Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of the services provided by ROOTS Volleyball Academy (“ROOTS,” “we,” “us”), including this website, our iOS application, and the club volleyball program itself. By creating an account, enrolling an athlete, or otherwise using our services, you agree to these Terms.

If you do not agree, please don’t use the services. Reach out via the contact page with questions before deciding.

ROOTS programs are open to athletes (players) age 12 through 18, with an alumni track for graduating athletes. Anyone under 18 must have a parent or guardian:

• create and manage their account,
• sign all participation waivers,
• handle all payment activity, and
• agree to these Terms on the athlete’s behalf.

For any athlete under 13, the parent or legal guardian — not the child — must create and hold the account; the app enforces this using the date of birth entered at signup. By accepting these Terms on a minor’s behalf, you consent to the messaging monitoring described in the Messaging and moderation section, including that club directors and administrators can read the child’s messages without notice and that every message is automatically checked against a keyword list.

By creating an account or enrolling an athlete, you confirm that you have the legal authority to do so.

• Provide accurate information when you sign up and keep it current.
• Keep your password confidential. You’re responsible for activity under your account.
• Notify us promptly at support@rootsvolleyball.com if you suspect unauthorized access.
• Each family is permitted one parent account per household, unless we’ve agreed otherwise.

While using our services, you agree not to:

• impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity,
• interfere with other users’ access to or use of the services,
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to any account, system, or data,
• copy, scrape, or republish material from our services for commercial purposes without permission,
• upload content that’s harassing, harmful, illegal, or infringes third-party rights,
• use the services to send spam or unsolicited communications,
• circumvent or disable security features.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules. Our moderation powers are described in the Messaging and moderation section and include directors and administrators reading any conversation in the app — including private direct messages and minors’ messages — without notice.

Messages and content you send in the app are not private from ROOTS, and they are not end-to-end encrypted. By creating an account, sending messages, or otherwise using the app — and, for a minor, by a parent or legal guardian accepting these Terms on the minor's behalf — you acknowledge and consent that ROOTS may access, read, search, store, automatically scan, copy, remove, and disclose (as permitted by law) any message or content you submit, including conversations you may consider private, for safety, moderation, and club-operations purposes, and that ROOTS is not required to notify you before doing so. You also consent, on behalf of yourself and any minor in your care, that all parties to your conversations are subject to this monitoring, and that message and announcement content and sender identity are delivered to recipients' devices through Apple's push notification service (APNs) and, for announcements, through our email provider (Resend).

What this means in practice: club directors and administrators can read any conversation in the app — including private direct messages and messages sent by minors — at any time, even conversations they are not part of, without notifying the participants. Coaches and other members cannot read conversations they are not part of.

Every message is automatically checked at the moment it is sent against a keyword list that ROOTS maintains, and matching messages are flagged and saved for a director to review. This is an automated keyword check — not artificial intelligence, and not a person reading every message in real time. It is best-effort: it will not catch everything, it can miss messages, and a flag does not mean ROOTS has reviewed or acted on a message. ROOTS does not promise to detect, prevent, or remove all harmful or inappropriate content. Parents and guardians remain responsible for supervising their child's use of the app.

Objectionable content — harassment, bullying, threats, or sexually inappropriate material — is prohibited and may be removed without notice. You can report any message to ROOTS staff using the report option in the app or by emailing support@rootsvolleyball.com, and we aim to respond promptly. If another member is bothering you, report the message and a director can mute that member's messaging. ROOTS staff may remove messages, mute a member's messaging, archive conversations, and suspend or remove accounts that violate these rules; these actions are recorded in a moderation log. A removed message is kept by ROOTS as a safety record even after it disappears for members, and any attached file may remain in storage.

ROOTS' monitoring, keyword scanning, reporting, and moderation tools are provided to help, but ROOTS does not promise to detect, prevent, or remove all harmful or inappropriate content or conduct, and is not responsible for content posted by users. You keep ownership of the messages you submit, and you grant ROOTS a non-exclusive license to host, store, display, and process them within the app to run and safeguard the club, including the monitoring and moderation described here. Parents and guardians remain responsible for supervising their child's use of the app.

