Revolution Volleyball Academy in Waukesha, WI was founded in 2012 by Heather and Sean Curley. Both coaches in the Kettle Moraine, Heather and Sean noticed a need for a club in their area and formed what was then called Kettle Moraine Volleyball Academy.

The club began small, utilizing a couple local churches that had gyms. After a successful first season fielding seven teams, Sean and Heather decided to make one of the churches with one court it’s home, and fundraised to buy a net system to allow for 2 courts in order to grow the club. 

After 4 seasons at Abundant Life Church they grew too big for the facility. Luckily space opened up at Center Court, a sports complex with 8 indoor courts and 9 sand courts. After interviewing several clubs the owner of Center Court decided RVA was the best fit. Being at Center Court has helped the club grow and reach a bigger demographic. This season RVA has 16 girls teams and 3 boys teams.

RVA COACHES
RVA has 18 coaches total including Heather and Sean. The coaches have a life time commitment to the sport. with many of them having played volleyball at the club and college level, and currently coach at the high school and college levels. Their knowledge and excitement for the sport is passed on to the RVA athletes.

RVA PROGRAMS
National Level Teams – For athletes that want to have a longer season, more tournaments with travel and attend nationals either AAU or USAV.

Regional Level Teams – Geared for multi sport athletes. Season ends in April/May. Less tournaments and tournaments are local.

Boys Teams – New for this season. RVA was able to field two 12s teams and one 13s team.

RVA CARES
Implemented by Club Director Heather Curley, community outreach events provide an opportunity for RVA players to gain a better understanding of the world around them while giving back to others who may be less fortunate. The events that RVA athletes engage in helps build character development and teaches life lessons. Giving back to others is just as important as giving your all in athletics. In the RVA mandatory parent/player meeting at the beginning of the season the parents and athletes are told at the start of the season about building players of character both on and off the court. RVA is about the whole athlete.

One of RVA’s biggest projects is Birthdays in a BOX which was Featured on FOX 6 news Milwaukee in their segment “Beyond the Game” on March 5, 2017. Birthdays in a Box consist of plates, napkins, streamers, party favors, table cloths, cake mix…anything that would make a great party. Each box has a theme and geared toward girls, boys from 1 year old to the early teen years.

“The athletes imagine what it would be like if they were to have the perfect birthday party and they bring all the pieces together. It’s also a good bonding experience for the athletes as they get to know each other by doing them together and they have a lot of fun with it” shares Heather. 

The boxes are delivered to a number of food banks and other organizations that will in turn give them to families in need. One of the charities involved is the Abundant Life Food Pantry in Oconomowoc where RVA first started the club.

RVA athletes also participation in other care projects such as:

  • Coat drives
  • Serving meals to inner city Milwaukee
  • Putting together Christmas gift bags for disadvantaged kids
  • One of RVA’s players, Colleen DeLisle founded a literacy trail called Literacy for Life for her Girl Scouts Gold Award.  RVA is a sponsor for that trail.
  • The Early Literacy trail is an outdoor activity that lets kids play games that teach early reading skills while educating parents on the importance of early literacy. The trail is in Haiti and Milwaukee and she is looking to put in other locations.

Club REV/Team Conference room 
Center Court had 2 open offices that are rented by the club. RVA converted the upstairs office into CLUB REV which is its core strength and agility center. The room includes resistance bands, suspension straps, yoga mats, stability balls, bosu balls, agility ladders, kettle bells, ect… along with a TV and speakers for audio and video. The downstairs office is the Team Conference and Video Room where teams gather to watch film or have team meetings.

Summer Sand League
Along with indoor summer camps and clinics, RVA has a Summer Sand League for boys and girls. This gives the athletes the opportunity to just play with no instruction. To use the skills they learn and have fun outdoors. This league also gives the high school teams an opportunity to form teams and play with each other before their fall season. The league is held on Tuesday nights in July. Guaranteed 2 matches a night. Divisions: Gold (High School Varsity), Silver (High School JV/Freshman), Bronze (7th & 8th Grade) and Copper (4th-6th Grade).

This season has been RVA’s best season yet with their teams earned 18 first place tournament finished and seven second places finishes. RVA’s 16 Navy girls team earned an American Bid to USAV Nationals in Detroit.

Only in it’s 6th season, RVA has goals for the future, the first being to build its boys program. In addition, Heather and Sean would like to continue fielding teams at the 12s and 13s age levels and add a 14s and possibly 15s age level team in the 2018-2019 season. 

“With the sport becoming so competitive, we would like to continue developing our younger athletes focusing on ages 4-8 through clinics and in-house leagues to work on basic fundamentals, and fun games to keep them loving the game” adds Heather.

RVA would also like to host tournaments at Center Court next season since it has not done so yet. Heather and Sean would especially like to host more tournaments in the 11s and under age levels and boys tournaments, as there are not as many in their area. Also, with the growth of beach volleyball, RVA plans to host sand volleyball tournaments next summer. 

The club has started focusing its efforts on helping the older athletes get recruited. “One of our coaches, Shelly DeLisle who coaches at the college level has been the key contact in helping our older athletes understand how recruiting works and what colleges are realistic for where they want to play with balancing their academic dreams and how to build an online presence.”

Revolution Volleyball Academy, based in Waukesha, WI, 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. To nominate your club for JVA Club of the Month click here.