Page 1. Tournament Locations & Dates 1. In the past we've run
Page 1. Tournament Locations & Dates 1. In the past we've run events at Twin Lakes in Palatine and Four Lakes, Lisle. These are great suburban venues, nice courts and plenty of parking. One drawback is limited court space, most teams get shut out. Should we continue running tourneys at these locations? Yes 59.68% 37 No 40.32% 25 Number of respondents 62 Number of respondents who skipped this question 12 2. We're considering running an event or two at Montrose Beach, about 4 miles north of N Ave Beach. Would this venue interest you? Yes 90.00% 54 No 10.00% 6 Number of respondents 60 Number of respondents who skipped this question 14 3. If you're familiar with Montrose Beach, please share with us your insights. 1. Dirty and long walk to restrooms and any food 2. It's pretty nice, low-keyed. Has lots of parking 3. It's a nice beach 4. It's nice because the courts are far from the water. And there's a lot of space to pepper. The sand is good. It's hard to get to by public transportation though. 5. Difficult to find the actual court area. 6. The parking is free. Just allow extra time if there is other events running around Montrose like a 5K race. 7. played in one tournament last year at montrose- parking was easier then north ave. 8. Poor parking 9. Easy to get to lots of parking. 10. Easier to find parking 11. Parking is the biggest issue. Would their be concessions, restrooms available? 12. Yes. There is a big parking lot at Montrose Beach. It is also a very large beach. 13. Great facility. Lots of courts. Free parking. Beautiful views. 14. Yes, we like it 15. It's okay. Low keyed, but we like the parking. 16. It is ideal for beach tournaments but not as nice as north ave. 17. Seems like a good location. Like all public places, gets a little crazy/crowded. 18. Free parking. Parking at North Ave is expensive and limited. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. Beach is key! Should be by the lake, and easy parking there Not a great atmosphere I The sand is nicer than north ave but I enjoy playing at both. We've attended beach volleyball events at Montrose and favor the easier parking option. 24. The sand is a little heavier than at North Ave and can be hard nearer the water. The playing surface is definitely different if you move beyond the primary courts nearer the sidewalk. The best courts get crowded early on nice days. Number of Respondents 24 Number of respondents who skipped this question 50 4. Our summer v-ball season is a short one. To get in more events, we could always offer tournaments on Sundays. Do you think players would be interested in playing on Sundays? Yes 66.67% 42 No 14.29% 9 Maybe 19.05% 12 Number of respondents 63 Number of respondents who skipped this question 11 5. We're considering starting our program earlier in the season, perhaps as early as the 1st week in June, even though the players are still in school and are participating in indoor events. Do you think there would be much interest in these earlier tourneys? Yes 75.41% 46 No 24.59% 15 Number of respondents 61 Number of respondents who skipped this question 13 6. We're considering extending our program out to mid-Auust, perhaps as late as the 3rd week in August, even though the players are starting to return to school and their indoor programs. Do you think there would be much interest in these late summer tourneys? Yes 85.25% 52 No 14.75% 9 Number of respondents 61 Number of respondents who skipped this question 13 Page 2. Registration Issues 7. Registration for our tourneys begin a week before each event. Last summer our tourneys sold out, resulting in the following common complaints: 1. From Club Administrators: They need to plan ahead in order to properly schedule their program for their players and coaches. Not knowing the number of slots they'll secure from week to week is problematic. 2. From Individuals: They can't participate. To address these problems, one idea is to sell season tickets to players and clubs. Individuals could sign up for a whole season of play while clubs could secure a specific number of spots for each event. Do you like this idea? Yes 50.79% 32 No 49.21% 31 Number of respondents 63 Number of respondents who skipped this question 11 8. Selling season tickets raises a host of issues. One obvious one, what if a season-ticket holder can't participate (injury, illness, a better opportunity, etc.). So, a couple of questions: 1. Do you have any suggestions or insights concerning how we could create a secondary market for entry ticket transfers that wouldn't turn into an administrative nightmare? 2. Do you foresee any other problems with implementing this program, and if so, do you have any solutions? 1. If a participant is unable to play they could sell their ticket / slot to another team that is able to play in whatever tournament 2. let players transfer their entries to others 3. What if there is not enough room for people that don't belong to a club? There might not be enough room for them to participate. 