Collegiate Beach Volleyball Question

Hi,

I am a freshman on my high school, I was a setter on my JV Volleyball team and was captain this year. 

I started playing beach a couple months ago and I instantly fell in love. I am part of a year round beach volleyball club, I work hard at every practice and I'm hoping to improve over the years until I'm a senior. 

I have a passion to play on a D1 college beach volleyball team, I have my eyes already set on a couple of colleges with great programs. I have a deep love and passion for the sport but the problem is, I'm 5'1 but my vertical is 17 inches. I'm hoping to grow maybe another two or three inches over high school. 

Do you think if I become an excellent player I would have a chance on being recruited or is my height too much of a disadvantage? 

Thank you!

A.L.

Volleyball, beach and indoor, is a height driven sport.  Indoor uses the Libero and Defensive Specialist positions which allow for the "shorter" player to have a role within the team.  With only 2 players on the court, beach volleyball does not have this positional opportunity, as each player is expected to attack.

With your height, you would be the chase player or the player who plays defense and does not block.  Traditionally, beach volleyball will use a blocker against the other team; on some double teams, both players may block, while it seems more common that one person is the blocker and the other person is the defender.

At 5'1" with a 17" vertical, it will be a challenge to secure a beach volleyball roster position.  Players must remember that there are not a lot of universities with beach volleyball programs, when compared to indoor volleyball.  In addition, the rosters are not as big and the athletic scholarship funding is tiny.  The realistic goal for so many aspiring collegiate beach volleyball players should be just to secure a roster position.

While you can't control your height, you can control your fitness (athleticism) and your abilities.  If you are small, then you need to be very athletic and have great skill sets.  As you are just a freshman, you have time to continue to develop both of these areas!

Good luck!

Coach

Collegiate Beach Volleyball 5th year?

Hey coach!

I am a D1 indoor volleyball player who was an outstanding beach player as well. I will play all 4 years indoor and want to use my 5th year to play beach somewhere. I could graduate a semester early if that would make me more valuable. When do I contact beach coaches? What is a legal way to contact beach coaches?

Thanks!!

H.M.

Good question - This gets a little tricky, and I want to make sure you are following the rules.  I say tricky, because I am not sure exactly when you are allowed to reach out about transferring for a 5th year of eligibility.  

A number of players are now looking at changing sports for their 5th year and competing in basketball, softball or sand.

To this end, the person who knows the answer is your Compliance Officer in the Athletic Department; you can usually find out exactly who the Compliance Officer is by looking on your school's athletic website, under Staff Directory.

This person can tell you when you are allowed to reach out to collegiate beach programs, if you will need a Permission to Contact letter, answer your question about graduating early and the timing of a transfer.  In addition, because of the ever changing NCAA Rules (and remember that each sport, in each division/governing body will have its own set of rules), the absolute best person to check with is your Compliance officer.

For all my readers, when in doubt about any rule or protocol, go to your Compliance Officer within the athletic department.

Good luck!

Women's Pro Beach Volleyball - Kerri Walsh Jennings

An interesting read about the women's professional beach volleyball tour, the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP - I actually played on this tour back in the day when the prize money was big and we had over 20 events across the USA!) and the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics!

http://www.espn.com/espnw/feature/19869772/kerri-walsh-jennings-draws-line-sand

I would encourage VolleyFolks to bookmark the espnw site, as this seems to be the one constant national media outlet providing any coverage of women's volleyball (college or the beach).

For instance, there is a big international women's indoor tournament being played right now, with teams playing at sites across the world and I can't find coverage on any of the media outlets.  My only information is coming from the FIVB (plus USA Volleyball and Puerto Rico Volleyball) site, which is actually streaming matches and showing some great highlights (like Japan beating Brazil 17-15 in the 5th with some crazy defense!).

NCAA Division I Beach Volleyball

Hi,

I began playing beach volleyball a few months ago and right away fell in love with it.  I am a sophomore and was on JV at my high school this year, and REALLY want to play D1 beach volleyball in college. I am working hard every day and will be playing all summer with my beach club. 

Do you think this dream is possible even though I didn't make varsity as a sophomore and just started beach?

Thank you!!!

S.L.

The challenge which you will face with securing the opportunity to play NCAA Division I beach volleyball is the lack of schools which sponsor the sport.  As of the 2016-17 school year, 54 NCAA Division I schools sponsored beach volleyball; overall there are approximately 80 colleges which sponsor beach volleyball (all divisions/organizations).

Compare that to the over 300 schools which sponsor NCAA Division I Volleyball, and over 1600 schools which support collegiate indoor volleyball.

Beach volleyball is a great sport and one which I was fortunate enough to play at the professional level for many years.  It can be a great supplement for your indoor game, and as a lifetime sport, beach volleyball is much easier on the body!  For instance, I am 99.99% sure I would not have torn my achilles playing beach volleyball......

Your ability to play NCAA Division I Beach volleyball will be determined by two things; your talent and your financial resources.  

As you do the math, there are not a lot of DI Beach Volleyball opportunities out there (in addition to the number of teams which sponsor, the beach rosters are smaller than the indoor rosters).  

In addition to the roster spots, Beach Volleyball is an Equivalency sport and few DI programs are providing athletic scholarship funding.  This means that those few schools which have funded a scholarship or two, then give these scholarships out as partial scholarships.  An Equivalency sport status allows student-athletes to package their scholarships in a combination of athletic, academic, merit and need based; this is a positive versus the Head Count sport of indoor volleyball in which no packaging is allowed.  The bottom line can be an expensive component of getting on that DI beach team; you could be paying a good chunk of change to play beach volleyball for that DI team.

