Program FAQ’s
What is the difference between a camp, a clinic, a skill session and an academy?
Camps: Camps last for multiple consecutive days for between 3-6 hours per day. Players are often split onto courts of like age and ability. The skills that are being taught are broken down and built on. Camps generally build from basic skill work in the beginning of the session to more play and game-like drills at the end of the session.
Clinics: Usually geared towards younger athletes, our clinics happen over a full season (summer, fall, winter, spring) and consist of 1-2 sessions a week on the same evenings each week. All levels of experience are welcome.
Skill Sessions: Skill sessions are 1, 1.5 or 2 hour sessions that are focused on one skill or set of skills at a time. Alternately, we do have Youth skill sessions (age-based) or Elite skill sessions (level-based) that focus on more than one skill at a time. Skill sessions are not intended to break things down very much; they are utilized to get a high number of reps for the athlete who participates in them, especially if they are preparing for a high school or club season tryout.
Academy: Academy sessions are position-specific and are Elite in nature. They have been created so that Elite players (such as players who previously played for Northern Lights during club season) have a place to get high-level coaching and reps during the summer. Any player who meets the age criteria is welcome to attend; however, any player who does register must be able to keep up. These sessions are generally longer and probably more intense than any of our day-time camps or skill sessions. Players are expected to know what position they are and know the ins and outs of playing their position. Academy sessions are meant to make you a better setter, Libero, or hitter – not to necessarily teach you the basics of the position.
You offer sessions that are both Elite and not Elite. One example is All Skills Camp and Elite All Skills Camp. How do I know what session to sign my daughter up for?
There are several differences between the two types of camps:
- Elite Camps are generally faster and more intense. They are designed for players who have played club competitively for 1-2 years minimum.
- Elite Camps are for players who fully understand the sport and the terminology. This includes concepts such as rotations, base, zones, coverage, transitions, etc.
- Elite Camps are for players who are experienced and somewhat consistent at most volleyball skills. If you are having issues getting your overhand serve over the net, or have no idea what a 3-step or 4-step approach means (or can’t hit the ball with an approach), then we would recommend you start with All Skills Camp.
- Elite Camps are for players with great attitudes and who want to work hard and get better. All of our volleyball camps are all meant to be fun, but Northern Lights coaches will work players harder and expect more out of the players in an Elite Camp. Players are expected to be self-motivated.
- Elite Camps are for players in grade 8 and above. Your 8th grader who has just over the basic level of volleyball experience will need to be able to hang with 15 and 16 year old volleyball players who may have played for a few years. Players must be able to keep up.
Our biggest concern isn’t for the true Elite player who signs up for a regular, non-elite camp. She will still get excellent instruction, be put on an appropriate court with her peers, and get new knowledge about how to get better using Northern Lights techniques. She will also get plenty of reps even if she is slightly better than the player standing next to her. Our biggest concern is for the non-Elite player who decides she is Elite and is completely overworked and overwhelmed to the point she doesn’t want to come back to camp the next day.
I registered my daughter and did not receive a confirmation email for her camp (clinic, skill session, etc.) How can I check if she has been accepted?
There are very few programs at Northern Lights in which a player who has completed their registration and fully qualifies (usually by age/grade) will not be accepted. Sometimes the office staff accepts players once a day and often during slower periods, it may only be once a week. If you haven’t gotten an immediate acceptance, please don’t fret. It does not mean that your daughter will not be accepted.
If you feel enough time has passed and you still have not received an acceptance email, feel free to log into your daughter’s www.signuptoplay.com account. Click on “Camps & Clinics” on the left menu. All sessions that you have registered her for should be shown there. If you click on the actual session in question, you will see on the following page if she has been accepted or not yet.
Do you offer training for boys?
Northern Lights has been a very successful junior girls volleyball club for close to 30 years and in that time our recipe for girls programming (club volleyball, camps, clinics, skill sessions, etc.) has resulted in almost 100% utilization of our gym during the year. We are extremely happy that boys volleyball is becoming more and more popular in the state of Minnesota, but it would be difficult to offer additional boys programs without limiting what we have already offered successfully for the girls.
We do offer a few sessions for boys including:
- Little Spikers (5 sessions a year, grades K-2)
- All Skills Camps (June, July or August, grades 4 – 8 or grades 9 – 12)
- Boys Clinic & League (September/October, grades 9-12)
- Boys All Skills Clinics (late December, grades 4-8)
- Private lessons (year round, please see coaches who provide these on our main Lessons webpage)
In the 2023-2024, we were able to roll out our first four boys club teams (15’s – 18’s). In the future, we expect to solidify our boys club program which will begin in the August/September timeframe each year. Always monitor our website for details.
We are attempting to expand further into the boys club space, but it will take time. Be sure to stay tuned to both our social media and our website to see any additional programming we may offer.
Do you offer any programs for high school athletes who are not in your club in the fall, winter and spring?
In the fall, high school aged players who are not participating in high school volleyball are open to join us for any Intermediate Skills Session. We do not offer any programs outside of club volleyball for high school aged players from November through June.
My daughter is in high school and has never played volleyball before. She would like to get started in the sport. What session should she register for?
We recommend that she start with our summer All Skills Camp. This camp is open to anyone at any level so long as they are entering grade 7 in the fall. We really don’t have any introductory volleyball for players older than the 8th grade at any other time of the year.
My daughter can no longer attend the camp (clinic, skill session, etc.) she is registered for. I read the refund policy and it says I am no longer entitled to a refund. Is there anything I can do? Can I have a credit? Can I switch to another program or session?
