BVCA Club Challenge Series powered by JVA - Beach Volleyball Clubs of America

We are excited for this year in building more BVCA events and helping clubs develop their clubs across the country!

CLUB vs. CLUB Information, Guidelines, and Rules

MISSION

The BVCA Club vs. Club National Challenge Series was created to unite beach volleyball clubs across the United States and provide athletes with the opportunity to compete together as a team representing their club.

Our goal is to grow junior beach volleyball, protect and develop our athletes, strengthen our member clubs, and provide the highest level of club-based competition possible.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

BVCA is a club-based competition platform. Athletes represent their designated beach volleyball club throughout the season.

BVCA competition includes:

Club vs. Club Regional Events
Club vs. Club National Championships
Individual Pairs National Championships

At Club vs. Club events, athletes compete together as a squad representing their club.

All match wins, finishes, ranking points, and National Championship qualification are earned on behalf of the club.

BVCA discourages club jumping. Athletes participating in BVCA events are expected to practice and compete with the club listed on their BVCA Individual Membership.

BVCA reserves the right to refuse registration or participation to any club, team, coach, or individual at any BVCA-sanctioned event.

2. BVCA Annual Individual Membership

Required for all athletes participating in BVCA events

Athletes must register for a BVCA Annual Individual Membership:
https://bvca.volleyballlife.com/member/levels
Membership confirms the athlete practices and competes with one specified club for the season.
2026 Season Dates: August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2026

Purpose of Membership

The BVCA Membership: The BVCA Individual Membership Program helps identify and connect junior beach volleyball players across the United States while tracking the club they represent. Through individual memberships, BVCA is able to build a national player and club database that supports consistent competition, rankings, and event organization nationwide.

BVCA uses the Tru Volley ranking system to track individual player performance and establish rankings for players and teams. This system allows BVCA to provide more accurate seeding, better competitive matchups, and consistent rankings across all BVCA events while giving athletes and clubs a way to track their performance throughout the season

Identify beach volleyball athletes nationwide
Tracks club affiliation
Supports the BVCA national points and rankings system
Determines event seeding for all BVCA competitions

Membership Benefits

Enforced national rules and standards across all BVCA club events
A true club-based competition model (same-club partnerships only)
Access to:
- Club challenges (5-team and 3-team squads)
- Pairs events restricted to same-club athletes

3. CLUB vs. CLUB TEAM FORMAT

Club vs. Club events use a dual-style team format modeled after collegiate beach volleyball.

Clubs compete using either:

5 vs. 5 Squad

Five pairs ranked:

1’s – 2’s – 3’s – 4’s – 5’s

The club winning 3 of the 5 matches wins the dual.

3 vs. 3 Squad

Three pairs ranked:

1’s – 2’s – 3’s

The club winning 2 of the 3 matches wins the dual.

Teams within each squad must be ranked by playing strength, with the #1 pair representing the club’s strongest pair.

Competition is played:

1 vs. 1
2 vs. 2
3 vs. 3
4 vs. 4
5 vs. 5

4. MATCH FORMAT

Matches are played best 2 out of 3 sets.

Sets 1 and 2 are played to 21 points
Set 3, if necessary, is played to 15 points
One team timeout is permitted per set
One technical timeout is permitted in Sets 1 and 2
There is no technical timeout in Set 3

BVCA events generally consist of:

Day 1 – Pool Play
Day 2 – Bracket Play

BVCA follows NCAA/USA beach volleyball playing rules unless otherwise stated in BVCA event guidelines.

5. COMPETITIVE DIVISIONS

BVCA divisions are based primarily on playing ability rather than age, with the exception of the Futures Division.

OPEN – Division

The highest competitive level offered by BVCA.

If an athlete participates in an Open squad and places 1st or 2nd in a BVCA event for that season, they are no longer eligible to play in the Club division. If the athlete established themself in the Club Division in prior events during the season on her squad and was moved up to the Open Division to help make the roster complete, then the club director must get approval prior to the event from the BVCA for the athlete to play in the Club Division again.

These are generally a club’s strongest athletes and may include:

College-committed athletes
Highly recruited athletes
Juniors and seniors
Exceptional younger athletes capable of competing at this level

CLUB Division

Designed primarily for developing high-school athletes.

This division generally includes:

Freshmen and sophomores
Developing juniors and seniors

A Club Division squad may have a maximum of three NCAA Division I committed or verbally committed athletes, subject to the additional BVCA commitment-date exception.

FUTURES Division

The Futures Division is limited to middle-school athletes in grades 6th, 7th, and 8^th grade.

6. BUILDING YOUR CLUB ROSTER

BVCA strongly encourages clubs to build their teams using athletes who live and train within the club’s local geographic region.