To actually play on a DI beach volleyball team will be determined by your talent; if you have the talent to make the program better, then the coach will recruit you.  This is the same for indoor volleyball.  To achieve your goal, you must continue to do exactly what you are doing; focus on getting better and play as much as you can.

Good luck and keep working hard!

Coach 

The Volleyball Recruiting Questions of a 15 year old….

Dear Mr. Coach,

I recently found out about your website and I think that it is so genuine for you to create this special website.

I have a question about volleyball recruiting:

I am 5'6", 15 years old, sophomore in high school, I play beach and indoor volleyball…

1.) Do college coaches still recruit players when they are seniors in high school?

2.) What are the key things that college coaches look for in a player?

3.) Do college coaches like that indoor players play beach volleyball as well as indoor volleyball?

4.) How do I format an email to a college volleyball coach for recruiting?

Thank you,

D.W.

Well, what can I say….I am a genuine guy……

Glad you enjoy the website and hope it can help you understand, along with manage, the craziness of college volleyball and recruiting.

Let me go ahead and jump right into answering your questions!

1) Yes, the college volleyball recruiting process is constant and fluid - Some schools make scholarship offers to 8th graders, some will be offering scholarships in July to Seniors who have already graduated high school (along with everything in-between these time frame examples and all divisions/categories of college volleyball).

2) Talent and attitude.  Do you have the talent to make their program better and do you have an attitude which will contribute to a positive team chemistry.  Volleyball players/families going through the process need to remember those two things, as they control how a coach recruits a player.

3) That is a difficult question to answer because indoor and sand are different sports.  Some coaches think there are great crossover skill benefits, while others think that playing sand hurts your indoor game.  That question could only be answered on a per coach/program basis.  Remember that there is a difference between playing on the sand, and playing sand volleyball just like there is a difference in me going to a golf course to play versus playing golf.  Just because a player steps onto a sand volleyball court to pepper or play 5 on 5 with a group of people, does not equate into being a sand volleyball player.

4.  "Dear Coach, My name is Veronica Volleyball, I graduate in 2015, I am a 5'10" Outside Hitter and I am very good.  Here is the link to my video and I hope to hear back from you soon".  Coaches want to see a video first, then want to know how to contact you if they like the video.  Make the 1st outreach simple and focused on the video.

Coach

Sand Volleyball and the Libero

Hi Coach - Great website! 

Two questions: 1- after reading you response to the sand question (click HERE to read), I understand why HS coaches may dislike Sand for their setters and hitters but what about Libero's? 

2 - With Libero's spending more time on the court than others positions in the specialized indoor game - do you see them eventually having more value (than last in line) as a recruit to college coaches?

J.A.

Thank you for your email and glad you enjoy the website; you should also try Inside College Volleyball, because it is delicious!

As Indoor Volleyball has become more specialized in its skill positions, the crossover benefits from playing Sand Volleyball has diminished.  Back in the day, when substitutions were not very common (each position could play 6 rotations) and the matches were much longer (sideout scoring), playing sand volleyball was a benefit.  Sand worked on your court movements, education/understanding, conditioning, competitive instincts, etc.

What has changed from "back in the day" to now, is the combination of more substitutions and the Libero, along with a very structured training style.  The majority of Indoor oaches who are 40 and younger, have come up through this regimented style of training, based on the Asian style of volleyball (Japan/China) and being able to have 12-15 substitutions, along with a Libero.

This translates into Indoor college coaches breaking the game down into very specific movements, which are narrow in their focus.  Middle Blockers do not work on passing and defense, Right Sides don't serve/pass/defend, many Setters never see the front row, etc.  Player movements are very controlled, regimented and enforced.  Much of the creativity and organic movements of Indoor collegiate volleyball has been lost.

Back to your question about the Liberos - They have very defined movements, within a small space and with specific responsibilities.  Sand Volleyball, by nature, is not this way.  Sand Volleyball movements must cover the entire court and there is a lot of unpredictability; rallies by nature are free flowing and creative.  

Take a moment to think about the various Indoor Volleyball coaching clinics and videos, where a coach will demonstrate drills to try and manage "out of system" plays.  Coaches like to refer to being out of system, or getting back into system, or how do we adjust to out of system plays.  Sand Volleyball is out of system volleyball.  

Many many Indoor coaches have been 'raised' to not like this unpredictability - They scout teams relentlessly, breaking down opponent tendencies, trying to determine patterns and predictability.  When a player (in any position) goes from predictable movements to unpredictable movements, the Indoor coaches will have to 're-train' these players to get them back to predictable.  Indoor coaches don't want to do this; they want to train the skill sets/movements they want, then build upon them, not have to re-establish them again and again.

And it is not just the movements; it is all the skill sets - Players pass differently indoor versus outdoor, they defend differently, they block differently, they set differently, etc.  It is a different game.  Liberos will pass and move differently on the Sand than Indoor and Indoor coaches will not like this difference.

As to the second part of your Libero question, Liberos are very valuable to Indoor coaches; the team's successful passing is dependent upon their ability.  The reason that they are last in the recruiting line, is simply supply and demand.  There is a large number of quality Liberos, but there is not a large number of collegiate roster spots for Liberos.  

