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SCVA Unsigned Showcase Continues

By Admin, 11/30/17, 1:15PM PST

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Greetings Club Directors, Coaches, Players, and Parents,

In recent days our Southern California Volleyball Association has come under significant slanderous attack by the online sports website PrepVolleyball.com. It is a sad situation that this company and its founder have chosen to use their own particular bully pulpit to seek to damage the SCVA and its Las Vegas Classic tournament – thereby seeking to damage the many clubs, teams, and athletes who participate in said tournament – because they disagree with our decision to try to improve upon our own tournament and its accompanying unsigned athlete showcase. You can consider this our official response to those attacks.

Setting the Record Straight

The SCVA’s Las Vegas Classic enters its 32nd year in 2018. It was twelve years ago that the SCVA partnered with PrepVolleyball to provide an Unsigned Showcase for those participating athletes who were as yet uncommitted/unsigned to college programs.

In the attack email written by John Tawa of PrepVolleyball, it is rather pointedly stated that in the early years of the Showcase the people at PrepVolleyball were exclusively involved to help athletes, kids, families find collegiate homes. It is further implied that there was significant cost for PrepVolleyball to run the free showcase (not in any way taking into account the exposure gained/received for their website in its formative years). It is also stated pointedly that the SCVA’s contribution was to merely supply court time, as if to insinuate that our contribution to the event was minor, our involvement small, and our overall efforts minimal – we provided significant court space and gym time, as well as trainers, ice, water, our own time, and significant effort and energy to ensure the showcase would be successful.

The attack email then goes on to state that PrepVolleyball began charging a nominal fee – which included an annual subscription to the website. It also states that we asked for money ourselves for the use of the courts. The implication here is that the noble people of PrepVolleyball were still working with the best interests of kids in mind and being fair and reasonable in their actions. In twelve years, the SCVA received minimal payment a few times from PrepVolleyball for its efforts and its use of courts and the SCVA platform. With the majority of the years seeing no compensation at all from PrepVolleyball. Also glossed over quickly is that when this payment was made, PrepVolleyball upped its fee to participate and passed this on to the athletes every year even when they didn't compensate the SCVA.

Lastly, the attack implies that our SCVA tournament subsisted simply because PrepVolleyball latched its name onto our tournament and ran our Showcase, that vast swaths of teams only attended the tournament to come to the Showcase. 

Where Are We Now

Yes, the Showcase has been successful over the twelve years it has been run. It has been extremely beneficial to athletes and families – this is why we run it and this is why we will continue to have an Unsigned Showcase at our Las Vegas Classic.

It is our belief that there is a group that can operate a more efficient and more effective Showcase than can the people at PrepVolleyball. In recent seasons and particularly in 2017, the Showcase as overseen by PrepVolleyball has had its fair share of issues. In addition, the motives of PrepVolleyball as the driving force behind the Showcase have, in our opinions, changed in recent years. The monetary element has been more of the driving force and this fact has reared its head on multiple fronts. What began as a partnership to provide for athletes transitioned over the years into something entirely different; we only regret that it took us some time to realize it.

Bottom line: the SCVA made the decision to move in a different direction with its Showcase because it is our belief that we have another group that can do a better job.

For PrepVolleyball to attack our tournament and our region – thereby seeking to damage not just us, but the athletes, coaches, and clubs who participate in our tournament each and every year – the way that it has because it disagrees with our assessment (which is within our rights as an organization to make) that another group can do better and is upset that it lost a business contract shows a level of petulance, conceit, and aggressive enmity that only serves to validate the decision we made to move in a different direction.

It's our belief that PrepVolleyball is concerned other tournaments might make the same assessment – so they attack our tournament, seeking to damage it, to ensure other tournaments will not quote-unquote make the same mistake the SCVA made. Again, using their bully pulpit for unscrupulous ends.

Negative Assertions and Blatant Attacks

It is truly sad to see a company that proclaims itself a supporter of youth sports and young athletes to have so utterly lost its way on this issue. It is sad that there are those out there in the junior volleyball community who will read the attack article and assume the worst of the SCVA and its tournament without knowing the true facts behind it and without seeing the article for what it actually is.

There are numerous attacks against the SCVA, its organizational character, and its tournament and region – this only hurts the kids of our region, kids PrepVolleyball purports to exist for. This is not how professionals act regardless of their own particular emotions. This is not how companies react in the junior volleyball community. Shame on PrepVolleyball and John Tawa for their actions here.

We will not take up further time in defending ourselves point by point; we have other avenues and channels for that which will be far more effective and successful. Make no mistake, however, the SCVA will defend itself against such slander.

Our Tournament and Our Showcase

Meanwhile, we will continue to operate our Las Vegas Classic as we have successfully for more than three decades. There are always issues that arise with major national tournaments and we seek to address them in an on-going effort to ensure the best experience for players and coaches and parents alike. We are thrilled to be partnering this season with Mandalay Bay. The future prospects for our tournament look bright, indeed.

We are also thrilled to have a new fresh group running our Showcase. These are individuals and a company that truly do put kids first and are very experienced with Showcase – in point of fact, the operational group and the Lead Coach for PrepVolleyball’s previous Las Vegas Classic showcases are the ones who are taking over. They asked for changes to be made by PrepVolleyball and were rebuffed, and this is the primary reason why there was another group willing to step in. We are very excited to have them with us.

We apologize to you all that this is something you have had to deal with during this Thanksgiving Holiday and in recent days. We are saddened by the path PrepVolleyball has taken this down and by the scurrilous turn of events they have set in motion simply because they feel slighted by the notion that another group might do a better job, and the SCVA went a different direction. We will continue to move our organization in a direction that benefits athletes and coaches and families and clubs.

For more information about the SCVA Unsigned Showcase please go to: Markirecruitingevents.com