2017 Youth Festival Participants:
The 7th Annual Southern Youth Festival is upon us, and we are working hard to ensure
that it is a fun and memorable tournament for everyone who attends.
This summary contains a significant amount of information about the tournament and
takes the place of a coaches meeting, so please review closely. Though there is no
coaches meeting, we request that coaches or team representatives check in with us at
the tournament desk to pick up their rosters.
A NOTE ABOUT WAVES, POOLS AND INITIAL PAIRINGS:
Since most participating teams are from the Southern Region, seeding followed the
SRVA rankings dated 3/13/17 very closely. Out-of-region teams were seeded as fairly as
we could. We did manipulate some of the pairings to keep teams from playing other
teams from within their own club, sister club or region during pool play when possible.
Please note that, with few exceptions, all of which are noted, first-round losers in
bracket play will play a consolation match. Also, the losing team must stay on the
court to officiate the match immediately following. Lastly several teams that play at 9
a.m. on Sunday will be called upon to report to their court no later than 7:45 a.m. so
that they can officiate the match immediately preceding theirs. Let’s make this the
year with these youngsters that 100% of the teams know fulfill their officiating
responsibilities.
The schedule will be posted not later than the Tuesday prior to the tournament. Results
will be updated on Advanced Event Systems (“AES”) in real time.
VENUES
The tournament will be played at three venues this year:
 Southern Volleyball Center, the tournament’s home base (“SVC”) – Courts 1, 3,
4&5
 Chattahoochee High School – Courts 1 – 3
 Jackson County High School – Courts 1 - 4
MATCH FORMAT
Except where expressly posted to the contrary, matches will be the standard best two
out of three sets, the first two sets being played to 25 points; a tiebreaker, if required,
will be played to 15. All sets must be won by two points with no limitation. A.M. wave
begins at 8:00 a.m.; doors at all venues will be open by 7:00. P.M. wave commences at
3:00 p.m.
COMPETITION PROTOCOL
14 Power – 9 teams – Chattahoochee HS (“Hooch”) – a.m. wave -- courts 1 – 3
Nine teams have entered this division. They will be organized into three, 3-team pools
initially. Upon the completion of pool play the pools will be reshuffled (top finishers
pooled together, 2nd-place finishers pooled together, etc.) and each team will play in
another three-team pool.
The results of pool play will be used to seed the championship bracket, to which all
teams advance. First-round losers in bracket play will have a consolation match.
14-Club – 12 teams – Chattahoochee HS (“Hooch”) – p.m. wave – courts 1 - 3
Twelve teams will be competing in this division. They will be organized into three pools
of four teams each. The top two finishers in each pool will advance to the Championship
bracket on day 2, while the 3rd and 4th place teams will play in the Silver bracket.
First-round losers in bracket play will play in a consolation match.
13 Power – 5 teams – Southern Volleyball Center (“SVC”) – p.m. wave -- courts 1 & 3
Five teams have entered this division. They will all be pooled together, playing a roundrobin format on two courts. The officiating team will be split, meaning that one team
will be responsible for reffing two matches during pool play. There will be a break
during pool play to allow participants the chance to rest and refuel.
The results of pool play will be used to seed the championship bracket, to which all
teams advance. First-round losers in bracket play will have a consolation match.
13 Club -- 13 teams – Jackson County HS (“JCHS”) – p.m. wave – courts 1 – 4
Thirteen teams will be playing in the 13 Club division. They will be organized into one
pool of four teams and three pools of three, with members of the three-team pools
being reshuffled (top finishers pooled together, 2nd-place finishers pooled together, etc.)
and each team will play in another three-team pool.
The top two finishers in each pool will advance to an 8-team Championship bracket,
while 3rd and 4th place finishers will play in a 5-team silver bracket on Sunday.
12 Power – 15 teams – Jackson County HS (“JCHS”) – a.m. wave – courts 1 – 4
Fifteen teams have entered the 12 Power division. They will be organized initially into
three pools of four teams and one pools of three teams, with members of the threeteam pool playing three sets to 25 irrespective of the results of the first two sets.