Because volleyball is a height driven sport, any number of average to shorter outsides and setters, will move into the Libero position believing they will have more college playing opportunities.  This migration, combined with those who have always been Liberos, creates the large number of players in this position (Liberos/Defensive Specialists are interchangeable for this post).

It can be argued that when Sand Volleyball was implemented, it took scholarship opportunities away from Liberos.  Instead of giving volleyball one or two or three more scholarships (NCAA Division I Women's Basketball has 15 full scholarships for 5 starters - NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball has 12 full scholarships for 6 starters and the Libero).  

Instead of scholarships being awarded to the Sand Volleyball program, I would have rather seen them being provided to the Indoor team so more Liberos/DS's could be enjoy athletic financial support (this is theoretical because Indoor college coaches would probably just scholarship another big attacker with 'potential' because they know they can get Liberos/DS's to walk on).    

A very long answer to your short question - Hope it helped!

Coach Matt

Sand and Indoor Volleyball Cross Training

Hi Coach

Got your book and recommend it and the website to all the parents who ask about recruiting; keep up the good work! My question is related to some high school and and club coaches feeling on sand. Some have gone beyond requesting, and now demand that a player not play sand as they feel it negatively affects their indoor game. I'm referring to recreational summer sand tournaments not a high school sand program.

My daughter and friends look forward to the sand season which is approaching soon. However one of her friend's HS coach told players that if they intend to play for her team in the fall not to even think about playing sand. We feel it's a great for conditioning and touches, especially as everyone gets to pass and set. What do you think the impact is that sand has on indoor?

B.M.

Thank you for the compliments on Inside College Volleyball and I appreciate you recommending the site to parents which are looking for help!

Sand volleyball is an interesting creature - It is all the rage in some circles and in others it is not viewed positively.  By my writing, you know that I feel collegiate sand volleyball is currently a gender equity vehicle for athletic departments and increases the time demands upon indoor coaches and players.  Only a few schools have actually developed autonomous sand volleyball programs, and if they are a 'real sport' then sand volleyball should have nothing to do with indoor volleyball.

It does not surprise me that many high school and club coaches are not supportive of sand volleyball - It is a different sport and the skill sets do not all crossover positively.  

As for why club/high school coaches may not like sand for their players, for indoor volleyball you want a long broad jump in your attack spike, and for sand volleyball, the broad jump is minimal.  Setting is another example - Sand setting you can grab the ball, autograph it, dust of the sand and then release it; this does not work even in the ultra liberal contact rules of indoor.  In fact, when I played on the AVP Pro beach tour, I never hand set because it messed up my release for when I went back to playing professional indoor volleyball in Europe.  

The blocking is different, the passing is different, the defensive movement is different - It is a different sport AND if it is played by FIVB rules, the court is also smaller!!!!

I can see HS/Club coaches not liking this because if they have been working on specific indoor skill sets pertinent to their team's success, and a player goes into the sand environment and these indoor skill sets suffer, then......

Now, that being said, I do like sand volleyball for a player's all around game and teaching competitiveness.  It is also a great conditioning vehicle, which allows for passive strength gains with out having to suffer repetitive stress situations.  

And now I will dive into the deep end of the pool - Think about what the indoor game has become; it is a game of specialization.  Very few players actually play 6 rotations anymore; three rotations of play is the new normal - The implementation of the Libero, removed any back row skill demands from MB's, the increase of the sub counts means that OH's/RS's can play a whole career without ever passing or playing back row defense, and when NCAA went to 15 subs, many programs went to a front to back 6-2 offense where the setters never see the front row either.  The Liberos spend the most amount of time on the court now....who would've have thought?

So, from that stance, it makes sense that the club/hs coaches don't want their players practicing an all around game, on a surface and court which is different than indoor - They want their players focusing on their specific skill segment applicable to indoor success.

This is one of the situations where, "don't hate the player, hate the game".

Coach Sonnichsen

Collegiate Sand Volleyball

Hey Coach,

Just poking some fun at ya!  I know you came down hard on the merits of collegiate sand volleyball…just wondering if you have softened your stance especially in light of this article…

http://www.volleyballmag.com/articles/43289-season-three

Maybe add sand volleyball to your recruiting package…just a thought!

J.R.

Thank you for the email and I did see the article.  This is my concern:

"Administrators find sand volleyball an appealing sport to add for a variety of reasons. It increases participation opportunities for female athletes, it costs relatively little to start a team, and just as little to keep up the annual operating costs. A team can be fielded without recruiting a single new player or hiring any additional coaches by utilizing athletes and staff from the indoor version of the sport."

This is my issue; "A Team can be fielded without recruiting a single new player or hiring any additional coaches". 

If this is the rationale for sand volleyball, then it will only ever be just an equity sideshow.  

That is my entire argument; do it for real or do not do it all at.  Hire a complete Sand VB staff, recruit and scholarship exclusive sand volleyball athletes, then I will be behind this sport 100%.  All of this can be done for the salary being paid to the linebackers coach on the football team.

There are a few schools which treat sand volleyball as separate from indoor, but too many that just follow the above quote from the article.

Coach

Darn, as always you have an excellent comeback!  But, maybe this is how emerging sports at the college level are birthed…usually not pretty and some “pain” involvedJ.  I still think it would be an excellent addition to your recruiting package though…just saying!

Take care and thanks for responding…you are a true professional.

J.R.

It is my understanding that once the NCAA removes the "emerging" tag from Sand Volleyball, then NCSA Athletic Recruiting will begin to support athletes in their recruiting efforts for Sand Volleyball.

