NOTE:  The costs for traveling are out-of-pocket expenses that parents (or other parties responsible for the financial obligations of players) are expected to provide as required.  These costs are NOT included as part of the club fees.  You can click here for more information for travel costs for The OC.

 

Because of the limited number of USAV tournaments held in the Tulsa area, all teams (including Metro teams) will likely participate in one or more tournaments that are outside of the Tulsa metro area.  Depending on the location and details of those tournament, The OC will designate a "mandated travel requirement" for these tournaments.  The mandated travel requirement simply means that overnight hotel stays will be necessary, and players and coaches will be expected to travel to these tournaments and asked to attend team activities that are scheduled as part of tournament itinerary.  Coaches and/or a team representative will also have the opportunity to use a team itinerary for the team's out-of-town tournaments (you can click here for a sample).

 

The OC understands that this policy does increase the costs of participating in our club, and we will be very mindful of the costs when selecting hotels, activities, etc. for team travel.  However, cost will NOT be the lone factor, as we will also consider proximity, safety, etc. on the itinerary selections as well.

 

The requirement allows our teams to maximize their performance and minimize the risk of unexpected problems of traveling to an out-of-town tournament.

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• Maximizing Performance:  Players traditionally play better with a good night's sleep.  Historically, coaches have seen less-than-maximum performances from players at tournaments when the matches have been preceded by waking up at extraordinarily early hours and trying to play immediately after a lengthy car ride.  While tournaments must be won at the end of the day, they can often be lost at the beginning with a poor start.

• Minimizing Unexpected Issues:  The travel requirements offer better protection for teams from unexpected problems/delays (oversleeping, traffic delays, last-minute illnesses, etc.), which may cause our teams to have to forfeit matches at these tournaments.  USAV tournaments require a minimum number of players to both participate, as well as complete refereeing responsibilities.

 

When the teams travel, we will make every effort to have all team members, coaches, and parents stay at the same establishment.  In most (if not all cases), a team representative will notify all parties of the selected hotel.  Parents/guardians will then have the opportunity to make necessary reservations.  The team representative will also be responsible for making any other needed reservations (i.e., reservations for coaches).  An individual room for each coach will always be provided as part of the travel itinerary.