GEVA Articles - Adults

2008 Season Adult Player Handbook

The following guidelines have been excerpted from the GEVA Operating Code and apply to registration and tournament play of the Adult Division.

 

2008 Season Adult Registration Policy

Team Registration Categories

1. Regular Adult
   • A team composed entirely of regular adult members of the same gender.  Teams must have six registered players on the roster to qualify as a team.
2. Age Group Teams
   • GEVA recognizes conglomerate age group teams.  It is the intent of this rule to encourage the formation of age group teams with the intent of competing at the National Championships.  Men and women who have or will reach the age of 40 years or older during the season will be allowed to play on an age group team IN ADDITION to their regular team.
3. These conglomerate age group teams will be allowed to participate in regular season tournaments but will not be allowed to play in Regional Championships.  Individuals must be registered as part of a regular adult team.  When competing, age group teams will play at the players' registered skill level or higher (ie; B level players may play as a Masters team at the B level) and will conform to all GEVA clubbing/playing rules (they will be allowed to have 1 higher level player).  If more than one higher-level player wants to play the team must compete at a higher level.  Rosters must be provided as part of tournament entry to ensure that players are registered at the appropriate levels.

Individual Membership Categories

All individuals must be registered with USAV and the Region to be able to participate in or host a Region sanctioned event or to serve in an elected or appointed position in the Region.

The categories of membership in GEVA are defined in the following paragraphs.  Additional categories may be defined which fall within the guidelines of USAV.

1. Regular/Adult
   • The regular members of GEVA are those members who are above the age of Junior membership as defined by USAV.  Those people that fall into the regular member category are: players, male and female, coaches, managers, officials, team representatives and others such as coaches, trainers that take out individual memberships and are considered as members at large and not necessarily affiliated with any team or organization within GEVA.
2. Recreation
   • This a special category of registration, used within the GEVA region to allow individuals to participate in a GEVA sanctioned recreation activity if they are not already a GEVA regular member.  Recreation members may not compete in sanctioned GEVA events unless their membership is upgraded to the regular category.
3. Outdoor/Summer
   • This a special category of registration.  It is required of each individual desiring to participate in a GEVA/USA Volleyball sanctioned outdoor competition if he/she is not already a GEVA member.

Registration Requirements

Players are reminded that GEVA/USAV memberships start November 1 and expire the following October 31 each season regardless of when a player registers throughout the season.

1. Friendship/Seeding Season Play
   • Any adult team may enter the appropriate level Friendship/Seeding tournament.  All teams are required to be registered to play.  Registration will consist of a team registration and a minimum of 4 player individual registrations.  All additional players must register as one-day members.
2. Sanctioned Season Play
   • Teams and players must be fully registered with GEVA before they will be allowed to play.  Teams must register with no less than SIX players at the time of registration.
3. Player Registration
   • Individuals register by going to the GEVA web site and following the directions to enter the registration information, print out the GEVA Registration Signature Page and submit it as part of a team registration at a tournament.
4. Team Registration
   • All teams must be registered prior to playing.  Adult team registration forms must be accompanied by a minimum of 6 individual player registration forms.  Teams with less than six individuals assigned will not be allowed to play.

Tournament Site Registration

Adult players will register at a tournament site with the cooperation of the Tournament Director.  This will be accomplished in the following manner:

1. Initial Team Registration
   • A team must register at a tournament.  They will bring three completed team rosters, team registration form and signed individual GEVA Registration Signature Page (a minimum of six) to the tournament site.  The Tournament Director will check them, initial one copy of the team roster and return it to the Team Representative.  Copies will be used by the team at subsequent tournaments until their official roster is available on the web.  The individual registration and one copy of the roster forms will be forwarded to the GEVA office.
   • Adding Players to Roster
     • Players will bring their completed and signed individual GEVA Registration Signature Page along with appropriate fee to a tournament site.  The Tournament Director will check them for completeness and add the player's name to a copy of the team's roster (supplied by the team representative), which will suffice for subsequent tournaments until such time as the roster is updated by the office.
     • One-Day Membership will not be allowed during the regular season.

