Volleyball non-profit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, just because you are a non-profit does not mean that you can't have paid coaches. Please do not plan to have parent coaches.

Many clubs have parent coaches. In most cases, the parents are coaching lower-level teams, but I heard of a parent coach in Moco (of all clubs) who is coaching the top team as her DD moves up in age. You cannot dismiss a coach just because they happen to be a parent. I do understand that - ideally - you want coaches who are objective, especially for tryouts and when play time becomes an issue. While I can see why parent coaching can become an issue, I don't see a reason to dismiss the idea completely. Especially when the coach shortage is real. And especially when you want an affordable option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also sounds a bit like VolleyViet: https://www.volleyviet.com/ although their teams do travel a bit.

VolleyViet is a perfect example that you can make volleyball affordable even in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Why do you think financial need is the point here? How about a family who wants to focus on academics (hint-hint - their player is unlikely to play in college) and they don't want to spend long weekends in hotels, especially if a major test is coming on Monday? They may well afford playing club, but the schedule is too crazy.

I am not the person you are responding to, but OP started the thread with a paragraph that talks about finances... 1) non-profit; 2) "to fill a gap [in] affordable..."; 3) "without the extensive travel and high costs of club volleyball"; 4) "To keep fees manageable".

If you are OP and this wasn't about the finances of club volleyball, it is very easy to see why someone else would have reasonably believed it was!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Why do you think financial need is the point here? How about a family who wants to focus on academics (hint-hint - their player is unlikely to play in college) and they don't want to spend long weekends in hotels, especially if a major test is coming on Monday? They may well afford playing club, but the schedule is too crazy.

I am not the person you are responding to, but OP started the thread with a paragraph that talks about finances... 1) non-profit; 2) "to fill a gap [in] affordable..."; 3) "without the extensive travel and high costs of club volleyball"; 4) "To keep fees manageable".

If you are OP and this wasn't about the finances of club volleyball, it is very easy to see why someone else would have reasonably believed it was!

Sorry for the double post! Didn't look like it had posted, and then I saw it on the last page.

[Anonymous]

I think being able to afford the high costs of club volleyball is different than being willing to pay. I can afford expensive designer clothes, but are they worth it to me? No. Similarly, I just want my daughter to improve her volleyball skills in a competitive environment. I would love for an option that accomplishes that goal which doesn't cost several thousands of dollars and doesn't include flights and multiple hotel stays every month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea is nice in concept, but I think it may be harder to execute than you would think.

Who would the team play against?
In CHRVA tournaments —only local?
That exists today in the form of regional teams that do minimal to no travel. Or, it exists today in things like NVVA's Galaxy program, which sits between rec leagues and clubs in my opinion: https://www.nvva.com/galaxy or XPerformance? https://www.xp-volleyball.com/
XPerformance has no travel from what I can see.

Where would you practice? A significant cost for teams is the cost of practice facilities.

These options are not widely available. You could say that the bottom MVSA teams don't do much travel, but they only take 10 players per team. If you don't make MVSA, you are stuck with the choice between a good top team (that is doing a lot of travel) and a bottom team (which generally sucks). Not to mention that financially it rarely makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm exploring the possibility of starting a volleyball non-profit to fill a gap: affordable, quality programming between rec and club volleyball. Ideally through teams that offer solid coaching and competitive play through local tournaments, without the extensive travel and high costs of club volleyball. To keep fees manageable, the practices would be led by qualified coaches with assistance from parent volunteers.

Before anything could happen, there are significant roadblocks: registering as a non-profit, then with CHRVA, and navigating all the legal requirements (including insurance). Most critically, success would depend on finding qualified coaches (including parents) willing to volunteer their time. I am being realistic that this could work beautifully, fail spectacularly, but anything in between is also possible.

This might be a really good option for families who are realistic about their kids chances of pursuing college volleyball, but want them to be part of a team, develop skills beyond rec level, and are fine with local competition rather than spending weekends in hotels. For families looking for the full club experience with extensive travel, traditional clubs remain a better fit. The best start would be at the 13, 14, 15, and 16 level, when we see most of the demand.

