Santa Cruz Volleyball Forum

The problem is The NCVA tournaments. They are expanding their grass and indoor tournaments to include the beach courts at Main Beach.

Unlike our local tournament directors, Phil's No Attitudes Allowed and Mark's CBVA, the NCVA gives absolutely nothing back to the beach.

The NCVA came down from San Francisco. They saw a beautiful, well maintained facility that's extremely cheap [$4.00 an hour per court] for them to run their tournaments.

They have booked every available weekend date for the rest of the summer and are planning to to it next summer too! We have to stop it.

I asked the NCVA director a bunch of questions and told him the local players were very upset about no courts being available for public use for the rest of the summer. He was unapologetic and said the public DOES NOT PAY ANYTHING FOR THE COURTS and he does. I told him the beach facility was mostly payed for by the public and I have volunteered my time for the last 10 years maintaining the courts. I said things would change next year. He disagreed and said the city needs the money and he is planning to do it again next summer.

There is a proposal to limit the number of tournaments to one day per weekend. This wouldn't affect Phil, he only has his tournament once a month, and Mark Hull said he could work with it, with the exception of the large Corona Wide Open and one other large 2 day tournament. By the way, the Corona Wide Open was a big success.

We all have to strongly support these new proposals or we are going to lose our beach volleyball courts.

The NCVA director lied to me about the number of courts he payed for last sunday. I asked him did he book all the courts for last Sunday, the 12th. He said he reserved and was paying for the whole beach till 5 o'clock. He made it sound like he was doing the public a favor letting them use the courts he wasn't using.

Here is a copy of a email I sent to Santa Cruz Parks and Rec representative, Jill Bates, last Sunday:

The NCVA director, David, told me he had the whole beach reserved all day and he had payed for the whole beach all day till 5 oclock. He made it sound like he was doing us a favor by letting the public play on the courts he was not using. He didn't have them reserved !!! but if he needed them he could have used them and who would have known the difference? The city would never know. The city does't do any monitoring, it's all done on an honor system. He outright lied to me and made an unfriendly comment to some players when they were finished playing on the courts he "generously" let them use. He was not even renting those courts. This is unacceptable.

I want the NCVA director to post his use permit on his canopy for everyone one to see and I would like to have a copy for the volleyball kiosk so that players can plan their weekend and not get lied too. He also had a very large music system [boom box] that was blasting music over the middle section of the beach which also requires an use permit. I was over 150 ft away and could easily hear it and didn't appreciate it.

Rowland

p.s. I would like to talk to you when you have time.

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Everyone please makes your voices heard, write letters to SC Parks and Rec. The volleyball courts must be open for public use on the weekends.

Jeff Jacobs has created a survey about the issue at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=3 ... VkkA_3d_3d

We all should submit feedback on this issue to help the decision-makers formulate a policy that works for all of the volleyball community.

Dave

Dear Volleyball Community,

I have posted a representative sample of some of the very thoughtful and well written email comments concerning the future use of Main Beach. Although some are long, they offer good perspective on what is happening. See posts below. Feel free to add your comments and feelings.

Thanks,

Phil

We've essentially lost Main Beach to Saturday and Sunday tournaments. "Tournament Organizers" are paying the city to reserve all of the courts, charging players to play in tournaments, and excluding public use. From now until the end of August there are no Saturdays and only three (3) Sundays open for public use. Here is the weekend schedule through August:
Sat June 20--No Attitudes
Sun June 21--looks open
Sat June 27--Corona Wide Open tournament
Sun June 28--Corona Wide Open tournament
Sat July 4--Extreme Volleyball Professionals (EVP)
Sun 5 July--looks open
Sat July 11--CBVA
Sun July 12--Northern California Volleyball Association (NCVA--you can check them out at www.ncva.com)
Sat July 18--No Attitudes
Sun July 19--NCVA
Sat July 25--CBVA youth tournament
Sun July 26--looks open
Sat Aug 1--CBVA
Sun Aug 2--NCVA
Sat Aug 8--CBVA youth tournament
Sun Aug 9--NCVA
Sat Aug 15--No Attitudes
Sun Aug 16--NCVA
Sat Aug 22--CBVA
Sun Aug 23--NCVA
Sat Aug 29--NCVA
Sun Aug 30--NCVA

