FCVC Competitive Teams
The competitive indoor season traditionally runs from tryouts in September through to the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) Provincial Championships in April. Regular OVA tournament play starts in November and teams can expect to compete every 6 weeks in a full-day weekend tournament. Some teams may also choose to extend their season into May to attend the Volleyball Canada National Youth Championships or travel to US Competitions.
Visit the OVA website here for information about the upcoming season.
Teams typically compete in 1-2 tournaments per month, from November through March, culminating in the OVA Provincial Championships in April or, potentially, the National Championships in May. Majority of OVA tournaments will be completed in one or two days on either a Saturday and/or a Sunday. Teams may participate in invitational tournaments or friendly scrimmages in addition to the OVA competition season. The Head Coach for each team typically will provide parents with an outline of the planned competitive schedule and preliminary team budget following tryouts.
You can view the OVA 2023/24 Competitions calendar here.
OVA Provincial Championships run over three days of competition for each age level, in April. It is the largest youth amateur volleyball event in the province. The 2024 Championships will be hosted at RIM Park in Waterloo, ON and the EY Centre in Ottawa, ON. More information about the Championships tournament can be found here.
Teams train 2-3 times a week, with sessions running from 90-120 minutes in length. FCVC also provides occasional extra training opportunities such as clinics where guest coaches will offer training on a particular technical skills or player positions.
Teams at FCVC have excellent practice facilities at various Secondary and Elementary schools in London, community churches, and Fanshawe College. Each facility is stocked with all the necessary equipment to ensure an outstanding training environment. Regular team practices are held during the evenings in-week (Monday-Thursday) and Sundays.
Just a little bit of math is needed.
We’re going into the 2023/24 season. Just take the second of those numbers (2024) and subtract from it your year of birth. So, if you were born in 2010, you would be 2024 – 2010 = 14U.
Simple!
For teams and athletes to compete at their highest level, off-court physical training is highly recommended. Competitive teams at the 16U, 17U and 18U level will be expected to participate in team training, and a list of Board approved training facilities/ trainers will be provided to your Head Coach. For all other teams, decisions about participating in physical training will be made on an individual team basis, in consultation with the coaches and parent group.
Most teams will conduct extra classroom sessions for video review, statistical review, or post-competition team meetings, again depending on the age group and competitive level. Classroom sessions are typically scheduled for immediately before or after regular practice sessions.
The registration fees for the upcoming season will be:
| Age level | Registration Fee for 2023-24 season |
| 12U | $ 900 |
| 13U | $1,300 |
| 14U | $1,300 |
| 15U | $1,500 |
| 16U | $1,550 |
| 17U | $1,550 |
| 18U | $1,650 |
Financial Assistance
There are resources available to help offset the cost of youth sports:
- KidSport Ontario
- KidSport London
- Jumpstart
- Their Opportunity
- Various cultural and religious groups may offer individual sponsorships and grants, and it may be worthwhile to reach out and inquire
We will also make accommodations for families who need a bit more flexibility with their payments. Please contact our Treasurer at treasurer@forestcityvolleyball.com with the subject line "FCVC Financial Aid" to discuss a payment schedule.
FCVC registration fees are inclusive of the following:
- OVA registration fees (MRS)
- All team costs, including coaches tournament expenses*, associated with attending OVA tournaments and Provincials for age-group events
- All training costs (court/ gym rentals, equipment purchase and repair)
- All FCVC team clothing costs for athletes (jerseys, shorts, practice t-shirts, hoodies) and coaches
- All FCVC Banquet ticket for athletes and coaches
- Year-end coach honorarium
- Administrative expenses including, but not limited to, coaching development, registration, club website maintenance, advertising, meetings, supplies, insurance, and banking fees
FCVC registration fees DO NOT cover the following:
- All team costs, including coaches tournament expenses*, associated with attending National Championships (optional)
- All team costs, including coaches tournament expenses*, associated with attending OVA tournaments and Provincials for older-age events ("playing up") (optional)
- All team costs, including coaches tournament expenses*, associated with attending any other exhibition or invitational events (optional)
- Off-court physical training programs (optional)
- FCVC Banquet tickets for parents and other guests (optional)
- All athlete costs for attending events, including transportation, accommodation, and food
* Coach tournament expenses include:
- Mileage for travelling to tournaments outside London
- Hotel costs when travelling to tournaments more than 2 hours drive from London
- Per diem to cover food costs incurred at tournaments
We believe that athletes should explore all options available to them, and should feel confident and comfortable in their decision to play for FCVC:
- For over 30 years, FCVC has successfully developed volleyball athletes and teams, winning multiple national and provincial championships, and graduating more than 250 athletes to play at the post-secondary level and beyond.
- FCVC has a large group of talented, experienced and dedicated volunteer coaches. Combined our coaching staff have well over 250 years of experience, and have coached at the national, provincial, regional, university, college, club, high school and elementary school levels.
- Athletes at FCVC have access to top-flight training facilities, equipment and technology to help them develop their volleyball skills.
~ Former member of Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team, T.J. Sanders, reflected on his time with FCVC:
Competitive Team tryouts take place in September. FCVC offers teams from 12U - 18U Girls and 13U - 18U Boys.
Click here to view the tryout schedule and to register for tryouts.
If you have missed the tryouts and would like to inquire about the possibility of a late tryout, please contact vp_volleyball@forestcityvolleyball.com. A competitive team may have open spots still to fill - especially at the youngest ages - for athletes who miss the tryout period.
If you have any questions about tryouts, please contact us at tryouts@forestcityvolleyball.com. We look forward to seeing you there!
If for any valid reason, an athlete misses a tryout session, please notify the Registrar or our VP Volleyball. If the athlete misses a second or subsequent tryout session, please contact the Head Coach of that specific team to determine if there could be another time available for assessment; the Head Coach has final say in these matters, they are not obligated in any way to provide additional assessment time.
If there is a conflict between another Club’s tryout and ours, we recommend that you inform us in advance and we will help you work out any such conflicts to create a solution that maximizes the options for the athlete.
If you have any more questions about playing for FCVC, we would love to hear from you.
About FCVC
No.
FCVC has been a registered not-for-profit business since its inception. Our Executive, Board of Directors and all our coaches are volunteers who donate their time because of their love of the game. Coaches have their travel expenses reimbursed and receive a yearly honorarium.
The people behind the Forest City Volleyball Club are here to provide excellent volleyball development and training to our London and area athletes!
Coaching requirements at the club level are an ever-changing and dynamic. Any interested individuals can contact us at vp_volleyball@forestcityvolleyball.com to learn more. It's both a commitment and a rewarding and fun experience.
We'd love to hear from you!!
Absolutely! Our Mini-Acorn and Acorn programs are for athletes who are younger or just starting out in the sport. For athletes who are ready to play at a higher level, they can try out for one of our competitive teams.