Slow Down and Enjoy Volleyball

Hi,

I found your website a few days ago and was glad that I did. I had a few questions that I was wondering if you could provide me guidance or tips of what I can do to help out my daughter. I am relatively new to the sport of volleyball and want to make sure that I provide solid decisions for my daughter.

My daughter has really fallen in love with the sport and I am trying to help her growth by making the right decisions so that she can grow and play in college.

My daughter now is going into her second year of playing volleyball. She most likely will not be a very tall volleyball player just due to genetics, I am only 5’ 9” and her birth mom is only 5’ 2”. She as of right now is 11 years old and is in the 5th grade, she started playing club volleyball last year. She also played for her school team. 

We now are playing volleyball about 10-11 months out of the year. Going into this year we were told by some of the club coaches that they felt my daughter should for sure make the 12U elite team so we tried out for the 12U age group with full knowledge that she could easily play with the 11’s. My daughter made one of the 12 regional teams. She is the youngest player on the team and also the shortest. My daughter’s coach has asked my daughter to play libero for the team. In talking with the coach, and before she had ever told my daughter what position she was going to play, the coach had informed me that libero was her favorite position and that she wanted my daughter to play it as she is really good as passing and moving on the court. Which leads to my first question of, is it too young for my daughter to become a specialized player?

We both have full plans to after the indoor season is over to move outside to play beach volleyball. This will be this club’s first year offering beach volleyball but from my understanding the more touches I can get her the better off she will be. My daughter is the type of player that thrives on being challenged is why we decided to play up one age group and also to play sand volleyball. Is it too early to play sand volleyball?

My daughter has also mentioned that she wants to go to some of the college volleyball camps. Is it too early for her to start going to these camps to make an impact with the coaches for future college scholarships? Essentially I want to help her get on the coach’s radar but just do not know when do they actually start taking note of the players. Some of the college’s clinics my daughter wants to visit are 12 + hours away from home, which I do not mind, as long as it would help her out in the future.

At the age and grade that my daughter is in, what do we need to focus on right now?
I look forward to hearing back from you and I really do appreciate your time.

R.M.

Thank you for your email and I am glad you found collegevolleyballcoach.com also!!!

My biggest impression from your email is that you are passionate about your daughter and her Volleyball development/success.  My second biggest impression is this is WAY too early to worry about anything other than getting touches on the ball.

1.  Club volleyball is specialized at birth, so the coaches are going to do what the coaches are going to do - The focus here is to have fun and improve, even though the coaches are specializing (side note, this is a big weakness in USA youth Volleyball when compared to other countries).

2.  Never too early to play beach/sand volleyball - I played at a very early age with my parents and loved it; great way to balance the specialization of the indoor game is by the all around sand game.

3.  At her age, college camps should just be for fun and traveling 12 hours in a car for a camp/clinic cannot be a lot of fun (or maybe it could be if you make it a father/daughter adventure trip?)   Her physical development has not progressed to really garner intense training and to look at it from a recruiting perspective is illogical. This should be viewed as fun touches, at a college and you get a cool t-shirt from a school people may know.

Please, please, please just let her play - Absolutely do not worry about recruiting until her sophomore year in high school; she sounds to be a libero and libero's are last in the recruiting process anyways.  

Just keep feeding her volleyball touches when she wants them but never make her eat too much volleyball at her young age!

Coach

NCAA Division I Sand Volleyball Scholarship

Hi,

My daughter is a senior, will graduate in 2014.  She was offered a 4 year partial/tuition (out of state, California) sand scholarship after attending a sand camp they invited her to attend.  She asked them about playing indoor also since she plays both at a very high level.  They invited her to attend the indoor camp that next week.  

After proving that she could play both, they offered her a position on the team for 2014, but stated that they had already given that OH position scholarship to another athlete for 2014.  They would like her to be on an academic scholarship for her freshman year, she has a 3.8, and then stated that she would be on a full ride athletic volleyball scholarship for her last 3 years.  Is there any way to get this in writing?  

Since she would not be signing a letter of intent in Nov. of 2014,, she just has a verbal commitment. Is there ever monies left over from the prior season that can be given to an athlete who has verbally committed.  They are flying her to the school for her Official visit, but I have worries on not having anything in writing with so many possible factors changing.  

Also, if a player is not on an athletic scholarship, can they travel and participate as a team member prior to school starting in the fall, if many of the teams games are prior to the fall semester 2014?  Any information would be helpful .

Thank you so much, 

N.A.

Sand Volleyball and Indoor Volleyball are considered separate NCAA sports, and thus have a certain ranking within the NCAA hierarchy with regards to scholarships.  For instance, NCAA DI women's basketball is ranked higher than DI Volleyball, so if a player participates in both sports and is on a scholarship, they must be carried on the higher ranked sport which is basketball (no basketball players may be carried on a VB scholarship).  

Indoor is higher than Sand for volleyball, that is why if your daughter is going to play indoor, she can't be on a sand volleyball scholarship (the school's first offer) and must walk on as an indoor player.

If you have read my site for long, or read Inside College Volleyball, you know I am very leery of any walk on to scholarship scenarios; not because all college coaches are selfish twits, but rather there is so much uncertainty within today's college volleyball environment.  Any promise you receive from the coach, who is the representative of the school, is nothing more than words in the air.

Absolutely ask for what was verbally explained to you in writing - If they won't put it in writing, it is not real.  Just remember that if that coach bails, or changes her/his mind, then you do not have a legal contract but having it in writing can only help.