Proof of Registration

There are three acceptable methods to prove registration status when asked:

1. An individual USAV registration card
2. A receipt received as a result of registering at a tournament (initialed roster is a receipt)
3. The player’s name appearing on a GEVA supplied and approved roster

A player not qualifying under one of the above must register at the tournament.  A refund will be issued if duplicate registrations are received.

The GEVA Registration Office must receive all registration forms and fees before participants can take part in GEVA/USAV sanctioned tournaments.  All checks must be payable to GEVA.

 

Club Membership

• Adult Club Teams
  • The GEVA Region encourages the “club” format for the purpose of promoting play.  Organizing a large group of players into teams for USAV/GEVA competition has many advantages. Clubs are formed to provide players an opportunity to progress and attend more tournaments.
• Definition of Adult Clubs 
  • Clubs and the teams in the club will adhere to the following criteria:
    • Clubs will be composed of teams of the same gender.
    • Club teams must share a common club name and club representative.  The club representative will speak for the club on issues.  Teams will have separate team representatives.
    • Clubs may not ‘club’ with another club.
    • All teams within a club must be regular registered teams (6 players minimum) in the Region.
    • All players must be registered on a specific team within the club.
• Club Registration
  • Club association must be declared at time of registration and cannot be created or changed during season.

Player Movement

• Player Changing between Non-club Teams:
  • A player may petition the Region to change teams only once per season by submitting a letter to the Registrar.
  • The Representatives of both teams must acknowledge the move request in writing.  The only acceptable reason for denying a move will be financial.
  • There will be a mandatory 21-day waiting period from the day a written request is received before a player may play with the new team.  The player may continue to play with the old team during the waiting period.
• Player Changing between Club Teams:
  • A request for movement initiated and acknowledged in writing by the player, club director and both team representatives.
  • There will be a mandatory 21-day waiting period from the day a written request is received before the player will be put on the roster.
• Intra-club Player Movement:
  • Teams within a club may “borrow” players from another team in the club for the purposes of playing in a particular tournament.
    • Teams may borrow two (2) players from a same or lower level team OR one (1) player from a higher level team within the club.
    • Players may not play down more than one level.
    • Players cannot play for more than one team in a tournament.  Two-day tournaments are considered single tournaments.
    • Players may not be 'borrowed' for Regional Championships.
    • Experimental Rule for 2008:
      • ‘A/AA’ division teams may borrow any GEVA registered player for participation in a tournament.

 

Conduct of Tournaments

 

5.1

Adult Tournaments

 

5.1.1

Types of Tournaments

Tournaments during the Sanctioned season will be run as a single level of play and of same gender.

Tournaments during the Friendship/Seeding season will be run as A/AA or B/BB level of play and of same gender.

Exceptions to these rules may be granted with application to the Regional office.

 

5.1.2

Tournament Level Definition

 

5.1.2.1

60 % of the teams entered in a tournament must be of the announced skill level for the tournament to be run as announced.

 

5.1.2.2

If by the Monday before the tournament 60% of the teams are not of the announced skill level, the tournament may be run

with no points being awarded with regard to standings but will count towards Regional qualification.  All teams must be

notified by the tournament director of this decision.  The higher level teams will have the choice of withdrawing without

penalty.

 

5.1.2.3

Junior teams playing in Adult tournaments will be considered to have the following skill levels for purposes of defining a

tournament:

 

17 & 18 Junior teams = BB

15 & 16 Junior teams = B

 

5.2

Adult Tournament Organization

 

5.2.1

Pre-Tournament Duties

1. All telephone inquiries will be answered within two days.

2. All entries must be mailed in with the appropriate entry form and an entry fee.  Teams will be accepted based on the arrival of the dated mail.  Telephone, email and fax entries will not be accepted.

3. Receipt of all entries will be acknowledged by phone or e-mail.

4. A record of when the tournament fills will be kept.  After a tournament has filled continue to respond to telephone inquiries within two days.  Keep track of wait- listed teams.