• Fees:Club season fees are set each year and disclosed during enrollment. Fees vary by house (age bracket) and are listed on the invoice you’ll see in your portal.
• Payment methods:Credit / debit cards processed by Stripe (we don’t store card numbers), or a cash or check option that a club administrator records manually against your invoice.
• Installments and auto-pay: If you select an installment plan, you authorize ROOTS (via Stripe) to charge your card on each scheduled due date until the balance is paid. You can update your card or cancel auto-pay any time from your portal.
• Failed payments:If a scheduled charge fails we’ll email you and retry. Repeated failures may pause your athlete’s tournament participation until the balance is resolved.
• Discounts: Sibling and scholarship discounts are applied at enrollment and shown on the invoice; they cannot be retroactively added.

• Within 14 days of enrollment:Full refund if your athlete hasn’t yet attended a practice or tournament.
• After the season has started: Refunds are prorated by month and discretionary; reach out to billing@rootsvolleyball.com to discuss.
• Tournament fees, uniforms, and apparel are non-refundable once ordered.
• Medical and family-circumstance withdrawals are handled case-by-case. Send a written request including documentation when relevant.

Important — please read carefully.

Volleyball is a physical sport with inherent risks including (but not limited to) sprains, strains, fractures, concussions, contusions, and other injuries. By enrolling an athlete, you acknowledge these risks and agree that:

• You voluntarily assume the ordinary risks of participation in a youth volleyball program.
• You’ll separately sign any participation / medical-release waivers required during enrollment; these Terms don’t replace those documents.
• You’ll inform us of medical conditions, allergies, or medications relevant to safe participation.
• In a medical emergency, you authorize ROOTS staff to arrange emergency medical care and you accept responsibility for related costs.
• You’re responsible for your own (and your athlete’s) personal property at practices, tournaments, and other events.

Our content: The ROOTS name, logo, crest, house names, photography, training materials, and site/app interfaces are owned by ROOTS or our licensors. You may not copy, redistribute, or use them for commercial purposes without written permission.

Your content: When you upload or send information (athlete photo, measurements, profile data, and the messages and chat attachments you send in the app), you grant ROOTS a non-exclusive license to host, store, display, and process that content for the purpose of operating and safeguarding the club — scheduling, coaching, recruiting communications, internal marketing, and the monitoring and moderation described in the Messaging and moderation section. You can request removal of profile content at any time; note that messages and moderation records are handled as described in that section and may be retained as safety records.

Photography at events:ROOTS staff or contracted photographers may capture photos and video at practices, tournaments, and showcases for use in club marketing and social media. If you don’t want your athlete photographed, opt out in your portal preferences or email privacy@rootsvolleyball.com.

You can close your account at any time by emailing support@rootsvolleyball.com. Active financial obligations (unpaid invoices) survive account closure.

We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms, engage in conduct harmful to other athletes or the program, or fail to pay outstanding balances after reasonable notice. Where possible we’ll discuss the issue with the family before taking action.

Required legal language:

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ROOTS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure, or that the information on the site (including coach profiles, schedules, and program details) is always accurate or current.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ROOTS AND ITS DIRECTORS, COACHES, STAFF, AND VOLUNTEERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES OR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM.

Our total liability for any claim arising out of these Terms or your use of the services is limited to the fees you have paid to ROOTS in the 12 months preceding the claim. Some jurisdictions don’t allow this limitation, in which case it applies to the fullest extent permitted.

You agree to indemnify and hold ROOTS harmless from any third-party claim arising from (a) your violation of these Terms, (b) your athlete’s conduct during the program, or (c) content you upload to our services.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Missouri, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. The exclusive venue for any dispute is the state and federal courts located in Jackson County, Missouri.

Before filing any legal action, we ask that you reach out to legal@rootsvolleyball.com so we can attempt to resolve the issue informally.

We may update these Terms when our services or obligations change. Material changes will be communicated via email to active account holders at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the services after that date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. The “last updated” date at the top of this page indicates the most recent revision.

• General questions: /contact
• Billing: billing@rootsvolleyball.com
• Legal notices: legal@rootsvolleyball.com
• Mail: ROOTS Volleyball Academy, Kansas City, MO