Yes, non-athletic scholarship players are allowed to report/train/travel/compete before school begins and the athletic department will have a protocol for paying the expenses for pre-season activities for walk on players up to a specified date (usually when the residence halls/cafeteria opens for the traditional education term).

Good luck and just be hyper aware of what you are being told and not told; and, and, and keep asking questions!

Coach

Collegiate Sand Volleyball

Hello,

First off, thank you for providing so much info. that is honest and free. I have found it very difficult in any aspect of youth sports that achieves those two elements in the same context. 

My question is concerning the addition, or 'emergence,' of sand volleyball within the club and NCAA ranks. I have a PSA who has had success and is interested in sand colleges. I have seen that there are numerous clubs popping up, mostly in the same areas of the colleges, and understand that the NCAA is getting close or near the 40 team limit. In some of your posts you have provided great insight into the setbacks and hurdles Midwest or non-fair weather communities have in relation to the addition of sand volleyball.  Besides contacting schools personally, do you recommend approaching recruiting in the same manner as indoor, i.e. make a skills tape, provide video, list accomplishments of sand, ect.? Also, do you personally think adding information of one's indoor success would have any value? 

Lastly, and respectfully, I do feel the Midwest schools will eventually 'have to' jump in to compete with recruiting top Indoor players from areas such as Cal, Florida, Texas.  Although weather may be a factor, baseball and softball have seemed to make it work. This year there are over 10 teams in the top 30 which are not exactly, fair-weather schools? Why would weather be such an issue with Sand Volleyball? 

Thank you for all you do, it is much appreciated, as I speak for a number of parents who are familiar with your site!!

Volleymom

Sand Volleyball is still a bit of a puzzle.  There are a few colleges/universities which have given dedicated support to sand volleyball with specific coaches and scholarships, but there are many other schools which have just assigned the sport to the assistant volleyball coach and informed a select number of indoor players that they will also play on the sand.  

Because of this inconsistency with the importance of sand volleyball within each athletic department, putting together a specific or effective recruiting effort focused just on sand volleyball is an inaccurate science.  From what I know, indoor volleyball still has more scholarship support and larger awards for the the players, than beach.  

I would hesitate to recommend only focusing on sand volleyball; again, not too many schools are solely dedicated to sand.  It may be more effective to put an 'emphasis' on sand, while promoting the PSA's value to the volleyball program in total.  I would continue to use the same outreach with video, visits and interaction, while touching both sand and indoor.  If the past few years of collegiate athletics has shown us anything, it is change is now constant and what is supported today, may be down graded or bumped up to First Class tomorrow. 

If you look at baseball and softball, the traditional powerhouse programs tend to be from warm weather states; Arizona, UCLA, Florida State, etc.  Every now and then an upper midwest team may sneak into the World Series, but it is a rarity.  But, softball and baseball are long standing sports which are not a hybrid of another sport - sand Volleyball is a hybrid of indoor volleyball.

Players like to play in warmer weather; it is not fun taking batting practice in 35 degree weather in early March.  Now, imagine that scenario in a bikini, or tights, sweats out in the cold sand.  In April, I shoveled 8 inches of snow out of my driveway and I am not in the 'upper' midwest.  Not even counting snow, I can tell you from personal experience that playing beach in 78 degrees versus 58 degrees is a huge difference.  Any sport which is outdoor based will put northern schools at a disadvantage, especially the spring sports like golf, tennis, etc.  These sports, and baseball/softball all have cold weather gear - What is the cold weather gear for sand volleyball? 

Midwest schools will probably jump into sand volleyball because it is a no-brainer equity move, but sponsoring and supporting sand volleyball are not the same things.  As a point of illustration, these same midwest programs sponsor indoor volleyball but when you see tv matches in power conference programs and the stands only have Thurston Howell and Lovie in them, they do not support the volleyball program.

Volleyball players who are truly interested and talented in sand Volleyball will want to play in warm weather states - If you have talent, would you rather play sand volleyball at the University of Miami or the University of Iowa?  It is because of these geographic preferences that the warm-weather power conference programs will grow to dominate the game.  

Sure, a midwest athletic department can put together a team and build an sand volleyball court (indoor courts are not sand volleyball; weather plays a huge role in the game), but they cannot control the weather.  Weather can easily create a negative impact upon the ability of a program to be good.

Few college volleyball programs are excited or happy about adding sand volleyball - it creates more work for their staff, more stress on the players and there may be zero personal/professional financial benefit for all this increased responsibility for the majority of programs. Within the coaching ranks, sand volleyball is something programs 'have' to deal with as opposed to want to deal with.  Nobody likes being 'volunteered' for anything, and a bunch of college volleyball coaches had their program volunteered to create a sand program.

Back to recruiting, if you focus just on the sand volleyball programs you are severely limiting your PSA's opportunities for educational options and scholarship support.  But, if that is what your baby girl wants, then work just as hard as any indoor player with video and outreach to target those schools which do sponsor a sand volleyball teach.

Good luck!

Coach Matt

Collegiate Sand Volleyball

Hi Coach,

I am a high school and club coach.  Most of the girls from our club (who go D1) stay in our state on the (southeast coast).  A few of these schools will have sand volleyball this year.  Here are some questions that the PSAs (or their parents) are asking:  what is the benefit of my daughter accepting a scholarship that requires indoor/beach over an indoor only scholarship?   Are there some drawbacks?  If school does not have beach now, can they require PSA to play beach, if they start it after freshman year?

