Commitment to Excellence
   in Volleyball

Asst Club Director
Todd Gober

TESL strives to field the most competitive teams on a local, regional and national level. We build college recruit-able athletes. Our goal is to be competitive nationally. We are dedicated to not only teaching the great sport of volleyball to our young student athletes, but also to building character, self esteem, teaching respect and learning life lessons along the way. We strive to be recognized as one of the best-run clubs in the country.
(Scroll down to see coaches, fees and tournaments for TESL)

What began as a one team club 5 years ago, has now grown to a club that was 17 teams strong in 2010-11 with two teams at 14s, 15s, 16s and 17s and six teams in the 10s division.
This year, 4 TESL teams earned bids to USAV nationals in Atlanta, 3rd most in the Gateway Region.

In just our third season our 171 team finished 5th in gold regionals in 2009 and earned a bid to USAV nationals in Miami.
And in our fourth season our 12s team finished fourth in gold regionals in 2010 and earned a bid to USAV nationals in Reno.

We have established TESL as one of the elite clubs in the gateway region in a short period of time. TESL is one of the fastest growing and competitive clubs in the region. Our teams consistently place near the top at Regionals and we've been growing at a near 100% clip per year in our first four years. TESL does not field teams just to have a team. TESL was launched with the rollout of our girls’ 15U team for the 2006-2007 season. We enjoyed a successful inaugural campaign as the team finished 7th in gold at the Gateway Regional Championships, one game away from playing for a bid to nationals. After completing our 4th year of competition in 2010, TESL has garnered multiple bids to USAV nationals in addition to competing in the open division in many qualifiers. We build college recruit-able athletes and provide expansive exposure to college coaches for our players.

Founded by Dale Woodson and Scott Touzinsky, our leadership offers a unique combination of coaching and playing experience at a very high level. The goal for our teams is to compete at the national level.

Coaches for the 2011-2012 Season

10s: (6 teams) Ashley Kron, Laura Buck/plus 16s - 18s players and coaches

11s: (4 teams) Terri Kennedy, Bob Rott (Red)/ Brian Williams, Colleen Hunter (Black)/ Amanda Kearns (Blue)/
                         Terri Kennedy and Bob Rott's teams have earned bids to USAV nationals the past two consecutive seasons.
12s: (2 teams) Rechelle Huck
13s: (2 teams) Ed Naeger, Kim Beelman
14s: (2 teams)
15s: (2 teams) Todd Gober, / Steve Huck
                        Todd Gober's team earned a bid to USAV nationals last season.
16s: (2 teams) Mark Stuckel, Dale Woodson/
                         Dale Woodson's teams have earned bids to nationals two of the past three seasons.
17s: (2 teams) Dale Woodson, Andrea Lamont/ Aaron Montgomery

                         Dale Woodson's teams have earned bids to nationals two of the past three seasons.
18s: (2 teams) Todd Gober, Robin Yuede/ Aaron Young, Joel Blamey

                         Todd Gober's team earned a bid to USAV nationals last season.

Coaches for the 2010-2011 Season

10s: (6 teams) Ashley Kron, Laura Buck/ Brian Williams, Colleen Hunter/ DJ Woodson, Mark Stuckel, Amanda Kearns, Michelle Mueller

11s: Jenell Franken, Ashley Kron
12s: Kim Beelman, Ed Naeger
13s: Bob Rott, Mary Fox, Terri Kennedy
14s: (2 teams) Todd Gober, Rechelle Huck/ Steve Huck
15s: (2 teams) Mark Stuckel, Marshall Moon/ Jenell Franken
16s: (2 teams) Dale Woodson, DJ Woodson/ Aaron Montgomery, Brian Cougenhour
17s: (2 teams) Todd Gober, Robin Yuede/ Aaron Young, Joel Blamey

Director of strength and conditioning: Scott Roberts, Sports Medicine and Training Center

Level of Competition

 Our goal is to compete at the highest level locally, regionally and nationally and to qualify for the Junior Olympic National Championships.

Tryout Information

Please check the gateway tryout information page for specifics. Tryout registration fee is $10 for 10U - 14u and $15 for 15U - 18U.  A parent’s signature is required for the region’s junior tryout form. Please contact us if you have a conflict and cannot make our tryout as we will make every effort to accommodate you if possible.

Fees

In these tough economic times, TESL has kept your costs to a minimum, while at the same time provided quality coaching and top level competition for our players. Each team’s budgets are kept separate and do not support any other team in the club. The parents of each team are responsible for team fund raisers for their respective teams. In 2010, the club sponsored a March Madness fundraiser in addition to team fundraisers. Participation in fund raising is optional.  TESL offers the highest competition, strength of schedule and coaching excellence, while keeping your costs down.

