Welcome to the Beach Season!
Welcome to the Ironwood Ridge Beach Volleyball Program! The Arizona Interscholastic Association and Amphitheater District officially adopted Beach Volleyball as a full sport in 2018 and we’re entering our 11th season at Ironwood Ridge. Beach Volleyball is an officially sanctioned interscholastic girls sport on campus and we have one of the Nation’s top high School Beach Facility with Nighthawk Beach!
The Beach Volleyball Season is February-April. The program will participate in a full schedule with at 12 dual competitions and our own invitational. Ironwood Ridge competes at the Division II level for Beach Volleyball.
The following information is to help prepare all prospective beach volleyball student-athletes for the Beach Volleyball season.
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BEACH VOLLEYBALL ATHLETE EVALUATIONS AND TEAM SELECTIONS
Unless the number of interested student-athletes exceeds 24, there will not be a formal tryout process. If participation exceeds 24 athletes, the program will conduct a formal tryout that includes evaluations of each prospective athlete’s skill level, athletic ability, and overall potential as a beach volleyball partner.
Student-athletes do not need a partner in order to try out for the Beach Volleyball program.
TEAM SELECTION: Twelve (12) athletes will be selected for the Beach Varsity Team, and eight (8) athletes will be selected for the Beach Junior Varsity Team. A second Junior Varsity team and/or a training roster may be formed depending on participation numbers.
PARTNER SELECTION: The coaching staff will determine all partner pairings. Partners will be selected based on each athlete’s individual skills and abilities, competitive ranking, and demonstrated chemistry and cohesiveness as a team.
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BEACH PRACTICES AND TRAINING
Practices will be after-school—please see the tentative practice schedule on the calendar. Practices will generally be 90-120 minutes long and may be split between Varsity and Junior Varsity schedules. Players will need to attend practices in order to dress for competition.\
There will be Strength/Conditioning for Beach Volleyball athletes, but that will be coordinated with the Volleyball program’s off-season Strength/Conditioning to maximize time and save our legs!
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BEACH COMPETITIONS AND MATCHES
Beach Volleyball matches will be Wednesdays and Fridays (and some Mondays) beginning at 4:00 PM. In some cases, we will have “night matches” which will begin at 6:00 PM or 7:00 PM.
During a competition, a maximum of 12 players may be dressed for the Varsity competition. Ten (10) players will make up five (5) two-person teams. We are allowed to have two (2) alternates dressed.
Five flights will be played with the following scoring system for each match: best two-out-of-three sets to 21 points (third set to 15). The school that wins the most matches will win the competition.
EXHIBITION/JUNIOR VARSITY MATCHES: If the visiting school has extra players, the coaching staff may set-up Exhibition Matches between with the 6th, 7th, 8th Pairs teams between the schools.
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PLAYING TIME (TEAM SELECTIONS AND RANKING FOR DUALS)
Players will be required to attend a minimum number of practices prior to competing in any competition. Teams will be selected by grade and competition level. Most teams and ranking (Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team 4, Team 5) will be organized through competitions in practice.​
​​Questions regarding the Beach Volleyball Program and/or Team Selections should be directed to Head Coach Bill Lang at blang@amphi.com
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PRE-SEASON MAILING LIST