Athletes should compete for the club where they regularly practice and participate.

Out-of-Area Athlete

An Out-of-Area Athlete is an athlete who lives more than 100 miles from the club’s primary training location.

If an athlete maintains two residences, the athlete’s primary residence will be determined by the high school they attend. If they attend a home school program, we will go by the state of the home school program. We may ask to verify residence with any athlete.
A club may have a maximum of 3 actively participating Out-of-Area Athletes on its BVCA Club vs. Club rosters during the season.
All out of region players must participate in 2 BVCA Club v Club events in the season to be able to participate in the National Championships.

For an individual squad:

5v5: Maximum of 2 Out-of-Area Athletes
3v3: Maximum of 1 Out-of-Area Athlete

Out-of-Area Athletes must be registered with BVCA through the designated submission process. Out of Area Athlete Submission – Beach Volleyball Clubs of America

Out-of-Region Player Exception

If an out-of-region player lives in an area where the nearest BVCA beach club is more than 100 miles away, a club may petition the BVCA Advisory Committee for an exception so that the player does not count toward the club’s out-of-region player limit.

Exceptions are intended for athletes who do not have reasonable access to a BVCA club in their area and may be seen as more of a developing player. The Advisory Committee will not approve an exception based solely on a preference to play for a higher-ranked club in another region when multiple established beach clubs are available within the athlete’s home region.

Out-of-Area Player Transparency

To provide greater transparency regarding out-of-area athletes, BVCA will maintain a publicly available list identifying each submitted out-of-area athlete and the club they are representing.

Because player participation and competition history can already be viewed through Volleyball Life, publishing this list on the BVCA website will help ensure consistency, transparency, and accountability across all participating clubs.

Violation of Out-of-Area Rules

· If a team is found to be in violation after the event of the out-of-area player rules, a penalty of deducting points earned at the event will be decided by the advisory committee. If the violation is discovered during the event and is confirmed to be in breach of the rules, the violating player may still participate and finish the event, but their team will forfeit the match on that specific flight.

7. CHANGING CLUBS

An athlete who has already purchased a BVCA membership and wishes to change clubs must:

Request a release from their current club director through an email
Copy BVCA on the request in the email
Explain the reason for requesting the release.
Receive BVCA approval before representing the new club.

Athletes can change clubs one time per season, unless an additional change is approved by the BVCA Advisory Committee.

Club directors are encouraged to release athletes who have fulfilled their financial obligations and remain in good standing.

If a club refuses a release, BVCA may bring the matter before the appropriate committee for review and final approval or denial of request

Dead Period

Athletes may not switch clubs from May 1 through July 30.

An athlete who has participated in 3 BVCA events for one club may not change clubs until the following season unless BVCA approves an exception for special circumstances.

8. CLUBS WITH MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

Clubs operating multiple training locations under the same organization must notify BVCA and may be required to receive prior approval.

Locations operating in different cities or states may be recognized as separate BVCA clubs, even when they share the same club’s name.

When locations are recognized as separate clubs, athletes may not be shared between those locations for BVCA competition.

BVCA will evaluate these situations individually based on geographic distance, regional development, competitive fairness, and the structure of the organization.

9. ROSTER & LINEUP REQUIREMENTS

Clubs are responsible for submitting complete and accurate rosters by the BVCA-established deadline. Roster Deadline: All rosters must be submitted by Monday by 11:59 pm prior to the event. Clubs that fail to submit their roster by the deadline will receive a 300-point deduction from their ranking points and may be assigned the lowest seed in the event.

Line Ups needs to be inputted on Volleyball life15 min before your match starts.

Teams within a squad must be ranked:

#1 = strongest pair through #5 = lowest-ranked pair

Volleyball Life has introduced a new feature that helps identify situations where a team competing in a lower flight has a higher Tru Volley score than a team from the same club competing in the flight above.

For example, if a club’s Flight 2 team has an average Tru Volley score of 8.3, while its Flight 1 team has an average score of 7.6, the Flight 2 team will need to be moved up. Intentionally placing a stronger team in a lower flight to gain a competitive advantage may be considered “sandbagging the position” and will not be permitted

In the regional events for the season, there cannot be a Tru Volley score difference of more than .6 pts average team Tru Volley score in the flight below. We are enforcing this rule with the Open and Club Divisions and not the Future divisions.

Player Movement

Pairs/players may move up or down one flight from the previous dual.

An alternate player on the roster may be inserted into the lineup per match. The player subbed out must re-enter the line-up at the same flight they were originally removed from.

