EAST BEACH TOURNAMENT SERIES: East Beach/Apffel Park Galveston Tx.   

• All Juniors events in this series are USAV sactioned events except BCVA in April (JVA,BVCA Sactioned).  For more information please click on the registration link.  
• East Beach/Apffel Park is the East End/Beginning of the Galvestion Seawall. Follow I45 South until it ends/hit water  (Turns into Brodway after Bridge) take a left at the seawall and follow it till it ends. Turn right on Bodeker Road the only road at the end of the seawall.  
• Galveston Does have an airport however the closest major Airport is Houston Hobby which is the Southwest Airlines Main Hub in Houston.  Houston Hobby is 35 miles from Galveston and is on the South Side of Houston.  Houston Intercontental is on the North side of Houston and is an hour from the Island.  
• EAST Beach has 30 permanant Courts & we have 25 portables, so everyone plays at the same time- no waves.  East Beach has a Pavilion, Showers, Concessions and Life Guards/Beach Patrol.  Coolers & tents are allowed.  There is a per car Entry Fee to enter the park and Free parking outside the gate and only less than 100 yards from the courts.  Please note this is a Beach on the Gulf Of Mexico,  So we do have to deal with the ocassional High Tides or coastal flooding, Wind, and everything that go's with playing at an actual beach.  

LEAGUE CITY SAND SERIES:  These events are at the League City Sports Plex, About 1/2 between Downtown Houston and Galveston Island.  League City Sportsplex has 6 lighted, fenced sand volleyball couts, restrooms, showers and the most free parking you will ever see.  Tents and coolers are welcome.  Tents must remain outside the fence and CANNOT be staked down with stakes in the ground due to all the Sprinklers running all over the place.  These events are sactioned by AVPA, USAV, BVNE etc.  Since there are only 6 courts please sign up early especially in the summer since we have over 100 payers in our Beach Team program.  

Please remember that you will need a membership from the parent sactioning orginization to play in those tournaments.  See below 

USAV BEACH:  

Both players must have a current USAV membership. ANY USAV member can play in any USAV beach tournament with any other USAV player from any club or region.  If you are playing on a club team indoor you should have a USAV membership which is good for beach.  If you don’t have a current Indoor membership you will want to purchase a BEACH ONLY membership since it is 1/2 price .  The beach only only covers beach where the indoor covers both (I know confusing but basically the more expensive indoor is good for anything) where the beach is just for those playing beach this season.  You would not want to get an indoor though since the memberships expire in August/Sept before the next indoor season starts.  Hope i did not confuse you

To get your membership # just log on to YOUR sportsengine account that you used when you registered for USAV.  If you did not play indoor club this season then you if you do not have a usav membership you can click here https://memberships.sportsengine.com/org/lone-star-region-volleyball/affiliation/gulf-coast-volleyball-association (if you want to be affiliated with GCVA).

MORE INFORMATION:

• GCVA Beach Tournament information & Schedule https://www.gcva.net/content/outdoor/beach-tournament-schedule-2023
• USAV National Beach Tour information: https://www.nationalbeachtour.com/
• USAV Player Rankings: https://usav.seedingpal.com/rankings
• USAV Sanctioned Tournament Results https://usav.seedingpal.com/events
• USAV Junior Beach Championships for this year July 18-23 in Ft Lauderdale, FL. More info is here https://usavolleyball.org/event/2023-usa-volleyball-beach-national-championship/

AGE DIVISIONS:  For USA Volleyball Tournaments

• •12 and Under Division - Players who were born on or after July 1, 2010
• •14 and Under Division - Players who were born on or after July 1, 2008
• •16 and Under Division - Players who were born on or after July 1, 2006
• •18 and Under Division - Players who were born on or after July 1, 2004 OR Players who were born on or after July 1, 2003 and a high school student in the twelfth (12th) grade or below during some part of the 2022-23 academic year. If graduated they are still permitted to compete in the USAV Beach Tour National Championship.

AVPA

• AVPA Memberships are required for these events.  For thse event you will need at least a AVPA SILVER MEMBERSHIP.
• If you are plaining on going to 2023 AVPA JUNIOR NATIONALS or playing in a AVPA 4 Star Event you will need a GOLD AVPA membership
• You can get your AVPA membership here...   AVPA memberships are good for 1 year from the date of purchase.  

Midwest Championships

Our first 4-star event, the Midwest Championships, kicks off in less than a month, June 1-4 in Ozark, MO at Volleyball Beach Ozark. This event does not require bids! It is open to all junior athletes. 

National Championships

Through June 25, 2023, all junior doubles events are qualifiers for AVP Juniors National Championships, which will be held July 5-9 in Hermosa Beach. Directly following that event will be our combined Club Championships with USAV. Any clubs interested in participating in that can register at https://usav.bracketpal.com/tournament/298

East & West Coast Championships

Qualification for West Coast Championships and East Coast Championships will begin on July 1

AVPA AGE REQUIREMENTS: 

Please note that as of March, we updated our junior age requirements to be based on graduation year rather than birthdate. 

Our junior age requirements are changing from birthdates to grad year.

AVP’s 2023 age requirements for junior competitions are as follows:

• 18U: Athletes graduating high school in 2023 or later.
• 16U: Athletes graduating high school in 2025 or later.
• 14U: Athletes graduating high school in 2027 or later.
• 12U: Athletes graduating high school in 2029 or later.

requirements currently listed  will be valid through 8/31/2023.

On 9/1/2023, the age divisions will update as follows:

• 18 & Under: Athletes graduating high school in 2024 or later.

• 16 & Under: Athletes graduating high school in 2026 or later.

• 14 & Under: Athletes graduating high school in 2028 or later.

• 12 & Under: Athletes graduating high school in 2030 or later.

BVNE

• BVNE/USAV/memberships are required.  
• All our BVNE tournaments you can also earn USAV rankings, just put in your USAV # on the entry form.  
• BVNE MEMBERSHIP is $30 - To get your BVNE MEMBERSHIP CLICK HERE
• BVNE 2023 East Coast National Championships in Pompano Beach, Florida JUNE 30 - JULY 1 2023
• BVNE 2023 West Coast National Championships Santa Monica, CA July 29-30 2023
• More info on BVNE is here: https://bvne.org/
• BVNE AGE REQUIREMENTS:  Your age on the date of the tournament.  Please note though if you are wanting to play in the national championship you have to play your age on the date of that event.  

BVCA Beach Volleyball Clubs of America - JVA sactioned events

These events are Club vs Club events.  So you have to be a member of a beach club.  The club registers squads (either 3 teams or 5 teams) those squads play squads from other clubs.  So in 3 team squad you have to win 2 matches (two team wins) to get a point.  5 vs 5 you have to win 3 of the 5 matches against that squad.  There is pool play then playoffs, BVCA events are normally two day events.   More info https://beachvolleyballclubs.com/

VISIT GALVESTON:

• Visit Galveston Savings Pass - offers discounts to 25+ restaurants, shops and attractions on the island. here: https://www.visitgalveston.com/gcva/
• Schlitterbahn Galveston Island - Discount Tickets fro Schlitterbahn for GCVA Players/Parents using the GCVA log in - Ticket Link: https://cf-gv.store.cffungv.com/embed/store.php?merchant_id=9999805&emerchant_id=270  Username: GV23gcva  Password: GV23volleyball
• Saltwater-Recon, East Beach Web Cam - https://www.saltwater-recon.com/east-beach/