Hello and welcome to the Ottawa Competitive Volleyball League's (OCVL) 2010-2011 season. Below you will find all the procedures you will need to follow in order to register your team. Please read everything over carefully. For those of you who are new to the OCVL, the season typically begins in September and wraps up in April of the following year with finals and an end of season Banquet and Awards Gala. The league operates on three separate nights: the Men's Division runs on Monday nights, the Women's Division runs on Tuesday nights, and the Mixed Division runs on Thursday nights. Teams must have 6 registered players on the court at all times which, in the Mixed Division, consists of three men and three women or two men and four women.
Online Registration
The Internet is the OCVL's main communication and administration tool. All of the league's scheduling, team and player information are kept on the OCVL website. All payments, player and team registrations are to be done online. Accordingly, all persons registering a team (i.e. team captains and assistant captains), as well as all players joining a team, must provide a valid email address to the league where they can be reached daily for important league announcements.
Registration Deadline
All registration forms must be completed online and payment received before Wednesday, September 8th 2010 at 12pm. Teams whose forms are received after this date will be placed on a waiting list. Teams on the waiting list will only be accepted in the league if there is space and/or more teams are required in order to facilitate the organization of the qualifying tournaments.
Please do not begin registering any information until registration is officially opened. An announcement will be posted on our home page www.ocvl.com.
How do I register a team?
For New Teams…
1. To register a new team you must first be in our database as a player. To add yourself to our database, click on the "Players Area" in the top menu of the OCVL homepage (www.ocvl.com). You will be led through various screens which will require you to enter your personal information. Once completed, you will be assigned a unique player ID number and then asked to pick a password which will grant you access to the site. You only need to do this once! If you were on a different team before, and already have a player ID number, you must use that ID when you login to register your new team. If you forgot your ID number, you can also use your e-mail address to login. Note: if you forgot your password, you can have it emailed to you automatically from the website.
2. Once you are registered as a player and logged in, click on the "Signup a new team" link. This will allow you to create a team in our league and will automatically list you as the captain. In the future, when you return and login, you will be presented with the "Captains Menu" that allows you to manage your team. Quick Note: prior to registering, it may be a good idea to have a few team names available on a short list, as quite often many of the "more popular" names selected are already being used (yes... sorry, heartbreaking but, "The Empire Spikes Back" and "Drunk, Stupid and Clumsy" are spoken for!!)
3. All players wishing to play on your team are also required to signup with the league and be added to the OCVL database. In order to do that they just need to go to the OCVL website, and click on "Players Area" and follow the steps for registration. Once registered, players must then login, click on "Players Area", and select "Join a Team". The players then select the division in which they wish to play (Men's, Women's or Mixed) and next, select the appropriate team name from the drop down list.
4. In addition to the captain, each team also requires an assistant captain that the captain will assign through the website. The assistant captain will have the same abilities as the captain allowing him/her to add players to the roster as well as edit player eligibility.
5. In order for a player to officially join a team, the player needs to be confirmed by either the captain or assistant captain. From the Captain's Menu, the captain (or assistant captain) can add people to his/her team's roster, print the waiver forms for them, as well as confirm the people who have applied to be on the team.
For Returning Teams…
1. If you are a captain that had a team last year and will be returning with that same team again this year, you need to login to the system to register your team. If you forgot your ID number, you can also use your e-mail address to login. Please DO NOT enter yourself as a new player. If you have forgotten your password, you can have it emailed to you automatically from the website. If you are still having problems, please email john@ocvl.com.
2. Once logged in, captains will see a button where they can pay for the same team again this year. The system will also calculate how much of last year's bond remains and apply it to the total.
3. As team captain, you will be able to add people to your roster, print the waiver forms for them, and confirm people to your roster who have applied to be on your team.
4. Again this year, each team must have an assistant captain that the captain will assign through the website. The assistant captain will have the same abilities as the captain, whereby he/she may add players to the roster as well as edit player eligibility.
Calling All Captains and Players!!
Remember that once the team and all the players are registered with the league, the player has to go online and select the team with which he/she wishes to play. The captain (or assistant captain) then has to confirm it online. Similarly, a captain may select the player from the players list first and then subsequently, the player confirms him/herself online. Either way, confirmation is required by both team captain and players, and it is the captains' responsibility to ensure that this is done.
Player Signup
1. In order to play in the OCVL, all players must visit the OCVL website (www.ocvl.com) and signup. Once signed up, players need to complete and submit a waiver form, as well as select the division(s) and team(s) for which they wish to play. Players who wish to play but do not have a team, may sign up as "spares" by making the appropriate selection on the registration page.
