General Policies

Payments

In most cases, prepayment for an event or program is required either in full or as a deposit when registering. We currently accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. No American Express.

Refund Policy

Cancellations made two (2) or more days before an event date (For example: A cancellation for a Saturday event must be made by the Thursday before) will be subject to a full refund minus a 3% refund fee. Cancellation requests can be made by sending an email to info@southernsandvolleyball.org. Please include the billing name and the specific event(s) of interest.

Weather Cancellation Policy

All sand events are played rain or shine. In the rare event we are forecast a full day of heavy rain or high winds then we will announce a cancellation by 9PM the day before the event and all registrants will be refunded. Delays caused due to storms after an event happens are a possibility too. All reasonable efforts to wait out the weather will be made along with attempts to condense the tournament as needed to fit within the time available for the event. If an event is ultimately cancelled after starting, no refunds will be offered.

Facility Rules

All locations for events follow these policies:

  • No alcohol
  • No firearms
  • No smoking in the immediate playing area. For the Southern Sand Volleyball Complex at Hope Chapel in Apex, this means anywhere inside the fence.
  • No pets inside the fenced area. Pets outside the fenced area must be on a leash.

Tournament Events

Costs*

Adults

Refer to the specific event’s registration page for details.

Events will be sanctioned through VolleyAmerica. If you do not have a current membership ($15 for the year from Jan-Dec), get one here.

Note: Juniors can play in adult divisions if desired.

Juniors

Refer to the specific event’s registration page for details.

Events will be sanctioned through USA Volleyball. If you’re not a member, you can join for $15 for the summer (April-Oct) or pay a one-time event membership of $5 by going here.

Late Registration Period (varies by event):

Registration fees increase by $10 per team.

Walk-up Fee on Day of Event:

$70 per team for all divisions (Adults or Juniors). No guarantee that space will be available. Cash or check to ‘Southern Sand Volleyball’.

Format

Standard: Pool play consisting of 4 or 5 teams followed by a single elimination playoff. Special events may follow a different format at the tournament director’s discretion.

Divisions

Adults

  • Open – most competitive division (professional level athlete).
  • AA – Advanced level athlete. This division is intended for those with multiple years of playing experience, plays regularly (at least during certain times of the year), but not looking for semi-pro/pro-level competition.
  • A – Intermediate level athlete. This division is for those with a year or more of playing experience and play somewhat regularly.  Prizes for first place team in each gender
  • BB/B – Beginner level athlete. This division is for those that are generally pretty new to the sport, perhaps playing in a tournament for the first time or considers themselves a rec player primarily. Prizes for first place team in each gender
  • Note: If a division does not have at least 4 teams, it will be merged up with the next division. In the event of less than 4 teams for open, it will merged into AA and called AA.

Juniors

  • 18U – Players who were born on or after Sept 1, 1999, or Players who were born on or after Sept 1, 1998 and a high school student during the current academic year
  • 16U – Players who were born on or after Sept 1, 2001
  • 14U – Players who were born on or after Sept 1, 2003
  • 12U – Players who were born on or after Sept 1, 2005

Event Day Schedule

Adults

  • Morning Start:
    • 8:00AM-8:45AM: Check-in
    • 9:00AM: Players meeting followed by start of competition
  • Afternoon Start (Typically applies to Sundays):
    • 12:00PM-12:45PM: Check-in
    • 1:00PM: Players meeting followed by start of competition

Juniors

  • 2 Sessions Format
    • Morning Wave (14U, 12u)
      • 8AM-8:30AM: Check-in
      • 8:45AM: Players meeting followed by start of competition
      • Approx 12:30PM: End of Pool Play, Start of Playoffs
      • Approx 2:30PM: End of Finals
    • Afternoon Wave (18U, 16U)
      • 1:30PM-2PM: Check-in
      • 2:15PM: Players meeting followed by start of competition
      • Approx 6PM: End of Pool Play, Start of Playoffs
      • Approx 8PM: End of Finals
  • Full Day Format (Single session with extended playoffs – Championships/Silver)
    • 8AM-8:30AM: Check-in
    • 8:45AM: Players meeting followed by start of competition
    • Approx 12:30PM: End of Pool Play, Start of Playoffs
    • Approx 4PM: End of Finals
  • Special Event Format
    • This will vary based on the event. We may have some where match-play (best 2 out of 3 sets) is the focus with a smaller field of teams.

Rules

Unless otherwise specified for an event, current USA Volleyball beach rules will be used. Below is a clarification of some rules in an effort to avoid contention.

All Ages

  • The warm-up period for a match is only 5 minutes. This is the rule – 7.2! If you like to spend a lot of time warming up, then do so somewhere off to the side of play as the previous match is about to finish.
  • We do NOT allow touching of the net between the antennas by any body part or clothing while the ball is in play. Touching the net with hair is allowed. 
  • Hand setting, while permitted, must be clean (exception is on a hard-driven ball). A serve is not considered hard-driven. In general, attempting to hand set the first ball over is not recommended. Excessive sideway spin and/or 2+ rotations of the ball forward/backward should be called. Some leniency can be afforded to lower division/recreational division play.
  • Hand setting over the net is only allowed if clean and directly forward/backward of where shoulders/body are positioned.
  • No finger action permitted while tipping the ball at the net
  • There is only 1 timeout for 1 minute per team per game. At the tournament director’s discretion, the 30 second technical timeout when the sum of points played is 21 may serve as an addition timeout. This timeout will generally only be used if it is a hot and/or humid day.
  • Unless decided by the tournament director to permit due to the heat and/or humidity, grabbing water as part of a side change is not permitted.
  • The time between games is technically only 1 minute too. Don’t believe us, then look at rule 18.1 in the rulebook. While this rule can be relaxed some for tournament play, especially on hot/humid days, we ask that people not take excessive breaks of more than 5 minutes between games.
  • In the event of injury, a team is given one 5 minute medical timeout per match to assess the situation after which a decision about continuing to play or forfeit must be made.
  • The time between end of rally and serve is at most 12 seconds. If an official sees this rule being abused excessively then a warning will be issued. If it continues, each subsequent infraction will result in loss of point and loss of serve.
  • If you lose your match during playoffs, chances are you need to stay around to ref the following match. If you were the first team in your pool not to make playoffs then you will  need to stay around to ref a first round match  in playoffs.
  • Adult Coed Doubles Service Courtesy Rule – Male players should make every reasonable effort to serve their male counterpart on the opposing team. Ultimately this is a judgement call between teams. Typically a replay of serve can be requested by receiving team if the courtesy rule is not adhered.

Juniors Only

  • An overhead pass on serve-receive using fingers in a setting action is not allowed. Instead, put your hands together as one large fist (aka tomahawk) or make firm open hands together or side-by-side.
  • Coaching is permitted only during timeouts and between games for events at our facility. We have found this strikes a good balance for the layout we have and minimizes the potential issues raised when coaches attempt to “briefly” talk to their players during side switches.
  • A questionable call can be brought to the tournament director’s attention who may elect to have the point replayed if there was a clear mistake or misunderstanding by the team officiating. In most cases, the call made by the team officiating will stand.
  • A condensed review of rules used by all hosts on the Carolina Region Jr Beach Tour can be found here.