Club FAQs

The most up-to-date start dates and practice times will always be posted on each athlete’s Team Page. Dates and times may be adjusted during the first few weeks of the season while we finalize the full schedule.

• Girls Club Season: Generally starts in late November and runs until late May.
  • Girls PreSeason (if offered): Runs from mid-September until the regular girls season begins.

Club Email – All important and official notices and updates will be sent from our CJ Heat club email address.

• Team Pages – We will always try to update your schedules and important changes on your team page on our website
• Team Chat – A group messaging system (Group text, Band App, or GroupMe) for quick team updates and reminders.

Yes. Our coaches will send team specific information in conjunction with emails from the CJ Heat emails.

CJ Heat has a firm 24-hour rule - which means that you wait at least 24 hours after the completion of a tournament before discussing playing time or match decisions with your coach or the club directors. We encourage the athlete’s first ask to discuss their questions and/or concerns with their coach and/or assistant coach directly after the match play has been completed. This approach helps athletes develop important skills, such as communication and understanding coaches decision making for the better of the entire team. It will also open a conversation for the athlete to understand the reasons for the decisions, so they know what they can do to better their skills going forward.

Athletes should arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of their practices to prepare so that they are ready to begin their practices on time.

Notify the coach as early as possible so that they can prepare and adjust their practice plan if needed.

CJ Heat has a closed practice policy, which means parents are not allowed in the court area while practices are being held. This is important, so the athletes can focus on their team and coaches directions to improve their skill set.

Since we do not rent courts to hold our practices we would only cancel or reschedule a practice in the event of some sort of natural event such as weather. We do our best to hold every scheduled practice right up until we believe that traveling to or from the facility could put an athlete or their family in danger. If a cancellation is necessary, we will communicate as quickly as possible. Tuition costs are set with the understanding that some practices may occasionally be canceled due to unforeseen events as well as a tournament that gets scheduled, so the season fees already account for this possibility.

• Bring both jerseys to every tournament so that we are prepared in case of an error.
• Black spandex shorts
• Black crew socks

• Single-Day Tournaments: All matches are played in a single day and typically run from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
  • Athletes should plan to arrive 1 hour before the first scheduled match for warm-ups and check-in.
  • Schedules for the tournaments are typically released only a few days before the tournament date and at which time your coach will email them to you.
  • Start and end times may vary, so please keep the entire day free of conflicts to accommodate potential schedule changes.
• Multi-Day Tournaments: Tournaments are over several days and will require team lodging.
  • Schedules for the tournaments are typically released only a few days before the tournament date and at which time your coach will email them to you.
  • After each day of competition the next days schedule will be updated and the coach will communicate the teams arrival time and uniform color 
  • To encourage team bonding and unity, we ask that the team enjoy their time off the court as a team. Memories of being with their teammates will last a lifetime.

If a tournament gets cancelled, we will look to see if it is rescheduled and if it is not, we will look for another replacement tournament if there is one that works with the teams schedule. We will do our best to meet the amount of tournaments noted in the club team qty. If we do not get reimbursed for the tournament, it will not be replaced and it will still count as one of the teams tournaments as this would be out of our control. If a tournament is not cancelled, but we feel that the weather is very dangerous for our CJ Heat families to travel, CJ Heat may choose to drop from the tournament and forfeit the fee. As a result will not look to replace the tournament.

The CJ Heat policy is that we arrive and leave as a team. All athletes must stay until the entire team has completed playing and working for the day.

While the multi-day tournament directors post a safe end time to schedule your travels, the end time on the final day varies due to delays, match lengths etc.., so there is no guaranteed end time.. If you are at a tournament that requires air or train travel, we highly recommend that you book your return flight/train as late as possible to avoid the risk of missing it.

A Stay-to-Play event is a tournament where coaches and athlete families are required to book their hotel through the club’s assigned housing block. This is a condition of the event organizer.  If the club does not meet the minimum booking requirements, the team and the club will be penalized and may even be removed from the tournament.

Yes. CJ Heat will email the housing details to you for each tournament, which events are Stay-to-Play and which are non–Stay-to-Play. For non–Stay-to-Play tournaments, athletes and families are free to book any accommodations they wish for the event.

Some multi-day tournaments are scheduled on 3-day holiday weekends and some are not. Each season the tournament schedule is different for each team, but several are 3-day tournaments. These events take place either Friday–Sunday or Saturday–Monday, which means your athlete will be playing on Friday or Monday. Some tournaments will occur over holiday weekends, but others will not.

Athletes should plan to arrive 1 hour before the first scheduled match or work assignment for warm-ups. Their coach will contact them with the exact time when they send the tournament schedule a few days prior to the event.

Yes. All athletes will need to register and pay for USA Volleyball and an AAU membership at the beginning of each club season.

• USAV Membership – United States Association of Volleyball
• AAU Membership – Amateur Athletic Union

No. Play time is earned through the needs of each team as well as the athlete's effort, attitude and attendance.

The athlete should discuss with their coach what they need to work on and the corrections they need to make. This helps athletes learn communication skills and take ownership of their role on the team.

Each athlete’s club fee covers a portion of the team expenses.

• Once the parent has signed the club team contract for the season, the full amount listed on the contract is owed, whether paying in full or through a payment plan, regardless of playtime, injuries etc..

We work closely with Vertical Insurance (ViInsurance), which provides insurance to club families in the event that an athlete is injured while playing a club sport.

• If you choose to work with ViInsurance, you will work directly with their representatives to obtain coverage as it will be based on a percentage of your CJ Heat club fee.
• If your athlete is injured, the policy will either pay the remainder owed for the season directly to the club or, if you paid in full, reimburse you for the unused portion.
• This insurance helps protect both families and the club from the financial strain of an in-season injury.

As described above, you are entering into a contract agreement and the full amount listed on your contract is to be paid in full. When an athlete leaves a team, their portion of the team expenses is still owed. By accepting a position, you agree both to play for the team and to cover the associated costs.