4. I don't support season tickets 5. Selling season tickets would create more problems. If you are selling out you need a bigger venue and more events. Registration should begin sooner and could have a wait list. If someone from the registration needs to cancel they could be replaced from the wait list with minor fee. And if you have more events with earlier registration the players, by signing up, will tell you what is working and not working. 6. I don't want to have to pay for an entire season if my daughter won't be playing and I don't like the idea of clubs taking up all the spots. This isn't fair, and it could force players into a club and just to secure a spot in the tourney. First come first serve works best. Leave it as is please! 7. I like the idea of season tickets, however if a season ticket holder can not or does not participate in several tourneys they would be taking up a spot that could have otherwise been sold to a different team, resulting in lee teams actually there at the event. Don't have a good idea on how to prevent it though, sorry. Seems like season tickets may be more of a headache. Maybe offering "packages" would be an option. For instance, you could purchase up to 3 or 4 tourneys ahead of time? 8. Season ticket holders could have the benefit of paying less. Therefore if they have to miss a tourney or 2, it wil end up to cost the participant the same amount. 9. All-season entries are a great idea for clubs. They could easily replace teams or players that drop at the last minute. As for individual teams, that probably won't work. 10. The problems we had were conflicts with indoor nationals and still trying to get a qualifying sand match in for nationals prior to the mid-July dates. Sunday options in June would be great. Overall, more June options would help, then it's a matter of being around to sign up at the right time. Perhaps a partial-season package would help. Make it possible to buy 4 games up front and lock them in, but perhaps require that they get spaced out - 1 in June, 2 in July, and 1 in August, for example. My daughter plans on competing in as many tournaments as possible and the weekly sign ups make it stressful come Saturday or Sunday for the following week registration. We were at indoor tournaments last year and by the time we got out of the venue, we were unable to register. 11. I like the idea of a season pass but as stated, it is hard to participate every week. It was a little bit annoying having to sign up every week. Maybe a pass for a given number of tournaments (let's say 4 or 5) where you can pick the dates when you purchase your pass. 12. *it limits opportunity for others to secure a spot *allow them to have someone in their place 13. Have a facebook page to switch or transfer tickets. Kind of like craigslist. What if you want to change partners and have signed up for a season of play with one partner. Solution? 14. Here's a problem; If a season ticket holder misses a tournament, you'll have an open slot that would be better off sold to another. 15. I could see where clubs wold benefit - they could send different teams each week. But I don't think it would work for individual teams - those schedules fluctuate week by week (day by day). 16. Make it transferable 17. How does places like California/Fl handle too many participants and not enough availability? Maybe spilt tournaments by ages (i.e 14 and under play on sat and 15+ play on sun) 18. let them transfer them 19. No solutions just problems. Not sure how this would be managed. We are with a club and try to attend many events.(almost all). Need to possibly have the club players commit to X amount of tournaments with the club. You need to grow but should not take on all the risk. The clubs need to back you up. 20. I like scheduling week to week because you have to confirm your partner and availability. Summer is very fluid with weekend plans. My suggestion is to secure more nets so the tournament can increase registration. Or, add a Sunday tournament as a backup when Saturday is full. 21. It would help with planning our schedule 22. Why not have a 10 ticket pass (or 5, 15, 20) so you can choose your first 10 choice tournaments. If there is an illness or injury, you can still transfer tourney (if another tourney is available). That way you can still get your $ worth. 23. Can you offer more tournaments on Sundays as well as Saturdays? We go to church on Saturday nights, so we're available for tourneys either day of the weekend. Also, can you offer more tournaments throughout the summer, starting with the second weekend of June and running every other weekend through the second weekend of August, right before the start of indoor HS season? Another idea: holding Friday night tournaments from 5 to 8 p.m. and holding weekday tournaments during the day. The kids are out of school in the summer, so they have lots of free time on weekdays during the morning and afternoon. Number of Respondents 23 Number of respondents who skipped this question 51 Page 3. Tournament Times 9. Check-in for our tourneys runs from 9:15 to 10. The tourney starts at 10 with a fifteen minute rules meeting. Play begins at around 10:20 - 10:30. What do you think of these time periods? It's Fine 67.74% 42 Start Earlier 30.65% 19 Start Later 1.61% 1 Number of respondents 62 Number of respondents who skipped this question 12 10. Our rules meeting generates the most post-tourney comments. Some complain it's too long while others suggest covering additional rules and/or provide more details. What do you think? 