You are a volleyball parent and your indoor player has decided – or you have made the decision – that the beach game might be a fun and productive option.
(Cue the Robot from “Lost in Space” waving his arms wildly and crying, “Warning! Warning!)
Yes, playing sand doubles has obvious conditioning and skills-acceleration benefits, but naive parents should be forewarned that getting their kids involved in sanctioned competitive events isn’t quite as simple as showing up at the gym on time for game days.
While junior players’ clubs handle the bulk of the heavy lifting for their indoor teams, parents themselves most frequently bear the burden of responsibility for identifying suitable tournaments, registering their youngsters for them, paying for them in advance, then keeping fingers crossed that the kids’ age group actually fills, and that the weather cooperates enough that they won’t be sitting outside in the rain all day.
But wait, there’s more: When playing indoors, coaches determine the lineup. On the sand, finding a doubles partner falls to the kids and/or the parents. That partner might change from event to event. And both athletes need to be registered with the appropriate sanctioning body.
So, parents, be prepared to carve out even more time and effort on your volleyball player’s logistics than you do during the indoor season.
What seems to be the single-most intimidating factor to the new “beach” parent?
Competitions are sanctioned by six main bodies: USA Volleyball, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the AVP (through its AVP America program), Beach Volleyball National Events (BVNE), Beach Volleyball Clubs of America (BVCA) and p1440 (a venture co-founded by three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh-Jennings).
Furthermore, each of these groups requires paid membership (meaning potential multiple membership numbers to track), charges entry fees for each tournament, compiles their own points standings and holds separate national championships.
Why are so many groups out there competing for developing players, you might ask? Simple. All aspire to make money off a sport with a growing talent base fueled on the girls’ side by the carrot on the end of the stick of a college scholarship to play beach volleyball, which adds new…
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