“Club” volleyball is actually Junior Olympic Volleyball (JOs) which is organized under the USA Volleyball umbrella. You can learn more by going to http://usavolleyball.org/juniors and reading up on JOs is. CCJ plays in the Southern Region (SRVA at http://www.srva.org), which includes teams from TN, AL and GA. Tournaments are hosted each weekend starting in December and ended with Regionals in April. Club volleyball starts with tryouts in November and finishes in April. If you earn a bid to the Girls‘ Junior National Championships (GJNC), you continue practicing to prepare for nationals which occur at the end of June. If you think volleyball is your passion, then club volleyball is the place for you.
There are a couple of different ways your team can earn a bid to GJNC. If you place high enough (whatever that is) at a Girls’ Junior National Qualifier, you can earn a bid to the GJNC. Additionally, if your team wins the “Power” Division at the Southern Regional Championship, you will earn a bid as well. A third way of earning a bid is that if a higher seed than your team has earned a bid but decides not to attend the GJNC, your team can move up into that slot.
Capital City Juniors is quickly becoming a premier volleyball club that is recognized by others in the SRVA. In the 2010 SRVA Regional Club Championships, CCJ won the 13s, 15s, and 18s age groups; were runners-up in the 12s; and made it to the semi-finals in the 14s. Additionally, we had two teams compete in “Power“—with the 16s finishing 9th in “Power.” Our reputation continues to grow and be recognized in the region. Besides our winning performance, CCJ works to develop its coaches and create an opportunity for an athlete to develop their volleyball skills and their character through an environment that emphasizes earnestness, mutual respect and passion toward the sport. Families must make decisions on where their athletes play based on their unique individual needs and the most important thing is that as many players as possible that want to develop their volleyball skills have an opportunity to participate in a club volleyball experience. For more about the mission of Capital City Juniors please visit our website at: capitalcityjuniors.com
CCJ prides itself in being a cost competitive club. We welcome you to research other clubs and compare our costs. Our costs include uniforms, playing facility, equipment costs, tournament entry fees, USAV membership fees, IMPACT certified and USAV registered coaches, coaching costs, and administrative costs. We are a not for profit club and our budget reflects that.
CCJ believes that part of the club experience is tournament play, therefore, we have a limit of 10 players per team to ensure adequate playing time for everyone. Additionally, with the coaching staff we provide it equates to a coach ratio of 5:1. This ratio improves the opportunity for learning.
CCJ states up front that the growth and learning comes in the practices where every girl has equal opportunity to grow and learn. At tournaments, the coaches put forward the most competitive they can to win. This means that there is not equal playing for all.
Not everyone is placed on a team for two reasons. First, not everyone is ready for the competition level that club volleyball provides. These individuals may not be placed on a team but instead given advice on how to improve their level of play in order to play club volleyball the next season. Secondly, Alabama High School Association limits the number of players from a specific high school team from playing together. In those cases, we try to offer those players a position on the other CCJ team in that age group.
Everyone is evaluated at their age level during tryouts. Each tryout is separate and distinct from previous seasons—so if you played up one season, you may not the next. There are cases in which CCJ believes that placing a player in the next age group is beneficial to their development, however in most cases we believe that it is best for a player to play in their age group. When athletes have worked hard and attained a level of excellence it creates an opportunity for those teams to be more competitive at Qualifiers, Regionals and at the Power level. Typically if an exceptional player “plays up” they are reduced to a median status against the older players and potentially lose an opportunity to develop their leadership skills. The decision to move a player to an older age group is solely at the discretion of the CCJ staff with parental concurrence.
While everyone likes to play volleyball with their friends, CCJ cannot make that a consideration for tryouts. With everything that is considered for team placement, it is too difficult to accommodate everyone’s friend request. Additionally, CCJ has seen a lot of benefit by players making friends with many girls across the capital city area because they played club together.
Parents and players need to understand that while CCJ tries to explain and cover all the costs in the CCJ fees, there are some items that cannot be placed in our budget. Travel costs (food, hotel, travel) for players and family that attend can be quite costly. Teams sometime decide to have special team gear such as socks, hair ribbons, etc. If a team qualifies for GJNC, that is an additional costs. Players also may want to make recruiting DVDs and flyers, which costs money.
CCJ cannot guarantee volleyball scholarships to anyone! USA volleyball reports only 1% of the Nation’s volleyball players receive a full ride scholarship to Division I Colleges each year. No one can guarantee recruitment into a college of your choice. However, CCJ will work with you to develop your skills, recruitment materials and provide exposure to college coaches. This is a long arduous process that takes full player work and commitment.
CCJ understands the stress that tryouts may bring to some players. We try to create an environment where participants are not “stressed” during tryouts. We want to see their best possible play and best possible attitude. Tryouts consist of skill testing and game play situations. Coaches will evaluate each athlete on their ability to complete individual and team skills, acceptance of instruction, effort and attitude. Each age group tryout will be different based on abilities of that age group. All parents are welcomed to watch tryouts.
CCJ takes great pride in the quality of our coaching staff. We train and mentor our coaches to be organized and develop well planned practices. Don’t expect dead time at a CCJ practice! Feedback is given—both positive and constructive criticism. Constructive criticism may be a new thing to either the player or parent—but it is only through this feedback that players learn what they need to change. We welcome all parents to any of our practices but be careful because some coaches are known for involving the parents in drills
CCJ is proud to have a playing facility at the Capital City SportsPlex (CCSP). Four sports courts and vision for more…all our practices will be held at CCSP. As for tournaments, CCJ tries to attend at least 3 tournaments as a club. We tend to play in SRVA tournaments in AL, TN and GA. Some teams have participated in the Gulf Coast Region tournaments in FL. The good news is that CCSP offers the potential for more Montgomery tournaments!
It is best to read the AHSAA rules on the AHSAA website for yourself. But CCJ considers the following:
- High school coaches are limited on who they can coach in club season.
- No more than three players from one Varsity school team may play for a single club team. This does not include seniors, elementary, or middle school students or to students who are not on the school’s team. If CCJ thinks there is a possibility that a younger player may get selected to play varsity, the CCJ staff makes contact with the High School coach to discuss/assess.
- Athletes may play club volleyball at the same time as another sport for their high school.
Based on the number of coaches CCJ has and the number of girls who come to tryouts, CCJ sometimes has multiple teams in a specific age group. For example, we could have 2 or 3 player age 16 teams. When that happens, CCJ considers several things. First, what schools do the players attend—which dictates how many can be on one team. Secondly, we have to spread the positional skill sets so you don’t have 5 setters on one team (as an example). Finally, CCJ staff takes all of the players’ assessments into consideration to complete the rosters. With all that being said, there is team stratification that occurs.
Every player is given a fair and equal chance at making a CCJ team! CCJ welcomes all players and would love for every volleyball player in the capital city region to play club volleyball—at CCJ or any other club.