Well, I hope everyone is enjoying volleyball now that we’re well into the playing season.  I assume that by the time you read this article, the adult divisions we started out with have been split out, so that we now have B, BB, A, and AA divisions for both the men and women.  The intent of this format is to make sure teams in all divisions have enough opportunities to play (not just having enough tournaments but having enough teams to fill the tournaments).  The division you were assigned to is the division at which you will play for the rest of the 2004 season.  Keep in mind that the number of teams invited to Regionals in any specific division will be dependent on the final number of teams in that division.  We’re still dealing with the all of the issues involved with this new process, including its impact on the Regional and National Championships.

The Juniors season seems to be running fairly smoothly.  Our registration numbers indicate that there are more juniors registering than ever before.  Hopefully, this is a trend that will continue.

The dates for the 2004 Regional Championships appear in this issue and are posted online on the CHRVA website at http://www.chrva.org/rgsched.html.  We’re happy to note that most of the Regionals will be held at the Discovery Sports Center (DSC) from the last weekend in March through all of April (Easter weekend excepted).  The DSC only has eight courts, however, so some tournaments may have to be held at a different site on the same day.  For the adults, all of the Women’s tournaments will be held together on Saturday, April 17, and all of the Men’s tournaments will be held together on Saturday, April 24.

The USAV 2004 Junior Olympic Girls Championships are due to be held in Houston, Texas.  The Junior Olympic Boys Championships are scheduled for Austin, Texas.  Check out the USAV website for exact dates http://www.usavolleyball.org/Juniors/.

The USAV 2004 Adult National Championships will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from May 29 to June 5 (Memorial Day week).  Most teams need to submit their registration forms to the Commissioner before April 1.  Some age group teams are actually required to submit their information before March 15 so please check the website for further information (http://www.chrva.org/Natinfo/2004/natinfo.html).

The new CHRVA online registration system seemed to work well for being a start-up year.  Since this was the first year of implementation, we didn’t do a full-blown registration process online but rather worked with some clubs and teams to partially register online.  This partial process enabled us to work out most of the bugs in the system.  We should be able to implement the rest of the system, including online payment of fees, next season.

Please note, this issue contains your mail-in ballot for the 2004 election of the Board of Directors.  This year, there were only seven candidates for the seven open slots.  Resumes for each of the candidates are included.  Please be sure to read the voting procedures carefully.

Again, check the CHRVA websites to keep current on what’s happening in the Region, including activities, officials issues, tournaments, and whom to contact for various information.