1. It's very long and repetitive for teams that are playing every weekend 2. Make them more concise by going over the rules and spending minimal time on other topics such as stories about other sports/things. 3. It's good for people that don't know how to play sand, but is kind of repetitive for people that have played the sport. 4. I think rules should be posted to read before then review at the meeting. 5. have all the rules online and explain in registration that it is there responsibility to read before tournament- cover it all quickly before play 6. Had no problems with it. 7. It's long, and for the girls that are there each weekend probably boring, however I see logic behind them. Not all teams play multiple tourneys and it does provide necessary information. 8. I think it's fine the way it is. 9. Usually too long. People with rules questions should ask well ahead of this meeting. 10. Even though the rules are on your website, you should still review the basics. Not everyone reads the rules, and some rules are confusing 11. Rules meetings are fine for first-time players, but for those of us who've played before, it's not necessary. 12. Seems to work. The only confusion I saw last year was inconsistency on what was a legal overhand receive. A short break after pool play is a good idea, but only enough to get hydrated and somewhat rested. If it's too long a break, it an be tougher on the kids. 13. Too long. 14. We were a little confused the first tournament. Maybe send out all the rules when people sign up explaining procedures. Then a 5 minute review when the tournament begins. 15. Meeting is very long & repitive- it should be a quick tourn ur format explanation& beach rules review with questions from players taken then start play 16. I am comfortable with the meeting as is. 17. Have a web page that you have to review before signing up for tourneys. 18. Need more details on rules such as hand sets 19. Its fine. Experienced players know you have to cover this material for those new to the beach. 20. Not too hot, not too cold. Goldi is happy. 21. It's a bit tedious. But it's a good thing to do 22. I enjoy the stories. I use the ski story all the time with my own group 23. Individuals should be able to download the rules when they register. 24. rules need to be covered...length is fine. Maybe you can have a few laminated printouts of the rules on hand at the tournaments at the check in desk. These can be kept ath the check in desk from week to week but wouls be avaialable in case someone wants to reference them before a game. 25. For the girls that play in a lot of AAU tourneys- it's too long. USAV's instruction time is good. Watch one if those to see the difference. 26. You can never hear the rules. 27. You gotta do it. It's a drag for us regulars to sit through it. But it's important for the newbees to be on the same page 28. Is there a way to have these emailed in advance so the meeting can be faster ? 29. its too long 30. The tournament comments are too long! The sun is starting to heat up and the girls need to play. Email and highlight rules with the tournament confirmation. Ask the clubs to reiterate the rules before tournament weekends. Most of these girls play on a regular basis and already know the rules. Maybe keep to 5 min. (only) to hit the 5 most important rules. 31. Could probably be shorter, especially later in the season 32. The meeting covers enough rules. Participants in the event should have some knowledge prior to the meeting so that it is not completely new information. 33. Have the rules emailed with registration confirmation (even though I think it's spelled out online). Go over rules and be clear and the most common rules that players/coaches question. Better yet, adopt rules in line with USAV. Many players are playing USAV, EVP and AAU and there are subtleties between them. Make it CONSISTENT. 34. Its fine 35. Send rules etc in an email or have avail. to read on site. 36. I think it is long and the girls are very anxious to play so it should be short and to the point 37. I like the rule meeting in the beginning. especially since we were new. I do think the tourneys drag on a bit, but it is a big venue so that just comes with the territory. 