Frequently Asked Questions
- Why does NAVC have practices at strange hours and so many locations throughout Edmonton? Why can’t we be dedicated to one site?
NAVC supports 14 teams which equates to approximately 1000 court bookings for 2-hour time slots. We compete with many other clubs, teams, leagues, varsity squads and other groups for court time. We have a volunteer gym coordinator who works closely with the coaches and facilities to try to accommodate everyone.
What we have modified: We will continue to request additional time at the Saville and reduce time at schools that are not ideal volleyball facilities (gym space or equipment issues), however we often must accept what we're given.
-Why are NAVC fees high?
Compared to other clubs around Alberta, NAVC is very competitive in fees. We create our budget to cover actual costs of the teams, which includes gym rentals, coach honorariums, travel costs, uniforms, equipment, fitness training & camps and Volleyball Alberta registration (athlete and tournaments) We NEVER budget for a profit and we ensure our administration expenses are minimal. Each year we face rising gym rentals (which make up approximately 25% of our expenses) and increased costs of equipment replacement. Please see how fees are used on our website.
We add value to our athletes and their families by providing additional training, top quality coaches, and an infrastructure that takes a lot of the responsibility of parents so that they can focus on supporting their players during the season.
What we have modified: Based on your survey comments, we have moved our fitness from AthX to Goliath and will continue with Athlete Training, Nutrition and Sports Psychology sessions. We believe that Goliath will provide NAVC the most advanced and relevant "Volleyball Specific" program in the City.
-Why does NAVC buy new jerseys every year. Why can’t we reuse old jerseys?
We have discussed this often, as Jerseys are a significant expense. The maintenance, including management of uniform deposits and collection of jerseys at the end of the season and, storage of the jerseys in the off season creates a great deal of work for our volunteer Board. Also, players can have significant growth spurts between seasons and consequently have ill-fitting jerseys, which they will likely not want to wear.
What we have modified: We will create a clean & fresh look and continue with our reputation as a polished, elite club. We will however try to make our jerseys somewhat less elaborate to shorten the design phase and hopefully reduce the costs.
-How can I get more feedback from my coach during the season?
We agree that excellent communications improve all aspects of the coach and player (parent) relationship.
What we have modified: We will continue to help and assist our coaches throughout the season and remind them of importance of feedback and frequent, consistent communications between coaches, players and parents as part of their practice format.
Part of the communication is managing player and parent expectations about play time. We encourage our coaches to be transparent with players throughout the season, setting the expectation that play time could change, and to be prepared for that. It's within the coach’s full discretion to change play time, and we ask that they communicate with their players about this.
We know that regardless of a coach's effort to manage expectations and communicate, emotions can run very high when it comes to play time. We ask that parents follow the proper protocol of indicating a concern, which is always to approach the coach first, at the appropriate time (during a tournament is never an appropriate time). Please see below:
Proper communication protocol, if there is a concern*:
NEVER during a tournament
ALWAYS follow the 24 hour rule (take 24 hours from the start of the concern, prior to addressing it with coaches/NAVC)
after the 24 hours has elapsed:
athlete speaks to coaches before or after practice
if concern not resolved: athlete/parent emails the concern to coaches who will address it as appropriate
if concern not resolved: athlete/parent emails the NAVC parent liason (see contact under 'NAVC executive' on our website) who will address the concern as appropriate
*if the concern is an athlete safety matter, direct it to the NAVC executive immediately
Safe Sport Canada resource/reporting: https://cces.ca/safe-sport
-Why do we need a Team Slush fund and why was it so much extra? Why are the slush fund items not incorporated in the fees?
Each team will vary in terms of what they want out of a season. Extra tournaments, Sunday Leagues, additional clothing, food at tournaments, year-end parties, etc., are additional costs to a team. Teams determine these extra costs themselves and therefore, each team will be unique in the amount of money needed. We encourage you to provide your feedback when your team is deciding what they want to do – every family may have a different perspective on additional costs, so it's important to have your voice heard.
-Why does NAVC not have team player (hotel) rooms for players at Volleyball Alberta Tournaments?
We listen to the feedback (surveys) given to us at the end of each season. At the end of the 2014/2015 season, parents told us through our survey, that players sharing rooms did not have a positive effect on the team dynamics or on player performance during tournaments. As the Executive, we responded and changed our direction.
-Who is EventConnect (used to be HTG Sports) and why are they involved in our Hotel Bookings? Why do we not make our own decisions around hotel rooms?
Who is EventConnect: They are a business who work with clubs to secure accommodation for our teams and parent groups to ensure that we get excellent services, quality hotels and great rates at Volleyball Canada Host Hotels. As a club, we do not need to book our own hotels for events as they would secure rooms for us at select hotels making our booking processes quicker, secure and guaranteed. EventConnect must be used for National Championships for all clubs travelling outside of their zone. NAVC has its own Hotel Coordinator whose role as a volunteer is to book our hotels for all Provincial Tournaments. We will continue to make these reservations for our Coaches and Parents (player) groups.