2009 NORTHERN LIGHTS SCHEDULE

Northern Lights teams practice more, play more, travel more, and pay less than any other club in Minnesota!

Below is our travel schedule and costs for all teams. When you are spending $1000-$3500 to play volleyball, we believe you deserve to know where you are going. Our schedule is presented in a clear, non rambling, readable format showing exactly which events are being attended by each team.

For 2009 many of our teams costs have held steady or significantly dropped over last year! For those teams who have a heavy flight schedule your fees were impacted to cover the higher costs of flights and luggage charges this year.

In response to many parents concern over the economy, we have made the AAU trip optional for many of the teams. Those teams fees reflect this option.

Northern Lights also in response to the concern over the economy has decided to make the USJO Nationals an optional trip for many of the teams. We feel that the cost to attend Nationals in Miami ($800+ per player) is difficult for many parents to justify. The AAU tournament in Orlando is a great way for most teams to end their season in mid June, and take a break before High School season starts again.

For 2009 Northern Lights will be be paying the chaperones airfare on trips that we fly, this will reduce the financial stress on any one family.

Once again Northern Lights leads the way in low cost high quality Junior Club Volleyball!

18's - 16's

Event	181	182/3	171	172	173/4	161	162	163	164/5
Practices Per Week	2/3	2/3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
NL Power League (Mpls) Various dates	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
May Tournaments (Mpls/Roch) Various dates				X	X			X	X
May Northern Lights/MN Select Elite Playday	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Rochester Cup								X
MNL January Thaw Jan 30-Feb 1 (Mpls-Conv Center)	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
President's Day Classic (Omaha)* Feb 14-16	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
President's Day Festival (Mpls)* Feb 14-15
Colorado National Qualifier* Mar 14-16
Colorado National Qualifier* Mar 20-22			X	X		X
Kansas City National Qualifier* April 3-5		X			X		X	X
Italy Tournament (Venice, Italy)	X
North Country Regional Qualification* Saturday April 11		?	X	X	?	X	X	?	?
Atlanta National Qualifier* April 3-5
Northern Lights Qualifier (Mpls)* April 17-19	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
SPRI National Jr Classic (Chicago)* May 24-26			X			X
USJO Nationals (Miami)* Various dates from June 26-July 5	?	?	X	X	?	X	X	?	?
AAU Nationals (Orlando)* June 15-21	X	?	X	?	?	X	?	?	?
TEAM COSTS
	181	182/3	171	172	173/4	161	162	163	164/5
Deposit Paid At Tryouts	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500
Seven Monthly Payments of: (Dec - June)	$435	$299	$540	$415	$299	$540	$415	$299	$240
Total Expenses paid per player **	$3245	$2293	$3980	$3105	$2293	$3980	$3105	$2293	$1880
Optional Orlando Trip		$700		$700	$700		$700	$700	$700

*=Required attendance event for all players on the team.

A "?" means that this event is not included in the costs shown below, however the team may still elect to attend this event if so desired.

** Total expenses paid per player includes a $300 reduction in fees given to players who participate in club sponsored activities.

These costs include all uniforms, equipment, practice time, coaching fees, strength & conditioning training, and travel expenses (except meals) as currently budgeted.

15's - 11's

Event

151

152

153

154/5

141

142

143/4

131

132

133

121

122

11's

Practices Per Week

NL Power League (Mpls)
Various dates

May Tournaments (Mpls/Roch)
Various dates

May Northern Lights/MN Select Elite Playday

Rochester Cup

MNL January Thaw

Jan 30-Feb 1
(Mpls-Conv Center)