2. To signup and add yourself to the OCVL database, click on the "Players Area" in the top menu. You will be led through various screens which will require you to enter your personal information. Once completed, you will be assigned a unique player ID number and then asked to pick a password which will grant you access to the site. You only need to do this once! If you were on a different team before, and already have a player ID number, you may use that ID when you login to register your new team. If you forgot your ID number, you can also use your e-mail address to login. Note: if you forgot your password, you can have it emailed to you automatically from the website.
3. THE WAIVER. Every player who steps onto an OCVL court has to complete a waiver. The waiver is simply a document which removes the league from any real or potential liability should a player suffer an unfortunate event or circumstance. Waiver forms must be completed and submitted for EVERY player.
There are 2 ways for a player to complete their waiver form:
a) They can do so by logging into their OCVL online account and clicking through the process or,
b) They can print out the waiver form, sign it and fax it to the league at 613-820-0777.
4. Once that has been completed, captains will notice that the player's status changes on their team roster. Please note that ONLY THE PLAYER may submit their waiver form. A captain or any person other than the player may not agree to the waiver online.
Attention all Captains!!
Waiver forms must be submitted for EVERY player, even spares! If the league does not receive waivers for all players prior to their stepping onto the court, all games in which that player participated in will be defaulted! Additional waiver forms (for spare players) will be available in the bags which hold the score sheets in each gym. "Spare" players need to complete and sign these forms before stepping onto the court. It is the captain's responsibility to ensure that their players are entered into the system, and have signed and returned their waiver form prior to playing.
Fees & Payment Options
The league fees for this year will be $1825.00 per team for the season (SAME AS LAST YEAR!!!)
There are no additional fees for the qualifying tournaments at the start of the season. Each team is also required to pay a bond. The bond is a cash deposit which the league retains to cover the fines a team may incur during the season (typical fines are things like uniform violations, defaults, etc.. for more on this see the section on OCVL Rules.) The amount of the bond this year is $150.00 (plus GST). In the event that your team returns the following season, the remaining portion of their bond is transferable. If you are a returning team, the remaining portion of your bond from the previous season will be presented when you login and pay for your team. with how much bond you have remaining from last year.
For New Teams…
League Fees: $1825.00
+ Bond: $150.00
+ 13% HST: $256.75
Total Due: $2231.75
For Returning Teams…
League Fees = $1825.00
+ any bond replenishment required
+ 13% HST: $237.25
Minimum Total Due: $2062.25
Should you have any questions about your team's bond amount from last year, please send an email to john@ocvl.com.
Payment may be made by the team captains online at any time prior to the deadline. Payment of fees is by CREDIT CARD ONLY. As indicated earlier, all fees are due by 12 noon (12:00 PM), Wednesday, September 8th 2010. Payments received after this date will result in that team being placed on a "waiting list".
Uniforms
In addition to league fees, teams are also required to obtain uniforms for the regular season. This is a task that is undertaken by the teams themselves and must be done according to OCVL guidelines. All teams must be in uniform the week following the Canadian Thanksgiving (October 12th, 2010). The OCVL uniform guidelines are as follows: all players on a team must have matching shirts with a 15cm number on the back (centre) AND an 8cm number on the front (centre). Please note: No 0’s, leading zero’s (007), decimals, symbols or numbers greater than 99. Uniforms are not required for the qualifying tournaments however each player on a team participating in a qualifying tournament, must have a game shirt with a unique number.
Tiering / Ladder Format
As indicated earlier, the Men's League runs on Monday nights, the Women's League runs on Tuesday nights, and the Mixed League runs on Thursday nights. This "league by night" format allows the OCVL to operate in a tier or ladder format (i.e. you win and you move up the ladder, or you lose and you move down the ladder). Thus, with minor exceptions, the night you play will remain the same throughout the season, but depending on your success (or lack thereof), where and when you play may change every couple of weeks. Ultimately, each night a team will play 1 match, in a best of 5 game format.
PLEASE NOTE THAT IN ORDER FOR THIS TIER FORMAT TO FUNCTION IT REQUIRES THAT ALL MATCHES IN EACH DIVISION BE COMPLETED EACH WEEK. THAT MEANS THAT, SHOULD THERE BE A GYM CANCELLATION ONE WEEK THEN THE TEAMS AFFECTED WILL HAVE TO BE REPLAY THEIR MATCH AT SOME POINT BEFORE THE FOLLOWING WEEK'S MATCH -- IN MOST CASES THAT WILL MEAN EITHER A WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR FRIDAY NIGHT MATCH, OR MAYBE EVEN A WEEKEND MATCH, DEPENDING ON GYM AVAILABILITY.
How are team rankings determined at the beginning of the season? Returning teams (provided they have at least 6 returning qualified players) will be assigned a position on the ladder based on how the team finished the previous year. New teams on the other hand, will be placed on the ladder based on their performance at the qualifying tournament.
