Especially since it has previously been discussed both in a buffzone article a couple years ago (http://www.buffzone.com/ci_22654797/could-there-be-sand-cus-future) and was discussed in allbuffs (http://www.allbuffs.com/showthread.php/101612-Another-VB-verbal-very-interesting! ) as a potential future CU sport, wanted to mention I learned (Thanks to the Volleytalk forum) that Women’s Sand Volleyball has now officially been announced as an NCAA championship sport, effective NEXT spring (2016). (Through this year, it will just be considered an “emerging” sport (I believe its called?- meaning no official NCAA national championship recognition to the winner) because it didn't have enough teams (minimum is I believe 40?) participating for the required 2 years.)
The article linked to in Volleytalk confirming the upcoming championship sport status is http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/artic...ip-approves-sand-volleyball-90th-championship . (Although the headline of the article is highlighting sand volleyball just becoming an official Division II and III sport, the 2nd paragraph does say it also officially was announced as a 2016 Division I championship sport last October.)
As a fan of the sport, be interesting to see if (and when if) CU decides to add the sport. (I do know the indoor vball team has incorporated some sand training and a couple exhibitions as part of its spring training period at least the last couple years, but of course that's a BIG difference from competing at the Division I level.) I made a lengthy post in the earlier allbuffs post linked to above as to potential issues I could think of with CU adding this sport. Way back in the Bohn era, it sounded like (per the buffzone article linked to above) sand being added was being seriously considered. However, nothing official has taken place or announced since then, and I assume Mr. George will want to get football revenue up (and maybe increased in the other ticketed sports like vball and the two basketballs?) before adding ANY new sports.?.
I found an article by the Vball Coaches' Association describing how a beach volleyball program can be added for as little as $40,000/yr. (http://www.avca.org/includes/media/docs/Sand-on-$40-Grand.pdf - Note- I haven't read it yet). However, I assume that teams utilizing that mimimal level of budget will get badly beaten in matches against the schools that are taking the sport seriously (USC, Pepperdine, FSU, etc. so far), so assume the "cheap" option would be a valid model/ budget only for the first few transitional years of a program. (I believe the "serious" schools are already awarding the maximum allowed 6 sand vball only scholarships (Sand is an equivalency sport, so the dollars equivalent to 6 scholarships can be given to more than 6 players) AND have dedicated sand coaches.)
The article linked to in Volleytalk confirming the upcoming championship sport status is http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/artic...ip-approves-sand-volleyball-90th-championship . (Although the headline of the article is highlighting sand volleyball just becoming an official Division II and III sport, the 2nd paragraph does say it also officially was announced as a 2016 Division I championship sport last October.)
As a fan of the sport, be interesting to see if (and when if) CU decides to add the sport. (I do know the indoor vball team has incorporated some sand training and a couple exhibitions as part of its spring training period at least the last couple years, but of course that's a BIG difference from competing at the Division I level.) I made a lengthy post in the earlier allbuffs post linked to above as to potential issues I could think of with CU adding this sport. Way back in the Bohn era, it sounded like (per the buffzone article linked to above) sand being added was being seriously considered. However, nothing official has taken place or announced since then, and I assume Mr. George will want to get football revenue up (and maybe increased in the other ticketed sports like vball and the two basketballs?) before adding ANY new sports.?.
I found an article by the Vball Coaches' Association describing how a beach volleyball program can be added for as little as $40,000/yr. (http://www.avca.org/includes/media/docs/Sand-on-$40-Grand.pdf - Note- I haven't read it yet). However, I assume that teams utilizing that mimimal level of budget will get badly beaten in matches against the schools that are taking the sport seriously (USC, Pepperdine, FSU, etc. so far), so assume the "cheap" option would be a valid model/ budget only for the first few transitional years of a program. (I believe the "serious" schools are already awarding the maximum allowed 6 sand vball only scholarships (Sand is an equivalency sport, so the dollars equivalent to 6 scholarships can be given to more than 6 players) AND have dedicated sand coaches.)
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