FAQs

BOCO VOLLEYBALL CLUB

WHY BOCO?

With dedication to our community, BoCo Volleyball Club strives to provide the highest level of athletic training and help develop young athletes into confident, capable individuals that  translates into all aspects of their life. We strive to design a unique program that focuses on fundamentals, skill and growth; and through learning, encourages a lifetime of success.

BoCo is dedicated to the development of the whole child, both on and off the court. Coaches and administration strive to teach leadership, positive communication, responsibility and high self esteem. As an athlete, your child will improve their game IQ, achieve a higher level of fitness and learn the meaning of healthy competition.

Club volleyball is an avenue for male and female players, ages 10-18 to receive advanced training and competition at local, regional and national levels. Many volleyball clubs exist both locally and nationally, most composed of multiple teams.

Volleyball is the 3rd most popular sport for girls in high school, with 452,808 girls on varsity level programs. The sport is also increasing for boys, with 63,563 boys playing at the varsity level in 22 states as of 2019.

Bringing athletes together with similar goals from various schools makes friendships. The relationships that have been formed through practice and team play will be friendships that last a lifetime.

Club tournaments are where the hard practice pays off and many favorable memories are made. Understand that practice and training is where you receive the most instruction and experience. Tournament play is only a supplement to participating in Club. Club tournaments are usually far more competitive and more physically demanding than high school matches.

TRYOUTS

Tryouts dates are set forth by RMR regulations and guidelines.  Each year we will post on our site when tryouts will be held.

Registration, as well as more details regarding the process can be found on our website online at www.bocovac.com/tryouts. Please also refer to our website calendar for all scheduling and calendar questions.

Players should arrive 15-20 minutes early to check in and receive a tryout number.

Evaluations/drills will begin promptly at the designated tryout time. Players will be guided through the tryout and evaluated thoroughly by our club directors and coaches. We will have adequate staff to ensure a smooth and efficient tryout process. Players are evaluated in a variety of physical and skill areas. We also consider intangibles during the tryout process including leadership qualities, attitude, effort, interaction with other players and coaches, etc.

We value training at BoCo, so a player’s ability to take and apply instruction is also taken into consideration throughout the tryout evaluation.  You will be notified via email if your child makes a team.  If you choose to accept the contract, a $500 deposit will be due at the time of contract signing to reserve their spot on that team. 

TEAMS

BoCo abides by all USAV & RMR rules and regulations.
Please refer to the USAV Age Requirements.

The number of teams will be determined by how many athletes try out. We will also take into consideration the athlete’s skill level and ability to form “club-ready” teams by position.

Athletes are selected based on skill, talent, effort, attitude, and positions available on each team at the time of tryouts. At the end of each season, contracts may be extended to current athletes, and therefore some spots may not be available for specific teams at tryouts.

Club directors and coaches will meet at the completion of tryouts to discuss and form teams.

Verbal offers can be given at the end of tryouts or up to 48 hours after the completion of tryouts.

Official contracts are sent by a date 2 weeks following tryouts. Each year the date is determined by RMR.

FEES & DUES

The club fee schedule is found here. The fees vary depending on the age level of the team and whether or not it is a traveling or non-traveling team. For traveling teams, additional fees are included for at LEAST one out-of-state tournament. Fees for ALL teams include tournament fees, fees for a personal trainer for strengthening and conditioning, mental toughness training,coaches pay, facility rental, insurance, basic uniforms, administrative costs, website maintenance, bookkeeping, billing expenses, marketing, and more.

We offer Accelerated, Standard & Extended plans for all of our athletes. This allows parents to choose the payment schedule that fits best with their family budget.

Payments are due on the 1st of each month and are considered late on the 10th. We will be using LeagueApps for our billing. This system will allow you to log-in to your account and set up electronic payments and manage your account. You will also have the ability to see all previous transactions. In addition, we accept cash, checks or Venmo (@BoCoVBC) as payment options. These can be paid in person or mailed to 201 Coffman Street #1675, Longmont, CO 80501.

