• We strive to create opportunities and increase participation through mentoring, positive coaching, community awareness, and cultivating the sense of belonging and friendship that evolve from being part of a team. 

• We pursue the highest ethical and sportsmanship standards, while always striving to do our absolute best.

• We believe a proper balance of challenge, support, and discipline produces the best learning environment and, since nobody adopts a sport for life unless it is fun, we want players to have fun too. 
  We believe in positive coaching and that it is counter-productive to humiliate players.  However, part of coaching is making certain a player knows if he or she is performing a skill badly or is making poor choices along with instruction about how to do better.  All that is part of challenge and support.  What we don't accept is for one of our coaches to call players insulting names or something equally pointless.  We distinguish between "You played badly then" and "You are a bad player".  
  

Forming Teams
Playing Time
Playing Positions
Disputes
Money

• Traveling teams normally have 8 to 11 players and our goal is to select players so each has a role on the court.  
  
• Traveling team players are selected by tryout.  While we do not hold positions for players from year to year, we recognize that a team forms over time and that team bonds can improve play.  Also, we appreciate club loyalty.  So, a returning player has an advantage during team selection except when someone new to CHAVC shows significantly better skills and would better meet the needs of the team.  The coaches can also taken into account factors such as, but not limited to, the team's needs regarding positions and a returning player's attitude, attendance, and effort during practices and matches the previous year.  Tryouts are in October and/or November as permitted by the Carolina Region and the club uses the region's  "signing days".
  
• Development teams generally have 12 players.  We do not have tryouts for development teams.  We will publcize a signup date and then starting on that date will accept signups until the teams are full. 
  
• Our coaches are unpaid volunteers, so if a coach has a son or daughter and we have an appropriate age team, he or she will be guaranteed a spot.
  
• The club believes most players benefit more by playing in their age group rather than "playing up".  However, on rare occasions a player might be significantly more skilled than others at his or her age and might be good enough to contribute significantly to an older team (equivalent to a "starter" on a typical school team).  If such a player expresses a desire to "play up", the coaches of the younger and older team will decide whether to offer the player a spot on the older team.    
  

• Players in good standing will have some playing time in every match.  So far, coaches have always found ways to play our players much more than this minimum. 
• To be in good standing, a player must pay his or her club dues, be registered with USAV, and meet their coach's practice and attendance rules.  Different coaches have different expectations about practice attendance; they will announce these rules at tryouts or earlier. 
• Regardless of the amount of playing time players have at tournaments, all players who are willing to work hard to learn will receive equivalent attention and training during practices.
• Our development teams play few matches and playing time is split nearly evenly among the players.
  

• Coaches assign positions to players based on the needs of the team.  Players can and should ask for the positions they want, but no coach can field a team with five left-front hitters.  Also learning multiple specialties can be helpful down the road.

• Conflict resolution requires communication and effective communication is a skill we encourage all our players, parents, and coaches to develop.
• We have a three step process for disputes: 1) set up a meeting between player(s) and coach to discuss the issue; 2) if that does not resolve the issue, set up a meeting with player(s), parent(s) and coach(s); 3) if this does not work, set up a meeting with the club director.

• Our books are open. If you want to see the club's budget or checkbook, just ask.
  
• Costs vary because different teams practice different amounts, wear different uniforms, and go to different tournaments.  We do not cross -subsidize.  No CHAVC team is charged extra to support a different CHAVC team.
• We pay room costs at multi-day tournaments for coaches who are not parents of players and as of fall 2008 we will partly reimburse coaches for mileage to tournaments.  As of spring 2009 we will also partly reimburse coaches for overnight stays for in-region tournaments that are long drives.  Details are here.  We also offer a small honorarium to coaches at the end of the season if we have the funds.  However most coaches still lose money over the season.
  
• If you have some suggestions about how we could charge less, speak up.  (However, few coaches have time in their lives to coach and also plan and do fund raisers.)