Meet other local people who love volleyball and want to play for fun! Nothing serious, just a fun reason to get away from your daily routine and enjoy some sun on the beach.
So that we can have a minimum level of play for everyone, players should have an ability to pass a ball to the setter before attending. "Backyard" or [jungle ball](https://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=Gardien0...) volleyball is strongly frowned upon. If you've a beginner whose never played before, you will need to have beginner's lessons before attending. Adult lessons and clinics are offered with The [Coast Volleyball Club](https://www.meetup.com/Coast-Beach-Volleyball-Meetup/), [San Diego Beach Volleyball Club](https://www.sandiegobeachvolleyball.com/page12/page8/), [Life's a Beach](https://www.labcsandiego.com/), or maybe even a patient friend.
**Our Goals**
1\. San Diego \(Mostly\) Beach Volleyball Meetup is a safe\, fun\, and friendly social volleyball group\.
2\. Provide lightly competitive weekly beach volleyball games\.
3\. Provide a venue for players of advanced beginner to Proficient Veteran \(aka Intermediate\) to practice and improve their volleyball skills\.
**Policies**
1\. Team assignments:
* The preference for the number of players on a team is 4, 5, and then 3. We sometimes will play 2v2 games during walk-on.
* Players will randomly be assigned into inclusive teams. Players shall not create teams on their own.
* Everyone gets to play, or “you cannot say, ‘you cannot play.’”
* Whenever reasonably possible, teams are allowed and encouraged to absorb onto their teams the players that have arrived late and missed the team assignments.
2\. City Permit: The size of the group has a maximum limit in order to avoid the need for a permit\. Don’t cause the group to exceed its limits by starting games on an adjacent personal or permanent net\. Do not withhold a ticket from others if you are intending to playing elsewhere\.
3\. Net Setup and Takedown: Players are assigned to a volleyball court in groups of 8 as they arrive\. Once the net is up\, you may start to play and can continue playing on your own until the morning burst of players has arrived\. Then\, we’ll start mixing teams as normal\. Players arriving after the morning burst will still need to set up a net so that there is room for them to play\. If you are unfamiliar with setting up a volleyball court\, I'd recommend getting there before the morning burst so that there is plenty of help for you\. Everyone should check to see if a net should be taken down before leaving\.
4\. Equipment Transportation: An organizer may ask you for help with transporting the group’s equipment to and from group events\. When taking the equipment\, please remember that it should not be used for any private events where everyone wasn’t given the opportunity to play too\.
5\. Suggestions: We’re always looking for ways that we can improve the group\. So\, we'd like to encourage you to feel free to offer us your suggestions\, as long as they are in support of and are consistent with the philosophies of the group\. Please read the FAQs\. There's a lot of good info there and may have what you're looking for\.
6\. Sportsmanship: Making the call – More experienced players are expected to call all errors on themselves\. Less experienced players are encouraged to call the errors on themselves based on their level of play\. Blatant errors can be called by anyone\. If there is a disagreement\, or a fault was caused by a member who was unfamiliar with the rules\, the point can be played over\.
7\. The beach volleyball rules that we try to follow are established by the International Volleyball Federation \(FIVB\) and are used\, with a few exceptions:
* no open-hand receptions
* no foot faults
* no open-hand dinks
* setting the ball over is fine if perpendicular to shoulders (accidental set-overs are not acceptable)
[https://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Document/2019/Worl...)
8\. No pets with the exception of an ADA service animals\. Emotional support\, therapy\, comfort\, or companion animals are not considered service animals under the ADA\. [https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.pdf](https:...)
9\. To hold a reservation\, members must be recognizable from their photo and cannot use a Pseudonym\. \(Please see FAQ \#7\.\)
10\. Although your friend may have told you that they've played volleyball before\, for safety reasons\, do not invite players that do not possess the basic fundamentals of volleyball\. \(Please see FAQ \#9\.\)
11\. We'll bring the net's and equipment\. Your responsible for everything else that you might need\.
**Local Volleyball Rules**
1\. Rally scoring to 21 points with a 2 points lead or being the first team to reach 25 points\, wins the game\. Teams will switch sides when either team first reaches 11 points\.
2\. For brand new players to the group\, the first serve of their very first game is only valid if there are no faults on the serve\. If a fault does happen\, they’ll get one single mulligan\.