I talked to David Oughtred (he organizes the NCVA tournaments) at a tournament he held at Main Beach this Sunday and asked if I could email him before his tournaments to see if any courts might become available, and he, of course, had no interest and didn't want to be bothered. I called Jill Bates, Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Supervisor (phone 420-5266; email jbates@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us) today, left her a voice mail and asked her to call me back. I expect that she'll reiterate the city policy (see attached), which allows for courts 1-14 to be reserved for a fee of $4-$6/hr/court. In the past it was relatively balanced with Phil's No Attitudes and CBVA tournaments, which still left a number of Saturdays and most, if not all, Sundays for public play during the summer. However, this summer it's totally skewed to tournament play. Phil is maintaining his once/month No Attitudes, but Mark Hull has expanded his CBVA and youth tournaments (not only number of tournaments, but also number of Sundays), and between the EVP, the Corona Wide Open, and the NCVA tournaments essentially every other available weekend day is taken. AND Rowland, bless his heart, who maintains Main Beach at such a high level, is not paid by the city for his services (except for some materials reimbursement), but is mainly compensated (and certainly not at the level he deserves) through donations by recreational players. Big thanks to Karyn Moore for her leadership in the latest Rowland fund raising and to the generosity of all Main Beach recreational players.
Bottom line is that the policy needs to change so courts are available for public use during the weekend (and no tournaments on Sunday!), but policy change takes political connections and a concerted effort by folks-->does anyone have any insights on how we might affect a policy change with the city regarding the use of the Main Beach v-ball courts? The city likes the revenue that is generated by fees so I can't see them jumping up and down to eliminate or modify the Main Beach reservation and fee policy, which will probably put us in a position of having to pay to use the courts on weekends. Not a suitable scenario on many levels --> we need to affect a change in policy and take back Main Beach for public use!~Bill Head (whead@csumb.edu)

Just a suggestion. Start a 401c3 non profit that benefits local volleyball. Then you can reserve the courts the same way NCVA does at $4.00 per court per hour. County wins because it has much needed revenue. You will have more control over when and how the courts will be used. It is a pretty simple process but does take time and motivated individuals. Looks like by the number of emails that I received today there are plenty of motivated people out therre. Here is a link http://www.ehow.com/how_4540062_become-401c3.html. When I was on the committee to build the all weather track at Aptos we used the 401c3 number of the booster club. We received several hundred thousand dollars in grants and donations but needed a 501c3 to do it.
The easiest and fastest thing would be to find a local non profit that would work with you. Someone like Community Foundation is highly respected. http://www.cfscc.org/ There probably won't be a ton of money in profits but they need to be given to a charity. Maybe consider offering a scholarship to a local high school athlete moving on to compete at the collegiate level. Run a volleyball clinic for underpriveldeged kids, or help low income athletes pay for club fees...Pick up coaches salaries that have been cut due to budget cuts... I am sure you can think of many other options.

Like I said before this is just a suggestion.
Patti Coulter

All of this would probably be moot if the city actually was responsible for maintenance of the courts. Main beach wouldn't be such a desirable site if Rowland's work and all of the players contributions didn't make it possible. NCVA appears to typically have been using West Valley college for its tournaments.

There are many of us who drive in for pickup play on non-tournament days. We contribute significantly to parking fees and local business patronage.

I'd suggest that only 1 day/weekend can be reserved for a tournament at the "local" rate, e.g. a two day event such as the Corona would be significantly more expensive.

A bit of new info...

I called Santa Cruz Parks and Rec today to attempt to reserve a court for this Sunday, during the NCVA tournie. At first, they allowed me to do so, then called back to say that the NCVA people had indeed reserved all the courts for the day, and I was out of luck. She then allowed me to leave a message for her supervisor, "Jill." I told her of our many concerns re: maintaining public access.

She just called me back and was very accommodating. She said that she agreed the tournament schedule had gotten "out of hand" this summer, and that they weren't really aware of how bad it was until the public brought it to their attention. She says "what's done is done" for this summer, however, she agreed that it shouldn't happen again. She committed to talking to her supervisor Carol Scorage when Carol returns from vacation next week in order to create a policy that, at a minimum, would keep a certain number of courts open for public use at all times. She welcomed more phone calls, but suggested we call after next week when her supervisor returned.

The number for Parks and Rec is 420-5270. This office seems to be in support of our concerns and to have the authority to make changes. I suggest we politely keep the pressure on, offer our suggestions/concerns and see what happens next week...

Cheers,
Ginaia

PLEASE FORWARD TO ANYONE YOU FEEL WOULD LIKE TO READ THIS.

Dear Santa Cruz Beach Volleyball Community,

I want to pass along some information I received today while talking with the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department. Following Roland's email, we all got very upset with the possibility of losing the main beach every weekend for the near foreseeable future. I want you to know that this is NOT the case. The City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department is in agreement with us (the local volleyball community) that it is unfair for any organization to take both days of the weekend on a consecutive basis. And especially an organization that does not give back to the Santa Cruz community like Phil Kaplan (No Attitudes) and Mark Hull (CBVA) do. So, I wanted everyone to know that this isn't AS serious as we thought. Though it is still something as a community, that we need to be aware of and gather as much feedback from each other as possible.

The original contact person in the Parks and Recreation Department is on vacation but when she returns we are going to have a meeting to discuss this matter. Having said that, we have to understand that the City has already signed permits for the NCVA to use the courts for the year 2009. But they will not sign any permitts for the year 2010 until we come up with an agreement that is equal to both parties.

