FAQ
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Lets help make this process EASY and provide you with some answers to Frequently asked questions....​
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With over 20+ years of experience running clubs and seeing the game and the club world change and evolve, I know for new parents/players looking into club it can be overwhelming, confusing, and lost. There are so many aspects to club. Please note the answers below are general statements and provide thinking points for parents to consider when trying to get their son or daughter into club.
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1) WHEN DOES CLUB START?
Club season normally begins pending on the city/province the first week of December. Teams will normally practice for a one, two, or possibly three weeks prior to the Christmas break. After Christmas break teams will go steady until end of April-Mid May pending on the age/gender category.
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2) HOW DO I GET ON A TEAM?
The #1 way to get on a team is to attend tryouts. Tryouts normally run in November but due to changes in rules & regulations from certain provincial associations tryouts can happen as early as September. So please ensure to stay close to social media and our website for these announcements.
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The other way to be "identified" is "open gyms, prep clinics, and other various programs". Every club has a different word or title for these style of events but they are no short of being an unofficial tryout. The vast majority of clubs if not all clubs do them. Lets just call it what it is. We "ACE" like any other club run "prep clinics and open gyms" throughout the summer months. Players may or may not get a verbal offer during these events. Each chapter and coach is different. To ensure the most competitive teams its in the players and clubs best interest to follow suit with this practice.
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2) WHAT IS AN LOI
Letter of Intent. Each province have their own unique rules with this. The basics of this are that its a legal document signing a player to that club for the upcoming season. LOI can be also called an offer. A verbal offer is as good as the trust and integrity between the two parties. The written offer is the binding agreement. Normally at this point a Non-Refundable deposit would be taken.
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3) WHY DO CLUB FEES DIFFER PER AGE GROUP?
Club is not cheap. There are many different things to consider. Does the team practice 1,2 or 3 times a week? Are you renting the jersey and handing it back at the end of year or do you own it. How much clothing do you get in the package? At ACE all clothing passed onto players the players keep. Older age groups have higher coaching expectations by coaches, these coaches need to go through a higher level of certification to be able to coach these levels. Some age groups will get more tournaments than other age groups. Some age groups have Nationals included while others don't. All U16+ programs have GST. This is CRA law. Some clubs do not charge this. We are not going to play roulette with the CRA and ensure that everything we do is above board.
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4) WHY DO CLUB FEES DIFFER PER CHAPTER?
Again Club is not cheap. There are many different things to consider. Even though everything in question 3 is relevant to this question as well there are other things to consider. Gym rental in a big city is much different than gym rental in a small city. Coach honorariums in one chapter might be different than coach honorariums in another.
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5) IS ACE CHEAPER OR MORE EXPENSIVE THAN OTHER CLUBS?
ACE is in the middle of the pack when it comes to pricing. All our pricing is based on a wide variety of factors as included in question 3 & 4. Club fees normally within ACE are considered with a team of 12-13 players. If a team of 14 happens the cost would go down and if a team of 10-11 happen the cost would go up. There are clubs that are more expensive than us and there are clubs that are less expensive. For the clubs that are less expensive its important to know what is and is not included. Too many times we have heard the story of parents getting writers cramp due to writing cheques non-stop through the season. Some clubs may or may not have big sponsors. ACE is user pay system and we do not rely on any sponsors.
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6) ARE THERE ADD-ONS?
We provide an ALL-INCLUSIVE experience. We "ACE" believe that the product provides a healthy amount of practice and gameplay for youth athlete to time manage and not burnout. Please note some teams might decide as a collective to do more tournaments or travel to the USA for a tournament. This is over and above the normal club fee. We will not "encourage" it but we will also not discourage it if that specific team wants to do more than the curriculum entails.
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7) WILL WE NEED TO TRAVEL?
Pending on age group the provincial association does schedule away tournaments. The cost to get to these tournaments are on the parents. Coaches food, gas and hotels are already included in the club fee. Players stay with parents. This is a safety precaution. Players staying with parents ensures they will behave and get a good night sleep prior to competition.
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8) WHAT ARE COACHING BACKGROUNDS?
All coaches go through lots of various courses prior to even being considered for ACE. All coaches have a criminal record check completed every 3 years. All coaches will be in good standing with the provincial association and with the Coaching Association of Canada. As an ACE coach, unlike other clubs, coaches are required to further their education every single year they coach with ACE.
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9) DO ALL TEAMS GO TO NATIONALS?
Volleyball Canada has now made Nationals a "lottery" to attend. Their is no guarantee for ANY team from ANY club to get a spot at Nationals. We have had good luck attending with over 98% of our teams obtaining spots. If for some chance a team does not make nationals and that is included in their fee, the money would be delegated to attend another major tournament.​
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10) IS ACE A NON-PROFIT?
ACE is a registered Non-Profit with the government of BC, Alberta and also federally with the government of Canada. The club has a board of directors who ensures Non-Profit compliance and process. The AGM is open to all the Members & Board Members of ACE. Playing on an ACE team does not make you a "member" but a participant. To become a member you must apply as per the Articles of Association. All "members" have a chance to apply to be on the "board of directors". The board approves fees for the upcoming club season.
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11) DOES ACE HAVE GAMING FUNDS?
Due to the size ACE is gaming funds holds no value to the club. The amount of money potentially earned divided over 2 seasons and only permitted to be spent on certain things create more headaches than benefit. For example- 900 athletes per season with $80k only brings down club these $44. On top of this we need volunteers for the casino shifts, who then expect their child to get more of a benefit from the money. Various rules and regulations over and above normal non-profit setup are required as well.
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12) WHAT SHOULD I CONSIDER WHEN SELCTING A CLUB?
Parents bigger is not always better, but smaller is not always better either. More expensive does not mean more "ELITE" but cheaper does not mean "RECREATIONAL". The number one thing we recommend parents to look at is, how long has a club been around? This tells so much about a club. There are so many clubs that come and go but the longevity of a club speaks volumes. There are 1-2 team clubs that have been around 10+ years and there are 15-20 team clubs that have been around that long. The clubs who have been around have made it through the good times and the not so good times. ACE is proud of 12+ years of service and look forward to many more.​​​​​​​​​​​