38. I think it's too long Number of Respondents 38 Number of respondents who skipped this question 36 11. Pool play tends to end between 1:30 & 2. We aim to start our playoffs at 2:30 in order to give players a break in the action. Should we continue this policy? If no, what change should we make? Yes 63.33% 38 No, start the playoffs as soon as pool play ends. 33.33% 20 No, give the players more time to rest. 3.33% 2 Number of respondents 60 Number of respondents who skipped this question 14 Page 4. Category Issues 12. Last summer we divided the 16U division into two levels, club and open. Would you like to see that continue? Yes 91.38% 53 No 8.62% 5 Number of respondents 58 Number of respondents who skipped this question 16 13. One advantage to offering the two 16U levels was that we were able to accommodate more 16U teams. Our 14U tends to fill quickly. Should we offer 2 levels at the 14U division as well? Yes 84.75% 50 No 15.25% 9 Number of respondents 59 Number of respondents who skipped this question 15 14. On disadvantage to offering the two levels was confusion. Although we have the levels defined on our website; sometimes strong teams would sign up for the club level while less competitive teams signed up for open. Do you have any suggestions for reducing this confusion? 1. say if they have won before they need to be in open 2. You're always going to have that confusion and, perhaps, strong players down in club where they can win. Conversely, you'll have strong indoor kids with limited beach experience play up in open because they are good indoors (but in turn get beat). Our daughter and her partner started in club and won the tournament. From there on out they played in open, coming in 4th each time. You may need to clarify that if a club team is coming in, say, the top 4 or 5 teams they should move up. And teams that are finishing at the bottom of open should consider moving down. You can also state that if they have no beach tournament experience start in club. 3. don't know, you can't force people to read 4. Only allow access to the user based on t the user profile. Have your IT person write rules only to allow access to the links that they need not all. 5. Define each category so the player knows what they're getting themselves into. 6. I think a bit of the confusion is that open sounds like it is open to anyone. Maybe have an additional note on the actual sign up page. Some of that may also have happened when one or the other was full but the team wanted to play anyway. 7. the players will have to figure it out 8. You already stated that it is clearly defined. You can't do anything about stupidity:) 9. No, people just need to read more carefully. 10. Define the differences in the level of play. 11. Change the level names to Beginner and Experienced 12. change the names of the divisions to beginners and advanced 13. Explain very explicitly and repeatedly what is club and what is open. Perhaps have teams fill out online what experience level they have (tournaments they've played in, how they've fared, etc.) so that you can make sure club teams don't end up in open play. 14. Make the open level a qualifier for other events and the club level not qualifiers (that may already be the case, not sure). 15. If a team has ever placed first through third they should play open- if girls are varsity level players in high school the should play open 16. Highlighting the differences during registration even more. 17. Sign up was pretty clear. The Key to beach v ball is ethics. Parents have to be ethical and pass that along to their players. 18. Tryouts or someone to grade the skills of the players 19. use descriptive words, not club & open (ex - advance) 20. Just do one division but double the size of the division. Sometimes strong teams sign up for an easier bracket so they can win. I'm not sure that can be controlled. 21. For some, it really doesn't matter how clearly these divisions are defined on your website. People might not read the material, or read it carefully. Here's what you should do. In your shopping cart, classify the divisions as open/advance & club/intermediate. Problem solved. 22. Frankly my answer to question 12 and 13 is I don't know. As a parent I wasn't given the guidance from my club about the club versus open distinction. Perhaps an informal ranking or recommendation from those running the tournaments would help teams think about how they compare talent wise. This may inform them on which level to compete in. I wouldn't want a reduction to 1 level restrict the amount of total teams able to play in a tournament compared to 2 levels. 23. Limit sign-up to those who know how to read 24. People were signing up for anything that was available. That is what happened to us. I sat up to midnight just so that my daughters team could get in. 25. Here's the thing, you say its explained on your website. I don't think it's in an obvious spot. I remember hitting a link to sign up, it gave me two choices - neither were explained. Later that day (Sunday) my kid told me I boubht the wrong spot, too weak. (I signed up club, not open. She's in a club, so I thought that's her division). I tried to buy the other spot that very same day, but it was sold out. I sent emails tryhing to switch. I was told it was sold out. I had the girls coach contact you guys - no luck, sold out. I took grief from my kid all week . The kicker, she was in the right diviswion afterall - didn't even make the playoffs. (Don't tell her I said that.) Other than that, we had a great time. 26. You could lead a horse to water, but you can't make 'em read your rules. 