An alternate athlete may only represent one squad for their club during an event and may not rotate between multiple squads. This is an illegal substitution and using an athlete illegally between squads may result in forfeiture of the affected flight.

10. INJURY & SUBSTITUTION RULES

If an athlete is injured during a match and cannot continue, that pair will forfeit the current match.

An eligible substitute may then be inserted before the club’s next dual match. Some clubs bring an alternate player or a club player that has a BVCA membership with the club that is not playing the event.

If one of your athletes on another squad is still actively playing in the event, then they may fill the spot but will be counted as a forfeit on the 3’s or 5’s flight.

The substitute must not be actively participating elsewhere in the event at the time of the substitution.

If a club cannot field a complete lineup, the forfeit will occur at the lowest flight:

3v3 → #3 flight
5v5 → #5 flight

Any unusual injury or substitution situation will be decided by the Tournament Director.

For example, if no substitution from the same club is available, clubs are allowed to use an available player from an opposing club. The substituted player from another club can only play in the 3^rd or 5^th flight as a forfeit and every match in that flight played by the substituted player is forfeited.

11. LINEUP PROTESTS

BVCA expects clubs to rank their pairs honestly according to playing strength.

If a club believes another club has intentionally placed its pairs in an unfair or inaccurate order, a protest must be made before the dual begins.

The protesting club must submit its concern to the Tournament Director.

The Tournament Director will review our sandbag policy and will look at

Tru Volley rankings of the squads and their flights
Previous BVCA lineups
Team results
Previous tournament rosters
Other relevant competitive information, like an injury substitution.

The Tournament Director will make the final decision regarding whether a pair may remain in its assigned flight or must be moved.

12. RANKING POINTS

BVCA Club vs. Club events award club ranking points based on tournament finishes.

Click here to see the Point Rubric used in awarding points for the season.

BVCA sliding point rubric

***If a club enters a second or third squad in a 3v3 Open, then the 2^nd or 3^rd squad will only be able to earn 80% of points allocated based on its finish.

A club’s ranking points are used to determine qualification for the BVCA Club vs. Club National Championships.

For National Championship qualification:

A club’s Top 4 highest-scoring BVCA Club vs. Club events of the season are counted and determine who qualifies for Nationals.

Clubs Entering Multiple Teams

If a club has multiple teams competing within the same division, the club must clearly designate its Team 1 and Team 2 rosters for ranking-point purposes.

If a club enters only one team in an Open, Club or Future Division event, all points earned will automatically be awarded to the club’s Team 1, which is the club’s highest-ranked team based on current BVCA points.
If a club wants the points earned at an event to count toward Team 2, and you’re only sending one squad the club must notify BVCA in advance and clearly designate the roster as Team 2 and the roster must reflect its Team 2 by prior events in the season.
If a club sends separate teams to different BVCA events on the same weekend, each team may earn points toward its designated team ranking as long as the rosters are separate and properly identified.
If the rosters overlap or a combined/joint roster is used, the points earned will automatically be credited to Team 1.

In short: To earn separate Team 2, Team 3 ranking points, each team must have its own clearly designated, non-overlapping roster and show proof of rosters in prior events if a club is trying to only send those 2 and 3 squads to different events. We will not allow a club to try to qualify a 2^nd squad by using its Team 1 roster.

13. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION

To be eligible to participate in the BVCA Club vs. Club National Championships

An athlete must have participated in at least one BVCA Club vs. Club event during the season to participate in the BVCA National Event.
A squad earning points must compete in a minimum of four (4) BVCA Club v Club Challenges to qualify for Open and Club divisions.
A squad earning points in the Future divisions must play 2 events.

This requirement does not apply to the Individual Pairs National Championship.

Qualification is determined primarily through BVCA ranking points.

OPEN Division (5 vs 5): The highest ranking 16 clubs based on RANKING points (excluding points of clubs with multiple teams). The Advisory Committee will award 8 ‘At Large’ bids based on ranking points, finishes, number of events, and will also consider clubs with a 2nd or 3rd team for qualification. A total of 24 squads will qualify. At-Large consideration is based primary on

Ranking points
Event finishes
Number of events played
Overall competitive strength
Second or third squads from qualifying clubs

CLUB Division (3 vs 3): The highest ranking 16 clubs based on RANKING points (excluding points of clubs with multiple teams). The Advisory Committee will award 8 ‘At Large’ bids based on ranking points, finishes, number of events, and will also consider clubs with a 2nd or 3rd team for qualification. A total of 24 squads will qualify.

FUTURES Division (3 vs 3): The highest ranking 16 clubs based on RANKING points (excluding points of clubs with multiple teams). The Advisory Committee will award 8 ‘At Large’ bids based on ranking points, finishes, number of events, and will also consider clubs with a 2nd or 3rd team for qualification. A total of 24 squads will qualify.

14. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP and REGIONAL SEEDING

Seeding is based on the athletes listed on the squad’s roster.

Regional Event Seeding

Volleyball Life (VBL) will seed squads based on their rosters, using the average Tru Volleyball ranking score of all players on the roster.
Applies to Club vs. Club divisions for Open, Club, and Futures.

Roster Deadline: All rosters must be submitted by Monday by 11:59 pm prior to the event. Clubs that fail to submit their roster by the deadline will receive a 300-point deduction from their ranking points and may be assigned the lowest seed in the event.

This system is designed to seed teams according to the competitive strength of the athletes who will actually be playing in the event.

15. COACHING

All BVCA coaches must complete a current:

JVA or USAV background check
COACHES CODE OF CONDUCT – Beach Volleyball Clubs of America

At the National Championships, approved coaches will be identified by a BVCA wristband.

Up to 3 coaches per 5v5 squad, and 2 coaches on a 3v3 club squad may coach during dual at the designated coaching positions.

Coaches May:

Coach during side changes while athletes are changing sides(walk and talk 6 seconds).
Coach during timeouts
Suggest that their athletes take a timeout
Dead ball coaching is allowed at all events

Coaches May Not:

Instruct athletes to dispute an official’s call
Approach referees to argue or question calls
Engage opposing athletes during competition
Engage opposing coaches or directors in arguments
Participate in negative banter before, during, or after a match

Only the pair’s captain can speak directly with the referee regarding a call.

A coach with an officiating concern must speak with the Tournament Director or designated lead official.

16. PARENT CONDUCT

Parents are spectators and may not coach athletes from the sidelines.

Parents may not:

Coach during matches
Call out the score
Argue with officials
Interfere with coaches, players, or opposing clubs

17. COACH & SPECTATOR DISCIPLINE

BVCA expects professional behavior from all coaches, directors, athletes, and spectators.

A coach who violates coaching or officiating rules may receive:

First offense: Warning from the Tournament Director.

Continued violations may result in:

Removal from the match
Removal from the event for the remainder of the day
Forfeiture of the current match for repeated club violations

Aggressive or excessive profanity directed toward a player, coach, parent, official, or other participant may result in immediate removal from the event.

Physical altercations will be referred to law enforcement.

18. UNIFORMS

Every athlete must visibly represent their club during competition.

The club’s name or logo must appear on at least one item of competition clothing and remain visible during the match.

Recommended competition apparel includes:

Shorts
Leggings
Tank tops
T-shirts

Bikini tops and bikini bottoms are not permitted.

Coaches

Coaches are expected to dress professionally.
Male coaches must wear shirts.
Male tank tops and bikini-style apparel are not permitted for coaches.

19. PENALTIES & DISQUALIFICATION

We hold our events and participants to the highest standards of integrity and have set guidelines to be followed by participants and clubs.

If a BVCA event has already started and a beach club participant and/or beach club has not followed or untruthfully agreed to any of the guidelines, we hold the right to disqualify the team and/or player and not award any points to their club. Disqualified participants will NOT receive a refund.

Clubs are responsible for providing accurate:

Membership information
Club affiliations
Rosters
Player eligibility information
Lineups
Out-of-Area Athlete information

Violations may result in one or more of the following:

Loss of event ranking points
Forfeiture of a flight or dual
Athlete suspension
Suspension from future BVCA events
Loss of BVCA Club Membership status
Team or athlete disqualification

If a club, team, or participant is disqualified for violating BVCA rules or providing false or misleading information, BVCA may withhold all applicable ranking points and deny a refund.

20. Refund Policy

Paid registrations will not be refunded for withdrawals within 60 days of the event. If you register and decide not to attend the event and withdraw before the 60-day mark, the refunded amount will be 80% of the entry fee. If the spot is filled, refunds may be issued at the discretion of BVCA. (minus 20% of the entry fee to cover the cost of credit card, VBL fees, and BVCA fees).

If an event sells out 90 days or less prior to the event date, the promoter may issue a 14-day ‘all-in’ confirmation request to all registered teams. Teams must confirm their registration within this 14-day period. After the closing of this 14-day confirmation window, no refunds will be provided for teams that withdraw from the event, regardless of whether their spot is filled.

21. BVCA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

National Championship titles include:

Open Division 5v5 National Champion
Open Division 5v5 Silver National Champion
Club Division 3v3 National Champion
Club Division 3v3 Silver National Champion
Futures Division 3v3 National Champion
Future Division 3v3 Silver National Champion