Does this concept resonate with anyone else? Am I identifying a real gap, or am I missing something that's already available? I am genuinely interested in hearing perspectives (both supportive and skeptical) before deciding whether to pursue the legal groundwork.

The idea and concept is good ! I would say the first thing you should consider is facility and location. Gym space is hard to find, especially in premium locations that can attract interests.

OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I am not thinking about a centralized location and micro-managing teams. I am thinking about a non-profit umbrella that would allow teams to manage their own practice locations and decisions on whether and how much they pay their coaches. If you have the legal infrastructure, you could have a local team in Rockville and one in Sterling. If the one in Sterling is more competitive, the team may decide to throw more money at a coach, while the one in Rockville may be happy with a parent coach. It's all about the needs in the community that wants to set up a team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm exploring the possibility of starting a volleyball non-profit to fill a gap: affordable, quality programming between rec and club volleyball. Ideally through teams that offer solid coaching and competitive play through local tournaments, without the extensive travel and high costs of club volleyball. To keep fees manageable, the practices would be led by qualified coaches with assistance from parent volunteers.

Before anything could happen, there are significant roadblocks: registering as a non-profit, then with CHRVA, and navigating all the legal requirements (including insurance). Most critically, success would depend on finding qualified coaches (including parents) willing to volunteer their time. I am being realistic that this could work beautifully, fail spectacularly, but anything in between is also possible.

This might be a really good option for families who are realistic about their kids chances of pursuing college volleyball, but want them to be part of a team, develop skills beyond rec level, and are fine with local competition rather than spending weekends in hotels. For families looking for the full club experience with extensive travel, traditional clubs remain a better fit. The best start would be at the 13, 14, 15, and 16 level, when we see most of the demand.

Does this concept resonate with anyone else? Am I identifying a real gap, or am I missing something that's already available? I am genuinely interested in hearing perspectives (both supportive and skeptical) before deciding whether to pursue the legal groundwork.

Keep in mind that you can always start a new club and have them compete in local tournaments. There's no team quality requirement to do so. But if your goal is to attract players that either aren't getting club offers or don't want the club schedule then you have to be realistic about their competitive level. You probably don't want them playing in club tournaments. You want them playing against other teams of similar skill. Losing sets 25-5 and winning only a few matches in a year isn't fun for the players regardless of their competitive level.

One option could be to start as a scrimmage squad that offers to scrimmage local club teams at the lower end of the club rankings. It gives the players goals and gives club teams a chance to play more matches without adding any cost or travel.

The idea and concept is good ! I would say the first thing you should consider is facility and location. Gym space is hard to find, especially in premium locations that can attract interests.

OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I am not thinking about a centralized location and micro-managing teams. I am thinking about a non-profit umbrella that would allow teams to manage their own practice locations and decisions on whether and how much they pay their coaches. If you have the legal infrastructure, you could have a local team in Rockville and one in Sterling. If the one in Sterling is more competitive, the team may decide to throw more money at a coach, while the one in Rockville may be happy with a parent coach. It's all about the needs in the community that wants to set up a team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm exploring the possibility of starting a volleyball non-profit to fill a gap: affordable, quality programming between rec and club volleyball. Ideally through teams that offer solid coaching and competitive play through local tournaments, without the extensive travel and high costs of club volleyball. To keep fees manageable, the practices would be led by qualified coaches with assistance from parent volunteers.

Before anything could happen, there are significant roadblocks: registering as a non-profit, then with CHRVA, and navigating all the legal requirements (including insurance). Most critically, success would depend on finding qualified coaches (including parents) willing to volunteer their time. I am being realistic that this could work beautifully, fail spectacularly, but anything in between is also possible.

This might be a really good option for families who are realistic about their kids chances of pursuing college volleyball, but want them to be part of a team, develop skills beyond rec level, and are fine with local competition rather than spending weekends in hotels. For families looking for the full club experience with extensive travel, traditional clubs remain a better fit. The best start would be at the 13, 14, 15, and 16 level, when we see most of the demand.

Does this concept resonate with anyone else? Am I identifying a real gap, or am I missing something that's already available? I am genuinely interested in hearing perspectives (both supportive and skeptical) before deciding whether to pursue the legal groundwork.

The idea and concept is good ! I would say the first thing you should consider is facility and location. Gym space is hard to find, especially in premium locations that can attract interests.

I was just about to say exactly this. It's a good idea, and I hope you find a way to make it work. But we've had DD's on 2 very highly rated volleyball teams, and if we had shenanigans and frustrations with their practice spaces multiple times, I can't even imagine how a club as you describe would find accessible reliable practice spaces for a whole season. Not telling you not to pursue this, just suggesting as PP did that you absolutely do your homework on where you'd practice, costs, location, availability, and the facilities themselves. The whole idea falls apart with nowhere reliable, affordable and accessible to practice for whatever region you see this group serving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I am not thinking about a centralized location and micro-managing teams. I am thinking about a non-profit umbrella that would allow teams to manage their own practice locations and decisions on whether and how much they pay their coaches. If you have the legal infrastructure, you could have a local team in Rockville and one in Sterling. If the one in Sterling is more competitive, the team may decide to throw more money at a coach, while the one in Rockville may be happy with a parent coach. It's all about the needs in the community that wants to set up a team.

I just replied about practice spaces, but now I see this. I have a hard time imagining any club wanting to work with another organization to run a program through their club, but I truly wish you luck in trying. I think the demand for the "between rec and club" exists, so I wish you luck in figuring out a way to meet that demand.

[Anonymous]

Just a thought- would it be possible to run something like this through a county’s rec program? I know moco has a robust volleyball rec program, so could you have a next step above rec run through the county but it’s open to anyone who has done X sessions in rec? So you would have a true beginner rec league and a more advanced league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I am not thinking about a centralized location and micro-managing teams. I am thinking about a non-profit umbrella that would allow teams to manage their own practice locations and decisions on whether and how much they pay their coaches. If you have the legal infrastructure, you could have a local team in Rockville and one in Sterling. If the one in Sterling is more competitive, the team may decide to throw more money at a coach, while the one in Rockville may be happy with a parent coach. It's all about the needs in the community that wants to set up a team.

I just replied about practice spaces, but now I see this. I have a hard time imagining any club wanting to work with another organization to run a program through their club, but I truly wish you luck in trying. I think the demand for the "between rec and club" exists, so I wish you luck in figuring out a way to meet that demand.

I am not talking about another club wanting to run their program through this non-profit. I cannot imagine a club (especially a for-profit club) wanting to run their operations through this non-profit. I want the non-profit to provide the legal umbrella for teams to be set up independently in various locations, where they can serve the local community needs. Each team would reserve their own space, set up their own tryouts, hire their own coaches (or use a parent coach if that's what they want). I can see parents wanting a team that practices at their own school rather than travel 30 minutes to some farther location. The non-profit would be part of CHRVA, so each affiliated team would be able to participate in USAV tournaments.

[FPYCparent]

Another option could be simply volunteering with an existing local organization (like FPYC ... which I do not represent).

FPYC is trying to rebuild its volleyball program and may be already past some of the start-up hurdles. I think they just need people willing to do the work.

https://fpycsports.com/sports/volleyball

[Anonymous]

FPYCparent wrote:Another option could be simply volunteering with an existing local organization (like FPYC ... which I do not represent).

FPYC is trying to rebuild its volleyball program and may be already past some of the start-up hurdles. I think they just need people willing to do the work.

https://fpycsports.com/sports/volleyball

That opportunity is at the rec level and it won't serve players who are above that.

[Anonymous]

You could follow the model of MSI soccer’s Classic league but you’d need scale to have enough competition. I kind of love any effort to drive a take into the heart of the sports industrial complex.