I don't have the answers and the people I usually ask don't seem to know either. Does anyone? The local college indoor/beach players seemed very confused, but said not many schools had sand teams this year.

Philosophically, it seems like the local college is double dipping athletes and coaches.  Can they also double dip for title IX?   "Here is a full ride/salary. Oh by the way, you are required to play/coach beach season also."

Good Luck this November,

HS/Club coach

Thank you for your email and the question(s) you have posed are the same ones that many college coaches are trying to figure out.  As you may know from reading my site, I am very opposed to the NCAA sponsoring Sand Volleyball, because I believe it is nothing more than an equity smoke and mirrors ploy which just results in more work for volleyball staffs and less down time for collegiate volleyball players.

I will be honest that I have not read into the specifics of the protocol with regards to administration and counting of athletes.  This was one of my main criticisms of this whole Sand Volleyball push as orchestrated by the AVCA; they created the NCAA sport without determine the rules/formats/protocol first.  In a sense, the AVCA told the NCAA, "everybody loves beach volleyball, the coaches will love to coach it and the players will love to play it, so let's just make it a sport" and the NCAA agreed because it is an easy way to up the female participation numbers to offset football.

As I have not read, but I will, the NCAA specific Sand Volleyball Rules/Protocols, I can only provide you general information of NCAA rules. 

The NCAA has ranked each sport on a scholarship hierarchy, much like a totem pole.  For example, football is ranked higher than track.  The rationale is that this will keep fast football players being placed on a track scholarship, thus freeing up another football scholarship for use. So, if a male athlete was to legitimately participate in both (which often happens), this SA would need to be carried on football scholarship.

For women's sports, the top is basketball.  When you see or hear of SA's playing both basketball and Volleyball, they are carried on a basketball scholarship.  I actually had a DI women's basketball coach pressure me to recruit basketball/Volleyball players because my team was taller and more athletic than hers. I made her aware (as she had no idea) that they would need to be carried on a basketball scholarship; after this education (scary, huh?), she did not ask again.

I would guess that Indoor Volleyball has been ranked higher than Sand, which would allow Indoor scholarship players to be eligible to participate in Sand Volleyball.  For NCAA DI, I highly doubt there are combination indoor/sand scholarships because of the head count rules of fully funded DI programs; if it was a combo, then this would put the SA over the scholarship limit.  For NCAA DII, there could be a combination of scholarships, but I am not aware of exactly how this would work with DII or even if it could be possible.

As some programs will provide sand volleyball scholarships, if indeed indoor is ranked higher, then a sand scholarship athlete could not participate in indoor.  This would be a heck of a scholarship opportunity!  Think about it; the sand season is not very long because of weather concerns and the end of the traditional spring semester, and in the fall semester, the coaches are all busy with indoor volleyball, so there is no real off season! 

Your questions, as best of my knowledge:

1.  Benefits - If a SA really enjoys both indoor and sand (which I did) then it is a chance to play both in a school supported/funded environment.  Maybe it keeps a player fresh with both sports, and possibly not 'burning' out in one.  Some players/coaches believe that there are some transferable skill sets between the two sports especially in passing and defense.

2.  Drawbacks - No down time and no specialization. If you wish to be excellent at one sport, you need to practice/focus on this one sport.  One of the reasons we do not see a lot of dual sport athletes in the NCAA today, as opposed to 10 years ago, is the full time demands of the NCAA DI sports.  The off season is more intense than before, but since the NCAA has rules about non-traditional season hourly participation, at least the athletes are limited to 8 hours total per week.  If an athlete is a dual sport (and remember that Sand and Indoor are two separate sports, even though the AVCA and the NCAA seem to take a 'wink,wink' attitude toward this separation), then the athlete may be in a 20 hour per week training regimen for a majority, if not all of both semesters, which does not include travel time for competition.  Also, if you really want to be outstanding in something, then you need to dedicate to being outstanding in that sport.  This is not possible if you are spending your non-traditional season actually going full time in another sport.

3.  Require - In theory yes.  If an athlete is an indoor walk-on or indoor scholarship athlete, a coach can easily call sand volleyball skill training or conditioning or just call it now part of the indoor team, and mandate that players now participate in sand volleyball.  The coach can tell a player to lift, can tell a player to condition, can have the players do yoga and eat a healthy diet, so what is to keep them from telling the players they now are playing sand volleyball?

4.  Information - Everyone is very confused because the AVCA ramrodded this through the NCAA as quickly as possible and I don't think the NCAA or the AVCA has really done a good job of explaining what is going on.  You can download a free copy of the NCAA Division I rules manual here or you can search through the avca.org site for information.  My understanding is that the NCAA has formulated rules and protocols which should help educate VolleyFamilies as to their options.

5.  Philosophically - Yes, it is blatant double dipping  to satisfy equity concerns.  Sand Volleyball is not being created separate from Indoor Volleyball.  While a few schools may have hired a specific sand volleyball coach and created sand volleyball participation only scholarships, the majority of athletic departments are just mandating that indoor volleyball coaches are now the sand volleyball coach and that the Volleyball SA's are now going to play sand volleyball.  In the end, no significant opportunities are being created for new athletes, no significant employment opportunities are being created for additional coaches.  All the AVCA has done is create more work for the same pay for coaches, and significantly increased the participation time for volleyball players during the school year. Heck of a "coaches association" which actively legislates more work for same pay and greater demands upon the student athletes which we are supposed to be leading.

