About Club Volleyball
Volleyball is an exciting and rewarding sport that allows players to combine physical, athletic, and mental prowess to develop their game at both a personal and team level. Durham Rebels has been home to many successful volleyball athletes who have achieved post-secondary and professional success both on and off the court.
Making the decision to commit to a rep sport is an important one for families and we hope the information below will assist you in understanding what it means to be a member of our Club.
Divisions in Ontario Volleyball
In 2021, the Ontario Volleyball Association restructured its playing divisions by eliminating 11U-14U divisions and replacing them with 4v4, 6v6 and TLS. Information on these divisions can be found below. Coaches of teams in the EC division will select what format of volleyball (or combination) their team will play.
Rallyball (Early Contact)
Teams playing in the Early Contact division will play either 4 vs 4 or 6 vs 6 Rallyball (formerly called Triple Ball) or a combination of both. Athletes of varying ages may be involved in one tournament.
formerly 11U – 13U
TLS
Teams playing in the Traditional Limited Specialized division will play regular volleyball but players are not allowed to specialize (setter, outside hitter, middle blocker) and must rotate through all positions.
formerly 14U
Traditional
Teams playing in the Traditional division will play regular volleyball. Athletes begin to specialize with the Libero position being introduced in 16U.
15U – 18U
What is involved in playing Club Volleyball?
Please review the Frequently Asking Questions below.
For the 2023/24 season, our practices will officially begin the last Monday in September and continue through the end of April.
Teams that have a full complement of athletes (re-signed and summer signings) may start group and technical training in September complemented with team building events at the head coach’s discretion. Teams taking part in Nationals or a U.S. tournament may continue their season through May. Athletes must be prepared to commit to the full season. There are usually no practices or competitions over the Christmas break but some coaches may schedule travel tournaments (i.e. Montreal Classic first weekend in January) during this period.
The terms ‘Club, ‘Rep’, ‘Competitive’, or ‘Travel” are interchangeable and while certain sports use the other terms, the sport of volleyball has moved towards the term “Club Team” to describe their competitive teams.
- Athletes are permitted to try out for multiple clubs in any area (there is no residency rule), however, once an athlete formally commits to a club, that athlete may no longer attend tryouts or ID clinics with other clubs.
- All athletes must register online before attending tryouts.
- In addition to registering with our Club for tryouts, athletes must register through the Ontario Volleyball Association’s Member Registration System (MRS) as a tryout athlete (new season opens on September 1st each year).
- Tryouts fees apply and will be announced with the tryout schedule.
- Some teams may record athlete statistics (height, reach, vertical jump, etc) at tryouts and take an athlete’s headshot to help coaches accurately identify athletes.
- Players being offered a spot on a team will receive a written offer as well as a deadline (24 to 72 hours) to accept their offer.
- The Ontario Volleyball Association stipulates when offers can be made for specific age groups (a specific date, usually mid to late September)
- Offers must be on an Ontario Volleyball Association offer form.
- Clubs in Ontario must follow a Tryout policy, information on this policy may be found on the OVA website.
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Most Rebels teams practise a minimum of two evenings per week. Junior teams typically practise from 6-8 p.m., while senior teams practise from 8-10 p.m. Our youngest teams may have 90-minute practices due to shorter attention spans. High-performance teams may choose to have a third practice or technical training each week but this will be at the discretion of the head coach and communicated to families in advance.
Senior girls teams (15U and older) also take part in our Athlete Wellness Program. This includes a mandatory weekly strength and conditioning session and a number of in-class session that includes topics such as nutrition and mental preparedness. The Athlete Wellness Program is not an optional addition and athletes must be prepared to take part in all AWP sessions.
Some Junior teams will enjoy the Introduction to Strength & Conditioning program with ETS. We limit younger athletes to the Introductory program as we hope many continue to be multi-sport athletes during their elementary school years. Being a multi-sport athlete outweights any formal strength and conditioning program and is a more appropriate use of a young athlete’s time. The Introduction to S&C is a monthly program that occurs one evening per month and teaches athletes about body mechanics and the importance of preparing for sport through proper conditioning.
At the time of publishing, our teams will practise at various schools within the DDSB & DCDSB (Oshawa and Whitby), the Abilities Centre in Whitby, Canada Christian College, Garnier Secondary School in north Whitby, and Pickering Christian School in north Ajax. Other facilities may be added as school permits become available.
