National is our highest level and is for athletes looking for a high level of exposure to competition and are serious about extending their competitive volleyball career into college/university. Teams play in 8 – 12 tournaments (Ontario and USA) and train at least three times per week for 7 – 10 hours per week.  Ideally, players participating at this level focus on club volleyball only and try to avoid over-extending themselves by playing school volleyball or other sports that run concurrent to the OVA season.  Athletes are committed from mid-September through April with the final tournament of the season being Ontario Championships.  Players are also available for off-season training programs.

Provincial is for our participants who want good exposure to high levels of competition and training. Teams play 6 – 10 tournaments with optional travel to US tournaments. These teams train three times per week for a maximum of six hours per week.  Athletes are committed from mid-September through April with the final tournament of the season being Ontario Championships.  Optional off-season training may be offered to players.

Regional is for participants that desire to play in the OVA and train in an environment similar to the National/Provincial level but with less time commitment for tournaments and training.  Regional teams will compete in four OVA tournaments as well as Ontario Championships, and may also participate in non-OVA tournaments based on coach availability (optional). Teams will practice twice a week for a total of four hours per week.

Club is house league level play.  Participants will attend one session per week, with the session being a combination of training and in-house game play with other members Club members.  OVA tournaments and Ontario Championships are not included at this level, however opportunities to be part of a “select” team may be created based on the skill level of some of the participants.  A “select” team may participate in 1-2 tournaments during the season.

* The above level classifications are for the 2025-26 season.

Each team has a unique Lakeside team name.  We do not use colours or coaches names in our team names, but we do include the age group at the beginning of the team name ie.  17 Aquila.

Starting for the 2025-26 season, we will be using the following team naming convention:

“Team Name” Age group-rank
ie. Lakeside Aquila 18-1

Teams will be ranked 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

Yes.  There are a couple of reasons why a player may move from roster to roster:

• A player could be temporarily/occasionally asked to play up for an event/tournament for a different team at any given point in the season to fill in for an injured player.
• A coach (or coaches) may find that after a few weeks of training, a player has been assigned to a roster that is not the right fit and should be moved to another roster on a trial basis that could become permanent.

In the case where a coach (or coaches) decide to move a player or players for any reason, each family will be notified of the pending roster switch.  With tryouts providing limited time to evaluate players, it is sometimes necessary to adjust rosters after we have had an opportunity to see all of the players in their regular training environments.  We want to ensure that a player is appropriately assigned to a roster that will help them grow their skills and become the best version of themselves on and off of the court.  A player could be moved up to a higher ranking team because they have been identified as a player that needs more advanced training and is being held back in their development on their current team.  Conversely, a player could be shifted down to a lower ranking team if they are showing signs of falling behind in training, not picking up skills at the same rate as other players, are missing too many training sessions, or for other reasons that are hindering the team and/or the player’s development.

Rosters do not lock until February 1st of each season, and all players that sign with the club will sign our Re-alignment Policy document that outlines the process and facilitation of a player or players being re-assigned to another roster mid-season.  Should a player be moved mid-season, any discrepancy is team fees will be communicated and settled prior to the move.

The annual fee for each season will be communicated to the athlete and their family at the time the athlete receives an offer to sign with Lakeside Volleyball Club in September.

Our annual fee is based on a number of factors (included in fee unless otherwise specified):

• A player’s team placement within the club
• Number of tournaments the team will be playing during the season
• Number and length of regular training sessions per week
• How many players are on the team
• Team kit package
• US Tournament entry (if applicable, and included in annual fee for National level teams only)

Other factors that contribute to the total annual fee per player are (included in fee unless otherwise specified):

• Coaching fees
• Cost of gym rentals
• Insurance
• Medical supplies (ice packs, pre-wrap and bandages)

Costs NOT included in the annual fee:

• OVA membership fee ($100.41 in 2024/25, payable directly to the OVA)
• Respect in Sport Parent Module ($12 in 2024/25, payable directly to the OVA)
• Local non-OVA tournaments (entry fee and coaching fee covered by each team per entry)
• US tournament entry (for Provincial and Regional teams)
• All travel expenses incurred per family for tournaments requiring travel/hotel, etc.

