Aug 12, 2020
KYVB parents

As we have all come to expect over the past several months, life has recently thrown our Volleyball program a curveball. The Kings Administration has had to make many difficult decisions lately, and the one they made last week that forbids usage of school facilities by outside organizations was a direct hit to our plans. Unfortunately, this decision has been echoed by most other local school districts that compete in the CPYVL as well. As a result, like many other communities we have made the decision to again withdraw from having a formal indoor season with CPYVL. There are just too many unanswered questions about where to practice, what other communities will be fielding teams, and most importantly, how we might best keep our kids safe. Obviously, this is disappointing on several levels, as we have been growing by leaps and bounds, and were excited about plans for expanding into South Lebanon Elementary, introducing an all-boys division, and fielding more competitive-level and Junior high programs.

Enough of the bad news, because let's face it--it's not like we didn't see this coming all summer. Unlike the spring, we have been given time and opportunity to develop what we feel is as good a backup plan as possible. For maybe just this one season, we will be moving outdoors. Sand volleyball is another version of the sport that is certainly more adaptable to global pandemics, school closures and social distancing--and we are very fortunate to have developed a wonderful relationship with Sports Express, where there are four professional-quality courts under the lights otherwise lying unoccupied all fall. We believe a temporary one-season move to the sand allows us to have a higher degree of control of potential cancellations, and allows our children to get possibly even better exercise in a far SAFER environment than practicing and competing in a gymnasium. There will be no loss of momentum from each child's individual skill development. In fact, a very strong case was made by our own Varsity coach Amanda Meadows that practicing in a medium such as sand actually is a better way to learn to pass, serve and rehearse the basic fundamental movements of the sport.

We have a very strong community of top-notch and experienced coaches who are on board with this plan, and we are looking outside of Kings to see if we can find opponents from other communities for small tournaments. If we cannot locate any, we will figure out how to best develop a competitive environment from the players among our own large program. Additionally, we will STILL be instituting a 4-5-6 grade Boys' program, and we will STILL be expanding our junior high program. Other details are also developing quickly, and expect another email soon.   However, with less overhead costs we are anticipating a price per player of around $65. This will include eight weeks of skill development, and amounts to about half of our normal dues. We can do this very affordably due to the dedication of our volunteer coaches and the generosity of the management at Sports Express.

We are looking at starting the week of August 16 and running through early October. Because of social distancing restrictions we must have a very hard cap at 80 total players, and we are approaching that number. If this is not your thing and your child would like to be removed from the list, please notify me ASAP to help with planning. We look forward to making the most of this s#%ty situation with all of our kids--but, as they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Regards,KYVB BoardKings Youth Volleyball
Email: [email protected]