4v4 is the OVA’s (Ontario Volleyball Association – the governing body of all volleyball in Ontario) youngest competitive division. There is a 4v4 all girls division, as well as an boys/co-ed division. If your child is too young for this, a great place to start is our development programs. This will set your child up with the fundamentals so they can go into their next tryout season, whether club or school, confident and knowledgeable.
Phoenix has teams ranging from 4v4 to 18U. Athletes with little experience with club volleyball can tryout for our 4v4 to 13U teams. We require athletes trying out for U15 and older to have club experience already.
As of recently, the OVA has allowed clubs a “re signing” period. This is usually a month long time frame where clubs can re-sign athletes from within the club. Offers to new athletes (to the club) are not allowed. Re-signing allows coaches to build a base for their team, it also allows them to secure athletes from the prior season.
The open commitment period is also a month long time frame where “free agents”, or any athlete who has not been re-signed to a club can receive an offer prior to tryouts. Clubs will usually run pre-tryout clinics during the month of August where coaches can see new athletes who are interested in their team. This is a great opportunity to meet coaches, get to know their coaching style and philosophies, as well as meet some of the team who may be re-signed already.
Every athlete that is on any of our teams has attended one, or multiple, of our tryouts. Tryouts typically start in September. Clubs will have multiple tryouts for each age group listed on their site or social media. There is usually multiple rounds of tryouts – open, where everyone is invited, and then invite-only, where the coach will select athletes to see them another time.
The OVA will release a schedule for when clubs are allowed to send out offers. Clubs must abide by these rules.
Communication between the club/coach and athlete during this time is crucial. You may encounter verbal offers, which are non-binding but is an agreement between the coach and athlete that when the time comes there will be a formal offer exchanged.
Coaches will send out offers on the day the OVA outlines. Upon acceptance of the offer, the athlete is now on the team.
More information about the tryout process in detail can be found here.
The indoor season runs from November to May. Practices typically start at the end of September – following tryouts. Most teams practice twice a week, more high-performance teams will practice three times a week and include a fitness session as well.
Season fee info can be found here.
Teams have 4 regular season tournaments. Some teams may choose to schedule and enter in tournaments outside of that primary commitment. This is an extra cost. All decisions of that nature are made on a team basis – the club has little influence on them.
Each team participates in Ontario Championships [Provincials]. This is a tournament over 3 days where teams are seeded based on their overall ranking from their 4 regular season tournaments. (Ranking System Info)
The first day teams play in a pool of 4, 3 matches in total. They are re-ranked, then on day 2 they play in a power pool of 4, also 3 matches total. Day 3 is single elimination, which means if they lose they go home. There is a possibility of 4 games on the final day of provincials.
The season fee runs until the last practice before Ontario Championships. All indoor programming thereafter is an extra fee. This also includes practices for teams who choose to go to Nationals.
Volleyball Canada Youth Nationals is an elective tournament that is usually run in towards the end of May. Our teams usually choose whether or not to attend by a vote.
Youth Nationals is an additional fee for families. Costs include but are not limited to tournament fee, coaching fee, coaches flights, coaches hotel rooms, coaches food. This is on top of personal expenses to transport your family there.
Youth Nationals happen all across Canada. The past few years they have been taking place on the West Coast.
Once tryouts are completed, there may be some teams that have open roster spots. At Phoenix these spots will be advertised. Other clubs may have different practices.
The OVA mandates that a roster can have up to 14 athletes on it. Most teams cap this at 12, or 2 strings, as volleyball is played with 6 athletes on the court at a time.
Athletes can join a team up until the roster lock deadline.
The roster lock deadline is usually at the beginning of February.
The OVA has compiled a document to better guide you in registering for roles with their athlete system (MRS).
Athletes not yet signed to a team only need to register as “TRYOUT PLAYERS”. This role has no fee.
Athletes who have signed with the club must register as “INDOOR PLAYER”. This role has a fee of around $100.
A volleyball game consists of two teams of six players each, separated by a net. The five volleyball court positions are setter, middle blocker, outside hitter, opposite hitter, and libero.
To start, flip a coin to determine which team serves the ball first.
Then the two teams will rally—or hit the ball back and forth over the net—until a fault occurs. There is a maximum of three hits per side.
The objective is to score points by sending the ball over the net, grounding it into the opponent’s court.
Volleyball matches are made up of sets, typically three at this level.
Three-set matches are two sets to 25 points and a third set to 15 points. Each set must be won by two points. The first team to win two sets is the winner of the match.
Quoted from “The Art of Coaching Volleyball”
Here are the fundamental, must-know rules of a volleyball game:
Quoted from “The Art of Coaching Volleyball”
Committing any of these volleyball rule violations results in a point for the opponent.
Quoted from “The Art of Coaching Volleyball”
Teams are required to score keep their own matches. Right now the OVA is piloting an initiative where during pool play, athletes will score keep for other teams while they’re off.
The OVA has great resources on this subject.