League Format Information

The Chicago Volleyball League is bringing back the up/down movement after each date of play. We are also staying with the four wave revised schedules to help minimize the time players, parents and coaches are in the gym each date. In most cases teams will play, play, play and be done for the day. There will be situations where some teams are in a single pool where they might be in the gym longer however most will fit into the play, play, play scenario.

Below is a further explanation of the other general league formats for the 2024 season.

Pool/Bracket Movement (First 3 Weekends)

The first weekend will be seeded based on team rank and age for each team.

Starting the first weekend, teams will be placed in 8 team brackets where the top 3 finishers will move up a bracket, the 4th-5th place finishers will stay in the same bracket and the 6th-8th place finishers will drop down a bracket. This movement will happen after each date for the first 6 dates of play. There will be scenarios where the final bracket might need to be separate pool play in which case teams will move up or down based on their pool play finishes. If teams are in the top bracket then 1st-5th place finishers will stay and the 6th-7th place finishers will drop down.

Pool play movement (with 3 or 4 teams) will generally move top two up and bottom two move down.

Playoff Brackets (Final Weekend)

At the conclusion of the third weekend we will combine the North and South divisions for a playoff weekend. To qualify for the Championship Division teams must finish day six or be slated to move up to bracket A (top 8 teams).

Divisions will be seeded based on the final results of day six.

Playoff brackets will be broken out into their own age groups as follows:
11U, 12U, 13U, 14U, 15U, 16U, 17U/18U.

Notes About The Format

After each season of the league we reach out to the clubs who participated and get feedback regarding every aspect of the league. We then take this information and if appropriate we make adjustments to the league in each subsequent year. Listening to the clubs who participate is vital to providing an experience which aligns to each of the club's goals. Changes for this season were driven by the conversations after last season.