BOYS AND GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT (13-17)

• SINCE WE DO NOT DO TRYOUTS PARENTS HAVE TO POLICE AND REALLY THINK IF THIS IS THE RIGHT LEVEL FOR THEIR ATHLETE. ATHLETES MUST HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE WITH ROTATIONS.
• IF AN ATHLETE IS NEW TO US:  THEY MUST HAVE PLAYED ON THEIR SCHOOLS JV/ VARSITY TEAM IN THEIR PREVIOUS SEASON AND KNOW ROTATIONS. IF YOUR ATHLETE WAS ON THE FRESHMAN TEAM IN THEIR PREVIOUS SEASON THEY MUST SIGN- UP FOR ROTATIONS TOURNAMENT BEFORE JOINING THE HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT PROGRAM.
  • IF AN ATHLETE IS RETURNING: THEY MUST HAVE A RECOMMENDATION FROM A COACH
• AGES: 13- 17
• GENDER: BOYS AND GIRLS- PROGRAMS ARE SEPERATED BY GENDER
• EXPERIENCE: 2 YEARS OF FORMAL INSTRUCTION AND 6-2 TRAINING 
• FORMAT: 6 TOTAL CLASSES FOR 1.5 HOURS EACH AND ONE 5-8 HOUR TOURNAMENT DETERMINED BY SIGN-UPS
• CAN I REPEAT: YES, YOU CAN CONTINUE THIS PROGRAM UNTIL YOU AGE OUT OR WHEN YOU FEEL READY TO TRYOUT FOR A CLUB TEAM IN THE AREA. WE GIVE THE ATHLETES THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE DIFFERENT POSITIONS EACH TIME THEY SIGN UP. 

BEGINNER PROGRAM CONTENT

• OVERHAND SERVE
• PASSING- FOREARM AND HAND
• SETTING- FORWARD AND BACK
• HITTING- OUTSIDE, MIDDLE AND RIGHT SIDE
• CHANGE OF DIRECTION AND MOMENTUM CONTROL
• BASIC GAMEPLAY

INTRO TO TOURNAMENTS CONTENT

• TRANSITIONING (OUTSIDE, MIDDLE, RIGHTSIDE, AND BACKROW)
• SWING BLOCKING
• CONFIDENCE SETTING DURING GAMEPLAY
• BACKROW ATTACKS
• FRONTROW DEFENSE
• BACKROW DEFENSE
• INTERMEDIATE GAMEPLAY

ROTATIONS TOURNAMENT CONTENT

• 6-2 ROTATIONS (POSITIONS ASSIGNED BY REC IT STAFF)
• ROTATIONAL POSTIONS AND RULES
• SERVE POSTIONS AND RULES
• SERVE RECEIVE POSITIONS AND RULES
• COVERING

• 6-2 ROTATIONS (POSITIONS ASSIGNED BY REC IT STAFF)
• GAMEPLAY STRATEGY 
• TEMPO CONTROL
• INTRODUCTION TO PLAYS (32, STACKS, TANDEM, X-PLAY, QUICKS, ETC)
• HOW TO GET MORE:  
  • ACES, KILLS, ASSISTS, IN-SYSTEM PASSES, FREEBALL CONVERSIONS, DIVE SAFELY, MAKE SMARTER MORE STRATEGIC DECISIONS

DURING THE PRACTICES, THE ATHLETES WILL PLAY WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE TO HELP THEM GET COMFORTABLE PLAYING WITH ANYONE. THE GAMEPLAY WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE LEVEL OF ATHLETES WHO SIGN UP. SINCE WE DON'T DO TRYOUTS THERE CAN BE SOME VARIETY IN THE LEVEL OF THE ATHLETES WHO JOIN.

RANGES: 

• LOW END: MAJORITY NEW TO US OR ON JV: GAMEPLAY WILL BE FOCUSING ON MAKING QUICKER DECISIONS WHEN THE BALL IS BETWEEN TWO PLAYERS. WHEN THE ATHLETES ARE NEW TO US OR SHY, THEY ARE MORE HESITANT AND LET BALLS DROP. WE WILL ALSO FOCUS ON EARNING THE HITTING OPPORTUNITIES WITH LOTS OF SERVE RECEIVE CONVERSION GAMEPLAY
• HIGH END: MAJORITY RETURNING OR VARSITY LEVEL: THE GAMEPLAY WILL FOCUS ON RUNNING PLAYS OUT OF SERVE RECEIVE AND DEFENSE. THE ATHLETES WHO HAVE DONE THE BEGINNER, INTRO TO TOURNAMENTS, AND ROTATIONS TOURNAMENTS ARE WELL ROUNDED AND CAN HANDLE TEMPO CONTROL. 