President's Day Classic (Omaha)*
Feb 14-16

President's Day Festival (Mpls)*
Feb 14-15

Colorado National Qualifier*
Mar 14-16

Colorado National Qualifier*
Mar 20-22

Kansas City National Qualifier*
April 3-5

North Country Regional Qualification*
Saturday April 11

Northern Lights Qualifier (Mpls)*
April 18-20

Northern Lights Qualifier (Mpls)*
April 24-26

SPRI National Jr Classic (Chicago)*
May 24-26

USJO Nationals (Miami)*
Various dates from
June 26-July 5

AAU Nationals (Orlando)*
June 11-17

Prep Volleyball Classic (Wisc Dells) early June

TEAM COSTS

151

152

153

154/5

141

142

143/4

131

132

133

121

122

Deposit Paid
At Tryouts

$500

Seven Monthly Payments of:
(Dec - June)

$540

$415

$240

$399

$225

$157

$240

$157

Total Expenses paid per player **

$3980

$3105

$1880

$2993

$1775

$1299

$1880

$1299

Optional Orlando Trip

$700

*=Required attendance event for all players on the team.

A "?" means that this event is not included in the costs shown below, however the team may still elect to attend this event if so desired.

The dates shown are approximate. Exact dates for travel/competition will not be known until after the season starts and will be published to all players in the club at that time.

** Total expenses paid per player includes a $300 reduction in fees given to players who participate in club sponsored activities.

These costs include all uniforms, equipment, practice time, coaching fees, strength & conditioning training, and travel expenses (except meals) as currently budgeted.

Fundraising and grants available!

We are continuing our 11's level in 2009

Last year was our 4th year with an 11's level team and it was very successful. We are going to continue to offer this age division! This team is primarily for 5th grade age players and lower . The goal for this age level is to introduce the game of volleyball to the players, and start teaching them the basic skills correctly at this young age.

This year our 12-1 team will accept any player in our 11's & 12's program who is capable of playing on that team. Final decisions on this will be made by the staff after several weeks of practice.

We are maintaining or increasing the number of teams at all age levels!

In the past few years we have added a 17-4 team, 16-4 & 16-5 team, 15-4 & 15-5 team, 14-3 team, 14-4 team & 13-3 team. These teams were highly successful and were trained and participated in the same local events as the rest of the club did. To keep the cost lower on these teams they are not traveling to as many "away" events. (A team may add travel if desired). We will once again be offering these additional teams in age groups where player availability is sufficient.

If you are interested in only playing one of these lower traveling teams, please tell us at the tryouts and we will place you accordingly.

MIZUNO UNIFORMS & EQUIPMENT

Northern Lights is proud to be a Nationally Sponsored Mizuno Program. NL teams will be some of the best outfitted teams in the nation. Here's what each player will get as part of their membership in the club:

Practice Shirts (2-4 depending on your practice schedule)
Practice & Game Shorts (2-3 depending on your practice/game schedule)
Game Jerseys (2-3 depending on your team's schedule)
Complete Warm-ups
Player Gym/Travel Bag
Kneepads
Socks
Shoes
Plus we usually have a few "surprises" for the players throughout the season.