27. Just have 1 level. The strongest teams will rise to the top in pool play. 28. If you win or place in top 3 in a decent club tournament, you should have to go to open in future. 29. They are usually doing it on purpose, to win. 30. There must be requirements for open 31. Don't call it "club" and "open" Maybe call it "advanced" or "beginner" 32. specify on the website that open is more advanced 33. I guess i don't understand. I thought club would be for more competitive teams. Maybe you can describe the skill of each level. For the question below, maybe designate only one court for the boys. Number of Respondents 33 Number of respondents who skipped this question 41 15. For the past few years we've offered a boys 16U division. Interest has been minimal. We usually have about 6 - 10 teams per event. Should we continue offering this division? (Two things to consider; a small division diminishes the tourney experience, and court space is limited - courts set aside for the boys takes away space for the girls.) Yes 39.66% 23 No 60.34% 35 Number of respondents 58 Number of respondents who skipped this question 16 Page 5. Tournament Rules 16. We follow USA Beach rules of play with some modifications. Hand sets, due to its subjective nature, raise the most disputes. To deal with this issue, one of our modifications is the "no-hands" rule. Under this rule, if a team is frustrated by an opponent's setting standards, they could ban hand sets. (Players on both teams must bump set; hand sets are faults.) Is this a good modification? Yes 70.00% 42 No 30.00% 18 Number of respondents 60 Number of respondents who skipped this question 14 17. In our tourneys, inadvertent hand sets (not bump sets) are faults. An inadvertent hand set occurs when a player hand sets her teammate, and the ball is blown over to the other side. We've implemented this rule out of fairness, but it contradicts USA Rules. Do you like this rule? Yes 63.93% 39 No 36.07% 22 Number of respondents 61 Number of respondents who skipped this question 13 18. Are there any other current rules that we employ that you would like to see changed or dropped, and/or are there other rules that you would like us to include? 1. ALL rules should be consistent with USAV. With regard to hand sets, either allow them or don't. Even on an extremely windy day, USAV will allow hand sets but most players wont even attempt them because it's windy. Again, a lot of confusion comes in from the rules changing slightly from different tournament operators. 2. it's standard stuff, just make sure the rules are enforced 3. be consistent, every location should follow all rules 4. we need to follow usa beach rules to limit confusion between tournaments and maintain a standard. 5. tell parents and coaches not to interfere 6. Either allow all hand sets, including on serve receive, or prohibit all hand sets. That would bring clarity to everyone. 7. The hand set guidelines would address a lot of questions. I can't think of anything else you would need. 8. Teams constantly seem confused by the no hands rule- some abide by it others do not- I think it should be a blanket rule either you have hand sets or not- this whole allowing teams to call it , change it during play is what leads to cinfusion 9. Parent coaching rule needs to be more enforced. 10. Taking a free ball with your hands is inexcusable when players (the offense) are knuckling ball over. Defensively, It should be taken by a forearm pass or with hands together. 11. Always playing 2 out of three sets would be better than one set matches that you do sometimes under time constraints. 12. You explain the rules the best, and have the best rules. Get other groups to adopt what you do 13. NO 14. You guys have the best organization, and you explain the rules better than those other outfits. And you have the best rules - love the "no hands" option. The problem is, rules vary from one group to the next. It confuses our girls. Why don't you get together with those other outfits and come up with a unified set of rules for our region. 15. We like your rules. Have you contacted USAVB to consider your modifications? Maybe start an online petition. 16. Some tourneys have different rules. But we like yours, and we stopped playing EVP, We prefer yours. 17. No 18. Contact the other groups and have them use your rules. Especially the no hands. That eliminates a lot of arguing. Also, we teach our girls sand digs, so we like your hard driven ball rule. It removes all subjectivity, thus eliminating arguments about what's a lift. I think a lot of players, though skilled indoor players, don't really know beach v-ball. Same holds true for some of the coaches. 19. You should ban handsets altogether. Problem solved, no setting disputes. 