- Game play is tournament-format only and consists of about one tournament per month unless a team plays up in an older age division as well as their own.
- Most of our teams choose to compete in two age divisions (their designated age division plus the division above) and take part in the National Championships or a comparable year-end travel tournament.
- Teams are seeded (ranked) after each tournament with tournament locations being announced approximately two weeks prior to the tournament date.
- There is no league play or loops in the Ontario Volleyball Association.
- Teams can expect to play anywhere in the province including Durham, Cobourg, Newmarket, Barrie, Halton, Ottawa, and elsewhere.
- Most OVA tournaments are within a one to four-hour radius of Durham. The typical team attends 2 to 3 out of town tournaments in a season, but this cannot be predicted ahead of time. Younger teams usually have less travel.
- The OVA master tournament schedule is posted over the summer enabling families to know most of a team’s tournament schedule in advance.
- Tournaments are typically one full day on the weekend with the exception of Provincials and Nationals which take place over 3 days and include a mid-week commitment. Senior teams may also participate in Grand Prix tournaments which are 2 day tournaments.
We encourage elementary school-age athletes to be multi-sport athletes but managing to rep level sports at the same time can be extremely difficulty. Our club teams tend to be quite competitive and we generally ask our athletes to be fully committed to their team from October 1 – April 30 (or May 31 for teams travelling to Nationals or US tournaments). It is an expectation that athletes attend all practices, strength & conditioning sessions, and team events and use time management skills to balance academics with playing a competitive sport. The progress of a team can be hindered by athletes who fail to attend practices on a regular basis.
Athletes playing another rep sport that coincides with the volleyball season must discuss their commitment with the head coach prior to accepting their Rebels offer.
No. In OVA tournaments, teams participating in 11U through 14U follow a “Fair Play” rule which stipulates any player not starting the first set in a game, must start the second set and cannot be substituted unless the player becomes ill or injured. During the third set of play, coaches may play any player he/she chooses.
It is important that families understand “fair play” does not mean equal play; this is a competitive program and some athletes will play more than others based on their skill level, position, leadership, attitude and coachability.
In the 15U division and 16U Trillium division, coaches follow the Fair Play rule in pool play, then choose their line-ups freely once they enter afernoon cross-overs.
From 16U through 18U, coaches may play whichever line-ups they choose.
In 11U-13U game play, a Rally Ball (formerly called Triple Ball) format is used during OVA tournaments. Information on Rally Ball may be obtained from the OVA website.
If an athlete has not been in regular attendance at practices, a coach reserves the right to scratch that athlete from the tournament/game roster until his/her attendance improves and the coach believes it is safe and fair to have that athlete take part in competitions.
Club volleyball is competitive volleyball and play time is often linked to a player’s ability, attitude, and coachability. Not all coaches place the same weight on each of these values. As players move into older age divisions, the level of competition becomes extremely high and some athletes will see more playing time than other athletes.
Athletes on female teams 15U and older are required to take part in the Athlete Wellness Program. This program combines weekly strength and conditioning with regular in-class sessions that discuss topics such as nutrition, controlling the controllables, mental preparedness, accepting feedback, and more. When an athlete is committing to a team, they must ensure they are available and prepared to attend the AWP with their team. The AWP is included in the athlete’s club fees and part of their training program. Teams train at Elite Training Systems in south Whitby while in-class sessions take place in a classroom in north Whitby.
Our 14U teams will take part in Introduction to Strength & Conditioning sessions – the frequency will depend on the number of TLS teams and gym availability. These sessions are designed to introduce young athletes to the importance of preparing their body for sport to help reduce injury and perform at higher levels. These sessions will be run by ETS at its south Whitby location.
Many of our teams will compete in at least 1 U.S. tournament; these athletes (and their accompanying parent) will require a valid passport if their team will be travelling to the U.S.
Like any sport or activity, athletes need an engaged and supportive parent who is able to commit to providing their young athlete with rides to and from team events. They also need parents to model proper sportsmanship, commitment, selflessness, and cooperation.
New for 2024/25
Unfortunately, there has been a disturbing increase in negative parent behaviour across all levels of youth sports. For the 2024/25 season, Durham Rebels will be working with PInpoint Performance to hold both fall and winter mandatory workshop for parents of athletes on our competitive teams.
