The 2009 Adult National Championships will be held in Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  If you have never been, talk to teams and players that have.  They will tell you that it is a great experience.  It takes planning and commitment to attend.  The entry deadline is early.  Failure to meet this deadline would mean that your entry be put on a wait list. (There is a good chance that entries could be limited in the Club divisions [AA, A, BB, B].)  The deadline is based upon the need for your application to be processed in the GEVA office and forwarded to the National office.  Very Important – your club entry must be processed by GEVA and then forwarded to the National office.

Play Schedule:

The following is the playing sequence for this year's competition (*Senior and Master Players, take note of staggered dates):

• 1st Half - Sat. May 23rd thru Tues. May 26th
  • US Open Championships
  • A and AA Club Tournaments
  • Men & Women’s 45, 55 & Over Tournaments
  • Men’s 65 & Over Tournament
  • Women’s 65 & Men’s 75 & Over Tournaments (Sun-Tue)
  • B/BB Reverse Co-ed Tournament (Mon-Tue)
  • B/BB Regular Co-ed Tournament (Sat-Sun)
  • Men & Women U-Volley Competition (Mon-Tue)
• 2nd Half - Wed. May 27th thru Sat. May 30th
  • B and BB Club Tournaments
  • Men & Women’s 40, 50 & Over Tournaments
  • Men’s 60, 70 & Over Tournament
  • Women’s 60, 70 & Over Tournament (Wed-Fri)

Entry Procedure:

The Pre-Tournament manual and all forms are available on the USAV web site (www.usavolleyball.org/adults) in the Adult section.  Teams are required to register electronically on-line for the event (manual entry is allowed but there is a $100 surcharge).

Electronic Registration Procedure:

• Go to the USAV website (listed above) and follow the link for '07 On-Line Registration (www.advancedeventsystems.com).  Instructions are available for log-in.
• Follow instructions to enter roster.
• Rosters are limited to 15 players and 5 staff.  All individuals on the roster must be registered members of GEVA or USAV.
• When finished, print out the entry form and send to the National Office or the GEVA Commissioner (Bob Dingee, 1094 Riverbank Rd., Stamford, CT 06903) along with the entry fee (entry must be accompanied by entry fee check made out to "USA Volleyball Championships").  Teams must also send a completed ranking form (downloaded from USAV web site) along with the entry.  See next paragraph for mailing directions.

Entry Deadline:

• All Open division, Senior (65, 70, 75), U-Volley and Co-Ed applications must be sent to the National Office and received by Wednesday, March 18th. Send copy to GEVA office.
• All Masters and Seniors (40, 45, 50, 55, 60) must be sent to the National Office and received by Wednesday, April 1st.  Send copy to GEVA office.
• All Club division (AA, A, BB, B) applications must be post marked by Wednesday, March 25th and mailed to the GEVA Commissioner.  Failure to meet this deadline will mean that your entry will be put on a wait list for available room in the tournament.

Tournament Eligibility:

All teams and players competing in the Club Divisions must be registered GEVA members and have played at least once in a GEVA sanctioned tournament prior to Regionals.  All other teams and players must be registered USAV/GEVA members.

Entry Re-imbursement:

GEVA will once again offer partial entry re-imbursement for those qualified teams attending the

National Tournament.  In order to qualify, teams must electronically submit a 250-word newsletter article about their National tournament experience to the Commissioner by September 1, 2009.  To qualify; Club teams must have been eligible to play in Regionals. Conglomerate and Co-Ed teams must have more than 60% of their players be qualified GEVA members.

KEY Deadlines:

• April 30, 2009: No charge for changes to rosters prior to this date
• May 1, 2009:  $50 charge for addition of players at first match (tournament only)
• Before September 1: Newsletter article submission to GEVA Office