Division Guidelines:
Note – not all divisions are offered at all tournaments.
AA/Open – Highly competitive players. Collegiate players/pros
A – Competitive players with good command of skills
B – Recreation players with high level of consistency
Novice – New players developing their skills
Juniors – Youth 15 and Under. This is a change from previous years. Youth 17 and under can still get the free Juniors membership, but to play in the Juniors division, you must be 15 or under. Teams in the Juniors division can be two guys, two girls, or one of each.
Masters – Age 35+
Parent/ Child – Parent/Adult and child in of any gender combination can play together. Children age 17 and under. This is a non-competitive division with no tournament play.
More Information and rule differences:
Open division – held in the sand, on short courts (8m x 8m). Let serves are legal, and the block counts as the first team contact.
AA division – held in the grass, on short courts, similar rules as Open where let serves are legal, and the block counts as a touch.
A division – As of 2012, same as AA. Held on grass with short courts, Same rules as AA.
B, Novice – As of 2013, same as A and AA. Held on grass with short courts, Same rules as A and AA.
Parent/Child – The purpose of this division is for the child to have a positive experience and to get as many touches on the ball as possible. It is not for the purpose of the parent to dominate the match. As our children get bigger, and they express an interest in the sport of volleyball, we want to give them a division that they can participate in and not feel intimidated. In order to put the adults on a level playing field and for the safety of the children, adults may not contact the ball, above the height of the net, when the ball is attacked. This includes legal tipping, roll shots, and setting the ball over when the ball is above the height of the net. The adults also may not block. There are no restrictions on serving, however, it is recommended that if the adult serves the child they do so at the child’s skill level. New for 2016: To eliminate the competitiveness of the Parent-Child division, there will be no prizes awarded to the winning teams. This division will only have two rounds of pool play and will not have any kind of elimination tournament. All the children who participate will receive a small prize. If you want to compete for better prizes please consider playing in one of the other divisions such as Novice or B.
Women’s Divisions – Boys age 13 and under may play in women’s Novice or B divisions.
Coed – Played on a Men’s height net. Teams typically consist of a male and a female, however two females can play together. Boys age 13 and under may play in coed Novice or B divisions as the ‘female’.
Reverse Coed – Men cannot attack the ball in front of the 10 ft line. If a male does contact the ball in front of the 10 ft line, part of the ball must be below the height of the net. If your team is made up of two females, one will need to be designated the “male” for the entire day.
COED 4’s Outdoor Rules – All doubles rules shall apply to Coed 4’s except the following:
4 players per team, no subs (as of 2015). Mixed teams are composed of male and female players competing on a men’s height net. Mixed teams must contain as many or more females as males.
Players are free to position themselves anywhere within their court. There are no positional faults; only the server must rotate and the serving position must rotate from one gender to the other.
If the ball is contacted more than once by a team a female player must make at least one of the contacts
Let serves are legal in Coed 4’s
There is no open-hand tipping in Coed 4’s, just like in doubles
Advancement and Minimum Participation Rules
All of these rules apply to divisions within one Format. Men’s, Women’s, Coed, and Reverse-Coed are all different formats, so rankings, points, and minimum divisions are separate for each one. Rankings, points, and minimum divisions in one format have no effect on other formats. So, for example, if you have points in Men’s B, you couldn’t play in Men’s Novice, but you could play in Coed Novice.
Players must advance to the next highest division after his/her FIRST win in any division: Novice, B, and A, provided there are at least 6 teams competing in that division. This applies to Men’s, Women’s, and Coed tournaments.
NEW FOR 2022: Players must advance to the next highest division after finishing second place in any division: Novice, B, and A, provided there are at least 12 teams competing in that division.
Players are NOT required to advance from AA on the grass to Open on the sand.
If there are less than 6 teams in a division, there is no advancement requirement, and points will not be awarded in any division.
Each new season, the top 10 players from each division from the previous season must play in that division or higher. Those that earned points but did not finish in the top 10 may move down only 1 division during the following season. Exception for 2020-2021 years: 2020 minimum division requirements will carry forward to the 2021 season.
For Men’s Open, the top 20 Players must stay in Men’s Open and/or AA.
If there are less than 10 players with points in a division, those players will not be required to stay in the division, but may only move down 1 division from the highest division where points were earned.
Once a player earns points in a division, they may not play in a lower division for the remainder of that season.
A tournament director may allow a player to play in a lower division than that required by these rules, but that player’s team will not be allowed to advance out of pool play.