With the rise in popularity of beach volleyball in the United States, the question has come up as to when the NJCAA will be adding the sport of beach or sand volleyball to it’s list of certified sports. In 2011, the NJCAA conducted a membership survey to get an idea of the level of interest for adding sand volleyball. At that time the interest was limited and the interested schools were spread too thin across the country to make it a viable sport addition for the organization at that time.
Since sand volleyball is not a certified sport of the NJCAA can member colleges sponsor teams in the sport during the spring? The answer to that is yes with a few considerations. The NJCAA looks at 6 person volleyball and sand volleyball to be similar in nature since they both use the same skill set for competition. That being said, a member college can participate in sand volleyball in the spring season. If the competitions are scrimmages and meet all of the scrimmage definition the school may compete using student-athletes who are enrolled in the spring term and have a valid physical on file. The key thing to consider with scrimmages is there can be no championship play. championship play is where an ultimate winner is identified or a bracket structure where winners advance. Straight pool play is not considered championship play as long as no champion is identified. If the competitions are not scrimmages, a member school must submit eligibility in order for the team to compete in those non-scrimmage contests. If a student is certified for spring volleyball they would have used one season of NJCAA spring volleyball eligibility.