5. Set pools and notify playing teams as to start time at least five days prior to the tournament (Tuesday notification for Saturday tournament and Wednesday for Sunday).  Notification will be by phone.

6. Entry fee for adult tournaments will be as set forth in Appendix A.  These fees cannot be exceeded without permission of the Regional office.

7. Entry fees for teams that have been moved up or down will be reimbursed for those tournaments that they had entered prior to the move.  This would pertain to tournaments in which the team is no longer eligible to play because of the move.  Teams will be required to play any previously registered tournament occurring on the immediate weekend following a move.

8. If, in an emergency, a tournament needs to be moved, the Tournament Director will check with the GEVA office before taking any action.   If a Tournament Director of an announced 15-team tournament wishes to grow a tournament , he must check with the Director of the same level tournament the following weekend to see if it has a minimum of 8 teams registered.

9. 11 team tournaments are not to be held.

 

5.2.2

Tournament Day Duties:

 

1. 1. The Tournament Director or their designee should arrive at tournament site at least forty-five minutes prior to the start of the first match.

   2. Check all equipment.  Make sure the facility and equipment follow the USA sanctioning guidelines(Net height, antennas, padding, etc.).

   3. All tournaments will be run in a round-robin format.  All teams will be guaranteed a minimum of eight (8) games of play.

   4. Post the schedule of play and provide the score sheets and line-up sheets at each court. Provide pencils with erasers for each court.  Provide an adequate game ball for each court.  Have all of the entry rosters available and ensure that all players sign before playing.

   5. Players will be allowed to register on-site.  A player registering on-site will be added to the roster by the Tournament Director.

   6. The Tournament Director or their Designee will be on sight to oversee the smooth flow of play throughout the tournament.  The Designee must be announced to the Referees and Team Representatives at the beginning of the tournament.

   7. Play-off seeding -  The top two teams in a 4 or 5 team pool will advance.  The top three teams will advance from a 6 or 7 team pool.  Teams will be ranked by:

      1. 1. 1. 1. Win/loss record

               2. Head-to-Head game record

               3. Head-to-Head point differential

               4. Total point differential

               5. Coin Toss

      If there are more teams tied for the playoffs than there are more positions then the tied teams must compete for the position(s) in direct competition.  Teams shall not be eliminated from assignment to championship competition by point or any other non-competition system.

      One 25-point game shall be used to break ties.

   8. At the end of the tournament provide first and second place team awards and individual awards for each first place team member. The prizes will be of approximately $75.00 value and be volleyball/sports related.

 

5.2.3

Adult Tournament Officiating Requirements

5.2.3.1

Referee Guidelines

1. All sanctioned tournaments will utilize USAV certified R1's on all matches.

2. Tournament Directors will communicate with Referee's Assignor for the assigning of Referees for all sanctioned season tournaments.  The Referee Assignor will provide a list of referees assigned to the tournament via email.

3. Referee pay scale will be provided to the Tournament Director as part of the referee assignment notification.

4. Referees who need to cross a major bridge or tunnel to get to the tournament site will be reimbursed for toll.

5. Tournament directors will insure that the recommended number of certified referees are utilized for the tournament; 3 for a 2 court tournament, 4 for a 3 court tournament and 6 for a 4 court tournament.

6. Referees for playoffs will be assigned by the Head Referee and the finals’ referee should have at least a Regional rating.  A Provisional Referee may be assigned to a final only if a Rating Team member is supervising.

7. Tournament directors will insure that referees are paid on day of tournament or within one week.

 

5.2.3.2

Work Teams

Teams will provide the work crews for matches they are not working as per the published schedule.  Work teams for the playoffs will come from the last pool play match if required.

 

5.2.4

Adult Tournament Reporting:

1. GEVA is utilizing a seeding system for Adult tournaments. The results of the tournament must be e-mailed/faxed in on the Monday immediately following the tournament. The results need to include all scores from pool-play as well as the play-offs and finals.  These are to be sent to the GEVA Adult Director.

2. The signed rosters and the GEVA tournament reporting sheet should be mailed in to the GEVA office on the Monday following the tournament.

