This year’s Women’s Firesale will again use Maribor’s DRAS Center in Slovenia as a base. This place is amazing, with nice rooms, a wonderful restaurant and bar, and a volleyball gym in the building; all right on a ski mountain with gorgeous views. We usually have all players sleeping in DRAS as well, but it is possible that we’ll use a hotel or apartments in the immediate area if DRAS is full with visiting national teams. This tour is more of camp, but everyone will love it.

The goal of this trip is simply to find jobs for players directly from the tour, and the timing is arranged to coincide with the when the bulk of the season’s signings take place. Players attending this tour should be ready for the rigors of a 7 to 8-month European season starting immediately from the tour and running to sometime in the Spring of 2020. All players need to understand that current market conditions make it harder than ever to place liberos, so any current libero (or DS) should come prepared to play outside hitter or setter if at all possible. Jobs in general are harder to find in the current economy, and salaries are also lower than in past years. As always, players on the Firesale should want to live in Europe for the year as much (or more) as they want to play volleyball.

Remember, this is about finding a life experience more than becoming a “professional athlete” for most players on this tour. Note: There is no refund for players that leave the tour to either sign a contract, go on a tryout, or simple leave early for “personal reasons”. Any time you’re offered a job or tryout this will be explained to you in detail, but we want this clear from the beginning

We will place players all over Europe; not just in the cities and countries that we visit. Please keep in mind that we play a lot of volleyball, so it’s important to show up in good shape and ready to go.

Tentative Schedule:

• August 7: Players arrive to the DRAS Center on their own. Training 8-10pm It is strongly suggested that you arrive to LJU, GRZ, or VIE (in that order) It is difficult to get from Venice, Italy to Maribor, Slovenia. Note: There is a shuttle company that seems to be doing a good job from Venice to Maribor. Check it out if you find best fares to VCE: http://goopti.com/index.php

• August 7-16: Training Camp with double days and matches; numerous visiting coaches and teams. 

• August 16: Depart from DRAS Center on your own (Note: We will provide rides to Maribor Train Station if needed)

Cost of the tour is $1750 + airfare and includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily (starting with dinner on August 7th after practice and ending with breakfast on August 16th at the hotel) all lodging, ground transportation, and volleyball activities. Players only need spending money for their ground transportation to Maribor on arrival and departure day, phone calls, souvenirs, and “going out” if they so choose. A $250 non-refundable deposit is due to reserve a spot for this tour. There is no deadline for this deposit, but the tour will fill up and we’ll take the first players to submit their deposit.

All interested players should read the player journals from past tours: https://bringitusa.com/category/bip-tour-journals/

All players on tour will have to sign a Player Representation Agreement (PRA) prior to training the first night. By being on tour, you are a client of BIP.

Interested players should contact Cory Solomon at bringitusacory@aol.com…and send the following information:

• Name
• Birth Year
• School (and last year of eligibility)
• Positions Played
• Height
• Phone Number
• Any Direct Links to Online Player Bio and/or Video

Payments can be made by check or money order in USD$ to “Bring It Promotions” and mailed by regular mail (please, no FedEx, UPS, or DHL) to: Bring It Promotions, 7055 Scripps Crescent St, Goleta, CA 93117

*Please be SURE that your name and “August Firesale 2019” appear on the check.

Flight Information

You are buying your own tickets to Europe, and as long as you’re at the DRAS Center in Maribor, Slovenia on August 7th, and ready for practice that night at 8:00pm, it doesn’t matter what time you arrive or depart. As stated above, you want to arrive to LJU (Ljubljana, Slovenia; a ~2-hour train ride from Maribor), GRZ (Graz, Austria; a < 1 hour train ride but with less connections) or VIE (Vienna, Austria; a 3+ hour train ride). Venice is a nightmare to connect on public transportation, so while you may want to visit Italy pre-or post-tour, be very careful if you choose to do this (again, Go Opti is a shuttle company that seems to be doing a good job; find them online: https://www.goopti.com/en/). Usually a round trip ticket to Europe is the same price (or cheaper) than a one-way, and due to visa restrictions and immigration issues in Europe, it often causes problems to try and come with a one-way ticket (or a ticket that has a return for more than 90 after arrival).

Suggestion: Either come on a mileage ticket (if you have a parent or friend with tons of airline miles) because its free to change and usable for a full year, or come on the cheapest possible round trip with your return set for August 16 (or later) as planned, knowing that you might “eat” the return if you find a team. Of course in this case the team will have to fly you home on a new ticket at the end of the season, but having a “mileage ticket” (if possible) makes everything easiest. If you want to come to Maribor early, its $50/night bed &breakfast included, also access to the gym, balls and weight room) and should be pre-paid and reserved directly with us when you pay for your tour.

Important Note: All players coming on tour need to have at least one active and working credit card and at least one active and working ATM card. Please make sure you notify your bank so that they know you’ll be overseas.