QCVA Impact Update

February 1, 2023

Queen City Volleyball Academy started as an idea during sideline conversations and car rides home from tournaments in 2019. Fast forward four years, where today QCVA is an established entity led by a diverse team of a dozen coaches and staff that train, support and develop 100+ local athletes per year.

The simple reality is that QCVA would not exist without your financial and moral support. We want to express our deep gratitude for the role that you’ve played in building a non-profit organization that is working to equip young people with the skills and experiences that position them to lead successful lives. Your contributions made this possible! 

The vision for QCVA was born from the need for more young people to be able to access the wonderful game of volleyball. We witnessed the financial and cultural barriers that often prevented talented young athletes from participation and success in the sport. To reduce and eliminate those barriers, QCVA builds power among our athletes through an inclusive culture, excellent volleyball training and life skills development. We also offer our services at a significantly lower cost compared to local clubs, in addition to scholarships.

Our organization is small by design to allow us to get to know and properly support every individual. This is a decision to prioritize quality over quantity, and to ensure that all of our athletes feel valued, seen, heard and included. As a result, our programs support young women to:

• Build confidence, self-esteem and positive mindsets
• Prioritize self-care practices and healthy behaviors
• Develop life skills (resilience, conflict management, effective communication, etc.)
• Grow significantly in their technical skill and understanding of the game
• Create meaningful friendships that last beyond their time at QCVA
• Lay down pathways to a promising future through access to college

We’re excited to illustrate the role that you’ve played in helping us make an impact in our local community.

Getting to this moment in time has been challenging, to say the least. Of course, the creation of a startup isn’t something that happens easily. The business of youth sports is difficult, given the high stakes and considerable money involved. Our first travel team season and foundational operations were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, our team has established QCVA outside of our full-time jobs and other personal commitments. All of this work has been done at marginal-to-no financial benefit to our coaches and staff. That has been an intentional decision to direct funds into efforts that immediately benefit our athletes, rather than benefit ourselves.

Naturally, we’ve made mistakes, felt the growing pains and learned key lessons on this journey. In a society where the margin for error is often slim, we’ve never focused on being perfect or trying to be all things to all people. Instead, we take the long view, lead with a growth mindset, set boundaries and try to raise the bar in everything that we do. Thanks to your feedback, ideas and uplifting words, we’ve persevered to reach this moment in time.

With solid foundations in place, we are starting to plan for the future. In order to advance our mission, we need financial investments to create greater access to volleyball for young people in the local area. Your contributions and connections will support us to:

• Hire full-time staff members
• Secure and operate our own training facility
• Offer new to volleyball training to young children in North, West and East Charlotte, at no-to-low cost 
• Develop and expand our Board of Directors

If you’re interested in engaging in any of these important activities, please contact us at [email protected].

This work is bigger than volleyball, and it’s more than wins and losses. It’s about empowering young women to connect to their own power and to support their pursuits to live a prosperous, healthy life. It’s about helping young women to navigate the overwhelming teenage years, particularly when they lost critical moments to sharpen social skills during the pandemic. It’s about educating them about the importance of community and giving back to those in need. Together, we can continue to open more doors for them to do all of those things – and more. We are grateful for your trust and investment in QCVA, and hope that you will continue to support us!

With Gratitude,
The QCVA Team 

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