3. Report all incidents (player conduct and injury) by telephone immediately.  The appropriate forms must be sent in to the Insurance and GEVA offices within 24 hours of the incident.

 

5.3

Adult Tournament Sanctioning

 

5.3.1

Adult Tournaments

Adult tournaments will be sanctioned by the Adult Competition Director.

 

5.3.2

Posting of Tournament Schedule

Sanctioned tournaments will be posted on the GEVA web site as part of the overall GEVA schedule.  Non-sanctioned tournaments will not be posted.

 

5.4

Adult Ranking System

The Ranking system will be used to reflect tournament results and the subsequent tournament seeding.  The system will also be utilized by the GEVA Adult Competition Committee to determine the proper playing level of teams!

 

5.4.1             Teams Playing Up

 

1. The seeding system will provide the criteria needed for teams to play up a level.  A team wishing to play at the higher level must be seeded in the top 25% in both total points and average of their registered playing level!

 

1. A team must play at least ½ of the tournaments in any calendar month at their registered level.

 

5.4.2             Ranking System

 

1. The ranking system is based upon head-to-head competition.  Teams will gain or lose points depending on their opponent.  Each game will be counted during the season.

 

1. Playoff matches are worth more points in this system.

 

1. The rankings are entered and the results posted on the GEVA web site.  All team representatives can review their team’s results and ranking.

 

 

Tournament Play

 

6.1             Adult Tournament Play

 

5.1.2      Adult Friendship/Seeding Tournaments

 

Any adult team may enter the appropriate level Friendship/Seeding tournament.  All teams are required to be registered to play.  Registration will consist of a team registration and a minimum of 4 player individual registrations.  All additional players must register as one-day members.

6.1.2             Adult Regular Season Tournaments

 

6.1.2.1            Team Eligibility Guidelines

 

These guidelines are designed to make the seeding system accurate and provide strong tournaments for all participants:

 

1. Thirteen or more days prior to a tournament a director is only required to accept one eligible lower level team per pool.  That team must be seeded in the top 25% of their level (both average and total points) at the time of receipt of the entry form. (Exp: the Tournament Director will accept only 1 B team per pool into a BB tournament or 1 BB team per pool into an A tournament)

 

1. If a tournament is not filled by the Monday before the tournament any lower level team may enter regardless of their standings.

 

1. A team must have played at least ½ of their tournaments in any calendar month at their registered level.

 

6.1.2.1.1 Moving Teams

 

1. Teams will be evaluated as appropriate during the season and/or by mid-season and their playing level adjusted accordingly.  NO TEAM will be moved after March 1^st and teams will not be moved more than twice a season.

 

1. Teams are required to play at least half their tournaments in a given calendar month at their registered playing level. Teams that are performing above or below par at their registered level and are within the aforementioned guidelines will be moved up or down respectively.

 

1. Teams may request a transfer to another level by submitting a written request to the Adult Competition Committee.  Teams must provide an explanation for their movement request.  Each request will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

 

1. In order to foster team movement and increased competition, up to two teams in each B and BB division will be moved up a level for the following season.  Teams to be moved up will be; (1) the winner of the regional tournament and (2) the high point leader for the season.  If the same team fulfills both criteria then only the one team will be moved.

 

 

6.1.2.1.2 Moving Teams Up

 

GEVA will utilize the following criteria for the mandatory moving of teams up:

 

1. A team which makes it out of pool play in a higher level tournament two times.

 

1. A team which wins a tournament at a higher level will be immediately moved up.

 

1. A team that wins any three qualified tournaments at its registered playing level.  Qualified tournaments are tournaments that consist of no less than (2) pools of competition per skill levels except those levels where the majority of tournaments consist of (1) pool.

 

1. Teams will be returned to their original level if they; (1) play in at least two tournaments at the higher level and (2) do not win at least three games in each of the first two qualified tournaments at the higher level.