20. We don't care what other organizations do. We just play in your tournaments. 21. Getting back to the know hands rule, what if you just ban handsets altogether. Wouldn't that solve the problem 22. Instead of the No Hands rule, just follow USA rules. No Hands causes disputes, sometimes escalating higher then necessary. Also, if a team who usually uses hands must switch to the No Hands rule, due either to the other teams sloppiness or the other team wishing to go No Hands, then they are at a disadvantage, sometimes losing points only because they forgot about the temporarily set No Hands rule. A simple fix would be to just follow the USA rules and then teams could work it out from there. 23. Most of the time the no hands rule is implemented before the game even starts. The teams use it to limit the other team's advantage of setting. If anything, both teams should have to agree on the no hands rule. If the setting is really bad (i.e. double contacts) an official should monitor and call faults 24. Be more specific on setting hard driven balls and down balls Number of Respondents 24 Number of respondents who skipped this question 50 Page 6. Tourney Development 19. We're thinking of securing sponsors for our events this summer. Do you have any suggestions? Do you have any leads? 1. How about the clubs that participate? great advertising for them. 2. Sports Performance and Fusion would be good sponsors along with Mizuno and Tachikara. 3. Sports Authority is usually good about sponsoring. I may have a contact that we use for our soccer league if that would be helpful. - Robert Randolph [email protected] Radio stations would be great sponsors, but I would be concerned about the volume. 4. Gatorade, a sun tan lotion company would be great, 5. At properties? And yes, my husband works there. 6. Offer a finders fee; maybe others could bring in sponsors. 7. Yes, I might have some leads. I'll send you a personal email. 8. Mizuno Water bottle companies Sunbrella companies Coolor companies Handband (sweaty bands or Lululomon) companies 9. Nike 10. Something family friendly! Water Gatorade Nike etc 11. Gatorade/Powerade, sun umbrellas, sun block products 12. Sports Authority, Asics, Coppertone no leads though 13. Sponsors would be great. Number of Respondents 13 Number of respondents who skipped this question 61 20. Radio stations are interested in sponsoring our events in order to obtain beach access. They would set up a booth to pass out trinkets and blare their music. It could be fun, but the problem is our lack of control over volume and content. Should we have a radio tie-in? Yes 69.09% 38 No 30.91% 17 Number of respondents 55 Number of respondents who skipped this question 19 21. Some tourney programs have ranking systems for players, ostensibly to showcase top players. In reality, most of these programs are just marketing schemes designed to increase participation in their tour. (An average player could get a high ranking through frequent participation, not success.) We like the idea of player rankings. We could use our Facebook Page to showcase our region's top beach players. But, to accurately reflect one's skill, it's important to evaluate their competition. For instance, a team that wins the 16u open division at our N. Ave. events would have competed in a division of 40 teams, 80 if you take into account the club division. Whereas the winner of our Twin Lakes event would have competed in a division of only 20. So, it's obvious the N. Ave. victors should have a higher ranking then those from Twin Lakes. The problem is, this could be a very subjective evaluation. Another issue; how would we account for a player's success in events from other programs? So, taking into account all the potential problems that you might foresee, do you have any suggestions for developing a ranking system that would fairly take into account a player's accomplishments? 1. I would like to see a wrap-up list of ALL finishes in ALL divisions, for each tournament not just top 3 in open only. This would be helpful short term and a possible solution to instituting a ranking system. 2. No, to hard to manage 3. Club coaches could help identify outstanding players. Each placing could be worth a certain number of points. Certain people could go to the tournaments to identify and photograph successful players. 4. Change the level names to Beginner and Experienced 5. At this age, I don't think the ranking system is necessary or helpful. I think it's enough to identify number of games entered and possibly the teams or individuals record. Ranking players would ultimately require keeping stats in order to make sense and I don't think that's important or helpful at this level. Let the girls have fun. 6. No suggestions but I agree with the the concept of ranking. 7. It's a good idea but definately will take some thought in terms of competition levels etc... 8. It will never work. Too many variables w/in your events and among the other groups. Once a ranking system becomes subjective, it generates conflicts. 