3\. Do not go under the net while the ball is in play\. For safety reasons\, going under the net is highly discouraged to minimize the possibility of personal injury\. \(per Indoor\, section 11\.2\.2\.1\)
4\. Call the score before each serving\, which takes the place of the 1st referee's whistle\. \(section 12\.3\)
5\. A back\-row player cannot attack the ball at the net \(spike\)\, but may do so from mid\-court\. \(per Indoor\, section 13\.2\.2\)
6\. Blocking is considered intercepting the ball coming from the opponent with both feet come off the ground at the net\. \(vice reaching higher than the top of the net : per section 14\.1\.1\)
7\. Contact with the ball during blocking does not count as a hit\. The blocking team will have three more hits after a blocking contact \(per Indoor\, section 14\.4\)
8\. During a volley and receiving the ball from the other team\, a 3\-hit\, bump\-set\-spike should always be attempted\.
* To avoid collisions with your teammates, it is good practice to always speak up before attempting to hit the ball. (eg. “got it,” “I go,” or “me me me”)
* The setter will always get the 2nd hit unless they call for “help.” The setter should be the only one to say “help” for the 2nd hit.
**FAQ’s**
1: What do you mean by “lightly competitive”?
Although we are a social group and emphasize having fun, at the same time we want to have good games with good bumping, setting, and volleying, to the greatest extent possible. We still enjoy winning a hard-fought game.
2: Why don’t you play 2-on-2 games?
2-on-2 games are more competitive in nature, which goes against the group’s philosophy of being social in nature. Also, having more members on each team allows for more socializing among the members, and allows more people to be playing at one time. We may allow 2-on-2 games after a few rounds of 4's, if time allows.
3: Why do you count off teams? (aka: The tickets)
We use a count-off system to randomly assign people to teams independent of their skill level. We may try a different scheme of randomizing players from time to time; however, we will not divide people up by skill level. We do a recount after a game or two in order to get to meet and play with as many different players as possible during the day. Also, it encourages good sportsmanship. Rivals on opposite sides of the net will often find themselves playing on the same team by the end of the day.
4: Why do you ___________, when you should _________?
San Diego Beach Volleyball is 100% volunteer driven. We are in no way a business. The only reason that anything gets done is that someone has volunteered their time and effort for the benefit of the group. As long as it aligns with the philosophy of the group, we're inclined to let people contribute however they can, and extremely grateful even after they are no longer inclined. Those that do the contributing get to decide how they do it, and so ultimately how we end up operating overall. The greatest way that you can influence how the group is run is to find a way to volunteer.
5: Does the group provide practices/drills?
Not normally. We prefer to use our time actually playing games. Members can hopefully increase their skills through “on-the-job” training while playing games. A more experienced player will sometimes offer positive, constructive advice to assist the less experienced players. If offered, please try to take it with a grain of salt as they are trying to help. More experienced players should really only offer unsolicited advice sparingly as going overboard is often considered rude. Likewise, if I end up discreetly speaking to you because you’re being too critical of the other players, don’t take it too personally. Please, refer to his short video. Among other things, it's a great guide on how to best to approach beginner play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI
6: Do I really need to RSVP on the web page?
YES! (please) Not only does it help us to estimate how much equipment we'll need for the day, it also helps everyone to learn your name.
7: Do I have to use my actual name and picture?
Pseudonym and photo's that don't show who you are implies that you're probably not that interested in building a rapport with the other players. In which case, this group might not be what you’re looking for. Therefore, you won't be able to make a reservation. If you do get an RSVP, then at the event, your placement will be considered the same as those that are on the waitlist.
8: Can we keep playing if all of the organizers have left for the day?
If some people want to keep playing volleyball after the designated time for ending has come, that will be OK if an established and trusted member remains to play and agrees to take the remaining nets and bring them to the next scheduled day of volleyball. However, permission must first be obtained from one of the organizers. That way we know who has the equipment and can keep track of it. Only regularly attending members who are well known to the organizers will be allowed to take responsibility for the nets. We will not be able to entrust the equipment to someone who just recently joined the group.
9: Can I join the group if I never played volleyball before or have only played during family gatherings for example?
An absolute beginner really needs to have formal lessons before attending. Not only do you need to learn the game's fundamentals, but without it, you risk causing injury to yourself or your teammates. At a minimum, new players should have a general understanding of the rules and be able to reasonably bump-pass a ball in a warm-up circle before joining in. Furthermore, If your friend does not realize that you’ve never played before and mistakenly invited you to an event, we’ll have them take the rest of the morning to start to give you the lessons that you needed.
