Girls’ beach volleyball approved as a CIF sport beginning with the 2021-22 school year

Californians, girls’ beach volleyball could be coming to a high school near you for the 2021-22 school year.

The CIF Federated Council gave unanimous approval on Friday to making it an official CIF sport. The proposal originated out of the San Diego Section, where schools have been playing the sport in a league since 2013.

Girls’ beach volleyball will be a spring sport. There are schools that already have built sand courts on campus, but girls could play in tournaments on courts at beaches.

Because girls’ beach volleyball will happen during the boys’ indoor season, schools will have to look for new coaches. Two-girl teams will face off, similar to NCAA beach volleyball; colleges are offering scholarships.

According to the San Diego proposal, the Sand Volleyball Assn. had more than 400 female athletes participating in 2019 with over 40 teams involved. Seven San Diego schools had sand courts, and five more are in the process of building courts. Costs for building two to five courts is estimated at $15,000 to $150,000, depending on the number of courts and type of sand.

Asked if the Los Angeles Unified School District would start beach volleyball, athletics director Trent Cornelius said, “Eventually.”