Washington County Juniors
Lone Star Region USA Volleyball
Mailing Address: 1715 FM 1457, Round Top, TX 78954
Email:
Phone: 512-789-3799 or 979-255-0361
Website: www.wcjvolleyball.com
Facebook: Washington County Junior Volleyball
Welcome!
We hope that the information offered in our Handbook will answer any questions you may have about Washington County Juniors and your daughter’s desire to develop her volleyball skills. Please keep the handbook for reference and feel free to share it with your friends that may have an interest in competitive volleyball.
Important Dates
Team Registration Time Tryout Time
14’s- born on or after 9-1-2003 / 10-15-17 1:00-1:30 / 1:30-2:3015’s- born on or after 9-1-2002 / 10-15-17 2:30-3:00 / 3:00-4:00
Team Registration Time Tryout Time
11’s- born on or after 9-1-2006 / 10-22-17 1:00-1:30 / 1:30-2:3012’s- born on or after 9-1-2005 / 10-22-17 2:30-3:00 / 3:00-4:00
13’s- born on or after 9-1-2004 / 10-22-17 4:00-4:30 / 4:30-5:30
Parent Meeting / 11-12-17 2:00 for 14-15’s Teams
Parent Meeting / 11-12-17 4:00 for 11-13’s Teams
First Practice / 12-3-17 Time TBA for each team
Washington County Juniors Board of Directors
Title Person Phone Email
President / Rush Stepan / 361-534-9006 /Vice President / LeAnn Harris / 979-203-0353 /
Coaching Coordinator / Tanya Nygrin / 979-966-7163 /
Operations Liaison / Linda Santleben / 979-421-0322 /
Secretary/Treasurer/
Staff & Tryout Director / Dedra Wolff / 512-789-3799 /
What is Washington County Juniors (WCJ)?
Washington County Juniors (WCJ) is a volleyball club that competes in the Lone Star Region of the United States Volleyball Association (USAV). Washington County Juniors is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization as designated by the IRS. WCJ forms its teams by selecting girls from a tryout process each year to represent the club in tournaments throughout the Lone Star Region. Eventually, we may grow to include National Qualifiers held outside of our region. WCJ seeks to improve each player’s individual and team volleyball skills while challenging them both mentally and physically.
How long has Washington County Juniors been in existence?
WCJ began its first season in 2005. The club has usually had teams from 11- 15 or 16 year olds throughout the course of its existence. This year we have 9 teams ranging from 11-15 year olds.
Who can play for Washington County Juniors?
Any girl from the ages of 9-18 who has an interest in pursuing volleyball in order to improve her own athletic skills, challenge herself mentally and physically, thereby improving her chances to contribute significantly on her school team, is welcome to try out for WCJ. In addition, any player that has aspirations to play college volleyball is strongly encouraged to try out for WCJ. The more you touch a ball, the better your skills will become.
USAV Age Breakdowns for the 2017-2018 Season Are As Follows
11 and Under born on or after 9/1/200612 and Under born on or after 9/1/05 and on or be fore 8/31/06
13 and Under born on or after 9/1/04 and on or before 8/31/05
14 and Under born on or after 9/1/03 and on or before 8/31/04
15 and Under born on or after 9/1/02 and on or before 8/31/03
Can I play other sports while playing for Washington County Juniors?
Athletes and their families all have different amounts of scheduling that they can handle comfortably. We can tell you that it is challenging to play 2 or more “club” sports at the same time. Although practice times may not conflict, there will likely be tournament conflicts sometimes during the spring. Our volleyball players playing school basketball or soccer are normally able to complete those seasons while playing club volleyball without much conflict. High School softball and track are a little tougher to work around, (as many meets/tournaments are on weekends), but we do have athletes in our club that play spring sports for their high school. We encourage players to play multiple sports while in high school to expand their competitive nature, prevent overuse injuries, and develop skills in other sports. Please consider your schedule carefully and let your WCJ coach know immediately if you will miss any practices or tournaments. As our teams are purposely not large, we must know if we are going to be short any players. You are making a significant financial and time commitment to WCJ. We want your daughter and her teammates to get the most possible out of the total experience.
How many teams will Washington County Juniors have?
We plan to field 9 teams this season. WCJ will select the most competitive teams possible in 11‘s-15‘s. There will be rare instances where a player will play “up” an age group, but this will not be a standard practice. We have learned that it is better for girls to succeed and lead their own age group, than to be an average player in an older age group. USAV provides tournaments with one-year increments because volleyball players develop so significantly from year to year. We enter quality tournaments that provide strong competition, which will challenge each of our teams. Ultimately, numbers of teams per age group will depend on the numbers of athletes that attend the tryouts. It is in our players’ best interest for them to play at the highest level, as a team, that they can achieve in their age group.
Do Washingotn County Juniors players from prior years automatically make the team?
NO! Each player must tryout each year to earn a spot on a WCJ team. Volleyball continues to grow in popularity and therefore tryouts continue to become more and more competitive. Also, athletes develop differently depending on how their body changes, how hard they work on a sport, the experience they may have gained during their school season.
How many players are on a team?
For all our teams, our target number is 9-12 players per team.
How are the teams selected?