For the 2024-25 OVA Season

Eligible Birth Years for Early Contact Initiative (ECI)

2010 = 15yo (September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010)
2011 = 14yo
2012 = 13yo
2013 = 12yo
2014 = 11yo

Age Categories 15U – 18U

15 & Under Born 2010 or later
16 & Under Born 2009 or later
17 & Under Born 2008 or later
18 & Under Born 2007 or later

Age Category Extended Age Class

15 & Under Born between September 1st 2009 and December 31st 2009
16 & Under Born between September 1st 2008 and December 31st 2008
17 & Under Born between September 1st 2007 and December 31st 2007
18 & Under Born between January 1st 2006 and December 31st 2006

Official Lakeside tryouts for the OVA season are held in September each year.  The rep season typically starts October 1st with the first sessions of regular season training and runs through to the end of Ontario Championships that are held in April.

Our goal is to place every athlete who tries out for our teams, but we cannot guarantee a spot to every athlete at the conclusion of tryouts.  Prior to tryouts, we have a pre-determined number of teams we plan to run per age group for the season based on coaching and training gym resources.  Depending on the demand at tryouts, we may consider adding a team to an age group should a qualified parent-coach be willing and available to run an additional team provided that there is adequate gym space available.

For any player 14 years of age or younger that is not placed on a team, it would be our recommendation for them to participate in our youth academy.  We offer a 6-session Academy program 2-3 times during the season (Fall and Winter Academies start in October and January respectively, with a Spring Academy program in May if gyms are available).

The number of players for each team will be set during the tryout process and will be determined based on the make-up of each individual team. Typically, each team is comprised of 10 – 12 players.

Unfortunately, we are not able to take requests of this nature. We have to consider a number of factors when we create teams and we cannot guarantee these requests.

Equal playing time is not guaranteed at any level. Every level guarantees an equal opportunity to improve and earn playing time. Athletes are offered a spot on the team, not a starting position or any particular amount of playing time. We guarantee athletes training and instruction during training sessions, and the opportunity to earn playing time and/or a starting position.

We DO NOT GUARANTEE ANY AMOUNT OF PLAYING TIME TO ANYONE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Playing time is earned by performance in training.

Lakeside is a proud member of the Town of Oakville’s CORE Community User group.  Our typical training nights are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  Thursdays are reserved for Town programming and therefore are not available to any rental/community groups.

Training schedules are created after tryouts are complete and we can confirm our gym needs per team for the season.

Please visit our GYM LOCATIONS page for our main training locations.

There are two resources for you to find information for tournaments:

• OVA Upcoming Indoor Events page
• TOURNAMENTS page on our website (date, division and location name only)

You can send an email to info@lakesidevb.com for any questions regarding our rep program, or any other program you wish to inquire about.

Yes we do!  During the season, we offer a development academy for girls ages 10-15 years that have never played organized volleyball or have limited exposure to the game.

We also offer a summer academy that is held outdoors on grass courts at Hopedale Park in south Oakville.  This academy, like our development academy, is catered to athletes that are looking to learn and improve upon their current skill set and/or are trying to prepare to tryout for their school team or local club team.

In July and August, we offer Open Gym training on weeknights or weekends (location and timing depends on availability) that is aimed at athletes looking to get back into the gym and start to gear up for rep tryouts and the season ahead.

All information pertaining to additional training programs will be posted under the “Training/Development” tab on our website when available.

For the fall of 2025, we will be looking to start a house league at one of our elementary school locations.  Details surrounding our HL will be posted as soon as the information is available.

Currently we do not offer any boys training or rep programming.  We had a strong boys program in the past, however the limited demand for boys club volleyball coupled with the overwhelming demand for girls club volleyball has pushed our focus solely to girls volleyball programming for the time being.

We are always looking for great people to join our coaching staff.  The demand for coaches for youth volleyball in Ontario is off the charts, so please reach out to us at info@lakesidevb.com if you are interested in becoming a training coach, assistant coach or head coach for any of our youth programs.