From January through June, the USVA (United States Volleyball Association) runs tournaments throughout the United States. The nation is divided into regions. We are in the Carolina region. Coaches and clubs form teams and play throughout the region. This is known as "Club", "Winter" or "Junior Olympic" Volleyball. Within juniors, there are 12-18 age-bracketed divisions. Within an age group, teams are divided into divisions (Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper). This year the Durham Lady Panthers will be playing in the 15 Gold or Silver division.

The Durham Lady Panthers announces that tryouts for their 15 Open team will be held November 8th and 10th at the Hope Valley Baptist Church gym (next to Jordan High School in Durham). The tryouts and clinic will be from 4:00 - 6:00 with a parents meeting each evening at 6:00. No tryout fees are charged. Parents are welcome to watch tryouts. We ask that you RSVP if you plan on attending by email to Tom Droege at tldroege@mindspring.com or by phone 403-9459 (days) or 382-0154 (nights). More information and directions are available at our web site.

http://DroegeComputing.com/Panthers/Panthers.cfm

Players must be born on or after September 1st, 1990 to be eligible to play 15 and under.

We are in our 9th year. We field a competitive team that has always finished well in and out of the region. Many former Panthers have played in State Championships, on High Performance teams and have won All-Region player and Officiating awards.

Tom Droege coaches the Lady Panthers. He played for the University of Illinois (3 years) and the Durham Volleyball Club (8 years), Coached Cresset Christian Academy Varsity (5 years) and Middle School coach (5 years), and Durham Lady Panthers (9th year). We hope to have 2 Duke Players helping when their season ends.

This year we will play a full tournament schedule in and out of the region aiming to either win the bid to Nationals (Atlanta) or play in another end of season tournament (East Coast Championships - Penn State or AAU Nationals - Florida). Playing time depends on participation in practice, attitude and ability.

Season: Early November - Late May. Volleyball practice will be twice a week in the gym, Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00-6:00pm

Estimated Costs (assuming 10 per team): $675 per player. This pays for everything except food and lodging and includes fees associated with gym rental (through May), 8 tournament entry fees (including Quest and Ashville 2 Day tournaments but excluding Nationals or East Coast), player and team registration and two new practice jerseys (kept by the players). I need payment (write checks to Tom Droege) and forms filled out just after you are selected for a team. New players may want to purchase a team "hoodie" for about $30.

Officiating Clinics - Teams do their own officiating. All players must attend the officiating clinic (referees and scorers). Dates will be announced later.

Uniforms - Each player will receive two new jerseys to keep and to bring to tournaments. We wear black matching shorts which each player needs to purchase.

Club - Our team is affiliated with the Chapel Hill Area Volleyball Club. They have developmental teams for younger players. Contact jack.petty@earthlink.net or go to www.chavc.net.