Great Northwest Basketball League (GNBL)

Spring 2022

 Wisconsin Independent Volleyball League Season

 

If you are a coach or team contact who plans to enter one or more teams into the Spring 2022 Wisconsin Independent Volleyball League ("WIVL"), please read this posting thoroughly.  This posting, along with the Enrollment Form and WIVL Rules, will answer virtually every question you will likely have about how to enter a team and how the League functions.

 

Separate Divisions

The Spring 2022 League will have a separate playing division for each of three grades:  6, 7 and 8.  There will also be a combined 4th/5th grade division, in which we’ll schedule play between 5th grade teams, 4th grade teams and combined 4th/5th grade teams.

Interest in Boys or Co-Ed Teams:  A few communities have expressed an interest in forming a Boys team or a Co-Ed team.  We have included a question on the Enrollment Form asking if there is an interest in this.  If enough teams are interested, we will consider adding either boys meets or co-ed meets to the schedule for meets in April and May.  This will be a new Division, and there will not be a League Championship Tournament for these teams in 2022.  We will consider all recommendations of rules concerning these teams.  Boys teams would consist of all male players.  Girls would be allowed to play on the girls team as well as the co-ed team.  Co-ed teams should try for a 50/50 balance of boys and girls, but would need to consist of no more than 75% of rostered players being from one gender – in other words on a team of eight, there could be six girls and two boys or six boys and two girls, however, four and four would be recommended.

Posting Schedules 

A schedule of meet participants will be posted and updated as changes occur.  By Monday, March 7, 2022, a detailed meet schedule will be posted on the website for all teams playing on Saturday, March 12.  By Friday, March 11, "skeletal" meet schedules will be posted on the website for the March 19, March 26, April 2, April 9, April 16, April 23, April 30 and May 7 meets (this means by March 11 we will post who plays where and how many matches on these remaining eight dates, but not the exact opponent and time of each match).  For all dates after March 12, the detailed meet schedule will be posted every Monday 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 Monday for the next Saturday’s meets.

This flexible scheduling approach is used in the WIVL rather than having concrete, set schedules from the beginning of the season.  This helps teams deal with the changing availability of their players during the spring season and keeps financial penalties for dropping out of meets to a minimum.

League Championship Tournament 

On Saturday, May 14, the League will hold a separate League Championship Tournament (LCT) in each division for 8th, 7th, 6th and 5th/4th grade teams, provided that centrally-located communities with adequate playing surfaces agree to host on that date.  Each of the LCTs will be hosted by a different community or group of communities.  A team must play in at least two meets prior to May 7 to be eligible to participate in the LCT.  If more teams at a given grade level sign-up to play in the LCT than court capacity allows, we will cut teams with the lowest match and game records as of the completion of the May 7 meets. 

At the LCT, each team will play between five and six matches.  Teams will be seeded based on their season’s record.  Trophies will be awarded to the 1st through 4th place finishers in each grade, as well as to the Consolation Champions (there will be no Consolation Championship's if there are less than 16 teams in a given LCT field).  Medallions will be awarded to individuals on those teams that win a trophy.  Players on teams that fail to win a trophy will not receive individual awards.  The cost to play in the LCT will be $180.  The slightly higher cost of the LCT relative to regular meets accounts for the increased number of matches each team will be playing, the cost of the awards and added staff time to organize a large event.  Hosts of the LCT will be allowed to charge $8 per adult and $3 per student (versus $5 adult/$2 student during the regular season) to also help cover the added cost of hosting a larger event of this nature.

Rosters and Liability Waivers / Concussion Agreements

All teams must submit the following information at least two weeks before the first meet your team will play:

• A roster for your team.  Rosters can be submitted on the “roster form” that is posted on the website at gnbl.org (or a word-processed document with all of the required information).  On the website, simply click on the link for “Roster Form” on the “Volleyball League” drop-down menu.  Rosters must contain each player's first and last name, jersey number, home address, school and grade during the 2021-2022 school year (you can update this list as needed via email throughout the season by providing the names of new players, delete names of players no longer on the team, changes in jersey numbers, etc.).

Rosters can be returned to the League by scanning and emailing to jen@gnbl.org, or faxing to 715-796-2872, or mailing to GNBL,  PO Box 506, Hudson, WI 54016.

• A "Consent for Medical Treatment and Voluntary Release, Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Risks Indemnity Agreement" (hereafter "Liability Waiver/Concussion Agreement"). 

• Parents/guardians must submit Liability Waiver/Concussion Agreements online, have them visit our website at gnbl.org, then click on “Waiver/Concussion Info” in the top menu bar.  From there, they can follow the online instructions.

Liability Waivers/Concussion Agreements must be submitted each school year for each player and each coach – we must have a newly submitted form each season.  We strongly urge you to take this process seriously.  The Liability Waiver/ Concussion Agreement provides legal protection to you as a coach, your school and your referees, not just those parties organizing the League. 

