Release

Nationals Update #3 - Playing Up

Did you know that VC has a new registration regulation in 2019? Teams who are playing up at Nationals will not be able to register during the January registration dates – they must wait until February 13th to register.

What is ‘playing up’? A team is considered to be playing up when they register for an age category higher than their declared age. For example, a 16U team who wishes to compete at 17U nationals.

What is ‘declared age’? Upon registration with their provincial federation, teams must declare which age category they will be competing in. VC will use this declared age to monitor registrations. The declared age must follow the VC Nationals Age Category Guidelines.

Why is VC implementing this new rule?  This rule offers all “of-age” teams a chance to register in their appropriate age group.

What does this mean for my team? Nationals are on a first come first serve basis. No spaces will be held for teams playing up, this means that an age category may fill up prior to the February 13th deadline. 

How will VC monitor this? VC will monitor all registrations and will ask each provincial federation to ensure that there aren’t any ‘playing up’ teams who have registered in January. If a ‘playing up’ team has registered in January, the team will be notified of the error, their registration will be cancelled, and their payment will be refunded.

What if?

• “My 14U girls team wants to play Ottawa 14U and Edmonton 15U, how do I manage their registration?” – The team can register for the Ottawa 14U as of 12:00pm EST on January 14th however they must wait until 12:00pm EST on February 13th to register for the Edmonton 15U.
• “Toronto 17U boys was full as of January 29th and is only accepting teams onto the waitlist, can I add my 16U boys team to the waitlist before the February deadline?” – No, all teams who are playing up must wait until the February 13th deadline to register or add their team to the waitlist.
• “My 17U girls team plans to play 17U and 18U all season, will they be considered as ‘playing up’ for 18U Nationals?” –  If the team is declared as a 17U team they will be considered as playing up for 18U Nationals.

Don’t forget! If you attend a Nationals in which you do not have a provincial championship ranking, you will be seeded at the bottom of the tournament. For example, a 14U team competes at 14U provincials however they compete in the 15U division at Nationals, they will be seeded at the bottom of the 15U teams.

If you have further questions regarding the playing up rule, please contact: nationals@volleyball.ca.

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