear that if a team doesn’t get a USAV bid, they will go to AAU. Other clubs say they will poll the parents or take a vote. Still others will make AAU nationals optional so some of the team will go and some won’t. Did your club say anything about AAU at the beginning of the season?

[Anonymous]

For the South Atlantic Championships, our team was accepted. So, it’s not like a case of not getting in a crowded tournament. The club is choosing to pull out.

I would be less annoyed on AAU Nationals if our team schedule specifically had not listed AAU Nationals as an option with a note there would be a parent decision/conversation. That conversation never happened.

So it’s less about normal schedule variability and more about communication and expectations not lining up with what was presented.

[Anonymous]

It’s typical for tournaments to change. In the future, always book refundable hotels. I like to fly Southwest since they have a pretty flexible policy and you can use the credit later if a flight gets canceled. But I do this as much as possible for all of our travel.

As for your other question, you were told 3-5 local tournaments and are playing 3 so there is no issue there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the South Atlantic Championships, our team was accepted. So, it’s not like a case of not getting in a crowded tournament. The club is choosing to pull out.

I would be less annoyed on AAU Nationals if our team schedule specifically had not listed AAU Nationals as an option with a note there would be a parent decision/conversation. That conversation never happened.

So it’s less about normal schedule variability and more about communication and expectations not lining up with what was presented.

I can’t tell if you’re annoyed the team is going to AAU Nationals and you’d prefer not to go, or if you were planning to attend and now the team isn’t going. Are you feeling shortchanged because the team isn’t attending as many tournaments as promised?

[Anonymous]

I was feeling confused and just trying to figure out what’s normal for future years. I thought once we were accepted to a tournament, that meant we were going to go, but I’m learning that’s not always the case! That’s helpful to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was feeling confused and just trying to figure out what’s normal for future years. I thought once we were accepted to a tournament, that meant we were going to go, but I’m learning that’s not always the case! That’s helpful to know.

In our experience, some variation in the schedule is normal. While more typical with regional tournaments, there are sometimes situations where multi-day tournaments fall through too.

For my DD that played for less competitive teams, the schedule would generally be 4-6 regional tournaments, an MLK weekend tournament (like Volley by the James or Spooky Nook), Cap Hill, and then a Memorial Day tournament like East Coast Championship in Pittsburgh or South Atlantic Championships. There was sometimes shifting, but the club tried to stick to something close to the total number of regional and multi-day tournaments promised.

I would have complained if they dropped one of the multi-day tournaments without adding something else or was way short on the number of regional tournaments. The fees you pay generally include a certain amount of practice and competition. If the club is trying to skimp on the competition component, that seems problematic.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it is out of the club control because you learn pretty late whether you are accepted or not. But it looks like in your case the team was accepted and the club decided to drop the tournament anyway. This is not acceptable in my books without replacement with another multi-day tournament. If that tournament was on the website when you signed the contract, your club fees were used to pay for that tournament. Removing it from the team schedule is not ok.