Beach event raises awareness for sport

Imagine Mary Wise leading a Florida volleyball team onto a sand volleyball court under a warm spring sun for an NCAA championship match against Texas, Nebraska or Southern Cal.

Sound far-fetched? It could someday become a reality.

The surging popularity of collegiate beach volleyball will take a historic step forward today when Florida hosts the first SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships at the sand courts outside the Southwest Rec Center on the UF campus. Pool play begins at 8:30 a.m. with the gold medal match beginning at 6 p.m.

It will be the first beach volleyball tournament held by a Division I conference and will feature multiple teams from all 11 SEC volleyball programs.

Coaches and others in the volleyball community believe as the sport surges in popularity, the NCAA might be forced to sanction it as a spring sport.

"That is something that we are talking about," Tennessee coach Rob Patrick said. "What we want is the SEC to be at the forefront for pushing this."

The goal is for beach volleyball to be placed on the NCAA's emerging sports list. The NCAA defines an emerging sport as “a sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to provide additional athletics opportunities to female student-athletes.”

The emerging sports list has produced four new women's sports that have attained championship status since 1994. They are rowing, ice hockey, water polo and bowling.

Kathy DeBoer, executive director for the American Volleyball Coaches Association, said if there is enough interest from schools, the NCAA would have to consider sanctioning it.

"This would be an initiative that would have to come from schools," DeBoer said. "The NCAA has a process for developing emerging sport opportunities for women that's been around for 20 years. Part of their initiative is to continue to follow the direction of Title IX for women to participate in variety of sports."

The sport's ascent has been rapid. The first major beach volleyball event was held last year in San Diego. The Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships, which was created by CSTV, featured eight teams, including Florida's Marcie Hampton and Angie McGinnis.

A total of five beach volleyball events will be held this year, according to the AVCA. The most recent was the Sunshine State Conference tournament, which was played on March 29 in Clearwater and won by the University of Tampa.

The Big West Conference will also hold an event later this month and the Big East is considering organizing an event for next year.

"In just one year we've gone from 16 athletes to over 400," DeBoer said. "It's still a little number, but it's tremendous growth."

Some detractors, however, believe beach volleyball might take interest away from the indoor game. The reason is that television views beach volleyball much more positively than indoor volleyball.

"The way I look at it is: volleyball is volleyball," Patrick said. "If outdoor volleyball is on TV more than indoor, that's not going to bother me."

Wise said beach volleyball is good for many reasons. The outdoor game places less of a premium on size and more on passing and shot selection, giving shorter athletes a better chance.

Also, Wise said, beach volleyball gives the sport more exposure.

"It's an opportunity to grow the sport," Wise said. "We haven't had many of those opportunities until now. If you grow the sport, it means more opportunities for girls. It means more opportunities for coaches."