ASICS Martin Luther King Day Tournament

Dates: January 17-19, 2026

Location: Kansas City Convention Center, Hy-Vee Arena, & Hale Arena

Schedules: Will be posted on Advanced Event Systems (AES) the week of the event

How to Enter

Registration

Tournament registration opens September 4th, 2025 at 9am on AES. Click HERE for help on how to register for an AES event. Entry Deadline: December 31st, 2025.

Entry Fee

18 Open, 18 USA, 18 Liberty and 18 American: $825

12s-17s: $625

11s: $425 (Saturday & Sunday only)

All boys divisions: $225 (Saturday & Sunday only)

Hotel Reservations

Reserve hotels through Team Travel Source (TTS). Hotel reservations will be available September 4th at 11am. Teams within 65 miles are considered local and are exempt from hotel requirements.

Teams will be accepted into the event once they have completed their AES registration (including payment) and reserved their hotel rooms through TTS – as long as space is available.

Rosters

Update your roster through AES. The roster should include jersey numbers for all players. Teams who have not completed the roster requirements by January 1st will be dropped and put on a waitlist.

Team Check-In

All teams must check-in online through AES. Failure to do so may result in removal from the tournament.

Check-in is available from January 14th at 8:00am to January 16th at 8:00pm.

Admission – Available to purchase TBD

Spectators (13+) admission is $10 for a 3-day pass. All spectators needing a pass will have to show an ID (if applicable) matching the name on their pass.

Single day passes are not available.

Kids 12 & under are free.

Coaches placed on a team roster for this event will receive free admission. Instructions for how to access a coach pass will be sent the week of the event.

Players will receive free admission as long as they enter through the player only entrance.

Tournament Details

Divisions, Waves, and Tournament Format

Divisions

Girls

Qualifying Divisions: 18 Open, 18 USA, 18 Liberty, 18 American

Non-Qualifying Divisions: 11-17 Club

Boys

Non-Qualifying Divisions: 14, 16, & 18

Waves

AM Wave (8:00am – 2:30pm): 11 Club, 12 Club, 14 Club, 17 Club, 18 Open, 18 Liberty, 14 Boys, 16 Boys, 18 Boys
PM Wave (2:30pm – 10:00pm): 13 club, 15 Club, 16 Club, 18 American, 18 USA

Tournament Format

Girls 11s and all boys divisions are two days of play. Saturday will be pool play followed by a challenge round on Sunday morning. From this challenge round, everyone will advance to a single elimination bracket.

All other divisions will play three days. The first two days will be pool play, including potential cross-over or challenge matches. Everyone will advance to a single elimination bracket on Monday.

Most matches will be best 2 out of 3 sets. Some alternate match formats may be used to accommodate for smaller division or pool sizes.

Playing Locations

Bartle Hall: Courts 1-64

Municipal Arena: Courts 65-68

Exhibition Hall (X-Hall): Courts 69-72

Hy-Vee Arena: Courts 1-12

Hale Arena: Courts 1-12

Click HERE for the court layout in Bartle Hall.

Click HERE for the court layout in Hy-Vee Arena.

Click HERE for the court layout in Hale Arena.

Parking

Bartle Hall, Municipal Arena, & Exhibition Hall

Click HERE for parking information in downtown Kansas City.

Hy-Vee Arena & Hale Arena

Hy-Vee Arena and Hale Arena share the same parking lots. The city owns these parking lots and may charge for parking – cash only.

Available Bids for 18s National Qualifier

Click HERE to download the USAV Girls Junior National Championships Manual.

18 Open – Up to 3 bids

18 USA – Up to 3 bids

18 Liberty – Up to 2 bids

18 American – 1 bid

Tie Breaking Procedure

For the 18’s Qualifier divisions: The tie-breaking procedures are outlined in the 2025-26 Girls Championship Manual. Click here for the flowchart of tie-breaking procedures for these divisions.

In all other divisions: No tie-breaking sets will be played, unless all tie-breaking criteria are exhausted:

2 teams tied in match record: Head to head match breaks the tie.

3 or more teams are tied in match record:
1. Overall Set percentage
2. Overall Point percentage
3. Head to head set percentage between the tied teams
4. Head to head point differential between the tied teams

Contact Information

Heart of America Volleyball

Address: 548 S. Coy Street, Kansas City, KS 66105

Phone: (913) 233-0445

Email: info@hoavb.org

Tournament Withdrawal/Refunds

Until November 15: $650 for 18’s qualifier divisions, $450 refund for Girls 12-17 Club divisions, $250 refund for girls 11 Club and $175 refund for boys teams

November 16 – December 31: $450 for 18’s qualifier divisions, $250 refund for Girls 12-17 Club divisions, $150 refund for girls 11 Club and $100 refund for boys teams

*Teams who are wanting to withdrawal from the tournament must email the HOA Office with their request.*

After December 31: No refunds will be given to teams withdrawing from the event.

Teams with Age Waivers

Teams with players that have an age waiver from their region will need to email info@hoavb.org. Teams must include the region age waiver in the email. Instructions will then be sent for how to roster age waivered players.

Officiating

Up referees will be provided for all matches. Teams will be required to provide down referees, line judges and scorekeepers. Down officials for all ages need to be rostered adults.

Failure to fulfill officiating assignments will result in the loss of 1 point per minute in your next match.

Rules & Regulations

This tournament is hosted and sanctioned by the Heart of America Region – USA Volleyball. All teams and players must be registered with USAV. Teams using illegal players will forfeit all matches and be disqualified from the tournament and the case turned over to the appropriate Regional Commissioner for further action.

USAV playing rules for the 2025-2027 season will be in effect.

For age divisions 11-12, a step-in line will be provided for serving purposes only. This step-in line is 6’6″ from the end line. All other serving rules apply.

All age divisions will start each set at 0-0.

Tournament Game Ball

10-12s: Molten VBU12

13-18s: Molten Super Touch

Boys: Molten Flistatec

Awards

In the Gold division, 1st, 2nd, and both 3rd place teams will receive awards. Please note that some 18’s divisions could play out a 3rd place match. This means one team will receive an award.

Silver bracket 1st and 2nd place will receive awards.

Recruiting Combine & College Coaches

Championship Combines will run a Recruiting Combine on Friday evening prior to the event.

View here college coaches that sign up to attend the event (most coaches sign up a few days before the event

Noisemakers and Music

Due to their disruptive nature, artificial noise makers are prohibited at this event. In addition, teams may not use portable music devices courtside, including during warmups.

Hoverboards and drones are also not allowed at this event.

Live Stream

All matches will be live streamed by BeTheBeast
Cost: $50 + tax (includes live stream and video on-demand for up to 90 days)