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Understanding NCAA Beach Volleyball Rules

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In this article, we break down the NCAA beach volleyball recruiting rules and calendar. The NCAA has set up certain rules around when—and how—college coaches can contact potential recruits. Their goal in creating these rules was to make sure elite recruits didn’t get overwhelmed by constant contact from coaches. And it can also make it tough for beach volleyball families to know when to expect contact from college coaches.

Generally speaking, almost all forms of contact are allowed starting June 15 after sophomore year, including emails, calls, texts and recruiting letters. If you know you’re interested in a particular program, the earlier you contact the coach, the more likely there will be an open roster spot on the team for you.

READ MORE: Learn how to earn money from your name, image and likeness (NIL).

How to use the NCAA beach volleyball recruiting rules and calendar

It’s important to remember that the coaches—not the recruits—are responsible for complying with the NCAA beach volleyball recruiting rules. In other words, don’t worry about sitting down and memorizing the exact dates coaches can start contacting you! If you’d like more information about the NCAA beach volleyball recruiting rules, check out the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete. You can buy a copy or download the PDF for free.

The best way to use this information is to help you gauge if you’re on track in your recruiting process. If you’re a junior in high school and haven’t heard from any college coaches yet, you know that you need to start kicking your recruiting up a notch. If you’re a freshman receiving generic information from a college beach volleyball program, you’re probably on the right track.

When you’re looking at the NCAA beach volleyball recruiting rules, layer them on top of the recruiting calendar. Here’s what we mean: If you’re a senior in high school, the recruiting rules show that you are allowed to start taking official visits to colleges. However, the recruiting calendar indicates that there are certain dead periods throughout the year. You want to make sure that you don’t schedule your official visit during a dead period, because the coach won’t be allowed to talk to you while you’re on campus.

Insider tip: As an athlete, you can reach out to NCAA D2 and D3, NAIA and NJCAA college coaches at any time! Take advantage of this by sending introductory emails to coaches, so they know who you are and have an opportunity to watch your highlight video. The NCAA recently implemented a new rule that prohibits all off-campus communication between D1 college coaches and student-athletes before June 15 of sophomore year. This includes phone calls, texts and/or email communication between a student-athlete, parent/guardian and a D1 college coach.

How do some beach volleyball recruits get offers before coaches can contact them?

Beach volleyball has an incredibly competitive recruiting process. As a newer collegiate sport, there are fewer schools that offer beach volleyball compared to other sports. Plus, there is a wealth of talented beach volleyball athletes across the country. This creates a perfect recruiting storm, which means that college-bound beach volleyball players need to really be proactive in their recruiting to secure their roster spot at a beach volleyball college.

To get that competitive edge, many athletes will start contacting coaches their freshman or sophomore year. And while coaches can’t proactively reach out to athletes at this point, they can answer athletes’ phone calls. Other athletes will ask their club or high school coach to call college coaches on their behalf. Their current coach can set up a time for their player to call the college coach and recruiting kicks off from there.

  • June 15 after sophomore year: Coaches can send athletes all forms of private electronic correspondence, including text messages, instant messages, direct messages and emails, as well as all recruiting materials. Coaches can also call athletes at this point.
  • August 1 before junior year: Athletes can begin taking unofficial visits.
  • August 1 before junior year: Coaches can conduct off-campus, in-person contact with athletes at their residence or school.
  • August 1 before junior year: Athletes may begin taking official visits.

  • General materials: Athletes can receive brochures for camps, questionnaires, NCAA materials and non-athletic recruiting publications at any time.
  • Printed recruiting materials: Coaches can begin sending recruits printed recruiting materials at any time.
  • Telephone calls: Coaches can start calling athletes at any time.
  • Off-campus contact: Coaches can conduct off-campus communications with athletes and/or their parents starting June 15 after the athlete’s sophomore year.
  • Official visits: Athletes may start taking official visits starting June 15 after sophomore year.

  • Recruiting materials: Athletes can receive recruiting materials at any time.
  • Telephone calls: There is no limit on when college coaches can call athletes.
  • Off-campus contact: After the athlete’s sophomore year, college coaches may begin to conduct off-campus communications.
  • Official visits: Athletes can begin taking official visits after January 1 of their junior year.

Dead period: Coaches may not have any in-person contact with recruits and/or their parents. In other words, coaches are not allowed to talk to recruits at their college campus, the athlete’s school, an athletic camp or even the grocery store. Athletes and coaches are still allowed to communicate via phone, email, social media and other digital communication channels.

  • November 11-14, 2024
  • December 18-31, 2024
  • Except for: Coaches attending the AVCA annual awards banquet can have incidental contact with two-year college recruits being honored at the event. However, no recruiting conversations can happen at this event.
  • April 30 – May 4, 2025
    • Except for: Coaches may evaluate on only one day and attend one event on that day during this period. The event has to be within 30 miles of the site of the championship. Coaching staffs from the same college need to attend the same event on the same day.

Evaluation periods: College coaches are allowed to watch an athlete compete in person or visit their school. However, coaches are not allowed to communicate with that athlete (or parents) off the college campus.

  • December 2-17, 2024
  • January 1-17, 2025
  • May 5-23, 2025

Contact periods: All communication between athletes and coaches is fair game! Coaches can email, text, call, direct message and generally contact athletes and their parents through any NCAA-approved method. In-person contact can occur on the college campus, as well as at tournaments, at the recruit’s school and home.

  • August 1 – November 10, 2024
  • November 15 – December 1, 2024
  • January 18 – April 29, 2025
  • May 24 – July 31, 2025

For D2 schools, the recruiting calendar is less scripted. Except for the dates listed below, treat everything else like a contact period.

Dead period: Coaches may not have any in-person contact with recruits and/or their parents. In other words, coaches are not allowed to talk to recruits at their college campus, the athlete’s school, an athletic camp or even the grocery store. Athletes and coaches are still allowed to communicate via phone, email, social media and other digital communication channels.

  • November 11 (7 a.m.) to 13 (7 a.m.), 2024, (during the 48 hours prior to 7 a.m. on the initial date for the signing of a financial aid agreement)