Dear CCJ Families,
As expected, the
Arizona Region has recently issued the following statement today (April 8, 2020 at 11:00 AM) in regards to all Regional competition in Arizona:
After much discussion, the Arizona Region Board of Directors has cancelled all scheduled Junior Tournament events after March 13, 2020. This includes all power tournaments, Region Championships, the Vulture Peak Challenge and the AZ NCQ tournaments.
The rationale for this decision included the following considerations:
- The health and safety of all players, coaches, officials and their families
- The closure of Arizona schools through the end of the school year
- The suspension of USA Volleyball Insurance through April 30
- The extended CDC guidelines of 30 days to slow the spread of the virus
- The Stay At Home order for Arizona by Governor Ducey
- The understanding that any of the above could be extended into May
For the full release from the Region, please
click here.
While the news of canceling the Arizona Region Season is equally expected and disappointing, Club Cactus Juniors supports the decision during this unpredictable and anxious time in the season. We hope that this provides some sense of clarity and resolve for our athletes, coaching staff and parents.
While the Region's competitive season is over, we're still hoping that we can plan an alternative finish to the 2020 Season depending on the CDC guidelines in May and/or June. In the meantime, we cannot overstate the importance of staying connected as a community during this time. Our coaching staff will continue to work with the athletes remotely to allow them to share their open thoughts on the season.
This will effectively end the competitive season for our Regional (Navy) Teams. The coaching staff will continue to maintain team functions for these teams (at least through the original season) by providing 'virtual practices' and workouts. These are optional, but we feel it's important to give our athletes a sense of community and social interaction during this time of great uncertainty.
CCJ will refund/credit all monies we receive back from the Arizona Region related to the tournaments we've missed, and all practices that were scheduled in April at the SCC. This will be different for each team (based on number of tournaments missed) and we'll follow up with a communique regarding the refund procedures once we receive payment from the Region. These (tournament) expenses were paid in full in December so we need to wait for the reimbursements.
NATIONAL (MIZUNO/SILVER) TEAMS
This announcement is concerning Arizona Region Tournaments (Open and Championship Divisions) and does not included the USAV and JVA National events that our Mizuno and Silver teams are registered in.
At this point,
all indications from USA Volleyball's National Office is that National Tournaments and Events will continue after the USAV ban is lifted on April 30. We are continuing to work with USAV and the JVA, along other clubs around the country to continue as soon as it is safe. It may not look like every other season, but we are optimistic and hopeful that there will be more volleyball to come.
Given the fluid nature of this issue, we cannot predict the exact day that volleyball activities will resume or if they will resume. We are working to replace as many missed events as possible given the calendar and unknown restart date. Everyone is hopeful that we will resume tournaments sometime in May, with events continuing into June and possibly July for the teams scheduled to go to USA Junior National Volleyball Championships.
CCJ will refund/credit all monies we receive back from the Arizona Region related to the Open and Championship Division tournaments we've missed. This will be different for each team (based on number of tournaments missed) and we'll follow up with a communique regarding the refund procedures once we receive payment from the Region. With respect to the National Events, the club has already paid all entry fees and travel deposits for all events. If these events are canceled, we will refund/credit all National team accounts the monies we receive back.
TUITION PAYMENTS AND REFUNDS
Unfortunately, there will be a financial impact as a result of COVID-19, and our goal is to minimize the impact between the club, staff, coaches and families. Now that a part of the season has been canceled, we will evaluate all deposits and expenses that we can recover and reconcile of each family's account individually. Right now this will be the Arizona Region's pending refunds and the SCC gym rental for April.
We will follow up with a communique regarding the Refund Procedure as soon as we have more information. Groundwork accounts will be updated accordingly. Please keep in mind that the payment schedule was established as a convenience for families paying tuition and does not reflect activity in any particular month - many of the expenses (player uniforms and shoes, equipment, tournament contracts, insurance, gym rental, etc.) have already been paid early in the season.
We appreciate your support and concern for the safety and welfare of our athletes, coaches, and families in the club. We will continue to update everyone as we get new information.
