New in 2026, Great Lakes Region and Capitol Sports Center will be partnering to enhance the Windy City Qualifiers experiences.  The Great Lakes Region will still be hosting, running, and overseeing the tournament.  Capitol Sports Center will bring their housing expertise to the table.  We believe this partnership will bring positive experiences for years to come. 

Start Times for day 1 of the Windy City. These are tentative, but we will do our best to stay within the general guidelines.

8 AM:
All Open
11 National, 12 National, 12 USA
13 USA
15, 17, 18 Liberty
15, 16 American

230 PM
14, 15, 16, 17, 18 USA
12, 13, 17 American
13, 14, 16 Liberty

8 AM or 230 PM  (depending on seeding):
14 American (mostly PM currently)
18 American (currently 2 pools in AM & 10 pools in PM)

If you have any questions regarding the tournament, please contact the Great Lake Region!

If you have questions regarding housing, please contact Faith!

The Windy City Qualifier this year is happy to announce their new partnership with Capitol Sports Center and its implementation of the Stay to Play and Save policy. Although, this policy has been highly controversial in the volleyball community, it has become necessary to help combat hotels driving prices higher and higher. Over the years, we have had anywhere between 80 and 90 percent of our participants using rooms from the AES list. Unfortunately, as our tournament has grown, rates for downtown hotels have risen to astronomical prices. The best defense we have against these high prices, is to go to the Stay to Play and Save Policy.

What does this mean for you?

In order to participate in the Windy City Qualifier, each out of town team must get rooms from the AES Approved hotel Block. There are two easy ways to do this:

1. Call us at 1-800-476-0060 ext 118 and we will help you with our personable and helpful staff.  If you have any questions, please send Faith an email and she will gladly help you out!
2. Go online to www.advancedeventsystems.com/hotels and click on the appropriate event.
   • Click on the appropriate hotel.
   • Click on club/team/parents – book here
   • Select state and check box of appropriate club, and then appropriate teams.
   • Continue making reservation. It WILL be important that each room in the block attribute their room to the appropriate team.

Housing for 18's NQ will open on Tuesday, September 2nd at 9 AM Eastern time. Houisng for 11-17s NQ will open on Tuesday, September 30th at 9 AM Eastern time. You will be able to go online and book on www.advancedeventsystems.com or call us at 800-476-0060 ext. 118.  Please be patient as our call volume is expected to be high.  Please leave us a voicemail or send an e-mail for assistance and we will respond at our earliest convenience. 

Teams can make room blocks or make individual reservations, it is up to what each club’s preference is and what is the easiest process for those groups. We are here to help and to make this process as easy as possible.

How does Stay to Play and Save benefit you?

1. Hotel Prices
   First and foremost, hotel prices have been driven down. We have seen dramatic decreases for our downtown hotels as well.
2. Coupons and discounts at local restaurants and shopping attractions
   With an increased commitment to the city and its hotels, we have been able to receive more opportunities for savings at various shops, restaurants, and local attractions that before would not have been available.