The Los Angeles Volleyball Academy (LAVA) is an affiliation of junior volleyball clubs with similar philosophies and standards, and ethical ideals. There are a total of nine affiliates working under the LAVA banner at present.
Our network of coaches, players, parents, and volleyball personalities and enthusiasts is extensive, and arguably unmatched. From high schools whose head coaches and/or assistants coach within the LAVA system to parents whose children play on LAVA teams to companies whose products sponsor, equip, or adorn LAVA athletes—to those people indirectly connected to volleyball who respect, appreciate, and understand what it is LAVA is working hard to accomplish—our network crisscrosses Southern California from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and even goes beyond to touch points across the length of the country. We value each and every one of our supporters, whether active or indirect, and strive to make them as proud to know us as we are to know them.
Vintage Beach Volleyball Club
Our newest LAVA affiliate, Vintage Beach Volleyball Club is set for launch in the fall of 2011 based out of Santa Monica City College in Santa Monica. The club seeks to bring an authentic sort of exuberance that is difficult to find in girls club volleyball south of the Mulholland Pass, to encourage a culture of passion, integrity, and competition, and to provide a structured training environment where our players can grow and develop both as athletes and as remarkable young women. While original plans called for a focus on female athletes from grades four through ten—with plans to expand to older age groups in years to come—the positive response to initial announcements moved the club to include a team for the older girls. Vintage anticipates fielding at least six teams for the 2012 season: 18-1’s, 15/16-1’s, 14-1’s, 13-1/14-2’s, 12-1’s, and a youth beginners team for 4th graders and below. Multiple coaches with deep ties to LAVA have signed on to coach and operate the club, including some exciting new names and faces, and all of the things making Los Angeles Volleyball Academy affiliates great—structured training, quality coaching, exceptional values, and superior ethics—will be on display at Vintage Beach.
LAVA Girls (South, North, West)
Our flagship girls program operates out of three distinct geographic locations: LAVA South, based in the San Fernando Valley; LAVA North, based in Santa Clarita; and LAVA West, based in the Conejo Valley. LAVA Girls is one of the largest volleyball clubs in the SCVA region, fielding collectively close to forty teams. The club’s ultimate goal is an unmatched standard of excellence, starting at the top with the quality of its coaching staff and working all the way down to the competitive, constructive environment created for its youngest players, all resulting in a deeper and abiding love for the game. The structured training program, top-tier coaching staff, familial atmosphere, exemplary code of ethical conduct, and the excellent reputations of its principal coaches and administrators truly set LAVA Girls apart as one of the premier volleyball organizations in Southern California—and beyond—even in this, its first official year.
SMBC Boys
The Santa Monica Beach Club Boys program is the oldest of the LAVA affiliates, and for that reason and others its most historically successful. Established in 1982 and now celebrating its thirtieth year of existence, the SMBC Boys program has left an indelible mark on the boys volleyball community. With more than twenty medals in Junior Olympic competition, including a medal in each of the last seven years and two in 2011, the SMBC Boys is a well-respected juggernaut with alumni scattered throughout the upper echelons of the collegiate NCAA Division One men’s volleyball ranks. Our flagship boys program, SMBC Boys is based out of the San Fernando Valley with facilities at Harvard-Westlake and Oakwood Schools, as well as Pierce College. The program anticipates ten teams for the 2012 season across the seven distinct age divisions, and brings everything to the table one would expect from a LAVA affiliate—top coaching, structured training, and superior values and ethics.
Montecito Volleyball Club
Montecito Volleyball Club burst onto the Santa Barbara volleyball scene in 2010, its inaugural season, and is looking to improve and expand upon the successes of its first two years. Offered as an alternative to the clear-cut volleyball establishment so seemingly entrenched in the Santa Barbara area, the Montecito goal is to produce top teams and talented athletes with the potent combination of committed, caring, and constructive coaches and positive, dedicated, passionate players and families. To facilitate expansion and the achievement of its goals, Montecito was one of the first LAVA affiliates to sign on in 2010, and as the club enters its third season we anticipate fielding six teams across several age divisions run out of gyms at the Cabrillo Street and Girls Incorporated facilities, guided by the experienced Montecito staff under the thoughtful and optimistic eye of the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy.
Revolution Volleyball Club
Revolution Volleyball Club enters its ninth year in 2012 and its second as an official LAVA affiliate. This Antelope Valley-based program has long been a strong provider of training for volleyball players in that community, offering a particular training model suited to the needs of the regional demographic. It begins with the enthusiasm of the dedicated coaches and Revolution staff members—which counts among its rank several individuals of significant volleyball pedigree—tremendous people working to ensure Revolution is the best local option for Antelope Valley players and families. With a training regimen and administrative structure revamped by LAVA as part of the program’s affiliation, Revolution now boasts one of the finest sets of coaches and administrators in the area and expects to field eight teams in 2012 out of its gym facilities at Antelope Valley College and Desert Christian School.
LAVA Lite
The LAVA Lite program is a youth program run in coordination with many of the various LAVA affiliates. The Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA), which oversees and manages all aspects of the club volleyball community in our region, offers a 12-and-under age group as its youngest competitive division. The LAVA Lite program is specifically geared towards elementary-aged youth athletes (10 and below), for which there is no real beneficial competition division; with a network as large as the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy, however, there are alternatives available—hence the launch of LAVA Lite, a program for 10-and-under teams from LAVA affiliates. While the details of the program are still being discussed—limited competition days in centralized locations, low-impact time commitments required, passion-building and instruction-centric foci—we are excited for the possibilities this youth program brings, and the launch of the first official LAVA Lite season will coincide with the girls junior club season beginning in October of 2011.
The Development League
The Development League (also known as the “DL” or the “D-League”) returns for its third season in 2012 as LAVA’s low-cost, limited-travel option for San Fernando Valley and Valley-adjacent families. The DL was created with the intention of achieving a pair of simple and well-defined goals: (1) for experienced junior high and high school athletes, to provide an environment where coaches may implement a structured and effective training regimen, all while recognizing the difficulties associated with the cost of club volleyball in a difficult economic climate; and (2) for beginner and novice junior high and elementary school athletes, to create an atmosphere of fun and learning, a developmental program in the truest sense of the phrase, complete with an effective structure and strong coaching, but without the excessive cost and travel associated with advanced club volleyball. The program operates out of West Valley Christian School with a variable number of teams, and is limited local travel, thereby cutting costs for families of DL players by as much as 60% to keep club volleyball affordable.
No matter how far apart our programs are from one another in terms of distance, however, there is one universal constant amongst the coaches and administrators of the LAVA—a subscription to the idea of “Volleyball Done Differently”. Simply stated, we want to bring as much product to the table—to provide as much value for you as we can—while fostering an environment of honesty and integrity, passion and enthusiasm, with strong values and a familial feel.