2010-2011 costs

Costs below include: player, coach and chaperone registrations, background screens, coaches monthly stipends, travel expenses, and impact training, equipment, strength and conditioning training by SMTC, gym rental (shared equally by all teams except 10s), administration costs, and tournament entry fees. All TESL teams (12 and above) play in gold/silver seeding tournaments, regionals, and USAV qualifiers.  Some older teams also competed in the St. Louis Power League and end of season national tournaments. Costs below do not reflect money raised by families from fundraisers which greatly reduced costs for most.

Tournaments
Each team's schedule is unique (see below), therefore tournament fees will be divided equally among participants on each team. During each team's individual team meeting the coach will inform the players and parents of the tournament schedule. All teams 12s and older compete in gold/silver seeding tournaments, regionals, at least one qualifier or JVDA event and a post regional tournament.


10s: $185 - 1 local tourney, coed 10s Regionals

11s: $535 - local tourneys (5), Perryville, Regionals

12s: $1125 -  local tourneys (3), GW Girls Fest (Stl), G/S Seeding (Stl), Memphis tourney, Regionals, JVA Nationals Orlando

13s: $1250 - local tourneys (5), GW Girls Fest (Stl), G/S Seeding (Stl), Louisville pre qualifier, Mideast qualifier (Stl), Regionals (Stl), USAV Nationals, Atlanta

14s: Red $1025 - local tourneys (7), Stl Power League, G/S Seeding (Stl), Mideast Qualifier (Stl) Big South Qualifier (Atl), Regionals (Stl)

14s  Black $1025 - local tourneys (8), GW Girls Fest (Stl), G/S Seeding (Stl), Mideast Qualifer (Stl), Big South Qualifier (Atl), Regionals (Stl)

15s: Red $1250, - 1 local tourney, Stl Power League, GW Girls Fest (Stl), G/S Seeding (Stl) (2), President's Day (Chicago), Mideast Qualifier (Stl),
Northern Light Qualifier (Minn), Show Me Qualifier (KC), Regionals (Stl)

15s: Black $1175 - local tourneys (2), GW Girls Fest (Stl), Presidents Day (Chicago), G/S Seeding (Stl) (2), Mideast Qualifier (Stl), Northern Lights Qualifier (Minn),    Regionals (Stl), JVA Nationals, Orlando

16s: Red $1400 - local tourneys (2), Stl Power League (Stl) , GW Girls Fest (Stl), Presidents Day (Chicago), G/S Seeding (Stl) (2), Mideast Qualifier (Indy), Show Me Qualifier (KC), Regionals (Stl), Battle for the Arch (Stl), USAV Nationals, Atlanta

16s: Black $975 - local tourneys (4), GW Girls Fest (Stl), Presidents Day (Chicago), G/S Seeding (Stl) (2), Show Me Qualfier (KC), Regionals (Stl)

17s: Red $1425 - local tourneys (2), Stl Power League (Stl), G/S Seeding (Stl), President's Day (Chicago), Mideast Qualifier (Indy), Show Me Qualifier (KC), JVA Showcase (Wisconsin), JVA World Challenge (Louisville), Regionals (Stl), Battle for the Arch (Stl), USAV Nationals, Atlanta

17s: Black $1450 - local tourneys (4), Stl Power League (Stl), G/S Seeding (Stl) , President's Day (Chicago), Mideast Qualifier (Indy), Show Me Qualifiers (KC), Regionals (Stl), Battle for the Arch (Stl), USAV Nationals, Atlanta
 

• An initial club fee assessment of $400 (except 10s) per player is due at the Club Registration Meeting (held Monday evening after tryouts).

• Next assessment if necessary, is due at the end of January. For some players after fundraising activities, this fee was greatly reduced or eliminated.

• A third assessment, if necessary is due at the end of February. For most players this expense was not incurred.

• Several players raised more money from fundraisers than their entire expenses for the season.

Items not covered:
If attending a tournament requiring overnight travel, lodging costs and transportation for players and parents is not included in club dues. 
Coaches travel expenses for out of town tournaments are included in the budget above.

Failure to pay monies due by due dates will result in player suspension from practices and tournament play. No uniform will be distributed to any player whose payments are delinquent. Please contact the club director if unusual circumstances arise. Any returned check will result in a $25 fee plus all other bank fees. Once registrations are completed, no refund requests will be honored. If a player is released from a team or quits for any reason, no refunds will be honored. This is because we pay most expenses out in advance.

Registration meeting is Monday evening after tryouts. Players and at least one parent must attend. At the meeting we will complete the USAV registration form, parent contracts, and uniform sizes will be taken. Immunization records and health insurance information are required for all USAV registrants.