In closing, I will say that this is part and parcel of why Women's Volleyball continues to lag behind other NCAA sports and this division of support/resources into Sand and Indoor Volleyball will be the anchor that allows Basketball and Softball and Soccer to garner larger percentages of financial and non-financial support on college campuses.  You don't see Basketball splintering their base, you don't see Soccer supporting Sand Soccer, you don't see Softball supporting Slow Pitch NCAA softball - They are focused on what is positive about their sport and doing everything they can to promote that positivity.

OK - Now I need to have some green tea and calm down!!!

College Sand Volleyball

Dear Coach:

I recently came across this post on your website regarding sand volleyball. I personally prefer sand volleyball over indoor volleyball so what I’m saying probably shows this bias.

I am trying to understand better myself why many volleyball people at the collegiate level consistently express this concern about sand volleyball being almost forcefully inserted into collegiate sports by the AVCA or any other group. Granted, I don’t know the politics of collegiate sports, but I have heard nothing saying that any and all schools MUST institute a sand volleyball program after inclusion into the NCAA sports curriculum. It’s a school by school decision. It’s the same premise I would think which dictates why some schools don’t have a football team or some other sports teams while perhaps everyone else (or most everyone else) in their conference does. Perhaps you can explain why this thinking seems so prevalent?

Also, this argument about sand volleyball adversely affecting the legitimacy of indoor volleyball doesn’t seem to hold up when you think in the bigger picture. Girls (and boys) should be given the opportunity to play the sport they love. If they love indoor volleyball, then play. If they love beach volleyball then play it. The participants of the sport should be a big driver in the evolution of sport. Thinking that indoor volleyball will someday be bigger than what is it now (with the thousands and thousands of girls who play it at the junior/college level) is ludicrous. From what I’ve heard, attendance level for indoor volleyball has never substantially increased for decades. Sand volleyball has a “coolness” factor both from a player and a spectator perspective that will probably some day make it more popular than indoor volleyball ever can. Participation levels, especially at the junior level, grow in leaps and bounds every year. Call it an evolution of volleyball in general. Maybe sand volleyball won’t become big ever but trying to diminish its possibilities in order to protect indoor volleyball isn’t fair. As someone who is not an insider to the world of college volleyball, I get the impression MANY college volleyball insiders are reluctant to see where sand volleyball can go because they’re not seeing the possibilities. Sure it’s different and a bit risky and the details need to be hammered out, but that is what makes getting involved early in the sport at the college level exciting too.

Anyways, just my two cents.

Regards, M.N.

Thanks for the email and I am traveling right now, so I am unable to give a complete response to your very valid points about sand volleyball and indoor volleyball. The Reader's Digest version response is that AD's don't care about the sport, just the fact that it can balance their equity counts, the funding for sponsorship (coaches, salary, players, budgets, time frames, etc.) will come in some fashion, if not initially all, from indoor volleyball, and the AVCA main concern is with generating more numbers for membership and thus revenue.

Thanks for the response. I’m honestly not surprised by the initial response from ADs. It’s probably the same response given to any new sport being considered for inclusion by the NCAA. Until they see the value or are pushed by alumni who donate to the university, the response will always be the same. The thing that is disappointing is that volleyball coaches (even ones with beach volleyball backgrounds) general don’t seem to be on board with the cause in many cases either. Granted, they probably see this as all leading to more work for them with little or no monetary gain on their part. I understand that thinking. But instead of dismissing the idea or complaining about it, they should at least offer some solutions especially if they truly love volleyball in general.

This again all goes back to the problem volleyball seems to have in general. People just can’t work together very well for the benefit of the sport. I see all the in-fighting amongst coaches at junior clubs all the way up to the problems between the AVP, USAV, and the FIVB. If everyone says they love the sport, they sure have a good way of showing it by creating factions all the time instead of agreeing to disagree sometimes but work together still. M.N.

OK - Now I have time to write.

To reference one of your points, it should be a red flag when college volleyball coaches, with a beach volleyball background, are against the premise of beach volleyball as a collegiate sport. One thing which an outsider (someone who is not a NCAA Volleyball coach) does not see, are the constant battles for basic program support for the indoor team (remember that we are playing the same time as King Kong (also known as football) and men's and women's soccer). Each and every volleyball season, college coaches are fighting to get gym time, to have the facility properly set up, making sure game management is acceptable, to get support in the weight room/training room/marketing department/media relations - and these battles are at just about every campus. Budgets are being cut and AD's are not finding extra money in the football or basketball budgets (they are the Holy Grail of any athletic department), but they are getting this needed money out of the Olympic Sports budgets. Volleyball coaches are in a never ending battle to secure support, and the prospect of having to now administer another sport, which will come at the expense of indoor volleyball, scares us plenty.

You are correct in your point that it is a school by school decision, but it is not a school coach by school coach decision. Look at it from a coach's point of view - More work, without more pay, less off time, reduces opportunity to focus on indoor volleyball in terms of recruiting and team training. Look at it from a school (Athletic Department) point of view - 10 to 12 female athletes can be additionally counted for Title IX Gender Equity numbers without having to provide anything other than minimal travel expenses. That is why the school by school rational does not sit well with college coaches.

