AVCA Offering Beach Volleyball Conference

2017 AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Conference

Coaches and administrators looking to start or improve their beach volleyball programs will have an opportunity to learn from those at the top of the industry at the first AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Conference, May 6-7 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The event, which is being held in conjunction with the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships, will take place at the Gulf Shores Public Beach, site of the championships.

Admission to the conference is free with the purchase of an NCAA All-Session Ticket. Courtside tickets are $75, while general admission tickets are $45. NCAA Experience All-Session tickets also are available for $175. More information on tickets can be found here.

Pre-registration for the conference is available through the AVCA office until Sunday, April 23, and on-site beginning at 8 a.m. on May 6. In addition to sessions on Saturday and Sunday, conference registration also includes a networking reception on Saturday evening and breakfast on Sunday.

The conference will be broken into two learning tracks, one for beach coaches in existing programs and one for coaches and administrators looking to begin a program. On the slate for the coaches are sessions on picking pairs, drills and techniques for training crossover athletes and a session on favorite drills. Those planning a program will learn about how to build support from their schools and communities, steps for forming a geographic consortium, and the nuts and bolts of writing a beach volleyball proposal. The groups will combine for a pair of sessions on Sunday, discussing maximizing revenue from campus courts and beach volleyball issues.

Speakers include Corey Bray, Associate Athletics Director at UAB; Colleen Craig, CEO and co-founder of Rally Volleyball; Kathy DeBoer, Executive Director of the AVCA; Fran Flory, Director of Volleyball at LSU; Jaime Gordon, Director of Volleyball at Morehead State; Ted Gumbart, Commissioner of the Atlantic Sun Conference; Peggy Martin, Director of Volleyball at Spring Hill College; and Pepperdine assistant coach Marcio Sicoli.

Beach volleyball, the newest sponsored championship of the NCAA, was sponsored by 56 institutions in the 2015-2016 season with a total of 909 participating athletes. That’s 4-times as many teams, and over 4 times as many athletes, as when the sport first received recognition just 5 seasons earlier in 2011-2012.

The NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships will be played Friday, May 5 (9 a.m.-4 p.m.); Saturday May 6 (1-4 p.m.); and Sunday (10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.).

More information on the conference can be found here.