Three years ago, an NCAA sand volleyball championship was just a thought. Now it's a group of 44 Division I teams with its first NCAA championship coming in 2016.
Three years. That's all it took to get 40 programs on board, the minimum to become an NCAA championship sport. There are now 44 NCAA Division I sand volleyball programs, including eight Pac-12 teams — ASU, Arizona, Stanford, Oregon, Cal, Washington, USC and UCLA. Sand volleyball has become the fastest-growing NCAA sport with 50 teams sponsoring it, from all three divisions, as of January.
"We are thrilled to have sand volleyball as the next NCAA championship," said Damani Leech, managing director of NCAA championships and alliances in a release." The sport is growing rapidly across our membership as well as at the professional and Olympic levels. We look forward to helping steward the continued growth of this sport and provide deserving student-athletes a tremendous championship experience."
The NCAA is currently in the process of selecting the first host site for the new championship and will hopefully make a final decision by next fall as they are expecting the tournament to start next May.
The championship will be played in a double-elimination format with eight brackets, and competition will be tough, with at least 44 teams competing.
How has ASU started preparing?
Unlike the other programs, the majority of the Sun Devil sand volleyball players are also members of the indoor volleyball team.
According to the NCAA, data show that 60 percent of the participants at sponsored schools only play sand volleyball, not both. At ASU, that's not the case. Of the 17 players on the roster, 11 of them have also played on the indoor team. That's the challenge the Sun Devils face.
"We need to spend more time in the sand," head coach Jason Watson said. "With the bulk of our team comprised of our indoor athletes, we need to get them on the sand and transitioning to the sand game a little faster."
The team has increased the number of games this season, both at home and away, in preparation for next season's championship. The team has traveled to South Carolina where it played numerous teams and will travel to Southern California in two weeks for the Pac-12 Championships.
Despite having less sand experience than many teams, Watson is confident ASU can be competitive in the 2016 NCAA championship.
Over the past two seasons, the American Volleyball Coaches Association has organized a collegiate sand volleyball tournament and will this season as well.
ASU has three weekends of the season left including the first ever ASU Sand Volleyball Challenge beginning Friday, the Pac-12 tournament in Santa Monica on April 18 and 19, and will finish up the season in Tucson against the Wildcats on April 22.
The team will utilize as much time on the sand as possible and is excited for the NCAA championship in expected in May 2016.
Reach the reporter at kewens@asu.edu or follow @katlynewens on Twitter.
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