There is help. We may offer partial or full scholarships or extended pay to those who apply.  To apply for a scholarship you can click HERE. You will need to provide financial information for this scholarship.  

Absolutely! We offer 10% off club dues of the less expensive player for families with two children participating. Those with more than two children playing club volleyball with us will receive 10% off club dues for all children, except the most expensive player.

IN-SEASON INFO

While we will keep our teams to a 10-player maximum, equal playing time is not guaranteed with all BoCo teams. Every player, however, is guaranteed practice time, training and mental toughness coaching. Play time is determined first by skill, followed next by attitude and effort. BoCo and our staff makes every effort to put together teams where every player is projected to see meaningful playing time IF players demonstrate all of the following characteristics
throughout the season:

● Good work ethic
● A positive attitude
● Willingness to be coached
● Gives their very best effort, 100%
● Shows up consistently and on-time to team practices

The dedication that a player shows in tryouts and practices in terms of hard work, position assignments, and team success (in addition to the list above) will likely determine how much playing time a player receives in games and tournaments.

The following colors define the levels of competition at each age group:

GOLD - Recreational terms where there is equal playing time and the focuses are on repetition of basic fundamentals and, fun drills and the love of the game.

RED - Regional teams where equal playing time is the standard, but there may be exceptions to that rule; basic fundamentals are focused and built upon, and level of play is higher than white.

NAVY - 2nd Team that attends 2-3 out of state tournaments.  Is competitive and the expectation for commitment is high.  Navy teams focus on fundamentals, volleyball IQ and learning more about a faster pace game. Equal playing time is not the standard. 

BLUE - National teams where the level of play is highly competitive and more intense. Blue teams are travel teams and are expected to have more experience as a player. Blue teams focus on volleyball IQ while improving upon fundamentals. Equal playing time is not the standard.

Yes. We feel that this promotes unity among the players and teams. All players will be provided with two practice T-shirts at the beginning of the season.

YES! Volleyball is a sport dominated by strength and power. Players need power in their legs to get high in the air and strength in their upper body to spike, block, and dig balls. Strengthening volleyball-specific muscles ensures that athletes are able to reach their maximum performance potential.Volleyball requires explosive jumps and rapid changes in direction. The ability to jump high is critical amongst volleyball players because of the importance for spiking the ball as well as defending spikes from opponents. In order for players to improve vertical jumps, they must spend time doing exercises that strengthen leg and hip muscles. An effective strength and
conditioning program incorporates agility drills and lateral movements to improve foot speed.

Volleyball is a high-impact sport and with all the jumping, landing, cutting, and planting, an athlete’s body can take a beating. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments surrounding joints help protect from injury, but strenuous volleyball movements can cause these joints to temporarily weaken. Stronger muscles are better able to absorb the shock from landings and quick change of directions.

Lastly, developing a foundation of balanced strength and flexibility allows muscles to work together to minimize stress on joints and ligaments. Flexibility increases range of motion, improves technique and enables a higher exertion of force. Therefore, implementing a volleyball-specific strength and conditioning program significantly helps in the  prevention of injuries.

Club fees are due and payable even if the athlete is injured, ill, quits the team mid-season, or is dismissed for any reason. All of our expenses are incurred and paid up-front in the first couple of months of the season, and the fee is based on the number of committed players, which includes your child. Once your child makes the commitment (signs the contract), the athlete is responsible to teammates and coaches to financially carry out their commitment through the entirety of the season.

The 24-Hour Rule: As stated in our “Code of Conduct,” parents/guardians are not allowed to confront a coach, team or league official to discuss any “negative” game or practice situation with the coaching and management staff until at least 24 hours has passed from the completion of the game or practice. A confrontation shall consist of any conversation, which is elevated from a normal speaking tone and demeanor to one which involves yelling, profanity or derogatory comments toward said coach, team or league official. Violation of the 24-Hour Rule Policy is considered a violation of the Zero Tolerance Policy. Equally, the Directors and Coaches at BoCo will adhere to the 24-hour rule when responding to any grievance or concern to ensure that we are taking away any immediate emotional reaction from the situation at hand.

