Tournament Rules and Guidelines
1. All tournaments are mandatory. You are part of a team. When players do not show up for tournaments, it can severely affect the entire team. There are very few acceptable excuses for missing tournaments. Those players that are involved in high school sports may need to miss from time to time so be sure to look at your schedules and inform us as soon as possible of any potential conflicts. Major religious conflicts and/or family tragedies/emergencies are viable reasons for missing, but concerts, school dances/school festivities are not.
2. There is no such thing as “equal” playing time in volleyball. At Illini Elite, the coaches will strive to give all athletes “fair” playing time based on numerous factors such as (but not limited to) player position on a team, absences from practices, illness, injury, player progress, player attitude and work ethic in practice. We strive to give all athletes the necessary training time in practice needed to accomplish their playing time goals.
3. Tournaments are a time to be with your team – not your boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, pets, etc. Use that time together to learn about each other, talk to each other, watch/scout your opponents and support other Illini Elite teams playing at the same event.
4. Players are not allowed to leave the tournament site without previous permission from the head coach. This also means that during break times and team work duties, all team members must stay at the facility unless discussed with the head coach in advance.
5. Be on time! Be on time! Be on time! Typically the following arrival times are what we tell the players:
For Expansion/Youth Teams/Players:
If you are playing the 1st match – be there 45 minutes before the scheduled pool start time.
If you are officiating the 1st match – be there 30 minutes before the scheduled pool start time.
If you are off the 1st match – be there at the scheduled pool start time.
For Elite Teams/Players:
If you are playing the 1st match – be there 1 hour before the scheduled pool start time to be ready and on the court warming up no later than 45 minutes before the match start time.
If you are officiating the 1st match – be there 30 minutes before the scheduled pool start time and be sure to check-in with the head official at least 20 minutes before the match start time.
If you are off the 1st match – be there at the scheduled pool start time.
6. Players are not allowed to leave a tournament site until all officiating responsibilities are completed. There may be circumstances where you need to talk with the head coach to receive special permission to leave before your officiating duties are done and those will be dealt with on a case by case basis at the discretion of the head coach.
7. All teams and players will obey ALL facility rules. This includes the rules of our own facility. All Great Lakes Region facilities have a no outside food policy as previously addressed in the General Policies section.
8. Illini Elite players and teams will strive to be the best officiating teams in the Region. There are several rules that ALL Illini Elite teams will abide by when officiating:
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PAY ATTENTION! We all know how important it is for line judges to be watching at all times, for scorekeepers to be paying attention to the officials and the match and score flippers to be timely and attentive
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NO MUSIC. Illini Elite officiating teams will not have I-Pods, MP3 players, or anything that you would plug into a set of headphones into, on during their officiating duties. No exceptions.
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NO CELL PHONES. Illini Elite officiating teams will not be allowed to use cell phones while officiating. No exceptions. This means that players are not only prohibited from talking on their cell phones, but are also not allowed to use them to text message either while they are on officiating duty.
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All GL Region facilities do not allow food at the scorer’s tables. No food means No food! We all know what food is…you cannot have it at the scorer’s table. No exceptions.
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All players should learn how to do all officiating duties. All players should learn how to do the scorebook so that everyone on the team can share in the duties.
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All players need to have their own whistle. Keep your own whistle in your volleyball bag so that you have it at all tournaments. We want to avoid having players share whistles and/or borrowing or using “community” whistles when officiating.
9. CLEAN your team bench after your match. This means picking up water bottles, tape, papers, clothes, other people’s water bottles, etc.
10. No parents are allowed on or near benches of the teams or on the playing surface. Most facilities do not allow parents anywhere on the playing surface for safety and insurance purposes. Sometimes parents are asked to help shag during warm-ups, but should only be done if the parents can shag without stepping on the playing surface.
11. At the tournament sites, all teams should organize team bags and gear in an orderly and neat fashion. We want our teams to set the example. Elite teams will line their bags up in a designated area at facilities and keep their area neat. They will also keep their warm-ups, clothes and anything else on their bench folded and presentable. Please set the example for other clubs and teams.
12. All Illini Elite teams will do their best to help support other Illini Elite teams during tournaments. We are a program and we all want our teams to have success. Teams should shag for each other in warm-ups when possible, watch and cheer for each other. Players may sit on other teams’ benches if given permission by the team's coach.
13. The Elite high school teams must wear the Illini Elite warm-up gear that they receive with their uniform package (warm-ups, shirts, shoes, etc.) at all events before, during and after matches. We want to present ourselves as a team AND as a program, not just a collection of players.
14. SHAG YOUR VOLLEYBALLS! This applies to ALL TEAMS AND ALL PLAYERS! For Expansion/Youth players, this means shagging the balls in our gym after you use them for warm-ups. We provide ball carts for all the courts and you must shag and put the balls back in the carts. No exceptions. For Elite players, this is even more important because we have to take balls on the road with us. If you take 10 Illini Elite balls with you, be sure to bring 10 Illini Elite balls home. Do not, under any circumstances, take another clubs’ volleyballs because you lost one. To do so is stealing. Volleyballs do not magically vanish. If you brought them to the gym, they are there, so find them. You might actually have to go to several courts and look under, in and around things to find them!