Newark Volleyball Association

12/24/2024

Merry Christmas from the Newark Volleyball Association! And thank you to all the parents and players who helped us make Christmas a little better for the children in the care of the National Youth Advocate Program!

https://newarkvolleyball.com/community-services/

11/04/2024

Club tryouts are over, but our club still has positions that need to be filled. Please forward if you know anyone interested.

07/03/2024

Our website is now ready at www.newarkvolleyball.com

We are prepared to accept registrations for players and coaching staff, as well as promote 2 local businesses through our sponsorship program! Visit our website to learn more.

The Newark Volleyball Association is a nonprofit youth volleyball club and federally recognized 501(c)(3) corporation.

05/30/2024

Great news! Our club has been federally recognized as a tax-exempt nonprofit, effective 19 December 2023!

This is important because we are now legal to accept tax-deductible donations from the public, to include full sponsorship of one of our teams. Donations and team sponsorships provide unique promotional opportunities for local/regional businesses, while also paying for educational, charitable, and community services (which participating players and coaches are required to attend), and of course, pay for the costs (does not cover cost of kneepads or individual OVR/USAV insurance) to play competitive volleyball across the Ohio Valley Region.

If you would like to sponsor a team, OR if you have recent experience as volleyball coach (even recreational), a child between the ages of 9-17 with a passion for volleyball, and would be interested in volunteering as a coach for his/her team, our new website will be up and running in June, with information on both options.

We were blessed to have the support of Newark City Schools and members of their staff in our first year of operation. I cannot emphasize enough, that without the support of our local directors and school staff, we could not make these opportunities a reality. For the moment, we can confidently cover (2) two 14 year-old (8th grade) teams with a practice location for our next season. With more support from local districts and schools, we can provide opportunities for as many as 19 teams (ages 9-17) in Licking County - assuming coaching staff and sponsors are available for each. If you would like to help our club with a facility for our practices, please do not hesitate to contact our club director, Jonathan Wooddell.

Thank you to every person who has helped make this possible! 😁

05/10/2024

Our NVA Eagles have had a great first season! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!

12/27/2023

We’re excited to announce the Newark Volleyball Association is now an Ohio nonprofit corporation! More developments are underway, with another big announcement in January!

11/16/2023

We are very thankful of NHS Volleyball Head Coach Dava Pinney and the Newark High School for their donated equipment. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

11/09/2023

We would like to thank Rita Pendexter and the Licking Heights Middle School for their generous donation of much-needed volleyball equipment. This donation helps ensure our next season's teams will have many options for success in the future. Our association has been truly blessed by the good deeds of others.

10/28/2023

We just wanted to thank everyone who was at tryouts tonight and congratulate all the participants offered positions. We were fortunate that we did not need the Regionals team and every position has been filled. Not as many participants were present as anticipated and I hope those youth not present were able to find positions on other teams if they wished. Bri and I are excited about this team and will strive to provide an enjoyable experience for these kids. We have already seen massive potential in the team as a whole.

Looking forward to a great season,
Jon Wooddell

10/27/2023

Today is the day of our tryouts from 5PM-7PM at the Newton Elementary School! For those who haven't been informed, our gap in practice availability has been covered. Also I have added the provision to create a second team to play in the Regionals division, assuming a parent is willing to coach said team. (As long as the person(s) is squared-away, I can bring them up to speed in time). This should ease the pressure of any children worried of not making the team. The costs to play are the same. If there is room available on the Regional team, I will allow players who tried out for other clubs but did not make the team, apply to play for our second team.

Just a reminder parents NEED to go to ovr.org and click on their link for USAV Membership if they do not already have a tryout membership. (Be certain you choose the "tryout membership" option when presented with two membership choices. The correct membership is only $10 and can be viewed at any time by logging into your SportsEngine account from the same device used to create the membership) For those who purchased memberships but the system was not showing the membership card, I am tracking this has been fixed but may need to sign into SportsEngine on our computer or your own phone to prove membership.

A parent or guardian is REQUIRED to be present at our tryouts to sign waivers, releases, and registration forms unless prior arrangements were made before today.