9. No. 10. Good luck with that. All I know is my team should be ranked first. If not, expect a visit from my coach. 11. A summer tour ranking would be appealing. You could avoid most problems by limiting the rankings to results from only your tourneys. But you should take into account the size of the overall division when awarding points. A win at North Ave should carry more points than one at Twin Lakes. 12. Allow players to submit results from one tourney a week. Count only the top 8 places the teams that made it to the quarterfinals. If they submit results from another program, discount it by 25%. And if it's a small division, discount that as well. Example. Award 8 points for coming in 1st at your NAB tourney. 1st place at Twin gets 6 ptjs. 1st place in IN or WI gets 6. 13. Here's one problem to consider. The indoor season runs through the end of June. So a lot of top players can't participate in the beach program till July. So how do you award points that reflect a player accomplishments, not just participation. Example. A player who wins every July tournament that she plays in should be ranked higher than a player that comes in 5th - 8th every time, but played in twice as many tournaments. I don't see how you could ever design a meaningful ranking system. 14. I don't really care for a ranking however I would like to see the final standing in each tourney. ( or maybe the top 4 teams in order of placement) 15. Can of worms 16. I suggest you go back and review your records from last summer and apply different systems. See which system best establishes the top players and teams. Then use that system for this summer. 17. That would be fantastic if you could develop a ranking system that is respected in our volleyball community. It would help top players secure college scholarships. 18. Great idea in theory. But look what happened to us last summer. We got shut out of one of your July tournaments. I tired to sign up the girls Monday morning and their division was already filled. So how can they get points if they can't even enter? 19. Each venue would have a different point value depending upon the number of teams competing. Each 1st - 4th place team would receive a % of those points. 20. No 21. No 22. Yes.. 23. All ranking systems seem to be subjective for these and other reasons. Perhaps a talent level could be assigned to a division or class i.e. the top teams are Gold level or Elite level etc. The 2nd level could be Silver or Premier etc. Some line of achievement would have to be determined to divide the divisions. In my view ranking is really necessary for the top 20 to 40 teams and you probably have more data to figure this out. Determining who is ranked # 59 or #60 is where the subjectivity is even more pronounced in a way. Both those teams should be in "C" or "D" division because they are probably equal ability any given day. 24. Wow , a win is a win. To put into numbers of participants could be a logistical nightmare....steer clear. 25. You could employ a multiplier system that would give winners and high finishers more credit for a bigger tourney than a smaller one. You could multiply the victory by 1.5 or whatever number is warranted. Number of Respondents 25 Number of respondents who skipped this question 49 22. Do you have any suggestions for changes or modifications to our program that would enhance a player's, coach's and/or parent's experience at our events? 1. Making sure that ALL courts have proper boundaries and net heights. This has been frustrating as you can clearly see that some courts next to each other have different end lines. But worse than that is net height inconsistency. Our last tournament of the season had our team playing on a tooshort net. Visibly shorter than the court next to us, which was not regulation. 2. have more officials at the beach. Better sound system for the organizers so that all girls can hear. 3. Fix the nets and the lines. The lines are almost always crooked and the nets are too high or too low. 4. The bathrooms are typically disgusting. Could we pay to have them cleaned and maintained during season? 5. Playing just one set to 21 in pool play and in championship brackets is very short and unfair. If you have an off set, you lose. Could matches be best of 3 sets and played to 15 points in both pool play and the championship round, or at least during the championship round? 6. In the playoff rounds, refereeing was spotty and subjective. Not very well-managed by the girls. At that point, some teams that were out were reffing and they were no longer very interested. It may be helpful to have a true ref for the final match. 7. make sure there is a reffing team at every match 8. Have official refs for the play off games. This will help ensure parents are kept in line and enforce that the playoffs are important. 9. Just keep it organized keep it moving & keep it fun!! 10. Definitely keep the boys tourney 11. Establish better rules/boundries for coaches and parents conduct 12. No. 13. It would be cool if you handed out free stuff; like sample-sized sunscreen. 