The University of Nebraska announced on Wednesday that it will add sand volleyball as a women's intercollegiate sport, beginning with the spring 2013 competition season.
The addition of sand volleyball to Nebraska's list of sport offerings, gives the Huskers 24 intercollegiate programs, including 14 women's teams and 10 men's teams. Sand volleyball is the first sport Nebraska has added since women's rifle began competition in the 1998-99 season.
Sand volleyball was approved as an NCAA Emerging Sport for women in 2009 and began play in the 2011-12 school year. Fifteen schools sponsored varsity teams in the spring of 2012, the first season of competition for Division I schools. The inaugural AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball Championships were held last April in Gulf Shores, Ala., and that site will host the championship from 2013 to 2015.
More than 20 schools are currently sponsoring sand volleyball, with that number expected to grow in the coming years. When 40 institutions in Division I and II have sponsored varsity programs for one year, the NCAA will sponsor an NCAA Championship in the sport. Should funds be approved for a championship in the next budget cycle, the NCAA would host its first national championship in the spring of 2016.
Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst said the majority of the groundwork for the addition of sand volleyball was completed before he took over his position last week. The final steps to Nebraska's sponsorship of sand volleyball were approved by the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference over the past few days.
Nebraska Volleyball Coach John Cook said the growing popularity of sand volleyball made the addition of the sport at Nebraska an attractive option.
Nebraska does not intend to offer scholarships for sand volleyball players, but all members of the Huskers' court volleyball team may participate in the sand season. Sand volleyball teams may have a maximum of two coaches, and Cook said he and assistant coach Dan Meske will fill those positions.
Cook said the time together during the sand season should be a benefit for volleyball student-athletes, and it also opens open additional playing opportunities.
Sand volleyball teams are required to play at least eight dates with three of the competitions being dual matches. The maximum number of competitions is 16 dates. Cook said Nebraska does not plan to hold any home competitions in the 2013 spring season. The Huskers will begin sand volleyball practice later this week.
Eichorst indicated that he does not foresee additional adjustments to Nebraska's sports sponsorship makeup in the future.