Top Flight Volleyball Club was founded in 2008 by Sean and Cindy Gritzman. What began as a small club utilizing gyms in schools and park districts quickly grew under their leadership. Top Flight leased their first 6 court volleyball facility in 2011 and continued its steady growth.
ABOUT
Top Flight Volleyball Club (Elgin, IL) is dedicated to providing young athletes with a better understanding of the game of volleyball by teaching the skills and key ingredients to better athletes both on and off the court. The staff feels that instilling hard work, confidence and commitment is something everyone can carry forward in all aspects of life. Training athletes to develop their skill set and challenge themselves in competition will facilitate their long term volleyball success. The coaches are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic about all aspects of the game and strive to pass this on to each athlete.
The coaching staff is experienced and unified in the teaching of basic skills, including the more advanced techniques of the game. With the philosophy of training athletes in an intense controlled environment, Top Flight strives to be one of the top competitors in the volleyball community.
Top Flight is intent on competing with the top volleyball programs in the country, with a focus on training its athletes to do just that. The club applies unique training methods, strength and conditioning, individual position training and attention to detail to set themselves apart from the competition. Every athlete is different and will require training that fits their needs. In addition, the club caters to the needs of the multi-sport athlete.
The club assists its athletes in their pursuit of college opportunities, meeting with parents and college coaches to provide each athlete with possibilities for the future. With the right amount of exposure and elite competition, the athletes are provided with a wonderful opportunity to continue their volleyball careers at the collegiate level.
FACILITY
Top Flight’s newest home was built in 2015. Our building is 65,000 square feet with 10 volleyball courts, a weight room, three offices, a proshop and concession area. The club closed down its first home in 2015 and concentrated its efforts on the new facility. With this larger facility Top Flight was able to not only offer additional kids an opportunity to play club, but also continue growing its in-house leagues, camps, clinics and lessons. Additional courts and time slots were critical in allowing for this continued growth. Today the club hosts over 50+ tournaments a year and is able to house some of the larger competitive events in the area.
PROGRAMS
Club – Top Flight is a competitive volleyball program with travel and non-travel teams. The main location is in Elgin Illinois with satellite locations in Arlington Heights, Palatine and Aurora. There are over 50 teams that compete each season, practicing two to three times per week. Practices consist of team time, positional training, strength and conditioning, and scrimmaging.
Leagues – When families think of youth sports, at the forefront of everyone’s minds is baseball, football, soccer and basketball. Volleyball is now becoming just as popular with more younger athletes interested in participating. Top Flight’s in-house leagues begin as young as 4 years old with training and games once a week. Coaches focus on basic volleyball skills, court movement and fun games to teach the skills of the sport. These are beginner to intermediate lessons and all games are played in-house. We have approximately 100 in-house teams training over 1,000 players annually in this program.
Clinics – Top Flight offers positional clinics year round for the athlete that may feel they are behind on a particular skill and would like some extra time developing. The classes have a very small ratio of coach to athlete and concentrate on one skill at each clinic. Top Flight also offers week long camps for athletes to prepare for their school tryouts.
Sand – With the growth of beach volleyball across the country Top Flight has had tremendous success in its sand program. The club believes that the outdoor training strengthens their players skills and ability when they return indoor. Hundreds of volleyball teams have gone through Top Flight’s sand program and many of them have had great success in tournament play across the country.
College Recruiting – Top Flight believes that in order to fulfill the needs of its college bound athletes, an extensive recruiting program must be in place. The club has two full time staff members helping in the college process from start to finish. Since it can be a stressful time for the athletes, the staff takes the time to walk its families through the process. If an athletes wants to play in college, the club will assist them in finding the right fit academically and athletically. If an athlete is undecided, the staff will walk her through the process to help her understand what she should be doing and looking for during her college search. In order to find that fit, the club guides each athlete through the following:
- One on one meeting with the college liaisons.
- Learn about the recruiting process.
- Research the schools.
- Assistance with how to communicate with the coaches.
- Assistance with recruiting video and what should be included.
Hosted Tournaments – Top Flight hosts over 56 indoor tournaments and 10 sand tournaments each season. The events are open to all volleyball associations and teams/players of all affiliations.
FUTURE
Top Flight is committed to growing the sport of volleyball by training the future generation of athletes and seeing their growth and development over the years. The staff enjoys seeing its alumni who return to coach, wanting to continue their passion of volleyball by passing it on to the next young athletes. Club volleyball is more than just a great sport to play, it’s a way for youth to learn valuable life lessons they will carry with them forever. Top Flight Volleyball Club looks forward to being a part of that for many years to come and allowing each and every athlete to leave their legacy.
Top Flight Volleyball Club is a member of the Junior Volleyball Association, an organization committed to enhancing the junior volleyball experience for club directors, coaches, players and fans. For more information about joining the JVA click here. For more information about JVA Awards click here.