 

6.1.2.1.3 Moving Teams Down

 

GEVA will utilize the following criteria for the mandatory moving of teams down:

 

1. A team that wins two or less games in three qualified tournaments.

 

1. Teams being moved down will be placed in the 67th percentile of the new level.

 

6.1.2.2            Player Eligibility

 

Players must be registered on the team they are playing with or with a team from the same club.  (Exception – for the 2008 season an A/AA team may borrow a GEVA player form any registered team)

 

1. A player(s) may register on-site with the Tournament Director who will add the player(s) name to the roster.

 

1. In the case of players being borrowed, the team must attach a copy of the club team’s roster containing those players’ names as part of the entry.

 

1. A player may be registered in only one Region as per USAV guidelines.

 

6.1.3             Adult Regional Tournaments

 

6.1.3.1            Player Eligibility

 

In order to play in Regionals a player must have registered and played in at least three tournaments at the team’s registered level before Regionals.  This requirement must be met 12 days prior to Regionals.

 

6.1.3.2            Team Eligibility

 

1. In order to play in Regionals a team must have played in four tournaments at their registered level (one of the required tournaments may be met by playing in a sanctioned out of Region tournament).  This requirement must be met 19 days prior to Regionals. If a team is moved in playing levels late in the season a minimum of one tournament must be played at the new level.  Tournaments played prior to the move will count towards the four-tournament requirement.

 

1. Teams may not borrow players for Regionals.

 

1. Rosters will be fixed 21 days prior to Regionals.

 

1. A team must have two qualified Scorekeepers on their roster by April 1 to be eligible to play in Regionals.

 

6.1.4             Adult Tournament Entry Guidelines

 

All entries must be mailed in with the roster/entry form (printed the GEVA web site by            team representative) and an entry fee.  Teams will be accepted based on the arrival of              the dated mail.  Telephone, email and fax entries will not be accepted.

 

6.1.4.1            Adult Tournament Withdrawal

 

The following tournament withdrawal procedures will be followed in the case of any registered team withdrawing from a tournament:

 

1. If the team withdraws two Mondays before the tournament date (12 or 13 days) depending upon a Saturday or Sunday tournament), there is no penalty and the entry fee will be refunded in full.

 

1. If a team withdraws 7-12 (or 13) days prior to the tournament they will receive a refund of one half of their entry.

 

1. If the team withdraws six or less days prior to the tournament, but 24 hours prior to the start of the tournament, they will lose their entry fee.  There is no further penalty.

 

1. If the team does not contact the tournament director at least 24 hours before the start of the tournament, the entry fee will automatically be lost.  The team will also be required to re-register by paying a team registration fee in order to continue to participate in tournaments for the rest of the season.

 

1. If the team is a no-show, in addition to the actions and penalties in rule # d,  the case will be reviewed by the GEVA Ethics and Eligibility Committee for possible further action.

 

6.1.5             Team Tournament Responsibilities

 

6.1.5.1            Work Assignments

 

1. Teams will be required to work a maximum of two matches during pool play. Additionally a team may be required to work during playoffs based upon published guidelines.

 

1. Teams must provide a work team consisting of; 2 linespersons, a second referee, a scorekeeper and an assistant scorekeeper.  Any member of the work team will be replaced at the direction of the referee/tournament director.

 

1. A team who is late for a work assignment will automatically forfeit one point per minute they are late from the first game of their next match and have to work for the team that covered for them.

 

1. A team which leaves early without fulfilling their work obligation will also be required to re-register by paying a team registration fee in order to continue to participate in tournaments for the rest of the season.  A second offense will result in a fine of 3 times the team registration fee.  Any subsequent violation will result in a fine of 5 times the team registration fee.

 

6.1.6             Adult Uniform Guidelines

 

6.1.6.1            Friendship/Seeding Season

 

Players will be required to wear a jersey with a number during Friendship/Seeding tournaments so as to facilitate the rating of officials.

 

6.1.6.2            Sanctioned Season

 

1. Uniform shirts will be identical with the exception of sleeve length.  Number size and placement will conform to the requirements of the USAV Rulebook.

 

1. Uniform shorts for GEVA sanctioned Adult tournaments must be of the same dominant color.

 

 

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