Unfortunately as we suspected, CEVA has canceled the the remaining Power League and Regional tournaments for the year. It hasn't been announced publicly yet, but they will be announcing it on Monday.
CEVA will refunding clubs on the remaining Power Leagues and Regionals over the next 2 weeks. We will also begin the process next week of calculating refunds for everyone based on the cancelation of the season, as outlined in our previous email (below).
We are so sorry this has happened, and feel so bad for all the players and families that were looking forward to finishing out the season. We are devastated. Is such a strange time for all of us, and we hope everyone gets through this time healthy and with a greater appreciation for the things and people that are important to all of us.
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Email from March 20th
Parents and Players,
What a strange time we currently find ourselves in! Now that a few days of this new social distancing lifestyle have gone by, we would like to update everyone on what we know at this point and what things look like going forward. With roughly 5 weeks left in the club season, it’s hard to know what is in store for our volleyball players and families in the coming weeks. Therefore we think it's important to bring everyone up to speed with what we know right now in regards to upcoming events, the plan for April dues payments, and any refunds/credits that may need to be applied if/when things get canceled.
So what do we know?
We currently know that we are not able to have any practices or tournaments through March 31st as was mandated by USAV and CEVA. After that date we have no real confirmations of whether or not events will be held or canceled and we are in a wait and see mode. Sadly this week we have not been able to practice, but thankfully next week is Spring Break, and we were not planning to practice over that time anyway.
So far we know both Colorado Crossroads and Pacific NW Qualifier were cancelled. We’ve been working hard to secure refunds on upfront payments for both registration and travel. It’s looking pretty good that most of those items will be refunded, but we’re waiting for that money to come back.
CEVA Power League/Regionals has not yet made any announcements about cancelling/postponing any further Power League tournaments. However we are anticipating that they will need to further postpone or even cancel the season. As soon as they let us know what the month of April looks like, we will let you know.
Finally Willamette Classic has indicated they are planning to host their tournament on schedule. This tournament is more than a month away so we will have to hold tight to see how things progress over the next few weeks.
So what’s happening with April dues?
As a club volleyball program nearly all of our gym rentals, tournament registrations, equipment, uniforms, and travel expenses are contracted and paid out early in the season. Registrations, hotels and flights are all pre-paid very early in the season, sometimes prior to tryouts. All of this goes into calculating the total cost per team for the club season. Monthly Dues payments are a way for us to help families break up the cost of club volleyball over 5 payments, and are not a reflection of the direct costs incurred per each month.
Therefore, we will be processing April dues payments as scheduled. We know these are uncertain times and there is obviously still some uncertainty on the future of our season However, its important that everyone comes together to fulfill their financial commitment. If families start canceling payments, it will be very difficult for us to navigate any potential refunds we may need to give if more of the season gets impacted.
How will refunds/credits be handled if needed?
We want to assure you during this time, that while we work very hard to set up a great season for everyone … we will also work just as hard to make sure we get as much of those upfront expenses back for everyone. Everything that we are able to get back and/or cancel, we will distribute to our members as refunds. We are already in the process doing this for Colorado Crossroads and Pacific NW Qualifier that we know had already been canceled.
If additional events get canceled, or the remainder of the season put in jeopardy … we will calculate all the costs associated with the canceled timeframe (gym cost, tournament entries, travel expenses, etc) by individual team and distribute those funds back to the families. Each team has different costs based on travel, practice days, size of tournaments, etc. so we will have to calculate each one independently. That will take some time, but we will work as fast as we can to make sure it’s back to everyone in a timely manner.
These are such unprecedented times, that there really is no playbook on how to handle situations like this. We all must feel that way, as we sit at home with our kids wondering how long all this will last. We miss being in the gym with your kids, and we genuinely feel for the kids having to miss this portion of their club season. It’s heartbreaking.
We thank you for your continued support of our program … and hope you are all staying healthy, staying busy, and dreaming of more volleyball to come soon.
Thanks,
Nate and Babette
YVBA Club
