If you are a youth coach, varsity coach or association contact who plans to enter one or more teams into the Spring 2012 Wisconsin Independent Volleyball League ("WIVL"), please read this posting thoroughly.  This backgrounder, along with the referenced Enrollment Form and draft Rules, will answer virtually every question you will likely have about how to enter a team and how the League functions.

Spring 2012 Enrollment Form

The Enrollment Form to participate in the Spring 2012 season of the WIVL must be submitted by March 16, 2012.  The instructions on the form are self-explanatory.  However, if you have questions, please call Tracie Tilton at 715-749-9048 or, if you can’t reach her, call Jerry Engeleiter at 715-549-6161.

Draft 2012 Spring Rules

Draft WIVL 2012 League Rules can be viewed on our website at gnbl.org, by clicking on the “4^th-8^th Grade Wisconsin Independent Volleyball League” link at the top of the page and then “Spring 2012 Rules for 4^th-8^th Grade.”  These rules cover not only match rules, but also how the League is organized, the League’s fee structure and meet management.  Because these rules are quite detailed and self-explanatory, we don’t spend a great deal of time in this post discussing their content.  It is imperative that all coaches looking to enter one or more teams in the Spring League for fourth through eighth grade girls, read and understand these rules.  While we will consider changes in these “draft” rules for the 2012 Spring season, any changes at this point must reflect a majority view of League participants.  If you have suggested rule changes, or you have questions about the draft rules, please call Jerry Engeleiter at 715-549-6161 or contact him via email (jerry@gnbl.org). 

Length of Season

We will again organize meets on seven consecutive Saturdays:  April 7, April 14, April 21, April 28, May 5, May 12, and May 19. 

“Flexible” Scheduling

On the enrollment form, you can opt to have your team play three, four, five or more matches per day.

• If you choose to play three matches, your matches will likely be scheduled in three consecutive time slots, or usually over no more than four time slots, so that your team is making only a half-day commitment.  However, please note Section B-4 of the League Rules:  we cannot consistently guarantee a specific team that their matches each week will all be in the morning or all in the afternoon.

• If you choose to play four matches a day, these will likely be scheduled over five to seven time slots, with some back-to-back matches and some one time-slot breaks between matches.

• If you choose to play five matches a day, in most cases you’re looking at a full day commitment (e.g., 8:00 a.m., 8:30 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m.), with five matches over a six, seven or eight time slot day.  The length of your day, however, will depend on how many courts are being used by the host team that day, how many other teams are in attendance and how many other grades are being hosted on that day by the host team.

• If your team wants to play more than five matches per day, you aren’t likely to have any longer day than those teams playing five matches, but you will play more back-to-back matches.

See Paragraph B-3 of the League Rules for an example of how flexible scheduling works with thirteen teams playing on three surfaces, where five teams play three matches each, three teams play four matches each, four teams play five matches each and one team plays seven matches.

Posting Schedules 

A schedule of meet participants will be posted and updated as changes occur.  By Sunday, April 1, 2012, a detailed meet schedule will be posted on the website for all teams playing on Saturday, April 7.  By Friday, April 6, “skeletal” meet schedules will be posted on the website for the April 14, 21 and 28, May 5, 12 and 19 meets (i.e., by April 6 we’ll post who plays where and how many matches on these remaining six dates, but not the exact opponent and time of each match).  Starting on Sunday, April 1, and continuing on Sunday, April 8, the detailed meet schedule will be posted every Sunday on the website for the next Saturday’s meets, showing each meet match-up, court assignments and start times.  This process will be repeated every Sunday by 11:00 p.m. for the next Saturday’s meets.

We initiated this approach to scheduling in the 2004 season.  We did so because if each team’s schedule is completed in detail prior to the season, and a team later drops out of a given meet, we have to find a replacement for that team, or entirely re-do the schedule, which is a major task.  By waiting until six days before each meet to do the pairings, if a team drops out prior to that time, we don’t have to scramble to find a replacement.  We simply shorten the meet by the number of matches the dropping team occupied.

Penalties for Dropping Out of a Meet on Short Notice 

Teams dropping a meet less than nine days in advance of a given meet, after their attendance was confirmed by phone call or e-mail from the League, will face the penalties spelled out in Rule C-5.

Hosting 

When hosting, a community needs a minimum of two playing surfaces for a full day for one grade (first match starting between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., last match starting sometime between 3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., depending on attendance at that meet).  A community can also host a meet for one grade on three playing surfaces on the same Saturday.  If a host has three, four or more playing surfaces, it can host meets for multiple grades on the same date.

• 7^th and 8^th Grade Meets.  The only time a third game in a match should be played is when the two competing teams each win one of the first two games.  Hosts are encouraged to get ahead of schedule, rather than play an “unneeded” third game.  Nevertheless, there are some times when the next scheduled match on that court can’t proceed because the next two teams scheduled to play on that surface haven’t arrived yet.  In these situations, if both participating teams, the host and the official (who may need a break) are all willing to allow a portion of a third game to be played, they can proceed.  However, that game will not be played to a specific score - it will be terminated whenever the teams in the next scheduled match are prepared to take the floor, even if it means that match starts ahead of schedule.  Results of complete or partial unneeded third games will not be posted on the website and will not be counted as part of the “game winning percentage” in the League Standings.

• 4^th/5^th and 6^th Grade Meets.  The main difference between 4^th/5^th and  6^th grade matches and those in 7^th and 8^th grade, is that we actually have a procedure in place to encourage (rather than discourage) the playing of the unneeded third game (see Section D-3 of League Rules).  This is done to give younger players more playing experience, even if the outcome of a given match has been decided.  The only difference between how we handle 4^th/5^th and 6^th grade versus 7^th/8^th grade meet results, is that we will post the scores of all unneeded third games in 4^th/5^th and 6^th grade matches.  However, we will not count the outcome of that third game toward the League Standings, for purposes of calculating the game win/loss percentage, when the match was decided in the first two games.  In that way, the “winning” team isn’t penalized for playing all of its less experienced players in game #3.

Website

We are currently using The Great Northwest’s website (gnbl.org) to post volleyball items.  These are some of the items that already appear, or eventually will appear, on the website as the Spring 2012 season approaches:

 Questions and Comments

If you have questions about how to access the website, need additional enrollment packets or copies of certain documents, please call Tracie Tilton 715-749-9048.  All other questions should be directed to Jerry Engeleiter at 715-549-6161.