Normally at this time of the year, Club teams would be ramping up training to prepare for the start of the indoor competition season that historically begins in November. However, 2020 has been a year that none of us will likely forget. Government regulations and lack of facilities due to COVID-19 have halted us in our tracks.

The Association and the OVA Club community at large have been resilient in the face of the pandemic and we all should be proud of how we have modified our sport to be delivered in a safe and effective manner when government regulations have allowed it.

Here at the OVA, we are excited to continue with this commitment of delivering volleyball programming by introducing an exciting return to our sport: the Indoor Friendlies.

Much like the Beach Friendlies that was offered this past summer, the Indoor Friendlies have been designed to be a fun, exhibition style of indoor volleyball that follows and complements the OVA’s Return to Play Protocols for Stage 3 of Ontario’s Re-Opening plan.

We want to stress that these events are simply an option for indoor teams who have been training this fall to participate in a form of safe indoor gameplay with teams from other clubs. The Indoor Friendlies are not affiliated with the regular indoor competitions schedule and stand as their own events. There is no ranking or points awarded. There is a soft uniform policy. It’s all about competitive fun in a safe environment.

The Indoor Friendlies are scheduled to take place on weekends, beginning Saturday, November 7th and running until Sunday, December 6th.   Currently, there are only three venues that are secured to host the Friendlies – the Athlete Institute in Orangeville, the Niagara Sport & Social Club in St. Catharines and Quinte Christian School in Belleville. We are hoping to offer opportunities for all age groups and genders to participate but we understand that the options are not abundant and access to facilities are scarce. We hope to continue to add Friendlies to the calendar as our access to facilities increases. In times such as these, the sense of community is greatly needed and if your Club has secured a facility and would like to host an Indoor Friendly and share the experience with others, please let us know!

Different age divisions and skill levels will be playing each day. OVA Referees will be officiating the matches.  The schedule is shortened with three teams participating in either a morning or afternoon wave. Teams will be playing two straight matches to 25 points. This format is being followed to limit the number of interactions within the age class cohort and shorten the wave schedule to stay within the Return to Play Protocol guidelines. 

Due to the limited number of Indoor Friendlies at this time, registration to enter these events will be by waitlist and random lottery draw. Teams will be drawn at 9:00 a.m. the morning after the waitlist has closed and teams will be notified. There will be a window for teams to accept their participation and will have until the next morning to fully register for the event.

Registrations deadlines – barring the first Saturday and Sunday event – occur two Mondays prior to the event start date. For the schedule of events, please click on the Schedule dropdown at the bottom of this article.

All participants which include players, Coaches and team staff will require a full membership to participate in the Friendly. If your team is drawn to play, and if you have not registered as an OVA member yet, please visit the new Membership Registration System to purchase your membership and register your team.

The full rules and regulations of the Indoor Friendlies can be found on the OVA website. Please click here to review of the Indoor Friendlies information, registration links as well as risk mitigation strategies the OVA is using at the venues to create a safe playing environment for members.

As a sport and as an Association, we have been very fortunate in being able to continue to provide the membership with opportunities to resume the game. We greatly appreciated the community’s support and patience throughout the past eight months we have been navigating through the pandemic and look forward to working together to get through this better and stronger together.