THE ATHLETES WILL PARTICIPATE IN A 5-8 HOUR TOURNAMENT DEPENDING ON HOW MANY TEAMS ARE PLAYING. THE ATHLETES WILL BORROW A UNIFORM AND WILL BE REQUIRED TO RETURN IT AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE TOURNAMENT. MANY ATHLETES IN THIS PROGRAM PLAN TO RECORD THESE GAMES AND SEND THE FOOTAGE TO D3 COLLEGE COACHES SO ALL ATHLETES SHOULD TAKE THE TOURNAMENT SERIOUSLY. 

TOURNAMENT RULES: 

1. ATHLETES MUST SERVE FROM BEHIND THE ENDLINE
2. LIBEROS ARE ALLOWED- MIDDLES CAN EARN PLAYTIME IN THE BACK ROW
3.  REFS WILL CALL PLAYERS OUT OF ROTATION
4. SERIOUS DOUBLES WILL BE CALLED
5. BACKROW ATTACKING RULES WILL BE ENFORCED
6. ATHLETES CANNOT TOUCH THE NET OR THE CENTER LINE

RIGHT SIDE/OPPOSITE HITTERS

REC IT VOLLEYBALL RUNS A 6-2 SYSTEM. WHICH MEANS, IN ORDER TO BE A RIGHT SIDE HITTER/ OPPOSITE YOU ALSO NEED TO BE A SETTER. IF YOU TYPICALLY PLAY AS A RIGHT SIDE HITTER, BUT DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SET YOU CAN PLAY AS A FRONT ROW AND GET SUBBED OUT IN THE BACKROW, OR PLAY A DIFFERENT POSITION. IF YOU WANT TO TRY SETTING YOU CAN GIVE IT A SHOT, BUT IF YOU ARE NOT EXECUTING THE JOB OF A SETTER AND IT PULLS THE LEVEL DOWN THEN WE CANNOT MAKE YOU A SETTER. 

LIBEROS:

IF YOU ARE ASSIGNED AS A LIBERO THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU WILL PLAY FOR TWO PLAYERS. IN SOME GAMES YOU MAY PLAY BACKROW FOR ONLY ONE MIDDLE IF THE OTHER IS MORE AGGRESSIVE OR A BETTER PASSER. YOU WILL HAVE A LIBERO UNIFORM SO YOU WILL STILL HAVE TO FOLLOW THE LIBERO RULES (NO HAND SETING IN THE FRONT ROW, AND NOT HITTING THE BALL ABOVE THE TAPE) ALSO, EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE TO HIT, YOU STILL NEED TO PRACTICE FRONT ROW DURING THE FIRST 4 WEEKS OF THE PROGRAM SO THE MIDDLES CAN PRACTICE BACKROW FOR WHEN THEY SERVE AND YOU CAN LEARN FRONT ROW, JUST IN CASE SOMEONE GETS HURT.

DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST:

IF YOU ARE NORMALLY A D/S WE WILL STILL REQUIRE YOU TO DO FRONT ROW DURING THE FIRST 4 WEEKS OF PRACTICE. WE WANT YOU TO BE WELL ROUNDED. WE HAVE HAD ATHLETES START AS D/S BECAUSE THEY WERENT CONFIDENT WITH THEIR HITS AND LEAVE THE PROGAM AS A FULL TIME OUTSIDE HITTER AFTER DEVELOPING THEIR HITTING TECHNIQUE. 

MIDDLES:

DURING THE PROGRAM YOU WILL DEVELOP AS A BACKROW PLAYER. SOMETHING TO KEEP IN PERSPECTIVE IS D2 OUTSIDE HITTERS ARE: WOMENS- 5'10'' TO 6'0'' AND MENS- 6'3 TO 6'6''. EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE PLAYING AS A MIDDLE IN HIGH SCHOOL, WE WANT TO KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN BY DEVELOPING YOUR PASSING. IN OUR PROGRAM YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE TALL AS A MIDDLE. WE RUN PLAYS THAT HELP BUILD VALUE FOR SMALLER PLAYERS.

OUTSIDE HITTERS:

THIS IS THE MOST POPULAR POSITON WHICH MEANS YOU WILL HAVE TO SHARE THE POSITION WITH OTHERS AND WILL MOST LIKELY NOT GET ALL AROUND PLAY TIME. IF YOU ARE A MIDDLE AND WE HAVE A LIBERO, YOU WILL GET MORE PLAY TIME IF YOU ARE A MORE CONSISTENT AND AGGRESSIVE PASSER THAN THEM.

SETTERS:

WE ARE RUNNING A 6-2 SYSTEM. YOU NEED TO DEVELOP YOUR CONFIDENCE WITH HITTING RIGHT SIDE AND BACK SETTING. THIS IS GENERALLY A LESS DESIRED POSITION SO YOU HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF PLAYING ALL THE WAY AROUND IN THE TOURNAMENT WITH NO SUBSTITUTIONS. THIS MEANS THAT YOU MUST HAVE A CONSISTENT SERVE TO HAVE THIS POSITION.