The top two finishers in each pool will advance to an 8-team Championship bracket,
while 3rd and 4th place finishers will play in a 7-team silver bracket on Sunday.
12 Club – 7 teams – Southern Volleyball Center (“SVC”) – p.m. wave – courts 4 & 5
Seven teams will be competing in the 12-club division. They will be organized initially
into one pool of four teams and one pool of three, with members of the three- team
pool playing three sets to 25 point irrespective of the results of the first two sets.
The results of pool play will be used to seed the championship bracket, to which all
teams advance. First-round losers in bracket play will have a consolation match.
11 Club – 8 teams – Southern Volleyball Center (“SVC”) – a.m. wave – courts 1 & 3
Eight teams will be competing in the 11-club division. They will be organized initially
into two pools of four teams. The results of pool play will be used to seed the
championship bracket, to which all teams advance. First-round losers in bracket play
will have a consolation match.
10 Club – 5 teams – Southern Volleyball Center (“SVC”) – p.m. wave – courts 4 & 5
Five teams have entered this division. They will all be pooled together, playing a roundrobin format on two courts. The officiating team will be split, meaning that one team
will be responsible for reffing two matches during pool play. There will be a break
during pool play to allow participants the chance to rest and refuel.
The results of pool play will be used to seed the championship bracket, to which all
teams advance. First-round losers in bracket play will have a consolation match.
Ties
Ties will be broken per SRVA protocol. When the results of a tie determine whether a
team remains in contention for the tournament championship, one or more tiebreaking
matches (single set to 25) will be played, irrespective of head-to-head results. When
only seeding is involved, SRVA tiebreaking protocol will be invoked and a tiebreaker will
not be played. See the SRVA Handbook for elaboration.
PARKING
All parking is free.
SVC – There is plenty of parking on site provided you realize that there’s parking (and an
entrance) in the rear of the building as well as the front. If the parking lot is full–as is
possible on Sunday or the change-over between the a.m. and p.m. waves on Saturday–
simply park across the Hembree Road in the Alpharetta Department of Public Works lot,
or in the EndoChoice lot just to the south of SVC.
FOOD TABLES
Are fine at all venues, but space is limited at SVC, so please be judicious about your use
of it. We will provide the tables; spectator-provided tables will not be allowed indoors
as there is insufficient room. Indeed, each team will be entitled to use a half-table
inside the premises, but may spread out as much as they like outside. Tailgating is a
very popular alternative at SVC when the weather is nice.
Be prepared for there to be no food tables available inside SVC for several hours on
Sunday morning. Again, you may set up outside, but if you want an indoor location
you’ll have to wait until the teams playing in the morning begin to clear out.
GATE
$5 per adult per day. Children under 10 are free.
FOLDING CHAIRS
Are permitted, but we will provide bleachers and chairs sufficient for spectators.
TRAINERS
A certified trainer will be at SVC only for the duration of the tournament.
TEAM REFEREE OBLIGATIONS
Referee schedules are included in the pool assignments posted on AES. During bracket
play on Sunday, losing teams will ref the next match on that court unless specifically
noted to the contrary. Several teams will be required to ref the 8:00 A.M. Sunday
match before they play, so again, please check the website as well as the pools and
brackets that will be posted at the tournament. Teams with 8 a.m. ref assignments
must be in place on the court no later than 7:45.
Coaches, please remind your players that MP3 players and Cell Phones are not to be
used while working the score table and that snacks and drink bottles should not be on
the table. They should lift the score board and show the score frequently, minimally at
serve changes and time outs.
Please feel free to call or email either of the undersigned with questions.
Emergency/last-minute contacts and phone numbers are included below. We look
forward to seeing you at the 4th Annual Southern Youth Festival on 3/19.
Michael Fletcher
Tournament Director
[email protected]
404-936-6723
Kurt Matthews
Tournament Co-Director
[email protected]
(404) 895-1155