USA Volleyball has designated the top Juniors teams “Open” and the remainder “Club” for a number of years. Whether a team plays in Open tournaments, however, is purely a matter of success during the playing season. If teams qualify for Open tournaments early in the season, they receive a higher starting rank. But then the playing record of the teams during the season is the only thing that matters. “Club” teams can and have played their way up into the Open tournaments. ‘Open’ teams can and have played their way down out of them.

CMASS Volleyball has a Tiered Team system to avoid confusion. The top Tiered Teams will practice more, play more, enter more tournaments, and have a better chance of playing in Open tournaments. But ranking within the New England Region Volleyball Association (NERVA) will still come down to season play.

PLEASE NOTE: We label our tiers based on the number of practices per week (i.e Tier 3 practices 3 times per week). The “+” denotes an extra tournament has been added from the base tier without having added extra practices (i.e Tier 1+ will be attending the Boston Mizuno tournament in addition to regular tournaments but will still practice once per week). Girls are encouraged to tryout for the highest tier in which they are willing to commit. If they are not chosen for a tier, they will automatically be considered for the next tier without having to pay an additional tryout fee or re-register. Coaches from all tiers will be present at each tryout to assess all players. If a player would like to play in a tier that is not offered at their age level, they may try out for the next age level offering the desired tier; however, if they do not make that tier, they will be encouraged to go back to their appropriate age level.

Tier 1Tier 1+Tier 2Tier 2+Tier 3
Ages Offered12s, 14s, 15s, 16s, 17s/18s*14s, 15s, 16s, 17s/18s14s, 15s, 16s, & 17s/18s*14s, 15s, 16s, & 17s/18s*14s, 15s, 16s, 17s, 18s
Practices
  • 1 per week
  • About 17 Practices
  • Sat or Sun
  • 1 per week
  • About 17 Practices
  • Sat or Sun
  • 2 per week
  • About 34 Practices
  • Sat or Sun and Mon, Tues, Wed or Thurs/Times TBD
    • 2 per week
    • About 34 Practices
    • Sat or Sun and Tues or Wed/Times TBD
    • 3 per week
    • About 52 Practices
    • Sun, Mon, Wed/Times TBD
    Tournaments5 NERVA tournaments
    • 5 NERVA tournaments
    • Mizuno Festival Boston (2 day tournament)
    • 5 NERVA tournaments
    • Winterfest (3 day tournament) Hartford, CT
    • Mizuno Festival Boston (2 day tournament)
    • Rhode Island Rumble (2 day tournament)
    • 5 NERVA tournaments
    • 4 of the following 5:
    • NE open qualifier (2 day tournament)
    • Winterfest (3 day tournament) Hartford, CT
    • Mizuno Festival Boston (2 day tournament)
    • Northeast Qualifier (3 day tournament) Philadelphia, PA or Baltimore, MD
    • Rhode Island Rumble (2 day tournament)
    • 5 NERVA tournaments
    • NE open qualifier (2 day tournament)
    • Winterfest (3 day tournament) Hartford, CT
    • Mizuno Festival Boston (3 day tournament)
    • Capital Classic (3 day tournament) Washington DC
    • Big South Qualifier (3 day tournament) Atlanta, GA

    Pricing Comparison

    • Tier 3 Players
      2018-2019 Fee $2400
    • Tier 2+ Players
      2018-2019 Fee $1850
    • Tier 2 Players
      2018-2019 Fee $1600
    • Tier 1+ Players
      2018-2019 Fee $950
    • Tier 1 Players
      2018-2019 Fee $800
    • Tier 1 12s
      2018-2019 Fee $650
    • In-House Program
      2018-2019 Fee $300