OVERVIEW
May 7, 2026
The 2025-26 Ontario Championships came and went in a flash, and thus officially set in motion the initial planning phase of the 2026-27 OVA indoor season.
For the new indoor season that officially starts with the re-signing period on June 1, 2026, players and parents need to know that there are changes to the season structure for ages 13U (6v6) through 16U, particularly for girls OVA volleyball. You can learn about these changes on the OVA website – here is the link: https://www.ontariovolleyball.org/ycreview
Highlights of the changes to 13UG – 16UG Season Structure:
- Teams will be placed in either Division 1 or Division 2 for the entire season. Division placement will be based on the previous year’s Ontario Championship results:
- Top 96 “of age” teams will be placed in Division 1, with 16 teams being “bubble” teams that will need to submit a form to the OVA explaining why they should be placed in Division 1.
- The remaining teams in the age group will be placed in Division 2 (this includes any new “of age” teams).
- Underage teams can play up an age group, and will be placed in Division 1 or 2 based on where they are placed in their own age group. ie. a 15U team playing in Division 2 in their own age group can ONLY play in Division 2 for 16U if they wish to play up in a tournament.
- Regular season tournaments will work in the same way: Premier, Select, Championship and Trillium in both Division 1 and Division 2.
- You cannot move up from Division 2 to Division 1 (or vice versa) at any point during the season. ie. even if you continually win Premier division tournaments in Division 2, you will not move up to Division 1 Trillium. You will stay in Division 2 for the entire season.
- ONTARIO CHAMPIONSHIPS
- There will no longer be numerous divisions for Ontario Championships. There will be Division 1 OC’s and Division 2 OC’s. They may run during the same event, or they may run in separate events. It is all dependant on the capacity of the venue that is host OC’s for a given year.
- New Structure will be: AGE GROUP >> DIVISION >> FLIGHT >> TIER
- ie. 15UG D1 A T1
17U and 18U will run the same as usual, with no significant changes to the season structure or Ontario Championships.
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Key Dates:
Here are a few key dates to keep in mind as you set your plan to attend open gyms, clinics, camps and other training opportunities:
- June 1 – 26: OVA official re-signing period.
- Clubs can submit offers to their own players from the season that just ended to return to the club for another year.
- Club are NOT permitted to offer contracts to prospective new players that may be attending training sessions with the club from the end of the season through June 30th.
- Clubs are not obligated to extend re-signing offers to their players.
- NEW: Lakeside will not be offering “open” contracts to players this off-season. Players that receive offers to re-sign will be offered a spot on a team. Players that do not receive a re-signing offer during this period are still encouraged to attend open gyms and training sessions over the summer, as there will be multiple teams for every age group and therefore, a number of spots will be available.
- Once a re-signing contract is offered and accepted, the player is no longer eligible to try out for any other club as they are already committed for the upcoming season.
- July 1 – September 5: OVA Open Commitment period.
- Clubs can submit offers to new or prospective players.
- These offers are CLUB offers, not official OVA offers.
- If a player accepts a club offer during this period, the player is committing to the club for the upcoming season and are not permitted to try out with any other club once signed. Upon offer acceptance, the club can collect a deposit for the season to confirm the spot. An official OVA offer sheet will then be signed in early September to become an official OVA player for the club.
- Should the player decide to reject the club offer after signing and before signing the official OVA offer, the club is not required to refund the deposit.
- Should the club decide that revoke the offer for any reason, the deposit will be refunded in full and the player will be open to attend tryouts with any club of their choosing. NOTE: It is extremely rare for a club to revoke an offer for any reason once a club offer is signed.
- September 6: OVA Offers and Tryouts can begin.
- Players that accepted a club offer over the summer during the open commitment period will be sent an official OVA offer to sign and return to the club to make things official. Once the OVA offer is signed, the player is committed to the club for the season and would have to go through the OVA’s Transfer Policy and Procedures to be relieved of their contractual obligations (OVA fees apply).
- Tryouts can begin as early as September 5th and players can be signed at any time between the start of tryouts and February 1st.
Below are a few general tidbits of information for you to consider as you weigh your options for the upcoming Rep volleyball season:
- Lakeside Volleyball Club (LVC) is one of three youth volleyball clubs in Oakville, ON. We have been an OVA member club since 2010 and have had more success in Division 1, Tier 1 OVA competition than our local competing clubs.
- LVC is led by Bear Davies, whom has played and coached volleyball at the highest levels for over four decades. Bear is FIVB Level II Certified, which is a globally recognized coaching certification. His attention to detail with regards to teaching core skills and fundamentals of the game is unmatched in our region.
- When considering annual fees for participating in rep volleyball, please keep in mind that not all programs are equal. Coaching and club philosophies vary greatly from club to club which presents a challenge for many to place a dollar value on. LVC annual fees are competitive with those of our neighbours however where we excel is in our instruction and training. All of our coaches follow LVC philosophies in their approach to teaching our players.
- Tournament Participation: All of our teams participate in all available OVA-sanctioned events throughout each season at their age group, including Ontario Championships.
- We are a member club of both the JVA and AAU in the US and try to attend at least 1-2 US tournaments each season when possible. We also encourage each of our coaches to take teams to local friendly tournaments when the schedule permits to get as much game time exposure as possible.
- VC Nationals: Lakeside does not participate in VC Nationals. Over the years, we have determined that the OVA season is long enough for our teams, so adding an extra month to the season after the completion of Ontario Championships is not necessary. Further to this, VC runs Nationals in Alberta every year and it has become less affordable/desirable for families to spend the time and money travelling west each year. Should Nationals come back to Toronto/Montreal (something that hasn’t happened since 2013), our teams will attend the event.
If you have any questions about our Rep program, or would like more information about the upcoming season, please contact us at info@lakesidevb.com. We would be happy to answer any questions we can at this time.