2010 Qualifying Tournaments
The OCVL is a competitive volleyball league. In order to ensure that teams are appropriately placed on the “tier ladder” (according to their level of play), qualifying tournaments are held prior to the commencement of the season, for each of the 3 divisions. Should there be more teams applying to a division than the league has space for, this tournament then serves as an elimination tournament. ALL teams should be prepared to play in the qualifying tournaments. Teams may be required to play both days of the qualifying tournament, depending on the number of teams competing and the amount of gym space available.
Please note that there is no such thing as a SPARE for the qualifying tournaments! All the players who participate in the qualifying tournaments must be on a that team's player roster.
¨ Men's Qualifying Tournament
Sunday, September 12, 2010 *
¨ Women's Qualifying Tournament
Sunday, September 19, 2010 *
¨ Mixed Qualifying Tournament
Saturday, September 18, 2010 *
* these dates are now confirmed (as of 12-Aug-2010)
Some returning teams may be given a bye from the qualifying tournament depending on how many teams apply for their division, and how many gyms the league is able to secure. Eligibility for a bye will be based on last year's results at the end of the regular season and the number of returning players a team has: you will need a minimum of six qualified players returning (i.e. players who played enough weeks in the regular season to have been eligible for last year's playoffs). Teams wishing a bye MUST have their returning players signed up online as well as have their player waiver forms signed and returned to the league. This is to be done for EACH returning player. These players will then be permanently added to your roster for the entire year.
Returning teams may decide to relinquish their bye and play in the qualifying tournament to improve their ranking -- they must request this BEFORE the registration deadline (however, before making such a rash decision, please read Attention Risk Takers below). This would lead to the league giving out less bye's, if any at all. As such, all teams should be prepared to play in qualifying tournaments on both days.
Bye's and tournament format will NOT be finalized until a day before the tournaments... so please, don't ask!!!
Please note: should a team NOT QUALIFY for the league, their league fees and bond, less $100.00 (plus GST) for administrative expenses, will be refunded.
Attention Risk Takers…
If a returning team, who may be granted a bye, prefers to play in a qualifying tournament to improve their ranking, please inform John by email at john@ocvl.com. Please note however, that, if approved, you do so at your own risk. Your team will no longer be guaranteed a spot in the league but instead, you will have to earn it (provided of course that there are more teams than available spots). In addition you risk dropping to a lower ranking as you will forfeit your current spot.
Gyms & Season Schedule
The OCVL is always working hard to obtain and retain quality gym space in the National Capital Region. In the past, OCVL players have been very good at assisting gym staff in the general setup and takedown of equipment, as well as overall maintenance of the gym. We trust that this will continue into the coming season as well. Gym assignments will be posted weekly on the OCVL website. As it has been in the past, teams will be assigned setup and takedown duties. Additionally, we ask that players continue to remove outer footwear before entering the gyms and dispose of all waste and garbage prior to leaving the gyms.
As for gyms, this years we have the following (so far):
¨ For Monday Nights (Men's Division)
Cite Collegiale, Le Patro, Ottawa Montessori School, Gabriel Roy, Gisele Lalonde HS, Carleton University and Kanata Montessori
¨ For Tuesday Nights (Women's Division)
Ashbury College, Carleton University, Woodroffe HS, Ottawa Montessori, Nepean Sportsplex, Kanata Montessori, Gabriel Roy.
¨ For Thursday Nights (Mixed Division)
Nepean Sportsplex, Ashbury College, Redeemer HS, Ottawa Montessori School, Kanata Montessori, Gabriel Roy, Heritage College
Please note that we are still in the process of confirming other venues, as well as adding new venues. Gym availability is subject to change and final plans will be announced at the captain’s meeting.
Calling all Teachers…
If you or anyone on your team is a teacher at a High School, or you just have some really good high school connections, please contact us. We would appreciate your help in obtaining more gym time. Often it only takes the recommendation of a teacher or colleague at the school to enable us to book a great gym. If you can help please contact john@ocvl.com.
Captains and Assistant Captains Meeting
Each and every year, the league holds a mandatory captain's meeting prior to the commencement of the season. The captain's meeting addresses issues regarding the rules, operation, and etiquette of the league. Attendance is mandatory. All new teams must have both their Captain and Assistant Captain attend while returning teams need only send either one or the other. Teams not properly represented at this meeting will be moved to the waiting list for admittance into the league.
This year's Captain's Meeting will be held on Thursday, September
9th, 2010 at 7:00PM sharp in THE CHAMBER at Ben Franklin Place. Ben Franklin Place is located at 101 Centrepointe Drive in Ottawa's west end. (This is the old Nepean City Hall; in the same building as the Centrepoint Theatre).
Executive Director of the OCVL is: John Balsevicius
The OCVL Phone number is: 613-768-5142
OCVL Web Page: www.ocvl.com
For General Inquiries: john@ocvl.com