14. Free stuff, how about t-shirts 15. Make it clear where the parents can set up theirs chairs/tents. Maybe do this during registration. I see people sitting too close to the court or on the backside of the court. 16. Limit where parents/coaches can sit. Too much coaching and parents fighting. 17. You need to clean the bathrooms better 18. Get better posts. Some have really high hooks. And we had one court where the post was actually leaning. 19. Have a separate rules meeting for parents and coaches so they don't create problems for the players 20. At North Avenue you should set aside parking spaces for tourney participants. 21. You bet I do. Why does registration open Sat. at midnight? I think it's fine that you go week to week, but why so late? Why not make it earlier in the evening? Not everyone's a night owl. 22. Going back to registration, why have signup at midnight? How about Sunday morning, or earlier on Saturday? 23. Yes. At n avenue beach, more parking and cleaner bathrooms 24. The flip score boards. So teams would have a visual as to who the reffing team is giving points to. This could eliminate a lot of disagreements. Adding Refs to the playoffs would be a big improvement. 25. Thank you for the trophies. The girls really like this aspect and appreciate. Its a fun way to win the top 2!! 26. No 27. No 28. Keep parent, who may be coaches otherwise, out of the side courts. They tend to think the rules don't apply to them. Establish coaching areas for time outs. It it for parents, coaches, friends? 29. More information for parents and players is needed. My daughter has competed for 2 years affiliated with a beach program through a medium sized indoor club. I didn't know enough about the beach way of doing things to even ask the important questions. Honestly, my club has not done a good job with questions. I didn't know about the club/open designation until this past year. An information tent at the events with someone knowledgeable about the entire beach system would be very helpful. I would think this would be a great opportunity to promote the sport too. Parents have a far amount of down time. I realize the tournaments can be very busy for those running the event but if I knew there was someone I could go to with questions about the event or future events, I would be a better advocate for my daughter and help her get the most out of her experience. 30. Keep parents out of the game. 31. One thing that I think needs to be improved is the bracket visibility. There needs to be a big bracket posted on the grounds of the tourney that parents and players can refer to to see the results. They do this in basketball tourneys all the time where there is a big board to view all the matchups. A tournament tree that the director fills in as matches are completed. As of now if you want to see the brackets and results you have to go up to the tournament host and bother them to see the sheet. Number of Respondents 31 Number of respondents who skipped this question 43 23. Thanks for taking the time to fill out this survey. One final question, are there any other questions that we should include in future surveys that would aid us in understanding the needs of our participants? 1. Not that i can think of. 2. We attempted to sign up for several of the aau events but the were always full. More spots would be my suggestion 3. All good, thanks for looking for feed back! 4. Post the results 5. The more tournaments you can offer in the suburbs, the better. Thanks. 6. This is plenty. Hope it helps. See you next summer. 7. No. 8. Thanks for this survey. We've found the Beach Club to be the only organizaton to put the interests of it's participants first. Our kids played in an event last summer where the only thing they did really good was when it came to taking our money. 9. more surveys throughout the tourney season so you could make needed adjustments. 10. I think its great that you're seeking participant feedback. That's one of the reasons you run the best tournaments, you listen to us and adjust. Thanks for all you do for Chicago volleyball. 11. Thanks for asking 12. Thanks for asking for feedback. 13. Can't think of any at the moment but appreciate that you are going through this process. 14. Enough staff to check in and confirm bracket play at the end of the day. 15. No 16. Bathrooms were sometimes an issue 17. Ball consistency and Ethics on the court. Younger (10-12 years old) girls are more likely to be confused on the court or stretch the boundaries of truthfulness. Players were caught moving lines during the course of match play last year. Also a call was overturned l based on a parent time-out.. All of that could have been avoided if the parent stayed out of the game. More adult supervision with the younger players and parents is definitely needed. 18. Not at this time Number of Respondents 18 Number of respondents who skipped this question 56
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