There are a large number of clubs and teams in the Twin Cities metro area and beyond that are moving to JVA membership and events. The organization is called NorthStar Volleyball United.

NorthStar Volleyball United (NSVU) is a group of volleyball club directors  that have a common vision to provide an ethical, cost effective, and well-organized volleyball experience for ALL clubs that participate in its events. The group is dedicated to increasing opportunities for all athletes, families, teams and clubs in the upper Midwest. 

Don’t be mistaken, NorthStar Volleyball United is not a power league, but simply a unification of club directors that host leagues and events.

The main goal of forming NSVU was to provide resources to clubs in the area to achieve THEIR goals. These resources would be a direct product of significant cost savings through the registration with JVA, and significant time savings through less hoops to jump through for registration and other time consuming training requirements. The additional resources each and every participating club will obtain will lead to the continued growth of the game at a grass roots level!

This idea, to pool the clubs’ resources together to assist the volleyball community actuallyl began 2 years ago as a conversation between club directors from Kokoro, MN Select, M1, Crossfire, Club Tonka and Club 43. They saw an opportunity for clubs in the area to save a significant amount of money in relation to registration and events. The conversation revolved around the clubs’ funds and how those funds were being utilized to benefit their athletes, families and facilities.

The club directors knew what their community needed, and saw the opportunity to register with JVA as a direct catalyst for change.

It was this past spring that the club directors began to act upon their conversations. In order for clubs to have the opportunity to register their club with JVA there HAD to be more JVA events in the area. With this in mind they decided to sanction the Big City Luau Tournament with JVA in 2019, followed by M1 and MN Select deciding to register their Molten Series Power League, as well as all of their events at their facilities in 2019 with JVA.

From there, it was another conversation with several club directors who also chose to register their hosted events with JVA. This sit down, face-to-face conversation over a meal was already bringing their community together!

The Cost Saving Includes:

  • Approximately $500/team in registration fees
  • JVA insurance costs $12/team for one-day tournaments and $18/team for multi-day tournaments for non-JVA insured teams. There is NO COST (no sanctioning fees) for tournament organizers for JVA insured teams that play in your JVA insured event.
  • Similar to some JVA hosted events and Power Leagues  across the country, clubs working together allows for a profit sharing model for the clubs that are assisting with the execution of the events

Through the Collaboration of Several Clubs, 2019 Will Include Nearly 200 Events as Part of NSVU

  • Big City Luau – 1/26-27/2019
  • NorthStar President’s Day Championships – 2/16-17/2019, all ages, Gold and Silver divisions, at sites throughout the metro area
  • All events hosted at M1 (Bloomington), Midwest Volleyball Warehouse (Burnsville), and MN Select (Maple Grove)
  • All events hosted by Crossfire, Lakeville North Juniors, and MN Premier
  • Molten Series (the best power league in the area for strong 14s and 15s-18s teams) and the Molten Cup – 5/18-19/2019
  • Stars and Stripes Classic – 5/25-27/2019, all ages (15s & up at Minneapolis Convention Center, 14 & under in Milwaukee)
  • Many JVA events in nearby states Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota, and Nebraska.

As a group of club directors they insist that NSVU participating clubs abide by the rules of other governing bodies in the area regarding tryout dates, recruiting and training athletes/coaches to officiate. NSVU’s leadership will help facilitate in person officiating training for its participants! This alignment ensures a continued level playing field for all clubs in the area regardless of affiliation.

The new model best serves those teams and clubs that play exclusively or nearly exclusively in local competition. Many clubs will elect to register some of their teams with JVA, USAV, and AAU depending on the events their teams will attend. For instance, if a club has a team that will compete at the Northern Lights Qualifier, that team will need to register with USA Volleyball. If a team will compete at AAU Nationals, that team will register with AAU Volleyball  as well. But the club has the option to do what is best for their athletes, families and club from a monetary standpoint. Clubs will now have the option to reduce fees, purchase more equipment, pay coaches more, and enter more events. Clubs will be able to provide more for the same fees or less!

Through collaboration of several club directors, NorthStar Volleyball United is paving the way and demonstrating the benefit of clubs joining together to achieve collective goals that will help junior volleyball grow and flourish in the Upper Midwest.

To learn more about NorthStar United, visit the website HERE. To learn more about the Junior Volleyball Association click HERE. To include your event on the JVA website click HERE.