Home | Salty Volleyball Club

This Northwest Iowa volleyball club hopes to provide a great experience for highly-motivated athletes and their families.

Is this for me and my family?

The Salty Volleyball Club is geared for the following people.

People who love to play and are determined to improve as volleyball players and teammates.
People who treasure the time, resources, and competitive environment found in the practice gym.
People who want to compete for a great team against the best competition we can find.
People who also know the value of being involved in other family in other family, school, community, and church activities.
People who also might have concerns about all (or some) of the following aspects of the larger Club Volleyball experience:

Time for other activities (other sports, music, jobs, etc.)
The general trends being witnessed in the Youth Sports Machine regarding identity, sportsmanship, economics, etc.
Tournament conflicts with time typically reserved for worship (Sunday AM)
Cost of participation in tournament fees

Cost of travel and lodging to most of the 3-day tournaments offered
Length of season (particularly going into the summer months)
Time spent away from home/family
Kids getting the (wrong) impression/idea that her identity and primary commitment is “VB player” (rather than “God’s child”)

What’s with the name, “Salty”?

There is a Biblical appeal from Matthew and Mark and other places. “You are the salt of the earth.” “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
We like the idea that these kids are reminded of their identity in Christ (not athletics or anything else), and are comfortable being His created creature, just like a good tree bearing fruit to the world, or salt that can’t help but be “salty”.
God makes us into salt (that is quite “salty” and wonderful!) when we hear His Word. I hope this sport/team experience does not obscure that living word, but allows it to break through loud and clear.
It could be used to describe awesome volleyball plays and moves. Examples:
- “That’s a salty serve right there.” “That pass was salty.”
While “salty” could describe a person’s temperament, I hope it wouldn’t be interpreted as a negative one. Rather than being “cranky”, we'd rather that this group exhibit a truly competitive, optimistic, joyous attitude on and off the court. 🙂

What are the potential elements of the program?

Practices

Practices twice a week - one midweek and one on Sunday afternoons. As of now, the primary home base for Sunday practices will be at Northwestern College in Orange City, while Boyden-Hull's high school gym will be utilized for most of the midweek practices. We envision fitting in 30-36 practices over the course of the season.
Training, Practice, and/or Scrimmage time with other elite athletes. In addition to our normal training time for our three teams (in this inaugural club season), there could be opportunities to train with Open-level Kairos teams or others.
We will follow a "Master Coach" model during our practice sessions. Kyle Van Den Bosch (head coach of NWC) will lead and guide our technical and tactical training. ALL PLAYERS, regardless of the team they compete for, will benefit from this model, as it ensures that the aspects of the game will be taught well - the "Salty Way". It opens up our team coaches to teach within the drill and/or game, and for all to share a common vocabulary and knowledge.
Especially during the winter school sports’ season (BB), we will look to practice on Thursday nights, with an emphasis on individual skills and small-sided games. It is possible that a few Monday nights will be used as well, to ensure we can get one midweek practice during the club season. The other primary time for this team will be on Sunday afternoons (on non-event weekends). We will develop the tactical team stuff extensively on those days.
These practices, filled with constraints-based games promoting extensive VB skills and learning, will be responsive to what the athletes need. For example, if the athletes are fatigued from a school sport, we would look to reduce the physical load for that particular practice.

Competitions

Two Power League Events - hosted by Kairos in Sioux Falls
2-day Tournaments in the Midwest - AAU Grand Prix, JVA Midwest Challenge in Des Moines, Sioux City Slam, PrepDig SpikeFest and Big City Luau in Minneapolis are likely for this year
1-3 (depending on availability and desire of the group) 3-day tournaments in Twin Cities, Omaha, Des Moines, and/or Kansas City. Our 18s team plans to do the Mizuno Showcase in Wisconsin Dells this year.
It is possible, if it is desired, for a Salty team to go to AAU Nationals in Orlando in June.
Other tournaments, playdates, or scrimmages (hosted or away) that work.
- THE FINAL SCHEDULE WILL BE DETERMINED BY OUR STAFF, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE DESIRES OF THE FAMILIES INVOLVED.

Features

Reduced travel, lodging, and time costs as compared to larger, national schedule clubs
Altogether we would hope to get to a similar number of training dates as a larger club, but perhaps fewer miles traveled to find elite competition
We believe, considering the talent and character of our athletes, that the teams we field will be highly successful
Access to Hudl Assist for tagging videos and highlights and other help in the college recruiting process
The season will likely span from January through early May.
We will look to get a few open gyms together in December.
Lower Costs (due to less travel, lodging, coaching, and tournament fees) - Some club and travel fees could add up to $7000 per player; We would hope that the costs of this experience would be closer to $2000-3000 per player (just an estimate at this point)
- WE WILL POST A MORE ACCURATE ESTIMATE OF COSTS THIS FALL, AND THE ITEMS THIS NUMBER WOULD BE GOING TOWARDS. WE DESIRE TO BE TRANSPARENT IN ALL FINANCIAL ASPECTS. Those who commit will be asked to pay a $500 deposit (to be subtracted from the season fee when paid) to secure entry into desired events.