You are also correct in that opportunities to play a sport, if the sport has a significant interest from a college age kids should be provided, but why should the indoor players/coaches who have no interest in sand/beach volleyball have to sacrifice support? Why do the indoor players have to give up training time, the attention/support of their coaches, access to the weight room/training room? I can promise you that while many indoor volleyball players enjoy playing pick-up games on the sand court, the idea this actually becoming another season with the acompanying grind of physical training, trips to the training room, the pressure of competition travel, the pressure to win, both internally and from coaches, is a completely different beast.

When you point out that indoor volleyball will not be bigger than what is is now, from a participation point may be valid, but from a professional support view, is not valid. This is possibly the biggest fear factor for college indoor volleyball coaches. Let me give you an example - In NCAA Division I athletics, Women's Basketball Head Coaches all (give me a +/- of 5%) enjoy salaries over $100,000.00, but for Women's Volleyball, this drops down to less than 20%? What about assistant salaries - It would be really nice if our 1st assistants were all clocking 75K plus, like in basketball, so they could actually pay bills, provide for a family without having to coach club for extra cash, gain experience before feeling pressured to jump to a head coach position for more money. Look at marketing support, look at staff support (how many Director of Operations are funded in WBB vs WVB?), look at television exposure, look at the National Championship, etc. When we look at each of these categories, and these are categories which directly affect the professional standing of being a college volleyball coach, Indoor Women's College Volleyball has a great upside.

There is a huge dissatisfaction with the AVCA among college volleyball coaches. The AVCA has really buried its head in the sand (some pun intended) when it comes to professional support of college volleyball and college volleyball coaches (every college basketball coach is on a multi year contract, and way too many college volleyball coaches are not - one would think this would be an important item for a college volleyball coaches association?). A bit of history - The AVCA put a lot of money (increased dues for DI coaches) and effort into trying to get indoor volleyball on television more than what was customary because the belief was that television was the magic wand to increase attendence, popularity and credibility of the sport, but they failed; our television coverage has not improved, beyond the natural curve, of what is was 10 years ago. Now, the AVCA is just pretending the whole indoor television focus never occurred and is now saying the best thing for indoor volleyball is outdoor volleyball. Have the USA Gold Medals of the Beach Volleyball in the Olympics translated into increased support for the Indoor Volleyball teams, is Indoor Volleyball now on television more? No and No.

What makes indoor volleyball coaches upset, is that this Sand/Beach volleyball entity is not supported by the mass of coaches simply because we know better than anyone at the AVCA or NCAA what we are facing. It is disheartening when all these surveys go out, we answer them and the results show majorities (either simple or overwhelming) not supporting initiatives, and then the initiatives are still put into action. For example the majority of college coaches did not support the survey to implement sand volleyball as a NCAA sport. More telling was in the Sand/Beach Volleyball override vote (which means enough schools, had serious second thoughts about this sport) at the AD's National Convention, over 60% of the NCAA Division I voting membership voted NO to Sand/Beach Volleyball, but the measure carried because of just a couple (literally just a couple) of yes votes.

As usual for our sport, and something you referenced in your email, is that a few powerful individuals like the idea and made it happen; we don't agree to disagree, we disagree and then those with power do what they want. The AVCA was able to smoke screen the NCAA by saying, "all indoor players love to play sand volleyball and the college coaches would love to coach sand volleyball" - What is truly amazing is that the NCAA put this emerging sport onto the path of reality without the AVCA actually outlining an exact season of competition, length of season, what constitutes a competition, what qualifies as a team, etc. The AVCA just said, "trust us, they will love it".

I would have been much more supportive of the Sand/Beach Volleyball idea had the AVCA worked with USA Volleyball to make it a reality. USA Volleyball already has established some basic parameters and organization to support juniors and college sand/beach volleyball and it extends into the FIVB. Let USA Volleyball, with the AVCA's support and encouragement, provide a summer sand/beach volleyball opportunity for college volleyball players. You have to believe USA Volleyball would garner a greater percentage of college athletes in sand/beach over the summer, than what they achieve in their various college age indoor development teams.

Per NCAA rules, we are not allowed to have coaching contact with our player in the summer, so I believe that many of the college coaches would be supportive of this opportunity for our players to touch the ball in a controlled, supervised environment. This idea would also allow the AVCA and USA Volleyball to development a cadre of dedicated sand/beach volleyball coaches, who were outside of the college ranks. The entire enterprise could be run via the USA Volleyball Regional Offices, as many regions already have sand/beach volleyball protocols in place.

I am no big fan of USA Volleyball, but I would rather have this summer opportunity for my players to train and experience sand/beach volleyball, than face the very real consequence of having sand/beach college volleyball take away resources, time and staffing from indoor volleyball to play a sport that will never be anything more than a niche sport in the eyes of the NCAA and the general public.

Ok - Gotta keep going here...Sand/Beach volleyball has no calendar time frame to be successful during the college academic year. Think about it; it won't play in the fall because of indoor volleyball, it can't play in the winter because of weather (and indoor sand volleyball is a joke, and any true beach volleyball player/supporter knows that the outside conditions are an important component of being a sand/beach player), the spring finds the untouchables of March Madness in both basketballs, and then softball and baseball are perfectly positioned to finish out the school year, and I can absolutely guarantee you that they will not surrender any on campus support or national media support for sand/beach volleyball. University/college semesters are done in early May, with just a handful of schools going into June.

Better to have sand/beach volleyball as a summer opportunity via USA Volleyball, with the ability to use the USA Volleyball organization and development of specific sand/beach volleyball coaches, than to jam the sport into the NCAA when the majority of indoor coaches don't even want it!