There are a large number of clubs and teams in the Twin Cities metro area and beyond that are moving to JVA membership and events. The organization is called NorthStar Volleyball United.
NorthStar Volleyball United (NSVU) is a group of volleyball club directors that have a common vision to provide an ethical, cost effective, and well-organized volleyball experience for ALL clubs that participate in its events. The group is dedicated to increasing opportunities for all athletes, families, teams and clubs in the upper Midwest.
Don't be mistaken, NorthStar Volleyball United is not a power league, but simply a unification of club directors that host leagues and events.
The main goal of forming NSVU was to provide resources to clubs in the area to achieve THEIR goals. These resources would be a direct product of significant cost savings through the registration with JVA, and significant time savings through less hoops to jump through for registration and other time consuming training requirements. The additional resources each and every participating club will obtain will lead to the continued growth of the game at a grass roots level!
This idea, to pool the clubs' resources together to assist the volleyball community actuallyl began two years ago as a conversation between club directors from Kokoro, MN Select, M1, Crossfire, Club Tonka and Club 43. They saw an opportunity for clubs in the area to save a significant amount of money in relation to registration and events. The conversation revolved around the clubs' funds and how those funds were being utilized to benefit their athletes, families and facilities.
The club directors knew what their community needed, and saw the opportunity to register with JVA as a direct catalyst for change.
It was this past spring that the club directors began to act upon their conversations. In order for clubs to have the opportunity to register their club with JVA there HAD to be more JVA events in the area. With this in mind they decided to sanction the Big City Luau Tournament with JVA in 2019, followed by M1 and MN Select deciding to register their Molten Series Power League, as well as all of their events at their facilities in 2019 with JVA.
From there, it was another conversation with several club directors who also chose to register their hosted events with JVA. This sit down, face-to-face conversation over a meal was already bringing their community together!
The Cost Saving Includes:
Through the Collaboration of Several Clubs, 2019 Will Include Nearly 200 Events as Part of NSVU
As a group of club directors they insist that NSVU participating clubs abide by the rules of other governing bodies in the area regarding tryout dates, recruiting and training athletes to officiating. NSVU's leadership will help facilitate in person officiating training for its participants! This alignment ensures a continued level playing field for all clubs in the area regardless of affiliation.
The new model best serves those teams and clubs that play exclusively or nearly exclusively in local competition. Many clubs will elect to register some of their teams with JVA, USAV, and AAU depending on the events their teams will attend. For instance, if a club has a team that will compete at the Northern Lights Qualifier, that team will need to register with USA Volleyball. If a team will compete at AAU Nationals, that team will register with AAU Volleyball as well. But the club has the option to do what is best for their athletes, families and club from a monetary standpoint. Clubs will now have the option to reduce fees, purchase more equipment, pay coaches more, and enter more events. Clubs will be able to provide more for the same fees or less!
Through collaboration of several club directors, NorthStar Volleyball United is paving the way and demonstrating the benefit of clubs joining together to achieve collective goals that will help junior volleyball grow and flourish in the Upper Midwest.
To learn more about NorthStar United, visit the website HERE. To learn more about the Junior Volleyball Association click HERE. To include your event on the JVA website click HERE.
The JVA is an association of Junior Club Directors and Coaches who are dedicated to all facets of junior volleyball and have a desire to offer the best programming possible to their members. We are the leaders and forward thinkers in Junior Volleyball Programs and we are a voice for junior clubs. Our number one goal is to help club programs and events thrive.