LAVA/SMBC
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
FIRST TIME CLUB VOLLEYBALL QUESTIONS
What is club volleyball?
- Club Volleyball are organizations that train athletes in the sport of volleyball so they can compete following the normal school season. Volleyball clubs are independent of each other and privately owned. The word “club” typically
describes an organization that has teams for many different age groups and levels. Clubs vary in size from 1 or 2 teams to up to 80 plus. (LAVA had 83 teams
this past season across all of its divisions)
What kind of commitment is club volleyball?
- Club volleyball is a HUGE commitment of time. The club season generally begins in November and runs through mid-April for in region play and can run through early July for teams going to the Junior National Championships, Volleyball Festival, or AAU's. Teams generally practice around 2 hours at a time and practice 1-3 times per week. Teams will generally play in at least 6 tournaments (some will play in as many as 12). Tournaments last from 1 day up to 4 days.
- Tryouts for u15-18s are in July.
- Tryouts for u11-14s will be October.
Why should my daughter/son play club volleyball?
- How to compete in a positive and respectful environment
- What it means to represent a team and an organization
- Learning to set short term and long term goals
- The values of teamwork, composure, and self-motivation
- That winning requires hard work and losing means learning
- One plays more than 50+ matches in a club setting versus 20-30 in high school. The value of touches and the competitive environment
accelerates the learning curve. - For all athletes who have aspirations in playing at the next level in
college, then club volleyball is necessary. College coaches do the
majority of their recruiting during club season and are at many of the
national qualifier & showcase tournaments. At LAVA we work hard with
our athletes through the entire recruiting process. We make sure you
are doing all the things you need to do. At LAVA we have contributed
and helped numerous athletes reach the collegiate level.
My child plays another sport. Can they still play club?
- We encourage our players to stay active by playing other sports, especially off season! We designed our practices to be after normal HS practice hours not to conflict with high school practices. We also work closely with the other coaches to make sure that the player is not getting penalized, on both sports, if they have to miss due to a game. We also have our tournaments on weekends which
rarely conflicts with HS sports.
My child wants to play volleyball – what’s a good program to start in? How long does the season run?
- We have several programs for girls wanting to get into volleyball. Our
introductory LITE Clinics (ages 8-12) offer once a week instruction on the basic fundamentals from our seasoned club coaches. Click here to go to LITE Clinics.
- Our JUNIORS program caters to athletes (ages 9-14) who are interested in receiving more club-like experience. Juniors practice once a week and participate in tournaments against other LAVA divisions. Click here to go to JUNIORS Clinics.
How many players do you take on each team?
We typically take between 10 to 12 players on each team.
How do I know if my kid is ready for a club team?
- Sometimes as parents we wonder and even worry about whether we should encourage our kids to jump into a sport or whether we should possibly slow them down until they’ve gotten a little older. When it comes to volleyball, it’s
no different. - It’s good for younger children that are 5, 6, or 7 years old to start playing games that are similar to volleyball or based on volleyball skills even though they may not be big enough and physically able to play full-scale volleyball.
POINTS OF CONTACT
Payment
Payment questions please email privatepayplan@gmail.com
Administrative Questions (team, tournament, travel, uniforms, etc)
- Any admin (team, tournament, travel, uniforms, etc) questions please email Candiceg.lava@gmail.com
Directors of our specific lava girls locations
- West (Thousand Oaks)
- Trevor Julian – trevorjulian@gmail.com
- North (Santa Clarita)
- Kristin Dolan – kristindolan.lava@gmail.com
- Shack (West Los Angeles)
- Catarina Marbach – Catarina.emmerson2@gmail.com
- South (Sherman Oaks)
- Josh Augur – joshaugur.lava@gmail.com
- East (Corona)
- Michelle Gansert – michellegansert@gmail.com
- Islands (Camarillo)
- Kim Machnic – kimmachnic.lava@gmail.com
PAYMENT INFORMATION
Who do I contact about a payment?
- Please reach out to our admin monitored payment email at
privatepayplan@gmail.com.
Is there somewhere I can access my payment plan? Or how can I access my players registrations?
- League apps log in is available all the time to view the payment plan or change your preferred payment method. Additionally you can update your families contact information. https://lavacademy.leagueapps.com/login
Why do I keep getting late payment notifications when I dropped off a check in an allocated drop box?
- There is a bit of lag time for collection and processing of dropped checks. If a week goes by and you believe your check hasn't been processed, please reach out to our payment email at privatepayplan@gmail.com
Why are there transaction fees and how can I avoid them?
- Our registration platform, Leagueapps, adds transaction fees for anything processed through their platform. You can avoid them by mailing or dropping checks in designated drop boxes.
Where can I mail my payment to?
- Fastest processing will take place by mailing checks to
- LAVA 18543 Devonshire St. #101 Northridge CA 91324
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Who do I contact for help with travel questions?
Candice Tunis leads our travel arrangements. She can be contacted at candiceg.lava@gmail.com
Excused absence letters for the season linked
- Please see attached excused absence letter for the year.
What is the difference between full travel and limited travel?
- Limited Travel (ltd) = Parents are responsible for all player related travel expenses, including hotel and transportation to and from the tournament city (including airfare, if applicable).
- Full Travel (Full) = LAVA arranges tournament travel expenses for all athletes, including hotel and transport to and from the city location, but excluding player
food money. All costs for Full Travel events are included in the fees listed on the info Sheet. Full Travel is usually reserved for events held in California or Las Vegas. A chaperone is required (athletes stay together in rooms at the hotel overseen by the chaperone); chaperone hotel is covered.
Why do we have to book on a housing block?
- USA Volleyball sanctioned events and AAU sanctioned events require that we book rooms through their partnered travel services. It is referred to as a “Stay and Play.”
- What is Stay & Play? Each participating team has a specific room nights quota they must achieve (stay) to be able to play in the event (play). Most events are Stay & Play; it is worth noting that Stay & Play is not a
LAVA-mandated rule but is often required due to host policy.
Why do we have to arrive before 5pm a day prior to start date on travel tournaments?
In order for the individual athlete to be successful, leading to team success, the athlete needs to be settled and well rested prior to play. This goes for am and pm pool play. Even if pm pool play starts at 2pm we do not want players
traveling the day of play.
What should my player bring for travel tournaments?
Player checklist is attached here.