Tryouts are held to determine the skill level of each individual athlete. Whenever more than one team is formed in a specific age level, the teams will be separated by skill level. Regretfully, in most age groups, there may be potential players cut as they did not execute the skills to the level of the girls chosen for the team. Athletes will be selected based on individual skill evaluations, athletic potential, physical testing, and game-like situations. They will be selected by WCJ coaches, based on combined evaluations. Therefore, each athlete must attend a try-out session. Athletes will be evaluated on their performance during the tryouts and how they play with and against others. The decision on team formation is final. Teams will be announced within 48-72 hours of the conclusion of the final tryout day. Some players may float between two teams, but only in the case where numbers of team members are at 8 or below. Players who float are up to the coaches discretion and decisions will be based on practice performance prior to said tournament.
If a player participates in the tryout, is named to a team and then declines her spot, she will forfeit the deposit/tryout fee. (This policy has been implemented in the best interest of all girls that come to tryout, and to hopefully eliminate the player(s) that just wants to tryout with no intention of accepting a spot on a team.) Once a player commits to participate with WCJ, she will be responsible for all fees for the entire season. Those players who do not make a WCJ team will be considered alternates. Alternates will be notified of an available spot only in the event that a player initially selected, chooses not to play and/or does not send in their acceptance deposit within the required timeframe. For a player to be added to a team “in need” after the season has begun, the player must have attended a tryout, and therefore be an alternate. In the case where there are no alternates available, a player that did not attend the tryout may be eligible to join the lowest level team in that age group.
How do tryouts work?
Tryouts are structured in a format that allows the evaluators to observe each athlete’s current skill level as well as their potential. Activities at the tryouts will include physical testing, skill evaluation and some sort of game-like drill. Athletes will be mixed with different combinations of players and will all have the opportunity for many, many touches. Evaluators will also observe the athlete’s court awareness, court movement and their execution of the game skills. After observing all the girls in the same environment playing with and against many different combinations of players, there are things that will definitely stand out and allow the evaluators to place athletes on the team that is best suited to their skill level. There will be 3-5 evaluators per age group, depending on the number of girls trying out. All evaluators input is equal. For 11’s, 12’s and 13’s, the position that the athlete tries out for is not necessarily relevant. Evaluators are looking for overall athleticism, game play, and potential.
For 14’s and 15’s, evaluators look for athleticism, game play, potential to improve, and more weight is given to position preference. Each evaluating coach will have a standard evaluation sheet and will evaluate, based on his or her own ability to measure skill level, using the standards that are listed in the paragraph above. At the conclusion of the tryout, the evaluation sheets are turned in to the Staff & Tryout Director. She will then compile the scores, and reissue the evaluation sheets to the evaluators. This provides an overview which begins to separate the player’s skills and talent according to the combined evaluations. As the tryouts are concluding, the evaluators may or may not discuss athletes on a “bubble” from one team to another or being listed as an alternate. Evaluators may also ask the court coaches to see one or more specific athletes versus another athlete as they make their final decisions of team placement. No evaluator’s opinion has any more weight than any other evaluator. However, in some instances, the coach of the “top” team in each age group is permitted to choose the tenth player on their roster as there are often 2 or 3 girls that are fairly equal and the evaluators may be split on that last roster spot. The Staff & Tryout Director may ask the coach to select between those players to finalize their roster. Players in the 14’5-15’s age groups are sometimes asked at tryouts, if they would like to be considered for a position different than what they have indicated during the tryout process. They are asked this question because an athlete (for example) that wants to try out as a setter, may be evaluated as a second or third team setter, but as a first team libero. In those cases, we will ask the player if they would rather make a “higher” team in any position or a second or third team in their preferred position. While positions are never locked in on a team, the older the team, the more likely the player will play the position that they declare to play.
How are Washington County Juniors coaches selected?
The Board of Directors recognizes that hiring the right people to coach our players is a top priority in the success of our club and helping junior players in their development. Coaches are chosen based on positive attitude, ability to be a positive role model, playing and coaching background, and ability to interact effectively with others as well as a personal interview. All coaches must pass a background check/screen and pass a Safe Sport class provided by USAV prior to coaching.
How long is the WCJ season?
Regular season practices will begin in late November/early December and conclude in March. Our teams will participate in approximately 2-3 tournaments per month from January-early March. If a team wants to extend their season and play in more tournaments than the 7 scheduled, the entry fees and additional expenses of the extended season will be the responsibility of that individual team. Should an 11’s-15’s team qualify for the USA Junior National Championships (held in late June/early July), the entry fees and additional expenses of the extended season will be the responsibility of that individual team.
When are practices?
WCJ practices are on Sunday afternoons (usually 2 hours between 1:00-7:00 PM) and a weekday evenings (1.5 hours between 4:30-8:30 PM). Practices will be held at Brenham High School or Middle School, RT-C gym at Carmine or Round Top. Locations of practices will be based on the make-up of the team members and where they live. Normally, our younger teams practice first followed by our older teams; however, gym space availability can change this. Practice times will be posted on our website for each team. Actual times will be assigned after team formation. When your team has a tournament on Saturday, you normally will not practice on Sunday.
Is playing time guaranteed?
Players on all teams will be allotted playing time according to the discretion of their coaches. Factors that will be considered are the level of competition, the ability of the athlete, the need of the team, and the importance of the match or tournament. Since we are “playing to win” during tournaments, an individual’s court time may be limited. We believe winning can become a habit, but so can losing. That is our reasoning for “playing to win” in tournaments. In practice, playing time in all drills and game-like situations should be equal.