If there is a medical reason for not coming to the session, email the Northern Lights office a doctor’s note with the reason (and duration) listed of why your player cannot participate and we will provide a refund. All refund request must be in writing in the form of an email to our office.
Northern Lights does not keep credits for any programs except Private Lessons, so we cannot “save” your fee for you to be used at another time. Asking for a credit in this case is just a way to circumvent the refund policy, which is always stated clearly in our program descriptions.
Northern Lights may allow switching of sessions, but the sessions must be the same type, same season, and same cost (if there is capacity in the new session). All requests to switch sessions must be in writing in the form of an email to our office.
Please note that as of 11/1/22, there is no switching of sessions allowed within 72 hours of the session date. We use that last 72 hours to finalize plans including staffing.
To ask to switch to a later session outside of the 72 hours, (1) register for the new session, but do not pay, (2) email the Northern Lights office with your request (include the old session name & date and the new session name & date), (3) we will move the payment to the new session and remove the registration to the old session.
When does the registration for your camp (clinic, skill session, etc.) close?
Our registration usually remains open until the first day of the session unless it reaches capacity first. (Note: Skills Sessions and Clinics may close the night before to give our lead coaches time to organize/plan the session). Our most popular sessions (many of our Youth clinics and the Fall Youth & Middle School Clinic & League) do reach capacity and close early to future registrations anywhere from 1-3 weeks before the start of the clinic. Our Winter I 2024 Middle School clinic reached capacity 2 months in advance! We advise you to sign up early to secure your spot!
I registered for a camp (clinic, skill session, etc.) months ago and the registration has disappeared from my account. Where did it go?
Completed registrations (meaning a player is registered AND paid) are never deleted. This question being posed indicates that you never paid for the session when you registered. Often, we have players who are registered but not paid for and they think that is holding their spot for the camp. Unpaid registrations are deleted when the camp nears capacity and more room is needed for paid players. We highly encourage you to register and pay for any session your player wants to attend as soon as you can.
I registered my daughter for 10 sessions. Is there a way I can pay for all 10 sessions at once?
Our system does not allow for a “cart” in which you can gather up what you want to participate in and then pay at the end. Our system requires each session to be paid for separately.
We do prefer that you pay for each session separately online.
If you choose to, you may write a check made out to Northern Lights Volleyball and either mail it to us, or drop it off in the drop box in front of our office (please include a physical copy of the registration forms for the sessions you are paying for so we know exactly what to apply the payment to). Our address can be found at the very bottom of our website.
Please be advised that until your check is received and cleared, your registration is considered unpaid. We do not recommend sending a check within 2 weeks of the start of the session (or if a session is nearing capacity or regularly reaches capacity early).
I think I paid twice for my daughter’s session. What should I do?
Simply email the Northern Lights office (northernlights@midwestvolleyball.com) and ask us to check our records. If you paid twice for a session, we will issue you a refund.
When I try to pay, your system says I need a PayPal account. I don’t have and don’t want a PayPal account. How do I pay?
You do not need a PayPal account to pay with a credit card in our registration system. PayPal is the service we use to process credit cards. If you have a PayPal account, you can login and pay. If you do not have a PayPal account, there is a link that says “pay with a credit card” on the page. This link is one time use only and does not require a login.
We have heard of issues with people who have PayPal accounts automatically being sent to PayPal even if they would rather pay with a credit card. We think this is an issue with your computer, settings and preferences because it does not happen to everyone. If this happens to you, we have found the best way to circumvent the issue is to find a different computer/phone/iPad or browser to complete the payment.
My daughter is in the 5th grade and she has been playing volleyball all her life. Can she play in programs listed for older players? <or> My daughter is in the 8th grade. She is very good and I don’t want her on the same court as a 6th grade player. Can you make sure she is only with older players?
The great majority of our programs are only for the ages/grades listed on the website. Most of our programming is grade-based, but we use birthday as a secondary factor to help us determine if a player is in the correct program. Please do not sign up for anything that is not listed for your daughter’s current grade and/or age. If we find a problem with your registration, we will be in touch (usually via email) to talk to you about it but we generally do not allow exceptions to what is listed.
Northern Lights has excellent training programs for junior players of all ages. Over the years, we’ve even expanded our programming down to Kindergartners. In 2022, Northern Lights had two club teams (12-1 and 11-1) both medal nationally and those coaches often lead some of our youth programs. Although you may feel like your 5th grader or 6th grader needs to be moved up to get great training, this just isn’t the case at Northern Lights.
This also means that your older daughter shouldn’t feel threatened or that she will be “brought down” by being on a court with younger players. We do take age into consideration when placing players onto courts, but we also use skill-level as well. If a younger player is that good, she may just be placed on a court with older girls.
I just graduated from high school and I want to participate in your programs. Can I play volleyball at Northern Lights?
Northern Lights does not provide training for any player deemed an “adult” player. In general, a player moves from being considered a “junior” player to an “adult” player when they graduate from high school and/or leave the club after their 18’s year.
How do I add my other daughter to my www.signuptoplay.com account so I can register her?
You cannot add another daughter to your www.signuptoplay.com account. Each account need to be made for each individual player, not for each family. Please do not register your younger daughter using your older daughter’s account as grade in school and birthday are looked at when accepting for almost all of our programs.
I created a www.signuptoplay.com account for myself so I can register my daughter. I cannot see any camps or lessons in the system. What am I doing wrong?
The account you create on www.signuptoplay.com must be your daughter’s account, not yours (Mom or Dad). The account used to register for our programs must be a junior player account, not an adult account. Our system does not allow any adults to register for any of our programs. Also, to repeat from above, each individual junior player must have their own account – even siblings.