FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What's the purpose of the NRS?
 
Canada has over 30 million citizens and it's estimated over 800,000 are playing volleyball on a regular basis.  Volleyball Canada and the Provincial and Territorial Associations (PT/A) have very little contact with 90% of those participants.  By getting better connected, VC and the PT/As can offer better services to help develop the sport in Canada.  Also by bringing members and enthusiasts together in a single system, volleyball will be able to leverage its 'buying power' to help grow the sport.

 
What will the NRS do for me?
 
The NRS has a multi year rollout schedule.  In the first year, the NRS will offer increased services to clubs and individual members and represents an upgrade to the membership database system currently used by the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA).  All of the things you could do in the system last year (like register and pay for tournaments, clinics, etc) you will be able to do this year – plus a few more.
 
In the second year, the NRS will add scheduling and results capabilities that will allow athletes, parents, and coaches to track their team and personal performance.  This phase will also include an officials assigning, scheduling, and payment component.
 

How will the NRS be paid for?
 
Each financial transaction by members that happens through the NRS will be charged 3% to recuperate the development costs.  This 3% may be built in directly into the cost of the purchase, or it may be listed as an additional charge depending on the transaction.  It's estimated that the first phase development costs will be recuperated in the first year.  The estimated maintenance costs on an annual basis are approximately 0.5% thereafter.  Visa and Mastercard transactions are in addition to this.
 
There is good news for members though.  First, by combining all of the transactions from across the participating provinces, we've negotiated better VISA and MC rates for members (1.9% plus $0.30 per transaction versus 2.1% plus $0.15 per transaction).  The new rate is significantly less than what each province has paid to date.  As well, the 0.5% maintenance cost is lower than the combined IT budgets of the provinces which may allow the provinces to reduce their IT expenditures.
 
Furthermore, the NRS represents an opportunity for the PT/As and VC to generate revenue through advertising, sponsorship, as well as services to non-members.  All for the benefit of volleyball in Canada.
 

When will the NRS be launched?
 
The first rollout of the NRS will be in September 2008 for the start of the new volleyball season.  In this version the system will allow:
Individual 'enthusiast' registration for FREE
Regular membership registration and payment
Club and Team registration
Officials, Coach and Club Executive registration
 
The NRS will also allow clubs to manage their own database of athletes, parents, coaches and enthusiasts for FREE.  The system will also include an Event Management capability that can be used by members to post events on the event calendar, and even use the NRS to allow participants to register and pay online.
 

Where do I get more information?
 
Over the next few weeks, we'll be emailing and posting to the OVA website, information on the following topics:
NRS Guide for Clubs
NRS Guide for Leagues
NRS Guide for Event Managers
 
In the meantime, feel free to contact Greg Skotnicki, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   at Ontario Volleyball should you have any questions about the system.