East Ridge Athletic Association

NCR Membership Registration REQUIRED for all players

Welcome to the ERAA JO Volleyball Page. ERAA’s JO Volleyball Program is ramping up for an excellent season. We are offering two levels of JO competition: 

JO Lite: 

JO Lite program runs Jan through April for 11 and 12 year olds girls and provides a less intense experience with lower time demands. Lite Team Program Fee is $400 and includes: 

• Lite Team Program for 11 and under Division
• For players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 2000
• Practice once a week for 2 hours
• Games: approx 4 times in a local area 11 year old  league and 1 local tourney 
• Season runs January through April 
• ERAA JO VB jersey
• Lite Team Program for 12 and under Division
• For players who were born between Sept. 1, 1999 and  Aug 31, 2000
• Practice once a week for 2 hours
• Games: approx 5 local tourneys  
• Season runs January through April 
• ERAA JO VB jersey

JO Full: 

JO Full program runs December through April and provides a competitive club-like experience for girls ages 12 to 16, with more practice and game time commitments.

 Full Team Program fee is $700 and includes:

• Full Team Program for Age Divisions 12 and under through 16 and under 
• For players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1995
• Practice twice a week for a total of  3 hours 
• Games: Northern Lights power league, 2 day NCR Presidents Day Festival tourney, 2 day NCR areas event, and 1 local area tourney
• Season runs December through April 
• ERAA JO VB Uniform (includes jersey, shorts)

Both the Lite and Full team program fees include: coaches salary, court rentals, team equipment and supplies, insurance, coach/officiating clinics, and membership in NCR (North Country Region) / USA Volleyball. 

JO Tryouts: 

We’ve revamped our Tryouts process, as follows:

• When:  Sunday, November 13th for all age groups
• Tryout times as follows:
• 11-12 Age Division: 3:00pm-5:15pm
• 13-14 Age Division: 11:30am-2:00pm
• 15-16 Age Division: 6:00pm-8:15pm
• Where: Gyms at Lake Middle School, Woodbury, MN
• Tryout Fee: $30
• Covers 3rd party evaluators, court rental, insurance and online registration fees
• The tryout fee is not refundable and does not apply towards the program fee.

Tryout Registration

• Completion of the online registration and payment of $30 is required in order to participate in the JO VB tryout process
• To speed things up at the tryouts, we would like everyone to Pre-Register through the NGIN website using the link at the top of this page and bring a print out of the Tryout Registration Receipt to tryouts which will be produced when you register.
• Try outs will consists of 2 sections for each age group 
• First Half= Skills (Passing, Setting, Hitting , Serving)
• Second Half = Controlled Scrimmage
• More tryout time is allotted this year per age group to ensure each athlete is adequately assessed. 
• We anticipate that Full Teams will be formed at the  12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 age levels, dependent on demand. Multiple teams at an age level will also be formed depending on demand. We will strive to form balanced teams with similar talent from top to bottom on each team. 
• While it is ERAA JO VB’s goal to place every athlete on a team, we acknowledge that final team formations may be adjusted based on the number of athletes trying out at the specific age division and the number of qualified coaches available.
• We want your athlete to be surrounded by players of similar skill, knowledge and maturity.  Players may tryout to “play up” with an older age group.  Only one tryout is needed, so if a player is not a good fit for the older age group she will still be evaluated for her own age group.   If after evaluating your athlete, the evaluators determine it would be a better fit for your daughter’s development to participate at a higher age division, your family will be contacted to offer this option.  Parents/guardians of an athlete trying out to “play up” must contact Jim Kelly, ERAA VB Director, in advance of tryouts. 
• Tryouts will be closed this year to the public. Only the athletes, coaches, evaluators, ERAA VB Director, and the ERAA VB Coaching/Player Development Coordinator will be allowed into the tryouts area. 
• External Evaluators will be used to evaluate our athletes and lead team formation.  Evaluators will also consult with coaches in team formation.
• Athletes will be notified via email within 72 hours after the end of tryouts regarding their tryout results. Parents/guardians will have 24 hours after notification to commit to the athlete’s placement and secure their position on a team.  The commitment will consist of 5O% down payment of the program fee.  The remaining 50% balance will be due by January 1, 2012. 

JO Age Divisions:

USA VOLLEYBALL JUNIOR OLYMPIC AGE CLASSIFICATIONS

For use during the 2011-2012 Season

All of the below listed age classifications are for USA Volleyball’s Junior Division.

• 18 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1993, or players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1992, and a high school student during some part of the current academic year.
• 17 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1994.
• 16 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1995.
• 15 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1996.
• 14 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1997.
• 13 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1998.
• 12 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 1999. 
• 11 and under Division: Players who were born on or after Sept. 1, 2000.

Translated to ERAA’s JO VB Program

• Lite Team Program for 11 and Under Division- Born on or after Sept 1, 2000
• Lite Team Program for 12 and Under Division - Born between Sept. 1, 1999 and Aug 31, 2000
• Full Team Program for 12 and Under Division - Born between Sept. 1, 1999 and Aug 31, 2000
• Full Team Program for 13 and Under Division - Born between Sept. 1, 1998 and Aug 31, 1999
• Full Team Program for 14 and Under Division - Born between Sept. 1, 1997 and Aug 31, 1998
• Full Team Program for 15 and Under Division - Born between Sept. 1, 1996 and Aug 31, 1997
• Full Team Program for 16 and Under Division - Born between Sept. 1, 1995 and Aug 31, 1996

We’ve been working through the summer to make improvements to our Volleyball club – all focused on delivering a best-in-class experience for our athletes. We listened to parent feedback from last year, and have been working on several changes to the club, including: 

ERHS alignment: We are revamping our coaching methods, volleyball terminology and strategy to directly align with East Ridge High School Volleyball. This will provide our athletes greater opportunities to continue their volleyball careers with ERHS teams. Our goal is provide our athletes with an experience equal to or better than private clubs, at a far lower cost, and in direct alignment with our High School team. 

Coaching: We’ve spent the summer working very hard to recruit skilled coaches, and are very excited with the results. Several of our new coaches come from winning volleyball programs, including Concordia College – multi-year national champs. Stay tuned to our website for bio’s of our incoming coaches. 

Coaching/Player Development Support: Byron Schneider has signed on as Coaching/Player development coordinator. Byron will drive consistent coaching methods across all our teams, in alignment with ERHS methods. This role will drive consistency as our athletes move from year to year up through new teams. Byron brings a ton of volleyball knowledge and passion with him (as well as a Division 1 Volleyball National Championship ring from Penn State – it’s very cool!) 

Competitive Philosophy – we are rolling out a consistent approach to the “Play to win” versus “Play to Develop” question. All teams and coaches will leverage our new approach, which will be covered at the parents meeting in early December. PLEASE attend if you can. 

We are very excited for the upcoming season and hope your athletes can join us.

If you have questions regarding ERAA VB please see the ERAA website www.eraamn.com or feel free to email us at VBDirector@eraamn.com 

Jim Kelly

ERAA Volleyball Director