The Events We Attend

Northern Lights has been operating and attending many of these events for over 15 years. We know exactly which events are the most beneficial for your development.
Northern Lights Power League	The Northern Lights Power League is one of the original power leagues in the Nation. In Minnesota it unquestionably has the strongest competition. Last year the league added a special Elite/Open division and we have invited M1, MN Select, & SWMN Jrs to once again participate in it. If you want to play against the best in Minnesota, you play in the Northern Lights Power League. The league is played at the new Midwest Volleyball Warehouse (our practice facility and home base) which is the undisputed top volleyball facility in the Midwest if not the entire USA. Nowhere else do you have 8 courts in over 60,000 sq ft with bleachers and a mezzanine for spectators, oversized run-off area on the courts, electronic scoreboards, and a huge fully licensed concession area. Even our parking has 4 times the capacity of any other volleyball facility in the Twin Cities!
MNL January Thaw	This event is replacing our MLK event as requested by numerous large clubs. It will be held in the Minneapolis Convention Center over the last weekend in January. As a convention center event, it will give our players a chance to get some valuable experience in that setting with other top level clubs from around the Midwest before the Qualifier season starts. We are excited about this new event.
President's Day Classic	The President's Day Classic in Omaha established itself five years ago as the premier event on President's day in the Midwest. It is held in the new Omaha Convention Center and had teams from all over the Midwest. The best teams from Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, and Colorado all attended and even more clubs are committing for 2009. Unlike the tournament being held in Minnesota on the same weekend, the Omaha event will have high level competition, have paid officials, be run over 3 days so as to not overstress the athletes, be held in one site where all the college coaches can see everyone, and give our players competition against teams they will see in the later Qualifiers.
Colorado Crossroads Qualifier, Big South Qualifier (in Atlanta), Kansas City Club Qualifier, and Northern Lights Qualifier	These are three of the 10 Qualifiers in the USA. The Colorado Crossroads event is held in Denver and the Big South Qualifier is held in Atlanta. In addition a new club division only Qualifier will be held in Kansas City. Our players will travel by air or bus (included in your fees) to one of these events. The Northern Lights Qualifier is the event held in the Minneapolis Convention Center that we as a club also operate. As an established Club our #1 teams have always been accepted and played in the Open Divisions of these events. The competition is intense, and we've won several Qualifiers in past years. Last year we won the 16 Open in Atlanta and the 16 Open and 16 Club Divisions in Minneapolis. Our 16-2 team was 3rd in Denver and our 12's were 3rd in Minneapolis. Needless to say these events are loaded with college coaches, and the Northern Lights name recognition assures that our players are seen.
May Events	In May we play a series of fun competitions at our facility and in other places. It's a more relaxed time of the year after the big Qualifier season, and we have a great time at a number of these single day events. We also give our seniors a bit of time off in May as they prepare to graduate.
May Northern Lights/MN Select Elite Playday	We've added a special Elite playdate with MN Select in the middle of May to provide our teams with a competition level higher than what we have seen in our normal May tournaments. This will be a fun day with good competition for all involved.
SPRI National Jr Classic	The National Jr Classic in Chicago was started many years ago by the Sports Performance Club. Northern Lights has been invited and attended every year. We've won the event several times and placed 2nd several times. This is probably one of the most competitive "small" events of the year. Played over 3-4 days on Memorial Day weekend our 16-1, 17-1 teams will play against the best in the nation.
Beast of the East	The name of this tournament says it all! Located in Pittsburgh over Memorial Day weekend this tournament was both an exciting and relaxing event. We hope to send 1-2 teams there again this year.
AAU National Championships	The AAU National Championship is held in Orlando Florida each June. This is a great year end event for our teams that are not attending USJO Nationals, and a great warm-up event for those going to USJO's. Held at the Disney complex and the Orlando Convention Center this tournament is watched by hundreds of college coaches, and allows us to have some fun in the sun while also playing other top clubs such as Cajunland, KJVA, Sports Performance, Tampa, Front Range, and OVA. In 2008 our 16-1's won the 16's Open Division and our 16-2's won the 16 Club Division. Our 18-1's were 3rd in the 18 Open Division and our 18-2's were 3rd in the 18 Club Division. Our 17-1's & 17-2's were 5th . This tournament has proven to be the most popular trip we take with our players .....maybe it's because of the luxurious housing we stay in!
USJO National Championships	The USJO Championships being held in Miami this year are where the best play against the best! This is THE top competition of the year. If you can get there it's an accomplishment! In 2008 we qualified 9 teams for the tournament, 3 in the prestigious Open Divisions. Our 16-1's were 3rd in the 16 Open Division, and our 17-1's were 5th in the 17 Open Division. In 2007 we qualified a record high 16 teams for the tournament. Our 18-1's & 15-'1s both finished 3rd in the prestigious Open Divisions. In 2006 Northern Lights 17-1's won the 17 Open Division, the only team from Minnesota to ever win a USJO National Championship. Northern Lights is extremely proud to have qualified more teams for this event than any other club in Minnesota. Are you the best? Do you want to play against the best? Come join us at the USJO Championships