In order to keep team costs at a minimum and help the season run smoothly, all teams require team parents to volunteer with the team. Parents are needed as team managers/parent reps, bookkeepers, meal and travel planners, fundraising planners, photographers/videographers, social media managers, game scorekeepers and line judges, banquet reps and more. If your family is committing to Club volleyball, please be prepared to assist with your child’s team. The commitment time is very minimal when all parents assist.
Any team assigned tournament hosting duties by the OVA is compensated for their duties and must fulfill this obligation.
When teams go to tournaments, athletes are not permitted to leave the venue during the tournament day. As part of their team bonding experience and for convenience, teams set up lunch buffets (when permitted) and parents contribute items to the buffet on a rotating basis. All parents are expected to participate in and contribute to, the team buffet. Athletes with food allergies must ensure the team is made aware of this concern while those with food aversions will find the variety of items can accommodate any picky eater.
At least one parent must complete the Respect in Sport online parent program on behalf of their child athlete. This 60-minute learning resource is dedicated to the prevention of bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination (BAHD). The cost of the certification is $12 (payable by the parent) and once complete, parents should enter the certificate number in their OVA member profile. Any athlete whose parent has not completed the online program by the OVA deadline will NOT be permitted to compete in further OVA events until this requirement is met. RIS is a one-time certification and is not required annually. Learn more about RIS.
2024/25 Club Fees and Inclusions
All athletes are charged Club Fees by the Club. Teams that take part in extra competitions (invitationals, extra OVA tournaments, National Championships, US tournaments, etc. ) will also have Team Fees. The budget for team fees will be presented as early in the season as possible.
Team fees are costs for additional tournaments/events not included in Club fees. Not all teams participate in additional tournaments or events so team fees may not be applicable. Coaches will advise parents of the additional tournaments as early as possible, but information for invitational tournaments is generally not available until November. Team fees are collected by the team’s banker and may include:
- Invitational tournaments
- National Championships (locations vary based on age division)
- Additional OVA tournaments beyond the 6 included in Club fees (playing up)
- Special events such as team-building activities
- Coach travel expenses for out-of-town invitationals and tournaments not included in Club fees
Many teams are successful in acquiring sponsorships or fundraising to cover all or part of their team fees. Team budgets are prepared based on the number of rostered players on a team and all families share equally in additional costs incurred by a team, regardless of a player’s availability to participate in a given tournament or event.
Many teams are successful in acquiring sponsorships or fundraising to cover all or part of their team fees. Team budgets are prepared based on the number of rostered players on a team and all families share equally in additional costs incurred by a team, regardless of a player’s availability to participate in a given tournament or event.
Some teams acquire these extra funds through sponsorship, fundraising, or parent contributions with the latter being more difficult for some families. Fundraising should be a group decision but parents must be mindful that not all families have the same financial ability to pay for additional costs, therefore, assisting with fundraising or sponsorship activities ensures each family can get the financial support they need during the season.
All athletes will receive an athlete clothing kit. During games, all athletes must have their game jersey(s), navy blue shorts or fitness tights (athlete’s choice of cut/style), and navy blue or white crew socks. Please note, for the 2023/24 season the OVA requires all athletes to have the same coloured shorts/fitness tights; style of bottom is a personal choice as long as they are navy blue.
During practices, athletes must wear either a Durham Rebels, Ontario Volleyball, or Volleyball Canada t-shirt.
Optional branded items such as backpacks, hats, volleyballs, shorts, socks and other fanwear items will be available to order online directly from our clothing supplier for a short time after our registration. Athletes may wish to visit our official clothing supplier, Canuck Stuff Sports, in-person to purchase unbranded items such as socks, shorts, court shoes, and other volleyball-related items. Identify yourself as a Durham Rebels member to receive a Club discount.
Learning to be a good citizen is critical to the growth and development of young athletes. Our Rebels for a Cause initiative encourages teams to take on at least one community service project during the season. We encourage projects that have athletes personally engaged in helping their community, and not parents simply giving money to a loal charity (though we don’t discourage that either). By engaging in community service, young athletes experience and joy and value that one person or group can bring to the lives of others. Some of our past community service projects include:
