Grade 3-8 Spring League Volleyball

Spring league volleyball in Grantsburg began in 2014 and has always been free and open to everyone. It is our mission to make volleyball accessible and affordable to all! Club volleyball (established in 1993) used to be the primary way for youth to compete, but cost and Twin Cities travel were difficult for some families. Grantsburg will continue to offer Crex Meadows (winter/spring) CLUB volleyball every year that a capable, willing parent organizes an age level team. Some Grantsburg players try out for area clubs as well.
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Grade 3:
Volleyball team competition begins in grade 3 with four Saturday mornings in April in Rush City (Minnesota). Information is sent home with all grade 3 girls in January or February. Once a week practices begin in March.

Grades 4-8:
We offer an option (or addition) to USAV or JVA juniors (Crex Meadows winter club volleyball): the Wisconsin Independent Volleyball League (WIVL). This league has been in existence since 2004, but 2014 was Grantsburg's first year of involvement. For complete information, please visit the website: www.gnbl.org and click on the page at the top for “Volleyball League.” Please skim the material below for some important items.

MISSION. The WIVL was created to give girls an opportunity to play volleyball in the months having fewer conflicts with other youth sports, such as basketball-gymnastics-hockey in winter or soccer & softball in late spring/summer.

Grantsburg volleyball seeks to provide opportunities for skill development and competition, and encourage young athletes to try a variety of healthy activities rather than "specialize" in one sport. We want the WIVL experience to be affordable and accessible to all families. We emphasize free or low cost and local, with limited travel.

[Side note: WHY ISN'T YOUTH VOLLEYBALL PLAYED IN THE FALL DURING THE HIGH SCHOOL SEASON? Although there are fall leagues in the Twin Cities, they began as enrichment and replacement for bigger MN districts that cut their middle school volleyball programs. Also, the high school season requires Saturday tournaments to create a full schedule for each school's multiple age level high school teams. Therefore, there is very little gym space available, and the limited supply of coaches & officials is already stretched thin.]

PHILOSOPHY. As the varsity coach, my goals for our youth teams are to get EVERYONE adequate court time. Playing time won't always be exactly equal because of variables like individual game length or, in the case of older teams, specialized positions (setter, libero, etc.), but playing time should be VERY similar for our youth teams. When I work with a team, I keep records of playing time and rotate "subs" evenly. Our emphasis at all levels of volleyball include teaching strong fundamental skills, instilling good knowledge of the game (volleyball "IQ"), and emphasizing teamwork and character/sportsmanship. We expect players to have positive attitudes and try their best. We expect coaches to be fair, positive, and encouraging to all. We want to see "pass-set-hit (attack)" combinations and will focus on skill improvement rather than simply on winning--although winning is always a goal.

Everyone matters. Children develop at different rates; some show early signs of athletic coordination, but get surpassed by late bloomers. No one can predict who will progress to a high level or stay interested. All players deserve the opportunity to learn and play and HAVE FUN!

It was never my expectation that our youth play winter club AND spring league AND play middle school volleyball, etc. Ideally, players will choose one or two of these "seasons" to build a solid volleyball foundation since each season is very short in duration (about 7-8 weeks). It is important for young athletes to enjoy a variety of sports and avoid playing the same sport year-round. If athletes choose one sport, taking breaks is essential to avoid physical & mental burnout or overuse injuries.

FLEXIBILITY. This league has a short season, is played only on Saturdays, costs less than most sports, allows teams to choose the number of tournaments they play (out of 7-8 possible) and choose the number of matches played in a day (3 to 7 possible). It offers the opportunity to host and/or travel to other WI schools generally within an hour or so. Players & coaches--with family input--choose their own schedules.

COST. Historically, participation in this league has been FREE. When our teams travel to other schools, there is a charge for every spectator, usually in the $3-5 range. When Grantsburg hosts a tournament, we do not charge parents of GRANTSBURG players who are competing that day. All other spectators pay admission to Grantsburg tournaments. Beginning in 2022, fees to compete were increased to $28 per match with a $16 "hosting" credit. We have been able to let players compete for free by earning enough money at our home tournament.

TEAM SIZE & AGE. The league offers grade 8, grade 7, grade 6, and grade 4/5 levels. Older players are not allowed to play down a grade. Younger players MAY play up. The grade 4/5 league has teams that are all grade 4, all grade 5, or combined grade 4/5. Ideally, teams will have 8-10 players. If there are fewer players, it can be tricky if more than one player is unavailable on a play date. If there are more players, individuals do not receive adequate court time. We can have more than one team at the same age level, and teams can ‘share’ players if needed. Because advanced players can get frustrated, and less experienced players can get intimidated and overwhelmed, we occasionally group players of similar age, experience, and ability level together. There might still be quite a range of ability. Skilled coaches will strive to find creative solutions so that everyone feels both challenged and confident.

Players are only allowed to be from the Grantsburg school district, or live within the district and homeschooled. This is a league rule.

