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AVBA Volleyball Information The Ankeny Volleyball Association was started in 1988 by a small group of people that wanted to improve the quality of volleyball in the Ankeny city league for adults. AVBA worked in conjunction with Ankeny Leisure Services to hold clinics to teach new skills and rules to the adult players. Soon AVBA was hosting monthly adult co-ed tournaments and helping Ankeny Leisure Services host the state co-ed tournament for city leagues. The AVBA club also helped coach Leisure Services teams for kids and hosted several youth tournaments. The emphasis for the youth program continued to grow as the adult players' children started playing volleyball. In 1994, AVBA organized its first AAU team. The next year it had two teams and the club has continued to grow every year. The AAU program generally has anywhere from ten to fifteen teams each season ranging from 5th grade up to 11th grade. The USA program generally has three or four competitive teams from age levels 14 and under to 18 and under. USA teams in the past have competed in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, and Georgia. Each season promises to be another good year for AVBA volleyball with more people wanting to learn to play competitive volleyball. The focus for AVBA volleyball has always been to improve the quality of play of volleyball in Ankeny for adults and the youth of Ankeny. AVBA is one of the few volleyball clubs that does not recruit players from other school districts to be on its teams. The goal of the club is to work and improve the skills of the Ankeny youth. This has helped all of the Ankeny School teams from 8th grade through high school become some of the better teams in the state. A majority of the girls on the Ankeny High School team have participated in one or more of the AVBA volleyball programs. Ankeny is recognized around the state for having a very good volleyball program. AVBA is a non-profit club that works for the benefit of the Ankeny community and school system. Any money raised by AVBA is donated back into equipment for the schools, city programs, and for the youth of Ankeny. AVBA USA General Information AVBA USA teams are formed on a competitive tryout basis or personal invitation to play on a team. Tryouts are usually held the end of October or beginning of November of each year. Our season will start with practices in December and USA tournaments run from January through April. The cost per player is $550 for new players and $450 for returning players. The cost includes: two uniform jerseys, one pair of shorts, a referee and scorekeeper clinic, tournament entry fees, coaching fees, and practice times. New players will also be provided warm-ups and a volleyball sports bag. Tryouts are open to anyone; however, each team must have a majority of players that reside within the Ankeny School District in order to meet City of Ankeny guidelines for gym rentals. It’s our policy that coaches do not evaluate the players at tryouts and we emphasize the neutral viewpoint of our coaches during the season. Head coaches are not parents of players and have experience in the coaching field. Teams are formed each year by age groups, with the youngest age group usually being 14 and under. Players usually start in the USA program in either 7th or 8th grade. Each year teams play in 8-10 tournaments. Generally, each team will travel to Kansas City, MO for a large tournament and Minneapolis, MN for the President’s Day Festival. Other tournaments that teams have competed in were the Ankeny tournament and Iowa Gold Regionals held at Drake University. Examples of other tournament locations include Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Creston, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Dubuque, and Omaha, NE. Aside from the supportive parents and players, the coaches for USA are what make this program successful. Coaches give a tremendous amount of time and effort to make sure that the strong Ankeny volleyball tradition continues. Only practices sanctioned by AVBA Jrs. and USA Volleyball rules will be tolerated. The definition of a sanctioned practice includes: - Date and time scheduled by AVBA Jrs. - Coached by USA Volleyball Iowa Region/IMPACT certified coach - Two or more players in attendance - Location is insured and approved thru AVBA Jrs. and USA Volleyball Iowa Region Non-compliance with these definitions will be considered an unsanctioned practice and subject to consequence, including expulsion of a team or player. The AVBA Jrs. co-directors reserve the right to make any decision regarding expulsion. In the event of expulsion, no monetary refund of fees paid will be returned. If you have any questions, please talk to a former USA player or parent about the benefits of the USA program or send an email to Wendy Moeckly (wendy@avbajuniors.com). We realize and emphasize that anyone who makes the AVBA teams will be making a commitment both monetarily and otherwise. AVBA will make every effort to work around any school related activities. However, all other outside sport activities (i.e. AAU basketball, club soccer, club swimming) will not be considered an excused absence for either USA practices or tournaments. |
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