Junior Beach Volleyball Teams

Beach Season is here and numerous athletes have asked Megan Wallin and Kristen Batt about beach clinics for junior teams. If you have a daughter that is interested in playing in beach tournaments this summer please read the below.

Megan and Kristen are looking for committed Junior Beach Volleyball players who want to compete in the Junior Beach Volleyball Tournaments in Florida. The age divisions that they will be coaching are 16’s-18’s.

EEVB will organizing 6 Junior Beach Volleyball Tournaments this spring. Dig the Beach will be hosting 6 Junior Beach Volleyball Tournaments. Other organizers including USA Volleyball Junior Beach and AAU Beach Volleyball will be hosting additional Tournaments this summer.

We are looking to form teams by finding committed players who want to meet once a week during the club season. Currently we have created a practice schedule for the first few months.

Right now we are looking to start practices @ 4PM ( see schedule below)

• March 2nd Wednesday
• March 9th Wednesday
• March 16th Wednesday
• March 23rd Wednesday
• March 30th Wednesday
• April 6th Friday
• April 13th Wednesday
• April 20th Wednesday
• April 27th Wednesday

Each practice session will be a minimum of 2 hours at Siesta Key. The cost is $150 for 10 sessions. Goto http://spikekey.com/clinics/hcamps

Juniors Beach Volleyball Tournaments announced so far for 2011 (Tentative Schedule)

• FBVT Feb 27 Fort Lauderdale
• Rox Volleyball Feb 27 Clearwater
• Rox Volleyball Mar 6 Winter Haven
• Rox Volleyball Mar 20 Siesta Key
• FBVT Mar 27 Hollywood Beach
• Rox Volleyball Mar 27 St. Augustine
• FBVT Apr 3 Fort Lauderdale
• FBVT Apr 10 Broward County
• Rox Volleyball Apr 10 Hollywood
• Rox Volleyball April 17 Clearwater
• FBVT May 1 Siesta Key
• FBVT May 15 Deerfield Beach
• Dig The Beach May 22 Siesta Key
• FBVT May 29 TBD
• Dig The Beach June 5 Ft. Myers
• Dig The Beach June 12 Siesta key
• FBVT Jun 19 Hollywood Beach
• Dig The Beach June 26 Broward County (TBD)
• Dig The Beach July 10 Siesta Key
• FBVT Jul 17 Deerfield Beach
• Dig The Beach July 24 Broward County (TBD)
• FBVT Aug 14 Hollywood Beach
• FBVT Aug 21 Fort Lauderdale

Coach Kristen Batt is a 6’0 resident of Venice, Florida, graduated from Venice High School in 1999. She lettered in volleyball, basketball, and softball. She led the Venice volleyball team to a state championship and was named MVP her junior and senior years. She was also voted Florida Gatorade players of the year in 1999. Kristen earned a full ride volleyball scholarship at the University of Kentucky and was a four-year starter. She was named All SEC, and was elected as her team’s Most Valuable Player. Kristen moved back to Florida in 2005 to pursue her dream of playing professional beach volleyball. She was named the 2009 EVP Rookie of the Year and is currently attending the University of South Florida working towards her Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling. She is varsity volleyball coach at Cardinal Mooney and is High School Director at Suncoast Volleyball Club as well as head coach for the 16’s National Black Team at Suncoast Volleyball Club in Sarasota, Florida.

Coach Megan Wallin is a native of Sarasota, Florida and graduate of Cardinal Mooney high school where she lettered in three sports. She graduated as senior class president and was voted athlete of the year in the state of Florida, 2001. She graduated from Michigan State University, where she competed on the varsity volleyball team under a full scholarship. Megan was selected captain and most outstanding player by her teammates in both her junior and senior years. In addition, she was selected as Academic All-Big Ten scholar athlete four consecutive years. Megan has two full time professions: professional beach volleyball player, and publisher of SpikeKey Beach, a beach volleyball magazine.

College Sand Volleyball News

The first college sand volleyball season for NCAA Division 1, Division 2 and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics will begin in the spring of 2012.

Sand Volleyball teams will be allowed to compete in a maximum of 16 volleyball events during the spring semester. The sand volleyball team will be able to field five doubles teams per competition, so there are actually 10 starters per squad. (Note: Each college will support what they can afford in terms of scholarships, additional staff and competitions.)

Scholarships: some colleges have fully funded their allotted equivalencies and are ready to recruit for 2012. Other schools will offer the program but may not have scholarship dollars for another couple of years.  The number of scholarships will very per division. For example, the NCAA Division 1 legislation allows 6 scholarships to be added over a period of four years, starting with 3 in 2011-12 and one each year for three years thereafter. Keep in mind, this is what each Division 1 school is “allowed” by the NCAA. Funding the scholarships is totally dependant on the university’s athletic administration. Division 2 and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics schools will have different parameters for scholarships they can offer.

Per AVCA: Institutions Discussing Sand Volleyball Programs  (Jan 20, 2011)