FAQs

Club and travel are terms used to describe the same thing – a team that practices and competes at tournaments.  EC Power’s travel season starts with tryouts in October/November and wraps with the team’s last event in April/May/June.

Programs are EC Power staffed training opportunities for athletes to gain skills, knowledge, and practice the sport they love.  Programs vary from first touch experiences for athletes just checking out the sport to high level skills training to in-house and local team opportunities.  Programs vary by season and are offered year-round; no tryout is required for programs.

USA Volleyball (USAV) is a governing body for volleyball across the United States.  The OVR (Ohio Valley Region) is a regional volleyball association that oversees everything USAV within western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and portions of West Virginia.  The KRVA (Keystone Region) is similar to the OVR, but is responsible for all the non-OVR parts of Pennsylvania.  Membership in KRVA or OVR is determined by a club’s location.

AAU Volleyball is a governing body, as well.  AAU Volleyball events require an AAU membership.

Register for tryouts here
Use the link to choose your division and register

EC Power offers travel teams in both our Cranberry and South divisions.  The ECP National teams (15U, 16U, 17U) practice in both locations.  If you are interested in a National team, please register and attend tryouts in the South division.

Additional paperwork:
12-14U – please bring a signed medical release
15-18U – please bring proof of your USAV membership and a signed medical release
*Click here for the Sports and Courts (Cranberry) facility waiver
*The Jewish Community Center (South) requires a waiver be signed in person

A USAV membership (15U-18U) is required for participation in tryouts.  OVR and KRVA memberships are both accepted for tryouts.  Once you agree to play on a team with EC Power, your athlete will need an OVR membership as ECP is a Ohio Valley Region member.

12U, 13U, and 14U teams do not need a USAV, OVR, or KRVA membership for tryouts or to compete on a team.

Step 1:
Register for tryouts and put together your paperwork
– 12-14U athletes need only a signed medical release
– 15-18U athletes need proof of a USAV tryout membership and a signed medical release
*Click here for the Sports and Courts (Cranberry) facility waiver
*The Jewish Community Center (South) requires a waiver be signed in person

Step 2:
Come to tryouts.  You’ll check-in and receive a tryout t-shirt and number at the door.

Step 3:
ECP will send a results email to every participant within 72 hours of the final tryout session for your age group.

-Team Offer
Your email will extend a timeframe during which you can accept (or decline) a spot on the team by following the directions in the email.

-Waitlist
Many athletes who are initially waitlisted ultimately receive offers and choose to play with EC Power teams.  Athletes try out at various organizations, so as the process unfolds, being on the depth chart is a normal part of the tryout experience.  ECP will continue to periodically update you as acceptances and declines from other athletes are received.

-Positions Filled
Once all positions for a given age/team have been filled, ECP will notify families and extend opportunities for the athlete to participate in local teams and other programming.

Invitations to join a team are referred to as “offers”.  Each offer comes with a timeframe during which it must be accepted or it will be forfeited.  The timeframe can vary by team and organization; it will be clearly defined in your offers email.

EC Power offers may be sent as soon as the conclusion of the final tryout for the age group.

For 2023, families have the longer of the following timeframes to accept an offer:
12-14U All Teams – 48 hours or until 7 pm on Fri, Oct 28th
15-18U Travel – 48 hours or until 9 pm on Wed, Nov 23rd
15-18U National – 48 hours or until 7 pm on Fri, Nov 18th

Tryouts are in October/November.

Practices begin the first week of December and run through the team’s last tournament.  We will break for the winter holidays from around December 23rd through January 1st.  Practices conclude with the team’s last event.

Tournaments typically begin in January.  A team’s last event depends on age and level, but is usually in April (12s-14s and 18s), in May (15s-17s), or June (National teams).

Complete schedules will be available on the website prior to tryouts.

Team costs vary and are announced before tryouts.  We do our best to list out all anticipated expenses, but in general you can expect the team cost to include: uniforms, practices, tournaments, and staffing.

Items that are not included in team fees include: transportation to practices and games, parking, hotel stays for overnight events (some are required), meals and food, any optional gear you choose to purchase.

EC Power offers a standard payment plan and flexible options for those who inquire.

Typically 10.  Teams may carry 9-11 athletes based on team composition and level.  Many teams also extend practice player positions to athletes who are interested in training, but are unable to make the tournament travel commitments.

Likely yes, but don’t panic!  Some events do require hotel stays and EC Power has your back with our December Hotel-Palooza.  Families can visit their team page to book available or required hotels.

EC Power teams compete in three types of events:
1 – Stay to Play
These are typically larger events where our families will need to stay overnight.  Stay to Play events require each family to book a certain number of nights through the event’s housing agency at a specific team hotel.  ECP posts these hotels to each team’s page.

2 – Team Block
Families will likely want to stay a night or two for these multi-day events.  As a benefit for our teams, ECP reserves blocks of rooms that our families can book.  These hotels are posted to each team’s page.

3 – Local
For drivable, single day or local multi-day events, ECP does not build hotel blocks.  Families are welcome to book their own accommodates if they desire.