DIRECTOR AND COACH ELIGIBILITY

Once we receive your completed club application, the next step will be to purchase membership. The KRVA Office will send you a unique link to purchase a membership for your club. It is very import for you to use the membership link sent to you and DO NOT share it or you could be assigned to the wrong club.

All individuals will have an eligibility status. An individual who has met all requirements will appear as “Eligible”. Once a membership is purchased, that individual will receive an email outlining all eligibility requirements they need to meet, and will clearly see in their account any remaining requirements to be met. Eligibility requirements range from SafeSport training, IMPACT training, background screen approval, concussion training, and completion of waivers. WE RECOMEND COMPLETING ALL ELIGIBITY REQUIREMENTS FROM YOUR SPORTSENGINE ACCOUNT.

All Club Directors, Coaches, Assistant Coaches must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a registered member of Keystone Region/USAV in good standing
  • Have a clear Background Screening through KE/USAV
  • Have attended an Impact Clinic (online)
  • Have completed SafeSport training
  • Read, understand and electronically sign all Keystone Region/USA Volleyball waivers in Sports Engine

Each adult affiliated with a junior program (including non-coaching club administrators) must register themselves online through Sports Engine which will also prompt for SafeSport training and a background screen and contain the Junior Club Personnel Code of Ethics. No one is allowed to register for someone else due to the signing of electronic forms. Anyone registering for someone else (other than a legal parent/guardian) is committing fraud.

Club administrators and board of director members, even if not acting in a coaching capacity, should fulfill the above requirements due to the fact that these individuals are still setting and overseeing policy and participation for junior members and should understand their obligations to child safety requirements.

After registering, each member will have the option to print out a USAV Membership card (arrives to member in email or can be found in their My SE account), which is proof of membership for the current season, and also contains information on Impact certification and expiration of the individual’s background screen along with any officials or scorekeeping certifications. The card will read “Pending” for a background screen until this screen clears.

PLAYER SELECTION

Clubs may use a variety of methods to select their players. Some clubs may choose to hold tryouts; some clubs may accept everyone who chooses to be a part of their program; some clubs limit their membership to a certain school district or metro area; and, some clubs extend invitations to interested juniors. The method that you use is your choice. However, all clubs must adhere to the basic premises of our region’s tryout policy. Extending an invitation is considered the same as making an offer at a tryout
with the same guidelines and deadlines. Accepting a registration is the same as making an offer with the same deadlines. For example, a club that does not hold tryouts but “asks” players to play for their club may not “ask” a player until the applicable tryout period begins. Once a player is “asked,” they have until the applicable commitment date to make up their mind.

Clubs are allowed to retain athletes who were rostered athletes in the previous club season (Loyalty Offers).

All tryouts MUST be sanctioned by the KRVA office. All tryout proposal(s) must be submitted using the  Summer Tryout Form and/or the Fall Tryout Form . There is a $50 fee for each Tryout Period. Fee(s) must be paid to the KRVA Office BEFORE tryouts are sanctioned. All players and coaches in attendance are required to have a current USAV membership. 

SPORTSENGINE ONLINE REGISTRATION

Keystone Region uses the USA Volleyball national online registration system called Sports Engine, which eliminates the need for hard copies of the USAV Membership form, the Background screening form, User Agreements and the Junior Club Personnel Code of Ethics form. All of this information is included in the Sports Engine registration for each individual.

Each individual must register themselves – anyone registering for someone else (other than a legal parent or guardian) is committing fraud. Everyone (junior and adult) must also be registered online prior to any sanctioned clinic or tryout. Any club who allows unregistered members to participate is not covered under the USAV insurance policy, nor are any other members and/or clubs participating in the event.

Before any adult may be added to a team roster in Sports Engine, they must be paid, background screened, Impact and SafeSport trained and have signed waivers on file. The background screening process will not begin until payment is received. Please plan accordingly (i.e. submit the screen and payment more than seven to 10 business days prior to the first contact with a junior player – there is nothing that can be done to speed up this process). All IMPACT clinics are on-Demand online.

For tryouts, players might be asked to present their current USAV Membership card, a completed medical form and a concussion signature form. Clubs may also choose to have players submit a Player Information Form to gather information on the athlete. The region has provided such a form on the “Forms” section of our website. You may also choose to use your own form.

TEAM FEES: DUE DECEMBER 1st

There is a $30 per fee per team registered. Clubs only need to pay for the team(s) they will use for the season. Teams marked as unpaid and inactive in SportsEngine should not enter and will not be accepted into KRVA/USAV-sanctioned tournaments. Checks should be made payable to KRVA and sent to the KRVA Business Office, PO Box 3234, Allentown, PA 18106.

TEAM ROSTERS

For the 2023/2024 season, clubs will NOT submit their rosters to the region office. All rostering will be done in AES/TM2Sign/SportWrench by the club. All players must have a current full membership and coaches must be marked eligible to coach in order to be imported to an event system. If a club still wants their SportEngine roster built, they can be done by the office at $50 per team. Club Directors can also request exports of their members who have purchased membership assigned to their club. There is no cost but please remember this export does not reflect eligibility.

Certificate Of Insurance/Liability Insurance

As a member of USAV/Keystone Region, your program is provided with liability coverage for your events. Some facilities request proof of insurance. To secure this, send the Certificate of Insurance Request Form to the region office (available online here). List all the facilities your club will use during the season for tryouts, practices, tournaments, etc. This will notify our office of the facilities that you will need covered for liability.

If you check off that your facility requires a certificate of insurance, the region office will secure that certificate for you. If your facility requires that it be listed as “additional insured,” you need to note that on the form as well. It is important that you include your email address on the form as all certificates are sent out via email. Keep a copy for your records.

Keystone Region also needs on file your Facility Usage. In the event of a claim, Keystone Region needs to be able to verify that a sanctioned Keystone Region/USAV event was taking place at that time. Please forward to the office the facility name and dates and times of scheduled events. This can be done on a month-by-month basis if necessary, but must be submitted prior to the event.

Directors should review any contracts they sign for facilities. If there are any questions on contract language, please reach out to the Region prior to signing the contract, and we will get you in contact with the USA Volleyball liability insurance company. They will help review the contract for any USAV Region-registered club or event. This must be done before the contract is signed.

Club Directors must read over any rental agreements or contracts before signing them. Be sure you are only taking responsibility for the area of the facility you will actually be occupying for your event. The Certificate Holder (facility owner) is only an additional insured with respect to liability caused by the negligent acts or omissions of the Named Insured (club or TD) as respects to sanctioned USAV and Keystone Region Volleyball events.

Social Media and Electronic Communications Policy

It is required for each club to adopt the Social Media and Electronic Communications Policy created by the US Center for SafeSport.

Clubs may add more but may not take any part out of the policy.

This policy is to protect clubs, inform its members, and protect the players against undesired or unintended online communications.

The policy can be found here as well as in Appendix A of the Club Director Manual.This policy is also that of the Keystone Region.

Club Travel Policy

It is required for each club registered with the Keystone Region to employ a Club Travel Policy for its teams.

Clubs are encouraged to use the policy provided by the US Center for SafeSport, which is the policy the Keystone Region abides by. The Travel Policy is available in Appendix B of the Club Directors Manual.

Clubs may use an alternate policy, but it must be submitted to the KRVA Office by emailing [email protected] with the Club’s travel policy in its entirety no later than December 1 each season.