Last week, Zach Colston and I attended the AAU 2015 Leadership Conference in Orlando. Zach was a guest of AAU and I represented AAU WI. As with most conferences the best part is being able to meet up with old friends and make new friends. This was no exception.
In the opening “State of the Union” message, President Roger Goudy and Vice-President Rusty Buchanan both recognized the districts and the many sport reps as the front line for growth in the AAU. The recent growth of AAU shows that people have confidence in AAU. There were educational sessions for state reps, covering topics including: hosting a convention center event, league development, marketing and promotion, and technology.
Fourteen of the AAU sports hosted their annual meetings at the conference. Prior to the Volleyball meeting, a handful of JVA Club Directors from different parts of the country met this summer to draft a plan to field Super Pools in the 15-18 Open Divisions of the AAU Girls National Championships. This would provide tougher competition for teams, day 1 through 4, still allow anyone to enter the open division, reduce pressure on seeding, and provide a format that would not have teams playing more than 10-12 matches in four days.
Additionally, the plan proposes a point system for competition in JVA and AAU events, weighted by strength that would award teams for top finishes and help with seeding into the Super Pools. The group feels that a by-product of this idea would be that it would add a “something to play for” aspect to midyear events. Click here to view the proposal.
The suggestion of a point system, to award teams with a high seed, was presented as a topic of conversation by Roger Goudy at the AAU Volleyball Meeting. Outside of our JVA/AAU members at the meeting who had seen the full plan, there was not a lot of support for the idea.
Please anonymously weigh in and share whether or not you support the proposal for a point system for the 2016 AAU National Championships. As THE VOICE for junior volleyball your feedback is important. Click here to share your feedback.
Dr. Goudy has invited us to present the plan in full to the Volleyball Executive Committee at the AVCA Convention in December. After viewing the proposal, feel free to share comments and suggestions. Watch for further updates.
