And it's off with another season for the Crush Volleyball Club.
But with a twist.
The 2018-2019 campaign for the club got going this past weekend at Weledeh Gymnasium with its development camp, which featured work with the 16U and 17U boys and 14U girls. If the girls reference made you look twice, that's because the girls program is new for this year, but not totally new for the club.
Jeannie Mathison, the club's head coach, said before the boys program became the focus for the re-launched club in 2014, girls was the focus.
“We did just girls back then, but we stopped in 2011 and took a break,” she said. “My daughter had been asking if we could get a girls program going and I thought it was a good opportunity to introduce it this season.”
It seemed to be popular as 32 girls came out to the camp, which happened on Sunday; the boys were in action the day before.
That was a surprise to Mathison.
“I was really excited about the skill level among the girls and the enthusiasm is there also,” she said.
People who know volleyball will know that there is another volleyball program in town – Potential Volleyball – that has programs geared toward girls and Potential does have four girls teams competing this season.
This isn't anything competitive, said Mathison.
“People have asked about it, but we aren't looking to compete with them,” she said. “We saw an opportunity to provide a chance to offer the 14U girls program.”
With so many girls and no cuts, there is the possibility of more than one team being put together in the 14U division, but Mathison said it all depends on how the skill level looks.
“We will have one team that will go to tournaments, for sure,” she said. “If we get enough for two teams, we'll look at doing that, but we have to figure out what's best for the group.”
When it comes to the boys, both sets of teams will be training together and just like the girls, it will come down to what the best fit is for the team.
“Last year, we went to two 16U tournaments and both groups of boys – 15U and 16U – had players that went,” said Mathison. “If they do get to travel, they will get the chance to play.”
In terms of tournaments, the plan is to go to Alberta Volleyball's Premier Tournaments with two in the 14U category and three for the 16U and 17U divisions followed by a provincial championship for each.
Mathison said the club hasn't confirmed that any tournament is a no-go, but there are wait-and-see issues.
“Some of the Premier tournaments are held over the March break and some families will have plans already,” she said. “It's not off, but we'll wait and see who's available to go.”