COACHES: For both winter club and spring league volleyball, we have historically had parent volunteers coach the teams. We are getting to the point that there are many capable and knowledgeable parents or alumni willing to give their time to help ALL team members succeed. I am always willing to provide support, resources, and ideas to our coaches, in addition to helping run practices. Although I cannot have current GHS players assist me when I coach, some of our coaches have enjoyed their help. The girls benefit from this mentoring relationship and it gives our coaches more ideas for running practices, using a variety of drills, and teaching skills. If you feel confident to coach a team, please talk to me. When we have more than one person interested in coaching per team, we encourage "co-coaching."

My coaching experience is listed under "Coaching Staff"

UNIFORMS & GEAR. We have simple numbered jerseys that the younger teams borrow, purchased with spring league funds. Players may wear black spandex or black shorts or skirts or pants of any length. Volleyball or court shoes are recommended, but clean gym shoes are fine. Kneepads are recommended. You may buy new or ask around to borrow, etc. We ask all coaches to respect the mission of this spring league to keep costs LOW and we request that NO new jerseys be purchased by individual families to use for spring league. We have plenty to borrow, and if players who do both winter club and spring league want to wear their purchased winter club jerseys, any spring league players on that team who do NOT have those jerseys will be required to borrow a similar one or the entire team will need to borrow a set of spring league jerseys. Lost or damaged jerseys will cost $20 for families to replace.

TOURNAMENTS. The WIVL play dates are eight Saturdays in March, April, May, plus a league championship. When we register each team, we list the dates that a particular team is NOT available to play. For example, some of our young teams end their season in April due to soccer & softball. Technically, these are not "tournaments" with pool play, brackets, and champions. The WIVL calls them "meets" and simply offers flexible scheduling play dates with pre-arranged match times and opponents.

PRACTICES. In February or March, we often host FREE Saturday morning clinics/practices. It can be difficult to find after-school practice time in the GHS or GMS gyms if our high school basketball teams are still in season or our high school spring athletic teams (softball, baseball, track) are stuck inside due to poor weather. Ideally, each team would have at least ONE practice a week, two if possible. It is good to have more practice dates than competition dates to build a solid foundation of fundamental skills. Some of these times might be after 7:30pm for grade 7-8 teams, but we strongly encourage all levels to finish by 8:00 in the evening. Although the floor and net are not good at the elementary school, I might be able to reserve that gym for our youngest teams from 4:30-6:00 when we struggle to get into the GMS or GHS gyms. We do not schedule practices on Wednesdays or Sundays.

TENTATIVE dates for grade 4-8 SPRING LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL:

January : Enrollment information becames available by the middle of the month and is emailed to grade 4-8 families who have been involved previously or who asked me for information. Check WIVL website for more info (see above), email me to ask questions (see below), and talk among yourselves to determine if there are enough interested players to create teams. We also post signup information on the Grantsburg Volleyball Facebook & Instagram pages, this website, and send paper slips home from school with anyone interested.

Early February: This is the deadline for collecting registration forms and indicating each player's intent to participate! We only use online registration. No late additions will be accepted after each year's deadline date UNLESS a team has fewer than 8 players and specific "recruiting" is needed.

February: Volunteer coaches are secured. Coaches organize players into teams and choose play dates.

Deb finalizes all registration materials and play dates to submit to WIVL.

Saturdays in late February/early March: MIGHT be skills clinics in GHS or GMS. Coach Deb hosts FREE clinic/practices for grades 3-6. Older players are welcome to assist with younger player sessions. GHS senior volleyball players or any GHS students with past volleyball experience are welcome to assist any level for community service hours if paperwork is pre-approved and signed. No current GHS players may assist Deb with any coaching/instruction due to WIAA rules.

Play dates: All Saturdays:
We will be assigned to compete on FOUR Saturdays, from mid-March to early May. We will likely avoid the early March dates to get more practice first. There is a league tournament in mid-May, but we do not usually compete in that as softball is underway with a lot of participation overlap. We often end the last Saturday of April.

Second Saturday of May. Some years, grades 4-5-6 play in a Rush City tournament on the second Saturday of May. There is also a WIVL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNEY. We have generally avoided participating this weekend due to it previously falling on graduation and 8th grade Washington DC trip. If teams are interested in this, we can work something out.

Current year registration forms available by contacting Coach Deb Johnson: djohn@gk12.net

CLICK HERE for concussion information (only need to read, do not print)
CLICK HERE for a .pdf comparing school, club, spring league volleyball in terms of dates, costs, etc.

Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns!
Deb Allaman-Johnson
Grantsburg Volleyball Coach
djohn@gk12.net

Grantsburg Volleyball

Coaching Staff

Volleybuddies

GHS VB History - under construction

College Players

Crex Meadows Winter Club Volleyball

Grade 3-8 WIVL Spring League Volleyball

DIG IT Summer Camps