Please refer to our “Grievance Procedure” for further instruction on how to properly handle a
concern or dispute you may have during the competitive club season. We strive to be
approachable and have open and honest communication with both our players and parents,
within the constraints of kindness and respect.

Our long-term goal is to build our own facility. For now, we will rent facilities in and at the Longmont Athletic Club.

Practices will be 2 to 3 times per week and approximately 2 hours long each practice. This is dependent upon the age and level of the team.

Each team will also have a once per week 1 hour strength training with our personal trainer, Yarib Estrada.  

 

We understand that things happen, the kids have other commitments at school and sometimes get sick.  We have a Missed Practice Policy in place: 

For every missed practice your athlete will need to do one of the following options:

  • attend another team’s practice to shag, toss balls, assist the coach with whatever is needed for.  There will most likely be very small participation in the other team’s drills besides maybe serving, passing or something to assist the coach.   

OR

  • miss 2 sets of the next tournament 

*Make ups must be made up within 1 week of the missed practice.  

*Exceptions can be applied by the coach and/or the directors.

*Patterns of missed practices & tournaments may result in further consequences.  

When your daughter lets her coach know that she will be missing practice, she will need to inform the coach of her makeup choice (attending a full 2 hour practice or sitting two sets).  The coaches will document the choice on a spreadsheet in the BoCo cabinet at the gym.  When your daughter attends a practice the coach of that practice will sign off on the makeup time.  If your child chooses to sit two sets, your child’s coach will sign off that they made up that practice. This spreadsheet will then be monitored by the coaches and the directors.  

If your daughter chooses to attend another practice, we ask that they attend a practice of an age level that is similar to their own team’s age level.  It will be 1) beneficial for them to observe and learn the skills that they are already working on and 2) it’s simply safer.  We don’t want a girl from the 13U level attending at 17U practice where the game is much faster, the girls hit much harder and there is more chance of possible injury.  

You can find the schedule of practices on bocovac.org/calendar.  

If your daughter is injured, they should still attend their own practice.  They can learn from listening to the coach and observing their team playing, tossing for their coach and doing limited participation.  Exceptions are major concussions, major sickness, contagious, fever, surgeries or injuries where they can not be on their feet or upright at all.

TOURNAMENTS

Tournaments are held on weekends (primarily Sundays) from January into May. Most events begin around 8 AM. and may finish as late as 6 PM. Tournament pools and schedules are generally posted on the RMR website 1-2 days prior to the tournament. Occasionally, there will be last-minute tournament location changes, in which case you will be informed by the coach and also by email as soon as that information becomes available to us. On tournament days,
players should generally arrive 30 minutes prior to the first match and should be on the court at least 15 minutes prior to a match, but is at the discretion and directive of each individual coach. About 15 minutes before each game time, the team should be warming up indoors with a volleyball (if space and tournament rules permit).

During the day, each team should stay together and must notify their coach if for any reason the player has to leave the premises. Be aware of the match schedules (i.e. when your team plays, referees/works or rests). The schedule and up-to-date information is available at www.tm2sign.com. Sometimes, at the completion of the crossover match, your team may be responsible to stay and referee another crossover match, in which all players of the team will be expected to either score, line judge or down ref. Before leaving the tournament, each team should be considerate and properly dispose of its own trash.

Your athlete's schedule will be released in September of each year.  Plenty of time to plan your family vacations around the tournament schedule.  Your athlete is expected to attend ALL tournaments.  If your child misses a tournament they may be dismissed from the team.  You are making a commitment to your team, please teach your child the power of commitment.  Thank you!