2025 Season Information
2025 Club Season
Parent Meeting: Tuesday, October 22, 6:00 PM, BHS Bison Room.
Parents, guardians, and athletes should attend the informational meeting on Tuesday, October 22. Directors share an overview of the season including tentative practice and event structure, fees, registration process, tentative coaching assignments, volunteer opportunities, as well as expectations and club philosophy. Information about the cost structure, including an overview of club expenses and fundraising opportunities will also be shared.
2024-2025 Season Timeline:
Tuesday, October 15: Registration Opens.
Friday, October 25: Registration Closes
All athletes wanting to try out must register and submit the $150 down payment by this date.
October 27 - November 11: Tryouts
Tryouts are open to athletes and evaluators only. Parents are welcome to wait in the lobby. Attendance at BOTH tryout dates is required.
5th & 6th Grade (12U):
Sunday, October 27, 1:00 - 2:30, BHS Main Gym
Monday, October 28, 6:30 - 8:00, BHS Main Gym
7th Grade (13U):
Sunday, October 27, 3:30 - 5:00, BHS Main Gym
Tuesday, October 29, 6:30 - 8:00, BHS Activity Center
8th Grade (14U):
Sunday, October 27, 6:00 - 7:30, BHS Main Gym
Sunday, November 3, 1:00 - 2:30, BHS Main Gym
9th/10th Grade (15/16U):
Sunday, November 10, 1:00 - 3:00, BHS Main Gym
Monday, November 11, 6:00 - 8:00, BHS Main Gym
Wear spandex or athletic shorts or leggings and a comfortable tee shirt (short or long sleeve - no sweatshirts during tryouts). Kneepads are required. Bring court shoes (shoes that are not worn outside), comfortable gym socks, a pre-filled water bottle, and a fantastic attitude.
December 2 - March 28: Club Season (practices and events).
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No practices during winter or spring break.
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Event schedule will be posted in November. Expect 6 to 8 single day events (either a Saturday or Sunday) between mid-January to late March.
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Save the Date! Home tournament March 22 & 23, 2024. This is an excellent time to cover your volunteer hours.
Fee Schedule:
*$150 deposit is due by October 25, 2024. This amount is deducted from the total registration fee. Deposit is non-refundable, unless your athlete is not placed on a roster. If your child is not placed, we will refund the deposit.
12U, 13U, 14U, 15U:
November 25, 2024: $60 USAV Membership
December 1, 2024: $250
January 1, 2025: $250
February 1, 2025: $250
March 1, 2025: $250
Total: $1,150 for the season, plus $60 USAV membership. Note: fundraising opportunities are available to reduce the cost of the overall registration fee.
Fee Includes:
Jersey
Warm-Up (Personalized with Name and Number)
Practice Shirt
Team Backpack (Personalized with Club Bison and Player Number)
2 Practices per Week (Average)
6 to 8 Play Events
Skilled Coaches
The registration fee covers the above as well as club administration costs. We are a private organization and operate on a break-even pricing structure. We fund additional needs through various fundraising endeavors throughout the year. We run two fundraisers during the season, in which athletes can sell items to offset a portion of their registration fee. The first fundraiser is in December (Kwik Trip Car Wash Gift Cards) and the other is in February (Betty's Pies from Two Harbors).
Club expenses include items such as court rentals, equipment, insurance, coaching background checks, tournament entry fees, team/club JVA and USAV memberships, administrative costs, etc.
Volunteer Hours:
Each athlete will need to submit a separate, volunteer deposit check of $150 by December 2, 2024. This check will be returned at the end of the season to athletes who have completed a minimum of 5 pre-approved volunteer hours. Checks will be cashed at the end of the season for anyone who has not completed the volunteer requirement.
Volunteer opportunities are open to both athletes and family members and include areas such as: registration assistance, uniform fitting/ordering, sorting and distribution of jerseys/gear, distribution of spirit wear, volunteering at a home tournament, assisting with officiating/scoring at an event, etc. We are continually adding volunteer opportunities.
Team Placements:
We anticipate placing up to seven teams, based on available court time and coaches. Approximately 10 athletes are placed per team. There may be a few exceptions, based on tryout numbers, positioning, etc.
*Coaching assignments subject to change. We have a pool of skilled coaches committed for the season - coaching assignments will be posted as soon as we know the number of teams to be placed (based on registration numbers).
12-1
Grades 5 & 6
Coaches TBA
13-1
Grade 7
Coaches TBA
13-2
Grade 7
Coaches TBA
14-1
Grade 8
Coaches Laurie Zumach & Aivary Bouman
14-2
Grade 8
Coaches TBA
15-1
Grade 9
Coaches Steve Novacek & TBA
15 / 16's Combined
Grades 9 & 10
Coaches TBA
Note: If we have enough interest, we will run a 10/11U team in the spring (March/April) which would provide practice and tournament opportunities for 4th & 5th grade.
Events:
Each team will play six to eight weekend events which consist of either a play date (half day) or tournament (full day). Teams usually play one day of the weekend, rather than both. Events are generally held within 90 minutes of Buffalo, though most are within 45-60 minutes (example: St. Cloud, Twin Cities, Watertown, Delano, Monticello, etc.)
If teams wish to play a multi-day or out of town event (ex: Moorhead, Bemidji, Sioux Falls, etc.), we will try our best to accommodate this request. Additional fees would apply for added events to cover the cost of the event entry fee, coach hotels, etc. and are split evenly among the team. Families are responsible for travel and accommodations.
Practices:
Practices are held weekday evenings, twice/week, for 90 minutes each. On occasion, teams will have only one practice during a given week due to limited court availability. This limitation typically only occurs 2-3 times during the season.
Practice locations include BHS, the BHS Activity Center, and St. Francis Xavier School in Buffalo. Schedules will be available in November. Attendance at practice is expected, with full focus and commitment during this time. Athletes must arrive 10 minutes early and be court-ready at the beginning of practice (shoes and kneepads on, water bottles filled). Practices may run 10-15 minutes long when nets need to be taken down at the end of the night or when finishing a scrimmage.
