Iowa Heart Parent Survey Results & Discussion

Thanks again for helping us better serve our volleyball players and families by participating in our survey. While gathering responses, we learned that most families are pleased with Iowa Heart. Our website, with frequently update information, has received a lot of praise. This page will keep growing; check in again for more information.

The Weather/Gym Space - Since we live in Iowa and we play volleyball in the middle of winter, we have had to cancel numerous practices due to snow, ice, dangerous winds, and other factors. The safety of our parents, players and coaches is our top priority!

Please remember that when a school district lets out early, is closed for the day, or cancels evening activities, we CANNOT use the gym. When it is winter break or spring break, the gyms are closed and we cannot use the.

Gym space is hard to come by in Ames and surrounding communities. There are numerous teams, sports and activities all searching for gym time simultaneously. Everything is already booked, so we can't "magically" come up with more gym space when we have to cancel practice. However,  we are working to incorporate "extra" practices into the schedule for next season so that the weather won't have such a negative impact on our practice time.

Tournament Information - We are at the mercy of the club hosting a tournament. Whenever they get the schedule out to us is when we are able to get it up on the website and provide it to parents. It is not unheard of to learn on a Thursay night at 10 p.m. that your team will be playing at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The best advice is to be patient and plan on spending the entire day at the tournament site. Assume you will be the first team playing (and be pleasantly surprised if you don't have to apper until later). Please remember that we do get the information out as soon as it is received.

Level of Competition - We can't seem to please everyone. We have had some parents indicate that they do not want to travel and want to have more tournaments in Ames. Other parents want to travel out of state and have more tournaments in the eastern part of the state (for a higher level of competition - their wording). We will try and be very, very clear in our literature and tryout materials so that you will know, up front, what the anticipated level of travel will be. We cannot guarantee which tournaments we will be in; there is a process in early December where clubs send in registrations for tournaments. Sometimes it is the luck of the draw if you get in a tournament or not. Please know this - Our teams are formed before we know our tournament schedule. No club can "guarantee" a tournament schedule befor the season begins.

Skills Development - We have had inquiries about individual skill development and "extra" sessions on Saturday mornings, for example. These are all great ideas. For the 12U-14U players, we have a series of Monday night clinics in February lead by Ames High Varsity Coach Cindy Holmes, and assisted by Iowa Heart coaches. This is a great way to get in some extra practice time. There will be a similar opportunity in March for the 15U-18U players lead by Iowa Heart coaches.

We are looking at incoporating extra skill development sessions at the beginning of the season next year. We are listening to your comments and trying to make positive changes for the future.

More Information/Results in The Coming Days...