• All coaches and assistant coaches are also required to complete the online Waiver/Concussion Agreement.  The Coach Concussion Agreement has been made a part of the Liability Waiver/Concussion Agreement – so if you have signed this document for your child, you are in compliance.  If you are coaching and do not have a child participating, please complete the Liability Waiver/Concussion Agreement form using your own name instead of the player name.

• If a player was on a basketball team that participated in The Great Northwest Basketball League, that player’s Liability Waiver/Concussion Agreement from basketball also covers her for the volleyball league.  The parent/guardian does not have to complete the waiver/concussion agreement again.

Failure to comply with these rules by not returning completed rosters or having parents/guardians complete Liability Waivers/ Concussion Agreements online, could result in loss of meets this year or exclusion next season.

Pre-Meet Contacts

Each team will be responsible for confirming their participation in each meet by contacting Tracie at tracie@gnbl.org (only one coach or contact from each team should confirm).  Teams will have until the Wednesday, 10-days prior to the meet at 10:00 p.m. to confirm their attendance.  Unconfirmed teams will be removed from meets. 

It is important when confirming your attendance that you include your team name and grade, the date of the meet and host site (for example: “I’m confirming attendance for Glenwood City 8th grade at the March 26 meet in Bloomer”).

Here are the deadlines for each date meets will be held:

• March 12 meets.  Teams playing on March 12 will be notified via email on or before March 2 and will need to confirm their attendance for that date.  Schedules for this date will be posted on March 7.

• March 19 meets.  Confirm by March 9.  The "skeletal" schedule for this date will be posted as soon as possible after the host dates are confirmed. 

• March 26 meets.  Confirm by March 16. 

• April 2 meets.  Confirm by March 23. 

• April 9 meets.  Confirm by March 30.

• April 16 meets.  Confirm by April 6. 

• April 23 meets.  Confirm by April 13. 

• April 30 meets.  Confirm by April 20.

• May 7 meets.  Confirm by April 27. 

• League staff will contact teams to confirm attendance at the May 14 League Championship Tournaments.

Length of Matches

See Section B-6 of the rules.  We will follow the same match length used in previous years:

• 4th/5th and 6th Grade:  50 minutes apart – anticipated 40-45-minute match with a 5-10-minute warm-up for the next match.

• 7th and 8th Grade:  55 minutes apart – anticipated 45-50-minute match with a 5-10-minute warm-up for the next match.

Line Judges

Please note Section C-4 of the League Rules.  Each team must provide one of the two line judges for each match.  Coaches:  It’s your responsibility to make sure that a person associated with your team gets into position at least two minutes before a match is scheduled to start so that the official doesn’t need to take the time to remind you of this obligation.  Hosts:  If a given team fails to provide a line judge, do not proceed with the match until that team meets its obligation.  If a team refuses, the match will be forfeited by the team refusing to comply with this rule for purposes of League Standings, but played for "fun" so that the players are not disadvantaged.  Such refusal should be reported to the League because it may effect that team’s ability to participate in future meets, including the League Championship Tournament.  While parents and older siblings are the logical people who most often are asked to act as line judge, players are acceptable if necessary.  For example, if a team has eight players on it, rather than sitting out a game in a specific match, one player can line judge -- coaches can have three different players each line judge one game in a three game match, which allows each player to play in the other two games.  If all else fails, the team’s coach needs to line judge rather than shirk this responsibility.

League Standings

League Standings will be posted weekly and are calculated as follows:

• 7th and 8th 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. 

• 4th/5th and 6th Grade Meets.  The main difference between 4th/5th and 6th grade matches and those in 7th and 8th 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 4th/5th and 6th grade versus 7th/8th grade meet results, is that we will post the scores of all unneeded third games in 4th/5th and 6th grade matches.  However, we will not count the outcome of that third game in 4th/5th grade and 6th grade matches 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

The Wisconsin Independent Volleyball League's website can be found at gnbl.org, then click on the "Volleyball League" tab located on the top of the page.  These items are on the website for the Spring 2022 season:

• Rules:  League rules are posted for all coaches, parents and players to access.  Rules for the Spring 2022 season are already posted. 

• Consent for Medical Treatment and Voluntary Release, Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Risks and Indemnity Agreement/Concussion Law Agreement:  These protect the League, the coaches and the municipality/school hosting each game.  Parents/guardians and coaches can fill this form out directly online. 

• Schedules:  Meet and LCT schedules will be posted and updated continuously as changes occur.  See the "Timeline" section below for timing of postings.

• Scores:  Host teams are required to submit scores within 48 hours of the completion of each meet.  Scores will be posted on the website and standings updated on a weekly basis.  First scores for the Spring 2022 season will be posted on or about March 14.  Score results for all previous seasons are archived on the website and can be accessed at gnbl.org.  Click on "Volleyball League," located on the top of the page, then "Archives."

Timeline Going Forward

What follows is a timeline we will follow leading up to the beginning of League play this spring:

Questions and Comments

If you have questions about enrollment packet information or copies of certain documents, please contact Tracie Tilton at 715-749-9048 or email tracie@gnbl.org, or Terri Green at 715-386-4317 or email terri@gnbl.org.