After talking with the Parks and Recreation Department I urge you to please not send letters to the City Council Members. This matter will be taken care of within the Parks and Recreation Department with assistance from Phil Kaplan and other local volleyball community leaders. Phil Kaplan has developed a great relationship with the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department and they value his business and opinions. So, again please continue to give your feedback either via emails amongst each other or on Phil's volleyball forum. Because we will need your feedback and suggestions for when we do sit down and talk with the Parks and Recreation department regarding our concerns.

I also suggested that they put a calendar or schedule by the change machine at main beach so that we can all see when there will be a tournament scheduled. They said it would be done by next week.

One last comment I would like to make; please be reasonable when considering our options. The City is in a huge financial crisis and even though it is a little amount of money, they could use the money generated by tournaments held on main beach. Up until this point, when the NCVA began reserving the beach, it seemed that we could work around the other tournaments. Most of us participate in both the No Attitudes tournaments and the CBVA tournaments. So, we want to make sure that these types of tournaments are still available to us. But it is very important for the Santa Cruz local volleyball community be able to utilize the resources available to us as well. I hope this helps clarify things. Please let me know if you have any additional concerns.

Thanks,
Lindsay

hi Jeff,
If we need one thing it's more organization for sure. I have always thought the volleyball group should form one, One group that would include everyone and encourage all players to join. I would encourage players to pay a yearly dues, that would go back into the beach for equipment and maintenance. Right now only a few financially support the maintenance and it is always the same people.
With a very large voice it would be very difficult for the city not to be more attentive to our needs.
I like the survey and I filled it out, I checked the first box.

Limiting the # of courts on tournament days is`a poor option for players and tournament directors. If they are going to run a tournament, might as well use all the courts.

Sat should be tournament day. Sunday public use

No more than 3 to 4 tournaments a month

I would support a higher fee for non- Santa Cruz county residents. Phil and mark [cbva] clearly help giving back to the local community and in their donations to keeping the beach at the high level it is.
Since non -locals [NCVA] don't help with maintenance and upkeep they should pay more.
The NCVA Coming down from Sf and paying $4.00 a hour for a court [non-profit] is ridiculously low. Its laughable no wonder they booked the whole beach for the rest of the summer. By the way they also booked West Valley college heavily, This `guy has close twenty tournaments in 2 months , I see this as profit business, unless he can prove me wrong.

If someone does rent the bench, the use permit should be clearly posted. The public can know when courts are being used and when the courts will be available. so people like the NCVA director can' pull a fast one.

those are some of my thoughts. We have to change the policy in way that doesn't affect our local tournaments, that's the tricky part.

thanks for setting up the survey,

rowland

In addition to competing and playing v-ball for over 20 years in Santa Cruz, I direct and coach club volleyball in Santa Cruz. I interact with NCVA during our club season (Nov. thru June). From my experience, they are a very difficult organization to communicate with regarding a positive and/or competitive situation for the clubs, players and parents. I feel once they have collected our fees for the league, etc. the customer service to the club(s) ends. In indoor, NCVA is the only "shop in town." However, on the beach, we have choices as to what tournaments to play. I have encouraged my players to play in both the No Attitudes and the Jrs. CBVA tournaments.

For what it is worth, here is my one experience of NCVA and a beach tournament: In spring of 2008, NCVA ran a Jrs. tournament at Main Beach in which my entire club entered. A total of 20 teams ($800.00). NCVA did not have any clear format. Did not explain beach rules. Offered very little structure and/or discipline to the tournament. My players that won the 14's, 16's and 18's division were offered no prizes. (Not the reason we play, but it's a nice gesture considering the cost of the tournament.) The whole thing was a bit weird. My preference is not to have NCVA promoting beach volleyball. It put off many of my players and parents. However, I realize I not the ruler of the beach - ha! What I can do is continue to encouraged my players to play in No Attitudes and the CBVA tournaments - both are extremely well ran and all the players have a great time. I have so much respect for both Phil and Mark. Thank you.

My other thoughts:
1) Why can't we add a few more courts at Cowells and Main? NCVA did not use all the courts last tournament. I believe they could struggle to fill the beach considering the competition and lack of awareness and professionalism. If we were to add 6 more courts at Cowells and Main, it may solve the problem and allow us all to use the beach during tournament weekends.
2) I don't feel that any one organization should be allowed to monopolize the entire beach (volleyball courts) to the length at which NCVA has and is planning in future seasons. I don't feel NCVA considered the impact they would have on a community that has/is promoting a positive Family, Girls, Boys, Mens, Womens, Co-Ed, competitive and recreational volleyball experience. I am surprised the city allowed this situation as well. It's a bit irresponsible on both the city and NCVA.
3) The end result that I would like to see is that the beach not have tournaments every weekend on both Sat. and Sun. through out the summer. One or two dates at the most per month, per organization seems reasonable and fair. This schedule would allow lots of variety for players to choose the tournament they would like to enter and gives the community and visitors weekends to just play.

I trust that Phil will represent the volleyball community perfectly. I think this is all I wanted to say. Thank you both for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Sissy Nilssen
18's Head Coach and Director, Club Shoreline
A volleyball player in Santa Cruz!