And also please bring $10 cash to help pay for the costs of tryouts. Our tryout profits will be donated to the Newton PTO and I will be working with them towards a charitable use of those funds.

Please do not bring food or beverages (excluding water) out of respect for the school and their staff. Also, we will need to be mindful of parents picking up their children from the SAC program, they will be seated at the table on the right side of the cafeteria. We will need to keep towards the left side, which is adjacent to the gymnasium. Parents will be able to view their children's participation from this area but may stand inside the gymnasium, so long as they do not stand behind the serving areas or too close to the court.

Also out of respect for the school, we need to make sure our families' do not wander the hallways or horseplay inside the cafeteria. We are only insured for myself and the participants and are not responsible for any child not participating in tryouts. Bathrooms and water fountains are close by, but participants are encouraged to bring a water bottle they can identify as their own.

Word has been spreading of the good we are trying to do and we have been blessed by good people and organizations capable of helping us. We appreciate you, and thank you all!

Good luck to all your children today. If everything goes as planned, it will be a pleasant experience for everyone.

Jon Wooddell

10/25/2023

I've had many parents express their concerns of the possibility of their child attending tryouts for our club, but not make the team, while missing the opportunity to tryout for other clubs on the same day.

If my estimations are correct, there are twice the number of 13-year-old girls interested in playing traveling volleyball, than positions on teams available in Licking County. And I don't want to leave anyone without of an opportunity to play.

If I am able to secure a practice location/times for a second or even a third team before or just after tryouts, I will support the creation of the additional team(s) to play in the Regional division, provided each team has at least 8 players and no more than 14. The coach(s) and/or manager(s) for the team would need to be picked from the parents or professional volunteers, and I already have the required forms prepared from when I filed for nonprofit status in June. Those parents who coach/manage will need to read, understand, and sign agreement to abide to our company bylaws, in addition to completing required training courses and background checks.

After our tryouts, I will follow up with all the participants who were not offered positions and set a deadline for the creation of the new team(s). I'll try to help the players who didn't get picked for other club's tryouts, and will contact the club director(s).

This is all assuming I am able to arrange practice locations for the additional teams. I've already done the preparations for tryouts, so for the next two days I'll work on this.

10/20/2023

TRYOUT UPDATE:

I originally intended for our tryout participants to have the option to leave our tryout early, so they could attend the tryouts of other clubs being held at the same time and day. Unfortunately, the league has a rule against this to prevent too much stress on the children, which is understandable.

"Tryouts are limited to one contact a day, not to exceed three consecutive hours. Clubs that have more than one tryout session in an age group on a weekend are responsible for policing this policy. Clubs that permit a violation of the policy will face a fine of up to $1000 for each occurrence. Any second session or “call back” is also limited to three consecutive hours. No post-tryout organizational meetings are to be scheduled prior to the deadline for acceptance." - OVR

If I had the ability to hold tryouts on Friday AND Saturday, I would. Being a small club, we don't have the room in our budget for the additional costs.

In an effort to support opportunities for as many players as possible, I will be contacting all participants that night to notify the parent/guardian of their child's offer to play, or her order on our wait list. That way anyone without an offer still has an opportunity to contact/tryout for other clubs that Saturday and Sunday. Participants have until Nov 1st at 9PM to accept offers, after that point offers will be sent to those on the wait list in order.

There are a total of 10 rostered positions available for our team.

Also, I want to keep everyone fully informed and without surprises on the day of our tryouts. The last two weeks have been very busy for me because I learned the location we intended to practice at was unavailable when I tried to secure the dates in writing. In addition, our family's lives have been stressful the last 2 months due to our infant son's health.

I've since arranged for practice coverage for 13 out of our 17 weeks of practice. After news I was given yesterday and today, there is a strong possibility of our association owning a complete net system before next Friday. And if that happens, there are more options that become available for practices.

Compared to all the work I've done in preparation for this association, finding coverage for those remaining 4 weeks is a drop in the bucket, even when gyms are in extremely high demand during that time. Those of you who already know me, know I am resourceful and when something is difficult, I do not give up, I dig in.

Thank you for showing an interest in our team and I look forward to seeing you next week!

- Jonathan Wooddell